Preservice teachers’ understandings of social justice within the context of study abroad programs

Abstract

How do preservice teachers (PSTs) understand social justice within the context of education-focused study abroad programs? How might traveling across cultural borders facilitate PSTs'™ development of a social justice mindset? Drawing on previous studies and examples from an ongoing study of 6 annual, short-term study abroad programs, this article explores how PSTs reported experiences related to social justice and suggests implications for study abroad programs in teacher education. We propose that the context, curriculum, and co-curricular activities of a study abroad program have the potential to impact how PSTs conceptualize social justice and that an intentional focus on context-specific issues of social justice from a critical perspective has the potential to both broaden and deepen their conceptualizations. We suggest approaches from the programs that provided opportunities for PSTs to develop nuanced understandings of social justice in education and showed promise for preparing PSTs with global competency to serve diverse students.