Increasingly, there is an imperative for teachers to address the needs of ethnically and racially diverse learners, to educate all students to be responsible and culturally aware global citizens, to “connect their students to international issues and histories” (Buczynski, et al 2010, p.33), to instil in them respect for cultural difference, to teach against racism, and to teach for social justice. This imperative is in response to increasing cultural diversity in societies in most places in the world as well as the emergence of pressing and urgent concerns about widening gaps between social classes in regards to access to resources and capitals. Young people need “to be responsible citizens of the world and their own multicultural communities, and to be effective participants in the global marketplace” (Devlin-Foltz 2010, p.113). They need to develop what is now described as ‘global competence’ (Devlin-Foltz 2010).

However, much research suggests that many practising teachers and preservice teachers are yet to develop the pedagogical skills and knowledge for this work. Teachers who are generally drawn from the dominant cultural mainstream (Hartsuyker 2007; Donaldson 2011) often have little personal knowledge of cultural and linguistic diversity and struggle to address the needs of diverse learners. Additionally, they often they have little understanding of broader global and cultural issues. Some research (Cushner & Brennan, 2007; Walters, Garii, & Walters, 2009) suggests that direct experience and interaction with culturally diverse ‘others’ is one way to extend preservice teachers’ understanding of what constitutes cultural diversity, to “challenge teacher education students to use inert knowledge to read and interpret their experiences with diversity and understanding of self, and the interconnectedness with their own students' lives and school opportunities” (Dantas, 2007, p 76). Therefore, in Australia, Europe and North America, opportunities for cultural exchange, or study tours are increasingly being made available to preservice teachers as a way to achieve this (Rapoport 2008; Dooly & Villanueve, 2006; Hill & Thomas, 2005; Dantas, 2007).

While there is a substantial body of research that has investigated the potential of course-based international experiences to contribute to the development of global citizens and  a growing body of literature from North America, Britain and Europe that focuses on the internationalisation of teacher education and the preparation of the global teacher, there has been relatively little research  that has examined how international experiences in ‘developing’ countries can either confirm or challenge preservice teachers views about difference. This paper contributes to addressing that gap.

This paper reports on a qualitative study that investigated the experiences of 14 Australian preservice teachers who attended a short term cultural study program in Korea or India. The key research questions were:

• How did the international experience develop the preservice teachers’ personal intercultural competence?
• How did the international experience assist preservice teachers develop cross-cultural competence?  
• How did the expectations and reflections of the students compare with the purported aims of the programs and how might the programs be improved?

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