Beyond Tourism

If young people are to be adequately prepared for a complex and interdependent global society, educational experiences must consider the broader world in which teachers and their students live. Teachers can be central to the process of intercultural development, and must encourage and model an intercultural orientation for their young students as well as for their communities. A critical dimension of achieving intercultural understanding and competence is personal experience. In Beyond Tourism, Kenneth Cushner examines the development of intercultural competence through various dimensions of student travel and intercultural encounters, both for the classroom teacher conducting group travel as well as individuals embarking upon student exchange programs, intensive summer experiences, and international student teaching. The author examines: aspects of cross-cultural orientation, trip planning and preparation, intercultural adjustment, in-country experience and post-experience impact through his experiences of organizing and leading international and intercultural educational programs for children, pre-service, and in-service teachers on all seven continents. Cushner integrates current research on the intercultural experience and relates it to his personal travel experiences while providing guidelines to enable educators to integrate reflective travel as an active part of the educational experience of young people. Multicultural, social studies, and foreign language teachers, international educators and study abroad officers, and those interested in experiential education will find this book invaluable.