The important role of study abroad in the preparation
of competent teachers for the 21st-century globalized world cannot
be underestimated. Yet, the percentage of teacher education programs that have
incorporated study abroad into their curriculum is still negligible. While
there are approximately 5.3 million emergent bilinguals in U.S. K-12 public
schools, and they constitute the fastest growing sector of K-12, the
demographics of teachers have changed very little, with most of them being
White, middle-class, monolingual, and monolithic females. Additionally, teacher
education curricula do not incorporate the appropriate training for the
accommodations that must be made in order to educate culturally and
linguistically diverse (CLD) students effectively. As a result, teachers
continue to have difficulties meeting the demands of today’s pluralistic
society. Based on this premise, this exploratory study surveyed education
majors participating in a summer study abroad program in Spain to determine
their expectations and perceptions about the program with a focus on the
sociocultural and linguistic dimensions of the prism model. Findings revealed
that the students’ expectations were in consonance with the framework,
indicating their dispositions toward acquiring the required knowledge and skills
for the implementation of biography-driven instruction (BDI). The data also
revealed the appropriateness of the study abroad program for preparing
educators for BDI.
