Learning Beyond Borders: Teaching Practice Experiences of SEA-Teacher Participants in Cross-Cultural School Context

Abstract

This study aims to explore the cross-cultural teaching experiences of participants in the SEA Teacher Program in the context of Southeast Asian partner schools. This study uses an interpretive qualitative approach involving prospective teachers and mentor teachers as participants. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and then analyzed thematically. The results show that international teaching practice is understood as an interrelated pedagogical and social experience. Participants experienced challenges in pedagogical adaptation, classroom communication, and adjustment to school professional norms. Interactions with students, mentor teachers, and school staff played an important role in the participants' professional learning process. This study also found that experiences outside of formal teaching activities contributed to the formation of professional identity and cross-cultural sensitivity. This study concludes that cross-cultural teaching practices in the SEA Teacher Program function as a complex and contextual experience-based professional learning space.