Pedagogies of Working with Diversity: West-East Reciprocal Learning in Preservice Teacher Education

Abstract

This chapter focuses on pedagogies of working with diversity centers on West-East reciprocal learning through a Reciprocal Learning Program in preservice teacher education between a Canadian university and a Chinese university. By presenting our initial analysis of fieldwork with our Teacher Education Reciprocal Learning Program participants through excerpts from newsletters, surveys, and interviews, we explore how participants from both China and Canada made sense of their learning from the other cultural and educational system through the Reciprocal Learning Program within broad educational, social, and cultural contexts. We argue that both global and multicultural dimensions are cultivated in reciprocal learning that infused the lived experiences of both Canadian and Chinese preservice teacher candidates. We discuss the pedagogic implications for working with diversity and believe that reciprocal learning can take place while working with people from different cultures with an attitude of mutual respect and appreciation and an appetite for learning in our increasingly interconnected world.

Citation

Xu, S., Chen, S. and Huang, J. (2015), "Pedagogies of Working with Diversity: West-East Reciprocal Learning in Preservice Teacher Education", International Teacher Education: Promising Pedagogies (Part B) (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 22B), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 137-160. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720150000025006