Defining intercultural competence: How four pre-service teachers developed a more complex understanding of ICC

Abstract

This manuscript is one part of a larger exploratory collective case study of pre-service teachers who participated in a student teaching abroad program for one-month in Germany. The objective was to ascertain if and how pre-service teachers with no prior training in intercultural competence (ICC) developed both their understanding and conceptualization of ICC. Data was collected before, during, and after the experience via focus groups, individual interviews, journal entries, and program evaluations. Data was analyzed using a priori codes compiled from Bennett’s (2008) characteristics of affective, cognitive, and behavioral competencies of ICC. Findings from this study indicated that a short-term student teaching abroad program has the potential to influence teacher candidates understanding and conceptualization of the complexity of ICC if the program includes an opportunity and space to foster and support critical reflection. Additionally, this study provides one example of how study abroad programs can shift away from quantitative surveys to assess impact and, instead, focus on learner centered evidence collected in real time (Deardorff, 2015).

Keywords

• international education
• teacher education
• study abroad
• culture shock
• collective case study
• short-term student teaching abroad