Rite of passage into the teaching profession? Australian pre-service teachers’ professional learning in the Indo-Pacific through the New Colombo Plan

Abstract

ABSTRACT A growing number of pre-service teachers (PSTs), who traditionally tend to be less internationally mobile than students in other fields, are participating in mobility programs to the Indo-Pacific region. This article analyses the extent to which Australian pre-service teachers’ international mobility experiences via the New Colombo Plan (NCP) contribute to the development of their professional capabilities and preparedness for the teaching profession. The research uses positioning theory as a conceptual framework to interpret how teachers make sense of their professional learning via international practicums. The PSTs’ perceptions and experiences disrupt the stereotype of the Indo-Pacific as nurturing a spoon-fed and rote learning culture that inhibits students’ independent learning. It shows how the Indo-Pacific region represents a powerful learning space for PSTs from an Anglophone country like Australia to learn to teach independently, develop ethnorelative perspectives, and enrich their professional capacities. The findings indicate that international practicums in the Indo-Pacific helped Australian PSTs build essential professional skills and enhance their preparedness to teach in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms both in Australia and internationally. Importantly, the study highlights how Indo-Pacific experiences support Australian PSTs’ development of empathy and awareness of social justice as well as the aspiration to work with disadvantaged and refugee children.