Reflective student exchange as a collaborative and complementary academic activity: Preliminary results from a cross-national peer-to-peer mentoring scheme with primary teacher trainees

• Alexander Masardo ^[1] ; Miquel Alsina ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Gloucestershire

     University of Gloucestershire

     Cheltenham, Reino Unido

     
  2. [2] Universitat de Girona

     Universitat de Girona

     Gerona, España

     
• Localización: Educació 2019: reptes, tendències i compromisos: Llibre d'actes: I Conferència Internacional de Recerca en Educació / Núria Castells (ed. lit.), Pablo Rivera Vargas (ed. lit.), Juliana Cristina Faggion Bergmann (ed. lit.), Marta Beatriz Esteban Tortajada (ed. lit.), Carles Lindín Soriano (ed. lit.), 2020, ISBN 978-84-17934-76-7, págs. 827-831
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro
• Resumen

  • In this presentation we set out the process and preliminary results of an international peer exchange involving student teacher trainees from the Universities of Gloucestershire (UK) nd Girona (Spain). The arguments underlying the initiative are based on the implicit benefits of cultural exchange as a complementary academic activity, the value of peer learning and the implementation of virtual training spaces (VTS) in higher education. The context chosen for this project was the teaching practices of the students (N=16). The primary medium for reflection and discussion was a shared space on the VLE platform ELearn. This was bookended by student visits, which provided opportunities for socialisation and inculturation. Qualitative analysis of the data shows high initial motivation that was difficult to sustain over time. An appreciation of the playful-cultural dimension of the project exceeded the specifically professional inputs, which included issues relating to innovation, classroom management, language teaching and digital literacies.