Education abroad and domestic cultural immersion: A comparative study of cultural competence among teacher candidates

As the demographics of the United States continue to shift, American classrooms reflect the richness of cultural diversity and the vibrancy of immigrant populations. Education abroad programs provide opportunities for preservice teachers to develop their cultural competence, required for effectively teaching children from a range of cultural backgrounds. Given the financial demands of study abroad programs, researchers have also examined domestic cultural immersion experiences. There is a lack of research that compares education abroad with domestic cultural immersion. This study contributes to the literature by comparing preservice teachers’ responses to two cultural immersion experiences that are closely aligned both in content and in pedagogy, one in Israel and the other in a domestic setting.