| dc.description.abstract | A societal shift during the last decades has been observed. Shifting from an industrial society based on educational and political rationales towards an ideology steered by knowledge and economic principles, the so-called knowledge economy emerged (Gürüz, 2008). This contemporary paradigm demands special kinds of citizens who have to be prepared to face upcoming challenges and need specific competences to successfully advance the society: global citizens (Gürüz, 2008). Such a global citizen is according to Reysen and Katzarska-Miller (2013) understood as a person that embraces cultural diversity, supports social justice and secures sustainability, while always acting with a sense of responsibility. Research has revealed an interesting connection between outcomes of mobility experiences and characteristics or competences needed as global citizens (Kehm, 2005). Specifically since it has indicated that the immersion into culturally diverse settings has an influencing potential to stimulate and progress features that are relevant for the existence in the knowledge economy, such as for example intercultural skills (Cushner, 2009; Kehm, 2005). Linking these findings to the educational environment, it becomes apparent that teaching staff are at the forefront to prepare the future generation as early as possible for the awaiting global issues and challenges (Cushner, 2009). What is more, the working environment of teachers is becoming increasingly multicultural and it is of high relevance that teachers are prepared for such dynamic conditions as they have to work competently as multicultural effective teachers (Santoro & Major, 2012; McAllister & Irvine, 2010). In this context, multicultural effectiveness in the profession of a teacher means to be aware of their own worldview, to recognize their personal biases, to possess knowledge of the pupils’ cultures and to perceive the world through multicultural lenses (McAllister & Irvine 2010). Taking the conceptual model of global citizenship of Morais and Ogden (2011), that builds the basis for the analytical framework into consideration, one can argue that the characteristics of multicultural effective teachers have a lot of similarities compared to the one of global citizens. For the sake of this research there are mainly two areas of interest which are of similar importance for the proficiency of a teacher in multicultural classrooms. The first one is the aspect of selfawareness which means the ability to recognize limitations or abilities to successfully interact in intercultural encounters (Morais & Ogden, 2011). In the educational field, this stands for a teacher who is aware of the personal worldview as a basis to understand the worldview of the pupils as well (Morais & Ogden, 2011; McAllister & Irvine, 2010). The second area is altruism and empathy in regards to the ability to respect diverse perspectives and to adopt multicultural lenses in the classroom (Morais & Ogden, 2011; McAllister & Irvine 2010). This is a particularly relevant characteristic with regards to the teaching profession as such where teachers work in multicultural diverse school-environments. This master thesis examines how mobility experiences contribute to the enhancement of the global citizenship characteristics self-awareness and altruism and empathy which are significant attributes for effective multicultural teachers. A qualitative thematic document analysis of teacher students’ reflections at a Swiss institution has enabled to research and study the teacher students’ subjective perceptions of their own mobility experiences. The findings of this thesis indicate that the students indeed acquire skills and competences that match some of the characteristics defined by global citizenship and that are relevant for the profession of a teacher. As it becomes apparent in the reports, through encounters with culturally diverse groups they sharpen their multicultural awareness, get first hand insights and experience different perspectives. Consequently, many of the students have experienced transformations of their previously-held perspectives and have widened their own horizon. Further, they have acquired stronger social skills and critical knowledge about other cultural habits. The students themselves being in the situation of a foreigner abroad have developed a greater openness towards strangers and they further realize that they should be careful with prejudices towards others. What is more, they have experienced how it feels like not being able to express oneself adequately from a communication perspective. As a result, they have developed empathy to understand the circumstances of immigrants. They recognized that it takes a lot of time to get adapted to a foreign surrounding. One can argue that this empathy is highly relevant for their prospective teaching activities. The engagement with peers seems to be a significant factor for the overall success of their experience abroad. All the students have shown a high interest to get in touch with others and the social embedment seems to have an impact on the satisfaction of the students. Another finding is that through encounters with others, they get input to reflect the known context; some of the students appear to have acquired a critical outside stance towards Switzerland. Even though there are sometimes language barriers in discussions, it looks as if there is always a way to make you understood with alternative communication forms. All in all, the participants show a high level of curiosity, flexibility, tolerance, respect and openness, which seem to be key features to have an extraordinary mobility experience and also indispensable characteristics for their future teaching careers. | eng |