Living and Teaching Internationally: Teachers Talk about Personal Experiences,Benefits,and Challenges

Abstract

This study reports on the impact of international visiting faculty’s teaching experiences in the United States on their personal, professional, and intercultural development. It is based on the principles of qualitative research and can be described as a case study. Data collection involved a questionnaire, a written narrative, and a semi-structured interview with each of a number of teachers. Participants included a group of 22 visiting faculty. Three main categories, each of which can be subdivided into benefits and challenges, emerged from the analysis: intercultural matters, professional matters, and personal matters. A wide range of benefits was identified, suggesting that the participants adapted to new life styles, became more mature, obtained a deeper understanding of themselves, reaffirmed their own educational values and philosophies, raised cultural awareness, became more flexible, and developed attitudes that involved tolerance and respect. Conversely, visiting faculty reported that they faced challenges related to language barriers, interaction with native speakers, classroom management, lack of support from school administrators, and separation from family.

Keywords

international education intercultural experience international educator benefits challenges

Introduction

In the world today, the flow of professionals from one country to another has increased significantly (Burman et al, 2006; Kerr et al, 2016). Different factors have caused this movement of people. Burman et al (2006) argue that there are many possible social, economic, and political reasons for the increasing number of overseas professionals. In the field of education, many students as well as educators are pursuing opportunities to travel abroad to achieve individual academic goals, obtain personal independence, and gain intercultural understanding. Additionally, educators have found an increasing demand to develop cultural sensitivity and the need to broaden their personal and professional lives.

During recent decades, societies have been confronting new challenges in education resulting from the process of globalization. This atmosphere of internationalization combined with changes in educational policies has forced teacher preparation programs to recruit professionals with a broader understanding of the differences among cultures and peoples (Stewart & Kagan, 2005). When educators embark on the adventure of living and teaching abroad, they face a diverse range of rewarding and challenging experiences.

For example, teacher exchange programs have significantly altered the lives of educators as they move out of their local context and broaden their perspectives on teaching, which, in the long run, enriches the entire profession (Alred, 2003; Burman et al, 2006; Garson, 2005). Bodycott and Walker (2000) support the idea that being immersed in a foreign culture is a valuable opportunity to see one’s own culture from the outside and that these cross-cultural experiences and the reflections on one’s own culture are the foundation of intercultural learning. Furthermore, Gu (2005) states that teachers who have intercultural experiences adopt a more critical view of their own teaching approaches and become better able to judge the appropriateness of foreign trends when teaching in their home countries, adding that intercultural experiences deepen teachers’ understanding of the meaning of culturally sensitive pedagogy as well as increasing awareness of their own identities. Gu (2005) also notes that teachers’ identities are shaped by the varied practices and sociocultural values and principles of the foreign settings where they live and work. The growth that comes from living and teaching abroad is holistic as cognitive, personal, social, and cultural domains are involved (Alred, 2003).

There are many challenges posed by cross-national experiences (Hutchison & Jazzar, 2007). Issues such as culture shock, logistics, unfamiliar structural and organizational arrangements, differing notions of assessment, communication gaps, and problems with teacher-student relations are some examples. Similarly, Bodycott and Walker (2000) state that the foreign academic faces many difficulties in the process of adapting to the new institution as well as to the new country. In fact, they go through a process of alienation from their families while simultaneously dealing with the challenges of living abroad and working in a school system different from their own. To succeed amid the turbulence of all these challenges, international teachers need to become active learners to embrace the changes and uncertainties of their new lives.

This study was designed to investigate the personal experiences of a group of visiting faculty teaching in public schools in the United States, the benefits that stemmed from their intercultural experiences, and the challenges they faced in the transition from their own cultures to the new setting. The study explores the following questions:

What are the personal experiences faced by a group of visiting faculty while living and teaching in the United States?

What are the benefits and challenges that stem from intercultural experiences in the United States?

Literature Review

Intercultural Communicative Competence

Intercultural competence is a very important skill in our contemporary world. Byram (1997) pointed out that a person needs to develop certain attitudes, knowledge, and skills to be interculturally competent. Interculturally competent professionals are curious about the products and practices of relevant social groups. They refrain from being judgmental and avoid interpreting and relating issues from the target language to their own. As a result, they are able to raise their own critical cultural awareness. Byram (1997) also emphasized the importance of learning and interacting in the host-country language. Bilingual ability often builds empathy, enabling culturally competent professionals to mediate between people from different backgrounds. Byram et al (2009) argue that intercultural competence has to be explicitly taught, learned, and practiced throughout life.

