Bridging the study abroad and transformative learning gap: Fostering perspective transformation through co-curricular workshops
Conference Thread
Applying Transformative Learning in Teaching
This action research aims at bridging the gap between students and their host cultures, but also between administration and research. Stemming from the interventionist paradigm in pre-SA (Jackson, 2018; Vande Berg...2012), we developed a series of workshops based on intercultural competence development and implemented Transformative Learning (Mezirow, 2000) principles during the pre-SA phase to teach students how to optimize their international experiences. This collaboration between various actors on campus (team of researchers, office of study abroad, librarians, undergraduate student researchers) are designed to help students prepare for their SA in ways fostering perspective transformation (PT). These TL principles include reading and discussing SA narratives and strategies to support meaningful intercultural encounters, identifying spaces students enter and why, reflecting on one’s emotions, creating one’s own research project about the host culture, and coping with culture shock.
From this project, we hope to establish a system for students to think about their education as an opportunity for PT, as these workshops aim at institutionalizing transformation. While PT develops organically, our long-term goal is to provide a sustainable framework for students to foster their own change, beyond their academic careers.
The audience will gain applicable curricular materials that can be adapted to their contexts. This session is particularly meaningful for study abroad offices and international student programming, and any program seeking student perspective transformation.