Learning about Self Far From Home: A Pre-service Teacher’s Intercultural Development During an International Program

Preparing teachers to effectively teach culturally diverse students, teacher educators advocate for the use of cross-cultural field experiences, including international study abroad programs. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of two pre-service teachers’ intercultural development during a semester-long teacher education study abroad program in London, England. Findings indicate that international experiences provide a catalyst to move pre-service teachers forward in their intercultural development. Implications include the need for multicultural teacher educators to take a developmental approach to pre-service teacher education informed by theories of intercultural development and cultural learning developed within intercultural communications.

Evaluating the March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program: Parent Support for Neonatal Transport

The purpose of the pilot study was to work in collaboration with the March of Dimes Family Support Team and the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) to develop an evaluation instrument for the assessment of the Transport Module implemented by The March of Dimes Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Family Support Program initiative at the UConn Health Center. A literature review of the topic illustrated the need for continuing research of successful family support interventions for parents experiencing the transport of their high-risk infant to a tertiary care NICU immediately after delivery. NICU staff members and the March of Dimes Organization can utilize the evaluation instrument created for this study to identify parent support needs and the effectiveness of module implementation across the country. Effective family support will increase parent confidence and decrease anxieties that are often associated with the birth of a pre-term infant.