Byram et al (2009) divide intercultural competence into four categories: attitudes, knowledge, skills, and actions. Attitudes include respect for otherness, empathy, acknowledgment of identities, and tolerance. Knowledge involves understanding how social groups function and interact as well as being able to interpret the outcomes of communication. Skills have to do with discovering knowledge, being critical, interpreting, and recognizing different linguistic conventions. Finally, action involves the contribution that the person makes to the common good in order to become involved in making things much better and different with other people.

Intercultural interactions have to do with international education as this is concerned with the knowledge and skills that people attain from participating in educational activities and cross-cultural experiences abroad (Merryfield, 1995). When educators teach overseas, they hopefully obtain cultural knowledge and become global educators when they integrate some aspects of culture into the instruction. Hayden and Thompson (1995) noted that international education has expanded, and some professionals, such as educators and administrators, have built their careers around this international world. As a result, research efforts have been made to support the international experiences of people in different educational contexts. Finally, Wilson (1987) held that cross-cultural experiences should be required if a more culturally pluralistic society is a priority.

Benefits and Challenges When Teaching Internationally

Different experiences have been reported when teachers work overseas, and they can be divided into benefits and challenges.

Benefits

With respect to the benefits, both professional growth and personal growth are among the consequences of teaching abroad (Altun, 2015; Barber, 2003; Cook, 2000; De Villar and Jiang, 2012; Serin, 2017; Yarosh et al, 2018), and literature shows evidence of the positive influence of international teaching experiences on teachers’ lives. Moran (2002) stated that the awareness gained by being in a foreign country is gradual and has an impact that one sees in oneself over time. The author shared that by the end of his international teaching experience in China, he had learned to have an open mind about cultural differences even if he could not understand all of them. He added that at the end of his intercultural experience abroad, he had learned a significant amount in terms of self-knowledge and achievement.

In a similar vein, Alred (2003) claimed that intercultural experiences can be liberating, as a life lived abroad brings important personal changes. In fact, it contributes to increased self-understanding, development, and movement towards more resourceful and effective living. Moreover, people who have been abroad have more knowledge about politics and social interactions, and they show more talent in personal development than people who have not been abroad (Serin, 2017). In a study conducted in different schools worldwide Hayden et al (2000) described how both teachers and students show positive characteristics including tolerance, international-mindedness, open-mindedness, second language competence, flexibility of thinking, and respect for others when working internationally. In addition, people not only gain prestige and have more job opportunities but also change their stereotypical thoughts when they have lived abroad.

The professionalism that stems from intercultural experiences is not the result of cognitive development alone. It also involves learning about oneself and becoming an educator who reflects on social and cultural practices. Gu (2005) stated that this is a cognitive process that requires teachers to reflect critically about their own beliefs and teaching practices. In a study Gu (2005) found that teachers gained awareness not only of the impact of cultural and contextual aspects on teaching, but also of other methods as they gained a deeper, systematic and whole understanding of English language teaching. De Villar and Jiang (2012) also suggested some advantages for teachers when they obtain international experience:

they learn how to teach independently and develop their own styles.

they develop a practical sense of creativity and appreciation for instructional material.

they transfer and adapt skills to be used in their local settings.

they are aware of cultural differences and willing to try new ways of teaching in their contexts.

they have classroom management challenges in their own settings.

Similarly, Burman et al (2006) claimed that the professional growth that comes from overseas teaching experiences is holistic, because the learning experience is about the self in the cultural setting as both daily life experience and teaching experience are the values teachers gain when they are abroad. Nussbaum (1994) highlighted the importance of being an international citizen, and recommended going beyond one’s own national perspectives. Thus, when living abroad, teachers play two different roles, as both local and global citizen. Their experiences and knowledge are broader, and their understanding of diversity and change is deeper (Cornes, 2004; Burman et al, 2006).

