Fijian mentors’ experiences of an international teaching practicum for Australian pre-service teachers: perceptions of a decolonising agenda

Initial teacher education programs across the world continue to support short-term international teaching practicums (ITPs) to build pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) intercultural knowledge and skills. While much research has endorsed the value of such ITPs, studies have raised questions about ethical issues, including the elitism of programs and the danger of reinforcing PSTs’ colonial prejudices. This qualitative study investigates an innovative ITP for Australian PSTs in Suva, Fiji, showing how Pasifika (talanoa) concepts and decolonising methodologies were used in the design and research of the program. The authors, from partner institutions in Australia and Fiji, surveyed and interviewed 27 Fijian mentor teachers in schools who had supervised Australian PSTs, to investigate how these mentors experienced the decolonising character of the program. Findings affirm the value of embedding decolonising strategies and concepts into the program design and research of ITPs, to facilitate mutual understanding, respect and knowledge exchange across cultures.