Uncovering Cultural Assumptions: Using a Critical Incident Technique during an International Student-Teaching Field Experience

Autor/in	Madrid Akpovo, Samara
Titel	Uncovering Cultural Assumptions: Using a Critical Incident Technique during an International Student-Teaching Field Experience
Quelle	In: Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 20 (2019) 2, S.146-162 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1463-9491
DOI	10.1177/1463949117747108
Schlagwörter	Student Teaching; Critical Incidents Method; Preschool Teachers; Field Experience Programs; Urban Schools; Preschool Education; Foreign Countries; Student Teacher Attitudes; Group Discussion; Intercultural Communication; Behavior Change; Cultural Awareness; Attitude Change; International Programs; Reflection; Ethnocentrism; Nepal + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching practice; Unterrichtspraxis; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Praxisnahes Lernen; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Ausland; Gruppendiskussion; Interkulturelle Kommunikation; Cultural identity; Kulturelle Identität; Attitudinal change; Einstellungsänderung; Ethnozentrismus
Abstract	This research examined the critical incidents of 10 United States (US) early childhood student teachers during a three-week university-sponsored international field experience conducted in three urban preschools in Kathmandu, Nepal. The purpose of employing the critical incident technique was to allow the US student teachers to reflect critically on successful and unsuccessful intercultural interactions in an effort to identify cultural assumptions about teaching young children. The approach was used not only to make assumptions visible, but also to make conceptual and behavioral changes based on what was learned from the critical reflection. The student teachers wrote weekly critical incidents, which were then discussed during weekly individual interviews. Three group discussions, a research journal, and field notes were used to triangulate the findings. A qualitative thematic analysis revealed five types of written critical incidents: descriptive, hypothetical, resistive, reflective, and integrative. Illustrative critical incidents are presented to compare and contrast how the international field experience allowed for productive reflection of cultural assumptions for some student teachers while leading to resistance to cultural assumptions for other student teachers. The findings suggest that outcomes vary based on the student teachers' ability not only to identify their cultural assumptions, but also to challenge their cultural assumptions with actions grounded in ethnorelative reflection when teaching diverse groups of young children in the US and abroad. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01