Durtka et al (2002) argued that educators enhance classroom connections in their host schools by understanding the cultural and linguistic differences of their students and participating in or promoting community programs, ie sharing activities such as riding the bus, attending church, and attending community celebrations. Lastly, Moran (2002) points out that being abroad promotes a significant increase in teachers’ foreign language proficiency and gives educators more independence and freedom.

Challenges

Having the opportunity to live and teach abroad brings risks and challenges (Elbaz-Luwisch, 2004). Situational factors such as accommodation, financial issues, emotional demands, loneliness, and homesickness as well as a lack of communicative skills and support in the school or university are elements to take into account (Wu et al, 2015; Alred, 2003). Most educators learn the host country’s language in artificial settings. Therefore, they may experience stress when interacting in real life situations in the host country. Burman et al (2006) pointed out that one reason that learning to teach in a foreign country is challenging is that education systems and curricula often differ from region to region even within a single national context.

Similarly, Hutchison and Jazzar (2007) stated that gaps develop related to culture shock, school system logistics, and communication. International educators arrive in the host country and have to meet all the requirements of living and working there. For example, successful acclimatization in the United States often requires the educator to be able not only to work but also to drive legally there. Regarding US school systems, international educators have not only to learn how the federal system works but also to become familiar with relevant state systems and local public or private school entities, which have their own regulations and policies. Furthermore, in addition to regulations and policies, the international teacher must be versed in the relevant school’s curriculum, pedagogical foundations, and goals. Assessment is also a serious issue because students in the host country often have different expectations from those of international teachers. Regarding intercultural issues, both the linguistic and the paralinguistic [body language, gestures, facial expressions] elements of languages are very important in the process of communicating with the community in general (Byram et al, 2009). Thus, misunderstandings may arise in class or during interactions with people in the host community. Even when international teachers have developed a significant linguistic corpus of the foreign language, it may not be enough to communicate effectively. A variety of unfamiliar accents, expressions, idioms, silences, spelling, and types of body language can interfere with the communication process (Ephratt, 2011; Mancini-Cross et al, 2009).

Different investigations have aimed at the challenging experiences teachers have had overseas. Miller (2018) studied the strategies that teachers trained overseas used in order to cope with their daily working lives and teaching experience in England compared to their teaching experiences in their countries of origin. Results suggest that overseas trained teachers survive and cope with the demands of their jobs but do not appear to be thriving and flourishing. Similarly, Roy and Lavery (2017) investigated the experiences of teachers trained overseas prior to obtaining a teaching position in an Australian public secondary school. The authors wanted to understand the different barriers and challenges that teachers must negotiate before obtaining a teaching placement, and some of their findings include apparent lack of information on post-immigration life, danger of misinformation, registration delays, inconsistency in English language requirements, and difficult living conditions in the country areas. In the same context, Sharplin (2009) examined the perspectives and areas of concern of six overseas-qualified teachers commencing employment at rural schools. Findings indicate that teachers experienced difficulties with cultural adaptation related to pedagogy, behaviour management and language. In the context of post-secondary institutions, Mizzi (2017) analyzed the experiences of visiting faculty, and remarked that to be a visiting academic is indeed an opportunity to create and enhance one’s intercultural competence and professional practice. Findings suggest that offering a pedagogy of preparedness may help faculty members explore the different challenges and benefits of teaching or researching abroad.

Methodology

This study utilizes qualitative methods and can be described as a case study with an interpretive approach (Creswell, 2014; Yin, 2003; Merriam, 1998). Denzin and Lincoln (2018) highlighted the importance of conducting research in real contexts by stating that “qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (p 10). This paper presents the voices of a sample of foreign teachers narrating their personal experiences of living and teaching in the United States. It includes descriptions of the benefits that stemmed from their intercultural experiences, and the difficulties they faced in the transition from their own cultural context to the new setting.

Participants

Forty teachers who were part of an exchange program in the United States were contacted about participating in the study. Within this sample twenty-six were still teaching in US public schools, and fourteen were alumni teachers [teachers who had previously participated in the exchange program]. Thirteen of the former group agreed to participate. The teachers came from six countries: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Romania. They taught Spanish, French, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Latin in secondary schools. Nine teachers in the second group also agreed to participate. Their home countries were Argentina, Australia, Colombia, and Jamaica, and they taught Spanish, French, ESL, and science. Thus, twenty-two teachers participated and provided valuable insights. Appendix A lists all participants (using pseudonyms to protect their anonymity) and their country of origin.

