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Annotated Bibliography

ETEC 565G

Salmona, M., Partlo, M., Kaczynski, D., & Leonard, S. N. (2015). Developing culturally
competent teachers: an international student teaching field experience.
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(4).
The premise of this paper is stated in its title: Developing Culturally Competent
Teachers: An International Student Teaching Field Experience. Using a qualitative
study format, Salmona, Partlo, Kaczynski and Leonard look into better understanding
how experiential learning allows student teachers to gain social and cultural variation
skills and transfer these skills to new educational settings. Salmona et al. follow a group
of ten pre-service teachers from the United States as they engaged in a pre-service
teaching experience abroad in Australia. A large number of data sources are used
including journals/blogs, observations, Wikispaces, photos, and informal conversations.
All of these were used to emphasize the individual meaning of the lived experience,
taking on a phenomenological approach.
All ten student teachers were part of a student teaching program that
incorporates a cultural competency component, were in their last semester of the
program, and had completed 10 weeks of teaching within United States. What Salmona
et al. found was that the student teachers found it difficult to accurately interpret
behaviors in the culturally different setting, both in interpreting the behavior of the
members of the local culture as well as in interpreting how members of the local culture
perceived them. This led to stifled interaction, perceived vulnerability and impeded the
student teachers cultural transference to professional practices. The student teachers
self-conscious perceptions did lead to positive findings in that they empathized with
students in their classes who were struggling, thus gaining an emphatic experience of
life for students from non-dominant cultures in schools.
Salmona et al. also found that effective scaffolding is required in order to respond
to individualized learning needs. Through providing experiences that challenge the
personal boundaries of the students, they were able to develop strategies for acquiring
the knowledge needed to work within different cultural contexts. Overall, the student
teachers became more aware of the challenges faced by others and a heightened
sense of social interconnectedness was acknowledged.
In summary, Salmona et al. suggests that direct acculturation experiences are
required for teachers to move beyond regionally centered expectations. Even though
most student teachers are exposed to coursework that addresses leaning from a
cultural perspective, they are unable to apply these skills in the classroom.
Comprehensive restructuring of teacher education is required so that it embeds both

cultural competency skills training throughout a multiyear program, as well as directed


scaffolding. As Salmona et al. note, student teachers engaged in an international field
experience have a unique opportunity to accelerate their professional development in
becoming culturally competent teachers.
I would recommend this article as a supplementary resource for ETEC 565 as it
provides a look at how, even though we have courses with cultural competency
components for teachers, there are aspects that can be improved to enhance the
transfer of head knowledge to actual practice. Personally, I can see how international
student teaching opportunities can be beneficial in preparing teachers to teach here and
abroad. With the increase in multiculturalism within Canada and the job opportunities
that are available online and in other countries, the findings of this article are relevant to
all teachers.

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