Navigating Borders and Classrooms: A Phenomenological Exploration of Teachers' International Professional Experiences

Abstract

There has been an increase in teacher migration by the effect of globalization and internationalization. Teacher migration affects the education policies of home and host countries. This phenomenological study aimed to analyze experiences of migrant teachers in international level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 migrant teachers selected using snowball sampling. Content analysis was used to analyze the interview data. As a result of the content analysis, two themes were obtained: ‘Pre-migration process’ and ‘post-migration professional life’. Cultural differences between home and host countries were observed as effective on professional adaptation of the participants. The findings indicate that the participants complained about the challenges they had to deal with in adaptation process such as negative attitudes of their colleagues and marking while they stated teaching abroad was positive for their professional development. In this regard, some formal arrangement may be designed by policymakers to make migrant teachers’ adaptation process easier.

Keywords

• teacher migration
• internationalism
• globalization
• teacher professional development

References

1. Aguiar, A., Walmsley, T. and Abrevaya, J. (2007). Effects of bilateral trade on migration flows: Te case of the United States [Paper presentation]. Tenth Annual Conference on Global Economic Analysis, West Lafayette, USA. https://www.gtap.agecon.purdue.edu/resources/download/3386.pdf
2. Alpaydin, Y. (2017). An Analysis of Educational Policies for School-Aged Syrian Refugees in Turkey. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 5(9), 36-44. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v5i9.2476
3. Appleton, S., Morgan, W. J. and Sives, A. (2006). Should teachers stay at home? Te impact of international teacher mobility. Journal of International Development: Te Journal of the Development Studies Association, 18(6), 771-786. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.1313
4. Bakioglu, A. B. and Keser, S. (2019). Analysis of the paradoxal effects of globalization to higher education. ULED, 2(2), 8-19. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijolt/issue/50021/577188
5. Bartlett, L. (2014). Migrant teachers. Harvard University Press.
6. Bense, K. (2016). International teacher mobility and migration: A review and synthesis of the current empirical research and literature. Educational Research Review, 17, 37-49. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.edurev.2015.12.001
7. Benson, M. and O’reilly, K. (2009). Migration and the search for a better way of life: a critical exploration of lifestyle migration. Te sociological review, 57(4), 608-625. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2009.0186
8. Biernacki, P. and Waldorf, D. (1981). Snowball sampling: Problems and techniques of chain referral sampling. Sociological methods & research, 10(2), 141-163. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 004912418101000205

9. Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2012). Tematic analysis. In H. Cooper (Ed.). APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology Research Designs. https://www.researchgate.net/profle/David_Morgan19/
10. Buckner, E., Spencer, D., and Cha, J. (2018). Between policy and practice: Te education of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Journal of Refugee Studies, 31(4), 444-465. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fex027
11. Byram, M. (2011). Intercultural citizenship from an internationalist perspective. Journal of the NUS Teaching Academy, 1 (1), 10-20. https://nus.edu.sg/cdtl/docs/default-source/engagement
12. Caravatti, M. L., Lederer, S. M., Lupico, A. and Van Meter, N. (2014). Getting teacher migration & mobility right. Brussels: Education International, 7. https://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/ TeacherMigrationStudy.pdf
13. Chen, L. H. (2007). Choosing Canadian graduate schools from afar: East Asian students’ perspectives. Higher Education, 54(5), 759-780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-006-9022-8
14. Collins, J. and Reid, C. (2012). Immigrant teachers in Australia. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 4(2), 38-61. https://doi.org/10.3316/INFORMIT.986968298335531
15. Cook, R. (2009). Te effects of a short-term teacher abroad program on teachers’ perceptions of themselves and their responsibilities as global educators. [Doctoral dissertation, Utah State University]. https:// igitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/375
16. Cresswell, J. W. and Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed method research. 2nd Sage; Tousand Oaks, CA.
17. Creswell, J. W. and Poth, C. N. (2013). Qualitative research inquiry and design: Choosing among fve approaches. Lincoln: University of Nebraska.
18. Creswell, J. W. (2017). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative research. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ.160 Ş. Baş Doğan & Y. Alpaydın
19. Cushner, K. (2007). Te role of experience in the making of internationally minded teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 34(1), 27-39. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23478850
20. Damaschke-Deitrick, L. and Wiseman, A. W. (2021). Migration, refugees, and education: challenges and opportunities. International Perspectives on School Settings, Education Policy and Digital Strategies, 95-96. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/46724/9783847416609. pdf?sequence=1#page=96
21. Diallo, K. (2004). Data on the migration of health-care workers: sources, uses, and challenges. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 82, 601-607. https://www.scielosp.org/article/bwho/2004. v82n8/601-607/.
22. Elbaz‐Luwisch, F. (2004). Immigrant teachers: Stories of self and place. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 17(3), 387-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839042000204634
23. European Commission (2011). Commission Staff Working Paper Impact Assessment. http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/2/2011/EN/SEC-2011-1558-F1-EN-MAIN-PART-1.PDF. (Accessed on 12.08.2021).
24. Fee, J. F. (2011). Latino immigrant and guest bilingual teachers: Overcoming personal, professional, and academic culture shock. Urban Education, 46(3), 390-407. https://doi. org/10.1177/0042085910377447
25. Gannerud, E. (2001). A Gender Perspective on the Work and Lives of Women Primary School Teachers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 45(1), 55–70. https://doi. org/10.1080/00313830020023393
26. Gravelle, M. (2011). Fair trade for teachers: transferability of teacher qualifcations in the Commonwealth. Professional Development in Education, 37(3), 473-474. https://doi.org/10.1080/1941 5257.2011.565207
27. Guo, W., & Singh, M. (2009). Professional supports for overseas trained teachers in Australia. In Proceedings, AARE Conference Canberra 2009. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266042537
28. Hatakenaka, S. (2004). Internationalism in higher education: A review. London: Higher Education Policy Institute (pp.1-32). https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/12Interna2 - tionalism-in-Higher-Education-A-Review.pdf
29. Janusch, S. (2015). Voices unheard: Stories of immigrant teachers in Alberta. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 16(2), 299-315. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-014-0338-4
30. Keevy, J. A. and Jansen, J. (2010). Fair trade for teachers: Transferability of teacher qualifcations in the Commonwealth. Commonwealth Secretariat.
31. Kostogriz, A. and Peeler, E. (2007). Professional identity and pedagogical space: Negotiating difference in teacher workplaces. Teaching education, 18(2), 107-122. https://doi. org/10.1080/10476210701325135
32. Lashley, L. (2018). A reflection on the professional and cultural experience of migrant teachers: Te case of postcolonial Guyanese teachers in British mainstream primary schools. International Journal of Educational Policy Research and Review, 5(2), 31-39. https://doi.org/10.15739/IJEPRR.18.004
33. Laverty, S. M. (2003). Hermeneutic phenomenology and phenomenology: A comparison of historical and methodological considerations. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2 (3), 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069030020030
34. Magos, K. and Margaroni, M. (2018). Te importance of educating refugees. Global education review, 5(4), 1-6. https://ger.mercy.edu/index.php/ger/article/view/495
35. Manik, S. (2014). South African Migrant Teachers’ Decision-Making: Levels of Influence and ‘Relative Deprivation.’ Journal of Southern African Studies, 40(1), 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/03 057070.2014.889360