Data Collection

Data collection was based on a questionnaire, a written narrative, and a semi-structured interview with each of the participants. In addition to gathering some demographic information, the main purpose of the questionnaire was to obtain the teachers’ different insights into their international experience as educators, as well as their intercultural experiences in the new setting. Next, the teachers wrote a narrative, or essay, about a critical incident they experienced during their stay in the US. Narratives are often used in qualitative research because they represent “a distinct form of . . . meaning making through the shaping of experience . . . a way of understanding one’s own or others’ actions” (Chase, 2018, p 549). This exercise allowed the teachers an extended opportunity to recount a meaningful situation they faced during their time abroad.

After collecting the narratives, we proceeded to conduct a semi-structured interview with each participant. In line with Brinkmann and Kvale (2015), a semi-structured interview is a method with the purpose of obtaining descriptions of the lived experiences of the participants in order to interpret the meaning of the described phenomena. We conducted the individual interviews in order to expand or clarify insights from the questionnaire or narrative; in addition, we wanted to interact with teachers and listen to their voices talking about their experiences abroad and how they influenced their personal and professional growth.

The procedure for conducting the semi-structured interview differed between the two groups. To some extent, it was easier to interview the group of thirteen currently-teaching exchange faculty face to face because they were still in their positions in the United States, and all were enrolled in summer classes at the same college. For the nine alumni participants, the interview was carried out via e-mail or telephone, and some of them were interviewed in person. Two teachers e-mailed their answers, three teachers were interviewed by telephone, and four teachers were interviewed personally.

The face-to-face interviews were digitally recorded and saved in the researchers’ personal computers as well as backed-up on CD-ROM. Digital files were then transcribed using standard orthography to discover similarities and differences between the interviewees’ answers. Participants were identified using pseudonyms to protect their identities, and a consent form was signed to guarantee their voluntary participation.

Data Analysis

The data were analyzed using a grounded approach (Freeman, 1998) as we read the interviews and narratives to identify emerging categories. The questionnaires were tallied manually. We stacked the completed questionnaires and created a chart with columns and rows. We then numbered the rows so each one was reserved for the answers given by each respondent. We also numbered the columns and each one represented a question asked on the questionnaire. Next, we counted the answers for every question and recorded the number on the chart. We proceeded to analyze the data according to the inductive process (Creswell, 2012) in order to establish categories and find patterns. We carefully read the transcribed data and narratives, line by line, identified meaningful segments for our study, and coded them. For example, we read the interviews and wrote the word ‘challenge’ to the portions that illustrated a teacher’s difficult experience.

The triangulated design – including the analysis of the questionnaire, the narratives, and the semi-structured interview – addressed the study’s need for validity. The use of these three sources strengthened the research findings and developed a consistent justification for the themes pulled out from the data. Saturation was reached when similarities in the categories emerged from the data and no new aspects of the phenomenon were identified.

Findings

As mentioned above, this study was designed to investigate the personal experiences of a group of visiting faculty in the United States, the benefits that stemmed from their intercultural experiences, and the challenges they faced in the transition from their own cultures to the new setting. Based on analysis of the three instruments—the questionnaire, narrative, and interview— three main categories emerged: intercultural matters, professional matters, and personal matters.

Intercultural Matters

Benefits

Cross-cultural awareness

According to Bodycott and Walker (2000), cross-cultural learning experiences enhance educators’ individual awareness of attitudes toward culture, learning, and change. In this study, participants reported that they had gained greater cross-cultural awareness as a result of their interaction with Americans and other educators from different parts of the world. With regard to cross-cultural awareness, six participants reported some benefits in the questionnaire. Felipe commented “From this exchange experience I have gained a better understanding of the target culture”, and Luz wrote “I got familiar not only with the American culture, but also with the other cultures for example the Hispanic one.” Similarly, Patricia said “One thing I have gained from the experience is the ability to understand other cultures and different ways of life”. Ana responded, “I have learned that even in countries that share the same language there can be vast cultural differences”. These voices demonstrate that the teachers became more aware of the cultural diversity in the settings where they were living and teaching.

