Education for International Understanding: A Comparison of Attitudes and Self-Perceived Skills of Teacher Education Students in Finland and California.

This study compared and investigated the attitudes toward educating for international understanding in college students preparing to become elementary school teachers in Finland and the United States--particularly California. The study also explored whether participants thought their respective teacher education programs had prepared them to educate for international understanding. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample of students training to become elementary teachers in each of the two countries (51 in the United States and 93 in Finland). Both groups were predominantly female, and the Finnish students were somewhat younger than those from the United States. Analysis of the responses showed that both groups considered international education to be important. Americans tended to understand international education in more personal, local, and domestic terms with an interest in developing students' positive self image, and attaching importance to taking responsibility for self and others. The Finns thought of international education in more global terms and seemed to have a stronger group consciousness and a greater focus on national and cultural identity and understanding as it related to themselves and to others. Both groups indicated that they intended to teach so as to increase the international understanding of their students. Howev r, both groups wanted more adequate preparation for teaching international education. (Contains 20 references.) (JB) *********************************************************************** is Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 4-,**. ******************************************************************* * * Education for International Understanding: A comparison of attitudes and self-perceived skills of teacher education students in Finland and California A paper presented at the annual conference of the Comparative Education Society of Europe University of Copenhagen 28 June 1994 Kaarina Yli-Renko Department of Education. University of Turku Turku, Finland Introduction and John H. Yoder Graduate School Fresno Pacific College, Fresno, California, USA We live in a world that is increasingly pluralistic and global in its orientation, The economic and political interaction between nations has become closer and more intimate on the one hand while on the other hand conflicts and strained relations have increased between nations, cultures and ethnic groups. These developments are reflected across Europe, in the United States and in the rest of the world. To live successfully in such a world requires that its citizens develop a new level cultural awareness and sensitivity including the ability to understand and to communicate with persons from other cultures and nations. Yet it is unclear how well schools are preparing students to live in this global community. Even more importantly, it is unclear how well teachers have been prepared to carry out these tasks. One of the ways in which schools of both Finland and the United States (along with many other countries) have attempted to address this need has been with the introduction and development of school curriculum that has been referred to variously as International Education, Education for International Understanding, Global Education, Multicultural Education or Multicultural Studies. While each of these terms has come to take on somewhat different meanings (Alexandre, 1989-90; Kubus, 1989-90; Noronha, 1992) they do have a common core of concern with increasing understanding and communication between culturally and ethnically diverse peoples. What we have here chosen to call "international education" encompasses to some extent the breadth of foci implied by all of the above terms, but with a special emphasis on crossnational and cross-ethnic understanding and communication. In both countries international education, in the broader sense, has become important as a way to promote positive attitudes between different races as well as encouraging understanding and solidarity between people of different cultures and nations. International education has also been understood as an important part of ethical education at school, where the aim is to educate students to be able to carry world-wide responsibility and love for one's neighbor. According to the new Finnish curriculum (National Board of Education 1994) for example, the aim of international education is to raise students who know different cultures, strive for peace, respect human rights, and promote continuing development. Not only should they understand that nations are dependent on one another, and that equality and justice are foundational of human values, but they should also have a strong national identity and understand the importance of preserving one's own culture and cultural traditions. The United States has no comparable national program since each state is responsible for its own curriculum. However in many states, as in California. the goals for international education are similar to those expressed in the Finnish curriculum though, perhaps because 1ff rIPAI,! ,1(1,.1 I (i of ;Do, f t Ile us utARIMENT Of MUCATION (Mgt rl Educsoonid Airmen and lehho.theht MAO Ifint of/0, N f",ffAN! t If Di EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INEOPMATIDN f ) (MCI 0-41A, BEST COPY AVAILABLE . Inn. do, orneni NI, town neot,doeed so 4 IA roc h.1.1 Porn 1h. 041lbh o1 t.,Wht If Oh 4.1,1Q01114nci 1 ' ) r' O Bloom, 1987; Kobus, 1989-90). Purpose of the Study This study is a comparison of some of the attitudes, beliefs and educational experiences related to the development of international understanding of students who are preparing to become primary school teachers in Finland and in California (USA). More specifically, the study investigates the attitudes of these teachers-in-training toward the importance of the objectives or aims of educating for international understanding and of the extent to which they believe their respective teacher education programs have prepared them to carry out these tasks. Comparisons are made in each of these areas between student, in Finland and in California The student teachers are studied first, by asking their opinions about the importance of the aims of international education; second, by asking their perceptions of the adequacy of the international education component of their teacher training. It is assumed that future teachers will try to implement the aims they consider important. On the other hand, if the student teacher does not value the aims, he/she will not want to integrate the content of international education into his/her own education, neither would she/he, in the future work as a teacher, want to implement international education. The ability to implement the aims of international education, in turn, depends also on the quantity and quality of the teacher education (training). The study thus investigates both the student teachers' indications of the importance they attached to international education and their perceptions of how adequate they believed their training in international education to have been. Theoretical backgrosind As mentioned earlier, the concept of international education is multifaceted. In this section we explore some of the different aspects of the term. One of the questions in international education is its relationship to peace education. Depending on the different emphasis of their viewpoints, some scholars have described international education either as a sub-area of peace education or as a concept parallel to it, with overlapping content (Yli-Renko 1993). In this study, according to the UNESCOrecommendation (1974) and the official Finnish national curriculum (National Bo Prd of Education 1994), international education is regarded as global education compris Jg peace education, cultural education, development education, human rights education, environment education and equality education. In the USA on the other hand writers such as Alexandre (1986, 1989-90) and Lamy (1987) distinguish between terms such as multicultural education and global education on the basis of their focus on domestic pluralism and on international pluralism respectively and define global education broadly as "education for an interdependent world" (Alexandre 1989-90, p. 28). The concept of peace education, from the Finnish perspective, means active non-violent conflict resolution with special sub-areas such as disarmament and security. Cultural education includes international understanding and cooperation, empathy and the ability to understand and appreciate the point of view and life-orientation of others. Further, it provides tools, cultural knowledge and awareness for communication across international and cultural divisions. In order to be able to communicate successfully on the international level one needs, besides knowledge of the language code, also knowledge of one's own