Routledge Decolonizing Transcultural Teacher Education through Participatory Action Research: Dialogue, Culture, and Identity (Routledge Research in Decolonizing Education)

This volume describes a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project involving educators from Belize and the US to illustrate the critical role of shared dialogue in transnational teacher education. First identifying issues which inhibited the success of formerly didactic training delivered to Belizean teachers by US educators, this volume documents the transformational impact of a shift to collaborative training approaches and uses first-person accounts from Belizean and US stakeholders to illustrate their successes. Chapters powerfully illustrate that by engaging in Freirean-like dialogue and building relationships based on a mutual understanding of the cultural and historical context, as well as the identity of educators involved, partners are better able to engage in effective transnational pedagogical collaboration. Particular attention is paid to the importance of acknowledging the post-colonial setting and unique positionality of teachers in Belize. This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in action research and teacher research, multicultural education, and continued professional development in particular. Those interested in teacher training, education research, and international and comparative education will also benefit from this book. About the Author Jean Kirshner is Co-founder of the Belize Education Project and completed her PhD in Education and Human Resource Development at Colorado State University, USA. George Kamberelis is Professor and Chair of the Graduate Program in the Department of Education at Western Colorado University, USA. He is also Co-director of the Center for Teaching Excellence.