Inner Landscapes: Transformative Learning Experiences of Canadian Education Interns in Greece

This exploratory study uses transformative learning theory as a lens to interpret and understand the challenges and successes experienced by education students who elect to teach or intern abroad. Transformative learning is a deeper-level learning that challenges learners to understand themselves and their world in new, more nuanced ways. We explore frames of teaching and learning from multiple lenses. Elements of the educational internship experience that emerged from students who participated in this study include initial apprehension, disbelief, and even fear; a disorienting dilemma or incongruent experience within the new school cultural context; a re-evaluation of their frames of reference, and a final emergence of more integrative, inclusive senses of self as “teacher” and “learner.” Transformative learning theory can serve both as a conceptual framework for understanding the experiences of students and as a means of suggesting ways in which educational outcomes can be better designed with a transformative intent in mind. We then present implications for teaching and learning and suggestions for future studies. Keywords: international experience; preservice teachers; internship; transformative learning; frames of reference