International experiences offer new settings for revisiting, revising, and reconstructing currently held images of the child. Specifically, international practicum experiences can provide preservice teachers with opportunities to reflect on their views about children by positioning themselves as "the other." The purpose of this…

Multicultural education can be infused into the existing curriculum to help students become less ethnocentric and more cosmopolitan. Multicultural lessons dealing with numerals, abacus, calendars, and money exchange that were implemented successfully into a mathematics unit are discussed. (DF)

Presents a dialog on student teacher supervision between university supervisors from the U.S. and Wales. After describing an observation of and conference with a Welsh elementary student teacher, the dialog discusses the supervisors' observations and their expectations for student teachers, and analyzes the effects of the cross-cultural…

The preservice teacher education program at the University of Western Sydney (Australia) includes in-school experiences intended to address criticisms of the traditional practicum. This article outlines the principles underlying an innovative final semester school-based experience; describes the experiences in practice; and discusses student,…

American and New Zealander education majors completed an exchange program that included student teaching abroad. Student journals and interviews after the experience indicated that, through their international experiences, students gained more appreciation for their home school culture and acquired new attitudes and beliefs to test against the…

A collaboration between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States lets student teachers experience the educational systems of other countries. Student teachers, cooperating teachers, and teacher educators work together to ensure successful experiences for Pacific Region Student Teaching Program participants. Positive aspects, barriers, and…

The initial training of the United Kingdom's primary teachers is undergoing major restructuring. This article analyzes the main strands of these changes over the last 10 years, examining both the politicization of teacher education and the development of theoretical perspectives that reveal the complexity of the nature of professional knowledge.…

Study examined the ways preservice teachers made curriculum decisions for elementary classrooms. Participants created three approaches to curriculum integration, and researchers compared their underlying beliefs. Results indicated students needed a stronger knowledge base and a more deliberative stance toward curriculum development. The study…

Discusses how culture shock intrinsic in a cross-cultural student teaching experience necessitates that participants think critically and reflect about teaching. The article describes an international student teaching component at two Minnesota colleges. After 7 weeks of student teaching in the United States, participants spend 6 weeks in British…

Designed to promote equitable and fair student teacher practicum supervision and evaluation, contextual supervision (CS) can be used by both college and school-based supervisors. This approach is supported by current reforms in teacher education, contemporary supervisory models, and validation in actual practice. (IAH)

Used focus groups and questionnaires to determine what influenced successful elementary teachers' development and what they considered important for current teacher education programs. Teachers attributed much of their success to personal characteristics developed throughout their lives. They considered the practicum component of their preservice…