Echoes of Transnational Teachers
Date
2015-12
Authors
Bowlby-Holt, Susan M.
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Abstract
The primary focus of this qualitative study was to uncover and examine through narrative inquiry the cultural fronts experienced and navigated by transnational teachers. Five transnational teachers from Spain participated in the research. Teachers shared their lived experiences through narratives captured in pláticas and photo narratives. Pláticas included early life experiences and personal education in their homelands. Teachers also shared their individual recruitment, interview processes, and transitional experiences to the United States. Finally, teachers discussed the organizational dynamics and experiences as educators in a new culture.
Participants grew in cultural consciousness and critical meaning making through composing, recomposing, and sharing their stories with one another. During a culminating cultural fronts retreat participants shared dialogue that illuminated the shared experiences that challenged and inspired them as new transnational teachers.
Analysis of the written and photo narratives provided insight to the critical cultural fronts faced by transnational teachers and provided the foundation for determination of recommendations concerning: a. Transnational relocation as it relates to family, teaching, and cultural challenges, b. Orientation, training, and professional to support for transnational teachers, c. Negotiate their cultural identities, and d. Practices and Policies that impact transnational teacher experiences.
Description
Keywords
Transnational teachers, Cultural fronts, Qualitative methodology, Bricolage, Pláticas
Citation
Bowlby-Holt, S. M. (2015). <i>Echoes of transnational teachers</i> (Unpublished dissertation). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.