Internationalising pre-service teacher education courses: activating the hope circuit

We live in a global age, and our teachers must be prepared as leaders for these classrooms. The current article details the reflective practice of a teacher-practitioner attempting to increase internationalisation of teacher education through an action research project using geography as an entry point to international conversation. It is guided by the Model of Cross-Cultural Interaction and Sociocultural Learning Theory. Surveys of PST self-reported geographical identification confidence indicated significant relationships between gender, grade level and majors. There were positive correlations between reported knowledge about countries and confidence in identifying them. Qualitative results from international teacher conversations indicated themes regarding surprise at differences in education systems, increased self-awareness, cultural curiosity, establishing commonality, and awareness of problems with the U.S. educational system. Recommendations to develop the Hope Circuit and its relationship to anxiety in learning and intercultural interaction are discussed. Habits for internationalisation practice in teacher education are included especially regarding the importance of continuous, multi-faceted, student-controlled, collaborative pedagogical techniques which take place over the program and involve frequent interaction across cultures.