When outbound mobility programs and service learning align in pre-service teacher education

This project sought to investigate the learning that comes about from the intersection of outbound mobility experience programs (OMEs) with service learning in pre-service teacher education settings. The aim of the program of international service learning in the case study was to encourage pre-service teachers to rethink potentially ethnocentric assumptions. The guiding research question was, ‘What outcomes ensue from the combination of OMEs and service learning for pre-service teachers?’ The focus of the paper was on OMEs that took place in China and Malaysia. Findings included that the combined program aided development of global mindedness, learning by being there, teacher experience in a new context and the development of a professional identity in the participating students.