Collab

International Teacher Education Student Conversation Project

This project entails a a short series of online conversations between teacher education students in multiple countries. We believe that such conversations with others in different contexts can be helpful in: a) understanding the viewpoint and experiences of others, b) learning more deeply about your own experiences and context through comparison, and c) broadening the perspective of the global nature of the profession. The participating instructors will collaboratively create mixed groups of teacher education students from various courses and countries. In these small groups, students will spend time getting to know one another and learn about their contexts and expereinces.

The project in short:

Who: teacher education students (with an interest in exceptionality/ special education needs) from various programs/ countries- in pre-made mixed groups - see Country-Specific Information section below
What: participate in 2-3 student-arranged online group meetings to get to know each other and discuss the key questions (below) between November 3- December 7 (weeks 45-49) 2025 - see Conversation Questions section below
Why: meet new friends, expand your thinking on teacher education, share and hear your own experiences as a student and vision for your future classroom
How: Your instructor or program liaison will share your information to form the groups and remain as a key contact for the project. Once groups are set, your team will be instructor to set mutually agreed upon meeting times and format (messenger, Zoom, Google Meet, or other platform)- see Activity Steps and Timeline section below

Country-Specific Information

click on the flag for information on the specific national educational context

Conversation Questions

In your group conversations, we ask that your at least cover the three questions below.

Describe your experience in (home county/ state/ province) as a primary/ secondary school student (compulsory level).
Describe your experience in (home county/ state/ province) as a teacher in training (university/ college level).
What are your expectations for your future classroom? How would you describe what you expect to find/ experience as a teacher in your system?

Some additional group questions/ discussion items follow:

How can you contribute to high quality inclusive education and inclusive thinking, now and in the future as a teacher teachers?
What sorts sorts of training and/or experiences would you like to be able to work with diverse student population, including students with disabilities?
Are you pursuing additional training and experiences related to your future teaching career outside of education? If so, what?
Who was your own favourite teacher and why?
Why do you want to be a teacher?
What was one of your favourite lessons/ school activities as a student? Why?
What are your hobbies?

Activity Steps & Timeline

Mid October (Week 42)- Students will receive an email with team member contact information.
- See here for the list
- Your instructor will share the file password with you
October 13-November 2 (week 42-44)- students set up meeting time schedule with their team (2-3 one-hour meeting slots)
Late October-Early December (anytime between November 3- December 7, 2025 [weeks 44-49]) Students meet and discuss questions

Project Tips and Tricks

Finding your group members: For help with locating your assigned group number and email information for your group, please see this document.
Difficulty scheduling: It can be difficult to find consensus on meeting times and dates. We encourage you to view this scheduling activity as an inclusive act. All of your members will have different schedules and preferences and as a group you'll need to be both flexible and proactive as you work together to find common ground. Please contact the project lead (Dr. Jordan Shurr) if your group list has an incorrect email address. Groups that are unable to set meeting dates by the end of day on Friday November 1 should enter their information here for assistance and instructions. Do not complete this form before Friday November 1, end of day. All early submissions will be deleted.
Translation options: Consider individually exploring and discussing some options for language translations tools. You can find several options here. In addition, you will likely have some unique ideas within you group. Remember that all group members have different experiences with speaking English- having ready access to a translation tool can help enhance the welcome and inclusivity of your time together.
Time zone: It is highly likely that your group members will be on different time zones. Part of your cultural competency practice individually and as a group is to work in a way that is understanding of time differences. We have identified some useful tools here. You may also have some other good strategies. Keep in mind that some countries change time in the fall (but not all on the same day).
Discussion depth: Remember you have at least 2 one-hour meetings together as a group, but are free to meet longer. Think of these separate meetings as stairsteps to increasing depth in your conversations. It is quite usual to start on the surface as you get to know each other in the first meeting. In the second, you should dig a bit deeper into the questions and related discussion topics to expand your understandings.

Comments and Questions?