Becoming the Cultural “Other”: Pre-service Teachers Conducting Ethnographic Projects While Studying Abroad

Abstract

In the summer of 2011 a group of pre-service teachers from Western Oregon University joined a study-abroad program in Argentina. During their approximate two-month stay, pre-service students had the opportunity to take intensive coursework in Spanish, as well enroll in credit-bearing courses leading to an ESOL endorsement (English for Speakers of Other Languages). One of the ESOL courses offered during the program was “Culture and Community in ESOL/Bilingual Classrooms.” This article is written by five of the students who participated in this course, in collaboration with their professor. In particular, the article focuses on an ethnographic course project.