Rethinking Teacher Education: Synchronizing Eastern and Western Views of Teaching and Learning to Promote 21st Century Skills and Global Perspectives

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to share findings with educators across disciplines on how to incorporate a blended philosophy of teaching and learning from both Eastern and Western perspectives to promote 21st-century skills and global perspectives. Drawing from a previous self-study of their views of teaching and learning between Chinese and American cultures, the two assistant professors investigated how their blended philosophies affected teaching and learning to promote 21st-century skills. They found that studying their own philosophies of teaching and learning heightened awareness of the necessity to incorporate new knowledge of best practices from other cultures.