Salam Mairi, Johanna Gruber, Sarah Mercer, Alina Schartner, Jan Ybema, Tony Young, Cor van der Meer
This study reports on the unique and personal experiences of 17 teacher educators from five different countries when integrating global citizenship education (GCE) and multilingual competences (MC) into their teaching practices. The qualitative study employed in-depth, semi-structured interviews to capture the complex and individual nature of their attitudes and practices towards incorporating GCE and MC into teaching. Through reflexive thematic analysis, findings revealed that these teacher educators experienced different pathways of understanding and gradual growth in their knowledge surrounding the topics. Furthermore, the study shows that anyone wishing to incorporate GCE and MC into their teaching practice may set out from diverse starting points. Findings reveal three motivations for teaching GCE and or MC including making a difference in the world, being able to deal with the complex education system, and striving for social equity. Lastly, participants provided advice to teachers and teacher educators about how GCE and MC can be approached. In sum, the study uncovered a need to provide time, resources, and opportunities for teachers and teacher educators to grow their own understandings and capabilities for working with these approaches and the importance of individual motivation in driving the agenda forward in the absence of systemic support. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
English Language and Literature, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia; Institute of English Studies, University of Graz, Graz, Austria; School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