Respect for diverse cultures

In the questionnaire, visiting faculty (27%) acknowledged becoming more flexible and having greater ability to deal with cultural differences, which is significant because Burman et al (2006) proposed that understanding diversity is one of the outcomes of teaching abroad. Also, participants reported in the interview how much they learned living abroad. In that regard, Pablo commented “I learned to be more tolerant about cultural differences and appreciate more my family and culture”, while Patricia indicated “I’m more aware of cultural differences, I’ve learned to be respectful about those differences”. Luz, meanwhile, said “I got familiar not only with the American culture, but also with other cultures, for example the Hispanic one”. Vilma reported that “one of the gains is that I became more aware of the importance of cultural diversity”. Additionally, Natalia said, “I have learned to be more tolerant, more culturally sensitive and I have also become a better prepared teacher and a better person”, while Claudia emphasized “One thing that I have learned from this experience is the ability to understand and respect people from different cultures.”

As can be seen, having an intercultural experience in a foreign country provided these six teachers with opportunities to grow personally as well as professionally.

Challenges

On the other hand, the group of teachers also talked about some intercultural challenges:

Socializing

Interacting with other people seemed to be a common difficulty among some of the respondents. The differences in social norms between the United States and Latin America made it difficult for them to socialize in the host country. Nineteen of the twenty two participants came from different Latin American countries; they found it difficult to socialize with other people and to adapt to some schedules in the new social setting. In the interview, Felipe indicated that “One of the most challenging situations was adapting to new social rules which in some cases are very different from the ones I had in my country.” Also, Jaime mentioned that there are “so many challenging things you have to get used to in order for you to integrate yourself into the community (lifestyle).” Finally, Claudia added “I was shocked by the time Americans go to bed, that was too early, the time they have dinner . . . going to parties, everything is closed at 2 am”. All these reflect the socializing differences between the US and Latin America. In fact, Costalas (2009) compared intercultural communications between Colombian and American speakers, and found that misunderstandings appear due to the differences regarding values and priorities of each culture.

Language Barriers

Interaction among students and educators in the classroom may become an issue when there are cultural differences regarding expressions, manners of speech, different accents, and differences related to the interpretation of body language (Hutchison & Jazzar, 2007). This was probably the case for Mario, since he came from a Latin American country where personal space and physical contact with people may be perceived differently than in the United States:

“A student who was asking for further explanations, I tried to explain everything to that student in detail, but the next day when I went to school I got a note from my principal because the student’s parents were very angry at me, because they said I had got too physically close to their kid.” (Mario, narrative instrument)

Similarly, Sonia wrote in her narrative “The first shock that I had when I began to teach, was the way students had to be treated. I was warned about the physical distance that I had to keep with my students.” On this matter, Hall (1966) divides cultures into two different types: contact culture and non-contact culture. In contact cultures people are closer regarding interpersonal distances and use more touching. Latin American countries are examples of this category. In contrast, North America is considered a non-contact culture as people are more distant in interpersonal relationships.

Hutchison and Jazzar (2007) state that communication gaps between educators and students may be due to the use of different expressions and different accents. This was the case of one of the teachers who, despite being a native speaker of English, had some trouble when communicating with her students. In her narrative Ana wrote “I was completely caught off guard when the assistant principal of my American school informed me that there had been some complaints about my English ability: my Australian accent was difficult for students to understand apparently.”

Professional matters

Benefits

Professional development opportunities

Intercultural experiences enable teachers to have more rational views on teaching and learning practice (Gu, 2005). Participants reported that teaching in the United States gave them the opportunity to grow professionally. Regarding professional growth, Jaime said in the interview “The main benefit is professional development, I have attended many training sessions and conferences, workshops, I have improved, and learned more about teaching techniques which would have been kind of hard to do at home.”

Fifteen of the participants were taking graduate classes in order to obtain a master’s degree. The educators who were taking these classes described having a great opportunity to keep abreast of current trends in teaching and to learn about methodologies. During the interview Nanci commented “I’m working on my master’s degree, I’ve learned so much about teaching ESL which has helped me to introduce strategies in my teaching in my school.” Moreover, María reported:

“I attended a lot of state and out of state conferences about teaching paid by the school . . . I received training from my school in several topics such as classroom management, teaching strategies, teaching styles, different types of assessment, I also had the privilege to work on my Master of Arts in TESOL.” (María, interview).

