Exploring the Lived Experiences of Teachers with International Macro Exposure: Impacts on Professional Identity, Pedagogy, and Global Educational Perspectives

With the increasing demand on internationalizing culture of education, teachers who have taught or studied overseas tend to become as significantly modified in their?teaching philosophies and methods, and their professional identities. This study seeks to understand this phenomenon by investigating the lived experiences?of teacher educators with international macro exposure and how such exposure might shape their professional identity, teaching methodologies, and commitment to global education. This qualitative study adopted a phenomenological approach to obtaining the different views and experiences of educators who taught abroad, participated in academic collaboration, or engaged in other cross-cultural?professional experiences. Semi-structured?interviews were conducted among ten educators coming from?higher education institutions in the Philippines were chosen based on their significant exposure to the international arena to better understand their experiences and used thematic analysis to elucidate patterns in their responses. The study showed that exposure to international practices has translated into a transition into student-centered and?active learning, an increase in technology-enhanced teaching methods, and cross-cultural competencies in teachers. Teachers also became more?dedicated to global education and workforce preparation, adopting international case studies and real-world applications across the curriculum. The study has significant implications for teacher education, curriculum development, and institutional policy. Higher education institutions should prioritize international professional development opportunities, that includes faculty exchange programs, collaborative research, and virtual global classrooms.