Long-Term Impacts of Short-Term Study Abroad: Teacher Perceptions of Preservice Study Abroad Experiences

Abstract

Given the calls for a stronger global focus among pre-service teachers and the value of study abroad experiences to assist in this process, many teacher preparation programs have worked to include study abroad experiences into their programs. Including study abroad experiences lasting a semester or more has proven to be a challenge for many such programs however, given the highly structured and locally contextual nature of teacher education. The result is that most study abroad experiences available for preservice teachers are short-term, lasting only a few weeks. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a short-term study abroad course, taken during preservice teachers’ undergraduate program, had any lasting professional or personal impact once they become teachers.