Intercultural development in preservice teacher study abroad

International teacher education study abroad programs have been proposed as a way to instill intercultural competence in pre-service teachers and help them consider their own cultural identity and the cultural identities of their students. Yet, questions remain about the effectiveness of these programs. This study aims to examine how international teacher education study abroad programs designers consider intercultural competence development. In this review, 14 studies centered on pre-service teacher education with a focus on international experiences for US students are analyzed in order to discover how international teacher education study abroad programs define, describe, and measure intercultural competence in their participants. Drawing on the Council of Europe’s Competences for Democratic Citizenship Model, participant grwoth was examined in four areas: attitudes, values, skills, and knowledge and critical understandings. This study highlights the need for researchers to explicitly consider issues of culture and intercultural competence development along with carefully planned and scaffolded opportunities for critical reflection