STUDY ABROAD AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ GLOBAL COMPETENCE

Abstract

Globalization has made the world a more interdependent and multicultural society. Global issues, including regional conflicts, pandemics, and climate change, affect human life across boundaries and cultures and require people to collaborate in solving problems. Under this context, teachers with a global perspective and diverse values can enhance students' world views, foster respect for difference, and develop responsibility for a more sustainable and inclusive world. Thus, the need for professional development to prepare teachers to be globally competent has been extensively recognized. Recently, the study abroad program as an effective means of developing global competence has been increasingly researched and implemented in teacher education program (Huang et al., 2023; Okken et al., 2019). Unlike stand-alone training courses, studying abroad provides immersive opportunities for participants to expose themselves to different educational systems and cultures. Such intercultural encounter experiences can broaden teachers’ pedagogical repositories and skills to teach diverse students, enhance understanding of global issues, and facilitate reflection on personal and professional identities.