Reflective teaching

Intercultural experiences promote reflective teaching because educators end up making decisions in order to improve their teaching performance (Gu, 2005). For example, building rapport with students may take some time at the beginning of the intercultural experience; nevertheless, teachers may make the adjustments necessary to improve their relationship with a class within the time limits they have. One of the teachers wrote in her narrative:

“When I first came to the United States students never talked to me. . . . I was so sad because language is supposed to be used for communication and my students were not even interacting. . . . I thought I needed to change my methodology and play it the American way in order to fit in. I found myself in a school where the most important thing was the grades students got, and the results determined how good or bad the teacher was. The third year, I got used to the system and I began to apply several strategies that I didn’t know . . . existed, and my students learned how to answer the test.” (Eliza, narrative).

International educators have to deal with cross-cultural differences in teaching and learning when they go abroad. Intercultural understanding will give people an open and critical mind to analyze similarities and differences in order to implement appropriate pedagogy (Gu, 2005). The teachers in this study reported their reflections and modifications in teaching as a result of their experience in the United States. In fact, Maria reported in her narrative:

“With my experience in the US, I learned one important thing about my life as a learner of the English language and as a foreign and English language teacher. First, I have to update my knowledge every day. . . . Second, I must teach real English not “bookish English”, because bookish English does not represent the current language people in English speaking countries are speaking.”

Teachers have their own well-established beliefs and views of teaching; as a result of critical reflection, change and adaptation may come (Gu, 2005).

Confidence

Having a good classroom atmosphere is necessary to ensure effective teaching and successful learning. Moreover, building a good rapport with students impacts the teachers’ self-esteem. Andrés reflected on his satisfaction and sense of achievement in his classroom experience: “I really enjoyed working with all and every single one of my ESL students. Each of them is special in their own way and all of them have taught me something different about teaching and life in general.” Additionally, Eliza expressed similar sentiments in the following quotation from her interview:

“The day I found out that my students had really noticed that I am different from their American teachers and they expressed they loved my classes because they really learned and they could be themselves. . . . My students and staff in my school recognized that I made a difference with my methodology.”

Self-learning and facing different situations in a new setting give educators a sense of accomplishment as they begin to make real progress in the new work environment. Mario commented in his interview, “By the second year, kids get to know you as a teacher, people knew the way I was working. . . . Things were much better. I started meeting a lot of people and making some friends.”

Challenges

Professional matters

In contrast, some professional challenges also emerged from the analysis:

Classroom Management

Professionally, teachers mentioned classroom management as one of the most difficult aspects to deal with in the new school systems. In spite of having years of teaching experience in their home countries, they had difficulty properly addressing behavior problems in their classes. This was evidenced in the following quote:

“One day in class, I asked one of my seventh graders to get out of the class because he was being disruptive. I called the office so security would come to get him. . . . He continued talking back and yelling at me.” (Mario, narrative).

Additionally, Carlos wrote in his narrative, “I found it very hard to keep one student’s head up, I called him by his name several times, but he didn’t care.”, while Hilda wrote of a similar difficulty with student behavior in her narrative:

“While we were in class and after asking him to sit down, he started shouting . . . many other insults. The child didn’t stop shouting and suddenly took a chair throwing it to the floor. My reaction was to try to calm him and send another student for help.”

Parent Conferences

Seven participants said that they did not know how to address their students’ parents appropriately and that they found it complicated to deal with them. In the questionnaire their voices reflect this difficulty. María commented that it was challenging “to have a parent-teacher conference with a stubborn parent” and Jaime shared that a challenging situation was “dealing with ‘crazy’ students and their parents.” In the narrative, Ana mentioned “I was completely caught off guard when the assistant principal of my American school informed me that there had been complaints about my teaching style . . . I was flabbergasted and insulted, I knew I was a competent teacher but apparently American parents did not agree”. In the same way, Mario wrote in his narrative “One student was very disrespectful in class, he talked back and yelled at me. The next day, his mom and dad went to the school and said that I had abused him psychologically.”

