Purpose: This study aims at understanding how higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute to sustainable development, by designing their programmes for bringing about a transformative impact on communities and students, and also to examine what alternative pedagogical approaches could be used for that. In the past decades, HEIs have…

Teacher preparation programmes through cultural immersion field experiences in Schools as Learning Communities have the potential to increase the intercultural sensitivity of future teachers to provide an effective response to the needs of Roma children. This research evaluated the impact of an intercultural training programme for prospective…

This paper examines the pedagogical framework of Jerusalem University College (JUC) for biblical field studies in the Holy Land. JUC's program revolves around three pedagogical pillars, "Read the Land. See the Text. Live the Book," centered on geographical comprehension, biblical texts, and practiced Christianity. This mixed methods…

This paper is a reflective account of a travel that shifted the site of initial elementary teacher education from a metropolitan milieu of New Delhi; to the contrasting locale of a remote mountain region in the central Himalayas. This shift of site aimed to re-locate the concerns of quality schooling, diversity and ecological living to this new…

This paper reveals the extent to which undergraduate students demonstrate transformative learning whilst on international fieldwork in Barcelona, Spain. Groups of students create a series of discrete active learning situations that allow them and their peers to engage more fully with their locale and in turn experience a deeper understanding of…

Research exploring preservice postsecondary students' experiences participating in an international field placement is a relatively new area of study in the domains of Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Early Childhood Leadership (ECL). While there is a growing body of literature offering merit to the profound transformations that can occur for…

Crossing the Bridge to Swaziland presents the story of five pre-service teachers and their faculty mentors who traveled to St. Philip's Mission, Swaziland in January 2014. There they worked collaboratively with Swazi teachers and staff running a week long camp with a business basics and motivational theme, for teenaged orphans and vulnerable…

Reflecting on our efforts to provide Canadian university students with a transformative learning experience in Cuba, we were surprised to find that dominant forms of liberal thinking were more difficult to challenge than was anticipated. This paper explores this phenomenon and offers deliberation as a means toward lessening the stronghold of such…

Initial teacher education programs are continuously looking for ways to grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of pre-service teachers (PSTs) who will face a diverse student population when they begin their careers. This study examines a short-term, cross-cultural, service-learning immersion undertaken by 21 undergraduate PSTs to an internally…

In the twenty-first century, learning and the definition of education is changing. New digital, online, and social tools have the ability to transform the classroom and engage learners like never before. In the midst of this technological revolution, it is crucial for educators and administrators to be able to gauge the impact of digital tools on…

In our diverse and interconnected world, expanding students' horizons beyond the classrooms and laboratories of home campuses is increasingly important. Even some of the brightest honors students remain naïve to the causes and ramifications of current world events and lack the necessary intercultural skills to become effective ethical leaders with…

Students undertaking field-based learning, in which they work with Indigenous people in Northern Australia, describe a profound learning experience redolent with emotion. Inspired, challenged and transformed, the students are compelled in ways that require them to interrogate their own selves and taken-for-granted beliefs. In this paper, we draw…

This theoretical study uses the context of the writer's personal encounters in Malawi, Africa, to propose a conceptual model for creating diverse field experiences based on best practices in critical pedagogy, service learning, and the underpinnings of transformational learning theory, for the purpose of increasing the probability of meaningful…

This article explores the conditions under which international social work field placements may be effectively administered. The positive and negative potential of international placements is examined. A review of empirical and theoretical literature in the related fields of service learning and international volunteering reveals that role taking,…

Fieldwork is central to teaching and learning in geography. The assessment of student learning from fieldwork can, however, be problematic. This paper evaluates the use of reflective diaries for assessing level three undergraduate geography fieldwork. It is concluded that reflective fieldwork diaries offer an innovative and flexible approach to…