Student teachers’ recollections of a short-term study abroad experience: Critical incident analysis
Student teachers’ recollections of a short-term study abroad experience: Critical incident analysis

Summary/Abstract: One of the aspects that affect the quality of intercultural teaching is the teachers’ international experience (Byram, 1991; Göbel & Hesse, 2008); therefore, to expose future teachers to other cultures, many universities encourage students to spend some time abroad. By means of critical incident technique (CIT), the study delineated in this article sought to investigate Polish FL student teachers’ interpretations of situations they viewed as particularly memorable, surprising and important during a two-week teacher training program in Germany. Based on the recalled critical incidents, this qualitative case study additionally sought to establish the participants’ intercultural orientation on the basis of the DMIS model. The content analysis revealed that the respondents recalled more positive incidents than the negative ones and that the accounts centered around two main categories: incidents involving cross-cultural situations and incidents within the Polish group. The results also indicate that the participants of the study hold a realistic view of their own country and are able to approach cross-cultural situations in an objective and mature way, which situates them within the ethnorelative stages of cultural development.

• Details
• Contents