Abstract
Teachers in the U.S. need to develop skills, knowledge, and dispositions needed to work with increasingly diverse students (Tichnor-Wagner, et al., 2019). In China’s new version of English Teacher Education Standards (Ministry of Education, 2018), intercultural competence is also prioritized as a key competency. Framed with global competent teaching (Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2019) and Communities of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), this study explored how a learning community was evolved among Chinese and American teacher candidates through the virtual exchange (VE) projects embedded in teacher education courses, and how the VE projects supported their development of globally competent teaching. Data were collected through anonymous pre- and post-surveys, Zoom recordings, peer feedback on lesson plans and recorded teaching, and final interviews. Abundant examples emerged under the themes of a shared domain of interests and practice, being accountable to the community, and building up a shared repertoire of language teaching resources and practice. Even though at the beginning the power dynamics existed between Chinese and American candidates, activities allowed them to demonstrate their knowledge of language teaching, which counterbalanced the initial power relationship. As a result, candidates were able to establish a more equitable and reciprocal partnerships. We were also able to identify evidence related to globally competent teaching in the process of developing their online CoP entailed by the emerged themes: critical reflection of teaching from the glocal and cultural perspectives, interculturality, and self-reflexivity.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Global Competent Teaching, Virtual Exchange, Teacher Education
