This case study focuses on creativity and collaboration in preparing Chinese preservice teachers. The research question was "Can aspiring Chinese teachers discover creativity where encouraged and under conducive conditions?" The purpose was to find out whether, with explicit instructions to be creative, candidates could demonstrate…

This qualitative case study investigated the changes in mental models of a group of White, rural and suburban, teacher candidates in a rural midwestern college and their increased capacity to understand race and culture after their short-term practicum experience in Guatemala City. The study used individual written reflections, whole-group…

Colleges and universities incorporate international, student-teaching programs as a way to help prepare globally minded prospective teachers. This article adds to this conversation, offering insight from a multicase study analysis of three educators conducted 5 years after their experience student teaching in Kenya, East Africa. The researcher…

This comparative case study analyzes two study abroad experiences for preservice teachers--a 4-month student teaching placement in Sweden and a 3-week intensive intercultural course with school observations in France. Although they differed in duration and structure, both programs focused on developing preservice teachers' understandings of…

Although proponents support portfolios' value to enhance the reflective thinking of novice teachers and imply that such thinking improves teachers' practice, few studies have confirmed these assertions by directly measuring in-depth reflection or describing conditions that develop it. In this study, reflective thinking in preservice teachers'…

This article discusses the findings of a large scale mixed-methods study (2006-2010) conducted on a variety of early professional experiences of beginning primary teachers in the Republic of Ireland.