Lack of support from schools

Alred (2003) highlights that one of the common difficulties that international educators may face in the new setting is a lack of support from school administrators. Regarding this issue, two of the educators reported the following in their narratives:

“When you come to a new country full of expectations, projects and things that you’d like to put into practice and you find that the ESOL program is not organized, you say to yourself “Oh Lord what am I going to do now, who would be able to help me to put this into practice. In my case I had to do everything on my own.” (Claudia)

“Most of the time faculty or administrators think we know everything about everything, they assume that we know, and they don’t know that we come from other schools systems from other countries, so they need to teach or provide more information to us.” (Nanci)

Ineffective Mentoring

Hutchison and Jazzar (2007) stated that tailor-made mentoring would be of great benefit in helping international educators to transition into the classroom. However, despite having a mentor in the school, multiple teachers recounted situations such as the two below, taken from interviews:

“I had a mentor and it didn’t work, she was “Okay this is your classroom, and these are the materials” and I was . . . “Okay thanks a lot.” We were just moving along with the school year you know. . . . She was the speaker of whatever the administration wanted me to do.” (Carlos)

“My mentor didn’t even teach at the same school, she’d come once every two months or three months and she was like, “Is there anything I can help you with?” I said no because I am not gonna trust a person I only see every one or two months.” (Eliza)

It appears that some school districts have made efforts to support international educators by assigning a mentor, but those efforts were not structured enough to provide sufficient support and guidance to the mentees. Hutchison and Jazzar (2007) posited that a well-structured mentoring program can help international educators in the process of adaptation in the new culture as well as in the school system.

Personal matters

Benefits

English Proficiency

Another important benefit of living abroad in an English-speaking country is improving the educators’ English proficiency. Studies have shown that living overseas provides people with both cultural understanding and diverse opportunities to use the language on a daily basis (Pinar, 2016; Kenne, 2014; Moran, 2002). This seemed to be the case for the present study, as 54% of teachers reported that they had improved their English communication skills. As previously stated, nineteen participants came from Latin American countries and one from Romania, where English is taught as a foreign language. These students stated that being in contact with native speakers of English and using the language in diverse social interactions improved their language skills. This finding was supported in Vilma’s questionnaire when she responded “One thing I have gained from this exchange experience is an improvement in my English skills.” In the same way, Jaime answered “Thanks to this experience I have better communication skills.”

Another teacher added that when she learned English at home, the materials and the events presented in the texts were not based on real life situations. Hence, living in the United States gave her the opportunity to increase her communication skills. She reported the following in her interview:

“The most important gain is the language. When I was in [my home country], I was exposed to non-native English and it has been very important for me to have the experience of talking to native speakers and also to interact in real situtions, because when you study English abroad you just imagine a certain situation but you don’t live it or experience it as it really is.” (Graciela)

Independence

Another important gain mentioned by the participants was related to independence (Kenne, 2014). Leaving home and starting a new life abroad bring many changes in people’s lives. According to Cornes (2004), traveling not only broadens one’s outlook and mind, it also builds more confidence and the ability to meet challenges. Most of the educators used to live with their families until they traveled to teach in the United States. In her interview, Patricia put it simply when she said “I have become more independent, I have learned to do many things by myself.” Other participants said the following:

“Personally speaking I feel that I became more responsible for myself, for example in taking care of every aspect of my daily life, I was a person who used to live with my parents which is culturally accepted, and all of a sudden I have to take care of all of the responsibilities and things I never thought of like food, trash. . . . I guess that made me a . . . stronger person.” (Carlos, interview)

“I’ve been able to gain more personal experience since I moved to the US. I became more independent. I have, you know, been able to do a lot of things on my own, which I didn’t do in my home country. Living by myself has helped me to be more strong in order to make decisions in my work or just things that I have to do with my personal stuff.” (Nanci, interview)

Challenges

Personal matters

Along with the benefits, some personal challenges emerged from the analysis:

Being away from family

Some teachers remarked on the difficulty they faced in separating from their families. When asked in the questionnaire about one of their most challenging situations during the intercultural experience, six of them talked about this situation. For example, at least three responses were almost identical: Felipe responded that one of the most challenging situations was “being far away from the people I love, my family and my friends”; Hilda’s response was “being far away from my beloved ones”; and Luis’s was “being away from family and significant others.” Their answers illustrated the family ties these teachers have with their relatives, which might be a cultural characteristic.

