Maximizing Cross-Cultural Opportunities: Pre-service Teachers and Pakistani Teachers Writing Together

Authors

Margaret Berg, University of Northern ColoradoFollow
Courtney Luce, University of Northern ColoradoFollow

Abstract

This qualitative and quantitative study examines a cross-cultural writing workshop between undergraduate pre-service teachers and Pakistani in-service teachers. The 27 undergraduate students were in their junior year in the teacher education program, and had focused majors in a variety of content areas including history, science, music, and language arts. The 17 visiting scholars from Pakistan were all secondary level classroom teachers, also from a variety of disciplines. The undergraduates completed a questionnaire before and after the workshop, and the Pakistanis participated in a focus group following the workshop. Findings demonstrate a shift in the undergraduates’ thinking of genre to forms of writing other than those limited to language arts. The undergraduates also went from knowing little about Pakistan to describing it with an increased number of words related to customs, traditions, humanities, holidays, and family. The Pakistani teachers benefited from the instructional approach employed and stated it would be useful in Pakistan. The implications of the study include a cross-cultural approach for learning about writing genres valued by English-speaking nations, and for increasing knowledge about culture to maximize the undergraduate pre-service teachers’ education.

Recommended Citation

Berg, Margaret and Luce, Courtney (2019) "Maximizing Cross-Cultural Opportunities: Pre-service Teachers and Pakistani Teachers Writing Together," Journal of Educational Research and Innovation: Vol. 7, Article 1.
Available at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/jeri/vol7/iss1/1