The Need of Global Understanding and Context: Multicultural and International Perspectives on Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper examines the issue of lacking global context and international perspectives in the traditional teacher education program and research in the United States through literature review and content analyasis. Current research based on teacher quality, professional development, and teacher education programs have developed based on the U.S. focus, while pre-service and in-service teachers are having an increasingly diverse student population in their classrooms. The lack of appropriate trainings and preparations in developing multicultural and international teaching competence will create instructional barriers between teachers and their multicultural and international students. A more specific question this study poses from the review is the following: what we are missing in teacher education by having a U.S.-focused lens in the teacher education literature.