36. Mercado, G. and Trumbull, E. (2018). Mentoring beginning immigrant teachers: How culture may impact the message. International journal of psychology, 53, 44-53. https://doi.org/10.1002/ ijop.12555
37. Mohajan, H. K. (2017). Two criteria for good measurements in research: Validity and reliability. Annals of Spiru Haret University. Economic Series, 17(4), 59-82. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=673569
38. Niyubahwe, A., Mukamurera, J., & Jutras, F. (2013). Professional integration of immigrant teachers in the school system: A literature review. McGill Journal of education, 48(2), 279-296. https://doi. org/10.7202/1020972ar
39. O’Keeffe, J., Buytaert, W., Mijic, A., Brozović, N. and Sinha, R. (2016). Te use of semi-structured interviews for the characterization of farmer irrigation practices. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 20(5), 1911-1924. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1911-2016
40. Oloo, J. A. (2012). Immigrant teachers in Saskatchewan schools: A human resource perspective. KEDI Journal of Educational Policy, 9(2), 219-237. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234038059
41. Packer, C., Labonté, R. and Runnels, V. (2009). Globalization and the cross-border flow of health workers. In Globalization and health (pp. 235-256) Routledge.
42. Pakot, A. & Róbert P. (2014). Attitudes towards immigrants: micro and macro effects. European Population Conference (EPC2014), Session on International Migration and Migrant Populations, Budapest. https://epc2014.princeton.edu/papers/140541
43. Parkins, N. C. (2010). Push and pull factors of migration. American Review of Political Economy, 8(2), 6-24. https://doi.org/10.38024/arpe.119
44. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Tousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
45. Peeler, E. (2002). Changing culture, changing practice: Overseas born teachers in Victorian educational contexts. In 2012 Annual Conference of Australian Association for Research in Education, Australia, Brisbane. https://www.aare.edu.au/02pap/pee02345.htm
46. Peeler, E. and Jane, B. (2005). Mentoring: immigrant teachers bridging professional practices. Teaching Education, 16(4), 325–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210500345623
47. Remennick, L. (2002). Survival of the fttest: Russian immigrant teachers speak about their professional adjustment in Israel. International Migration, 40(1), 99-121. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2435.00187
48. Sangalang, C. C., Becerra, D., Mitchell, F. M., Lechuga-Peña, S., Lopez, K. and Kim, I. (2019). Trauma, post-migration stress, and mental health: A comparative analysis of refugees and immigrants in the United States. Journal of immigrant and minority health, 21(5): 909-919. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0826-2
49. Schmidt (2010). Systemic Discrimination as a Barrier for Immigrant Teachers. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 4(4), 235-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2010.513246
50. Sives, A., Morgan, W. J. and Appleton, S. (2005). Teachers as Community Leaders: Potential Impact of Teacher Migration on Education for All and Millennium Development Goals. International Journal of Adult and Lifelong Education, 3(1), 349-354. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08ccfed915d622c0015bd/Sives_fnal_78.pdf
51. Stigler, J. W. and Hiebert, J. (1998). Teaching is a cultural activity. American Educator, 22(4), 4-11. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ583031162 Ş. Baş Doğan & Y. Alpaydın
52. Spaaij, R., Broerse, J., Oxford, S., Luguetti, C., McLachlan, F., McDonald, B. and Pankowiak, A. (2019). Sport, refugees, and forced migration: A critical review of the literature. Frontiers in sports and active living, 1, 47. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2019.00047
53. Tran, L. T. and Pasura, R. (2019). Teacher interactive and reflexive positionings in accommodating international students: Implications for teacher professional development. Professional Development in Education, 45(4), 539-550. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2018.1449005
54. Urbański, M., AL-Tkhayneh, K. M. and Shamugia, Z. (2022). Foreign employment in enterprises–examples from countries with different cultures. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 9(3), 284. https://www.researchgate.net/profle/Zurabi-Shamugia/publication/359300643_
55. Van der Mensbrugghe, D. and Roland-Holst, D. (2009). Global Economic Prospects for Increasing Developing Country Migration into Developed Countries. Human Development Research Paper (HDRP) Series, 50. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/19233/
56. Welker, J. (2022). Relative education of recent refugees in Germany and the Middle East: Is selectivity reflected in migration and destination decisions? International Migration, 60(2), 65-80. https:// doi.org/10.1111/imig.12853
57. Yonemura, A. (2012). IICBA, International Migration of Teachers: Supply, Quality, and Ethical Recruitment. In Next steps in managing teacher migration: Papers of the sixth commonwealth research symposium on teacher mobility, recruitment and migration (pp. 2-3) https://www.heart-resources.org/doc_lib/next-steps-managing-teacher-migration-papers-sixth-commonwealth-research-symposium-teacher-mobility-recruitment-migration/
58. Zanabazar, A., Kho, N. S. and Jigjiddorj, S. (2021). Te push and pull factors affecting the migration of Mongolians to the Republic of South Korea. In SHS Web of Conferences, 90(1023), 1-9. EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20219001023