(De)Coloniality in Teacher Education: Reflections on Student Teachers’ Mobility from the Global North to the Global South

Abstract

Emphasis on the need for Norwegian student teachers to conduct part of their teacher education programme abroad is increasing. Among the arguments for this emphasis is the idea that globally aware teachers have better intercultural competence that can facilitate sustainable development and more just education. Evidence to support these claims is contested. In this paper, we explore how facilitators of student teachers’ mobility between Norway and countries in the Global South reflect on student mobility as part of the (de)colonial project. We apply decolonial frameworks (Mbembe, 2016; Mignolo, 2021) that interrogate the colonial matrix of power (CMP) (Quijano, 2000) to identify and challenge colonial relations and expectations. Findings are based on interviews from four facilitators from Tanzania and Zambia (Global South) and three teacher educators from Norway (Global North) who facilitate Norwegian student teachers’ mobility. The findings show that student facilitators from the Global North had more freedom to shape mobility activities, including the freedom to choose partners, reproducing asymmetrical power relations exerted through mobility.

Keywords

• teacher education
• Norway
• student mobility
• Global South
• decoloniality