Settling Down

Teachers reported establishing new living conditions in the host community as one of the most important challenges they had to face when they came to the United States. They commented on having difficulty finding a place to live because they did not have some of the requirements to apply for an apartment, such as having a credit history or a social security number at the time they applied. Seven participants reported facing difficulties when they looked for a place to live in the United States. For example, Adriana indicated that it was very challenging “to settle down at the beginning of the experience in the community, in the school and in my personal life.” Similarly, Pablo reported that it was a challenge “to settle in a new city without knowing how things work and without knowing anybody there”, while Sonia expressed that “to find a place to live, it is too complicated.”

Conclusion

Our inquiry aimed at exploring the personal, intercultural and professional issues that a group of visiting faculty experienced while living and teaching abroad, and the data analysis highlighted the lessons learned by this group. On a personal level, visiting faculty adapted to new lifestyles, became more independent, matured, and obtained a deeper understanding of themselves. Apart from this, they expanded their horizons while becoming more tolerant and respectful toward cultural differences. The exposure to a different culture and school system made the participants aware of the similarities and differences between their own background and the new setting, which led them to value the diversity. On an intercultural level, visiting faculty gained cross-cultural awareness and became more flexible in terms of diverse cultures. In contrast, these teachers were challenged by the social norms and language barriers they encountered when living and teaching in the United States. Professionally, participants took advantage of the sociolinguistic context to improve their English language proficiency. Also, visiting faculty kept abreast of the new trends in methodologies by attending in-service trainings as well as attaining a graduate degree during the time in the host country. Moreover, they became more reflective teachers. In order to succeed in the new school setting, they reflected on their own methodologies and made the adjustments and changes necessary. The adaptation of teaching strategies assisted the educators in meeting the students’ needs as well as in solving the problems associated with differences of language and culture. Apart from all the benefits that came from international teaching opportunities, many of the teachers faced different difficulties from settling down in the new community to adapting to the school system. The most important challenges faced by participants were living away from families, and adapting to American lifestyles as well as to the new school system. Some expressed a feeling of abandonment and lack of trust from the school administrators, colleagues and parents. In addition, some visiting faculty had difficulties with classroom management, and had to learn various strategies to deal with disruptive students.

Implications

The present study could inform international programs about specific approaches to better prepare foreign educators for the exchange experience, especially within the United States. It also enables American schools and districts to have a broader understanding of what this type of intercultural experience involves. Consequently, possible conflicts between school districts and visiting faculty might be avoided if teachers embark upon an intercultural experience in a foreign country before the exchange, and if they are offered professional development opportunities. Training could include topics such as dealing with disruptive students in class, conducting parent conferences, and understanding assessment guidelines. Also, tailor made workshops could provide foreign teachers with the tools to face intercultural differences in the host community. In the same way, effective, well-designed mentor programs can provide visiting faculty with much of the guidance they need to be successful in the new setting. Thus, diverse outcomes such as networking, collaboration, and reflection could make intercultural experiences more enriching for the various communities involved.

Limitations

While the qualitative nature of the study yielded valuable data, the findings and analyses cannot be generalized beyond the sample described. The study included a convenience sample of twenty two participants, of which nineteen were Hispanic and twelve were Colombian. Limitations include that the questionnaire was not piloted to determine the reliability of the items, and self-report data from nine of the twenty-two teachers (the alumni) were collected after the experiences occurred. Nonetheless, the conclusions and implications can be useful for US and non-US institutions considering teacher exchange programs.

Footnotes

Appendix

Alumni Visiting Faculty.

Name	Country of origin
Marcela	Colombia
Sonia	Colombia
Pablo	Colombia
Claudia	Argentina
Maria	Colombia
Ana	Australia
Sebastian	Colombia
Hilda	Colombia
Adriana	Jamaica

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author biographies

Nelly Sierra Ospina is an Associate Professor in the School of Languages, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia. She holds a PhD in education. Her academic interests are research on teaching and learning foreign languages, teacher education and language policy.

Sergio Lopera Medina is a full time professor in the School of Languages, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia. He holds a PhD in linguistics. His academic interests are research on teaching and learning foreign languages, pragmatics (compliments), and language policy.

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