This research was funded by the 2021 CILMAR Seed Grant. The link to the presentation can be found here. 

To investigate the efficacy of such a virtual, international platform in a teacher education program, the research team designed and implemented an online, intercultural course, Global Social Justice in Education (GSJE) in collaboration with educators from around the globe. The primary goal of GSJE was to provide opportunities for PSTs to develop their synergistic understandings between intercultural competencies and social justice. In this study, the research team investigated how collaborations among educators from six countries (China, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania, U.S., and Zambia) facilitated the understandings of, and connections, between local and global social justice.

The research team envisioned GSJE as a global community of practice (e.g., Lave & Wenger, 1991), which aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN 2030 Agenda) Goal 4 that promotes “inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UN, 2015; pp. 21-22). In GSJE, the research team designed and implemented curricular activities focusing on local and global social justice as well as intercultural competency. Through these intercultural curricular activities, the research team aimed to foster PSTs’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes to (a) examine their own identities, (b) develop empathy for others’ lived experiences, (c) enhance understandings of others’ cultures and values, and (d) interrogate local and global social justice.

If you are interested in applying for the CILMAR Seed Grant, information can be found here: https://purdue.edu/ippu/cilmar/research/seed-grants.html. Applicants should be employed and/or pursuing a course of study at Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Bima K Sapkota, Lili Zhou, Rose Mbewe, Jill A Newton, Joann I Phillion (2022). Fostering Preservice Teachers’ Social Justice Awareness and Intercultural Competencies Through a Virtual Global Community of Practice | Seed Grant2021. (Version 3.0).

  BibTex | EndNote

1. community of practice
2. global social justice
3. intercultural competence
4. intercultural curricular activities
5. preservice teachers
6. virtual learning platform.

Citation: Sapkota, B., Zhou, L., Mbewe, R., Newton, J., & Phillion, J. (in press). Fostering pre-service teachers’ intercultural competencies through global cross-cultural collaborations. In C. Ullom & N. Guler (Eds.), At school in the world: Developing globally engaged teachers (Vol.—pp. — —). Rowman & Littlefield Publishing.

Presentation link (citation of presentation: Sapkota, B., Mueller, K. L., Fauber, D.R., Phillion, J., & Newton, J. (2021, April 22-27). Reimagining global cross-cultural education to cultivate preservice teachers’ intercultural sensitivity. In G. Wangari (Chair), Post pandemic teaching preparation with a global focus: Re-imagining educational inequalities to embrace equity and justice. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA. )