Many colleges around the world have been undergoing demographic shifts under the influence of globalization. The population of international students continues to grow dramatically. As such increasing number of international students has been enrolling U.S colleges. Teacher education is not an exception. However, international teacher candidates’ experiences and backgrounds are not always validated in their teacher education program. This means that teacher candidates need to learn to articulate what they may need as well as what they could bring to the program and their future classroom. Likewise, teacher educators need to find ways to support those teachers’ academic and professional learning. Few studies examined how these teacher candidates experience their learning to teach particularly during their practicum. Also, little is known how they position themselves, or are positioned by others in communities of teaching practice in relation to their social identities, including race/ethnicity, cultures, language, and gender. This study focuses on a Chinese, Chinese-Korean, and Korean female teacher candidates’ practicum experiences in the U.S. Using an ethnographic case approach, this study examines the transnational narratives of the three women and investigates ways in which their practicum experiences gives opportunities them to promote their professional learning and growth, by asking the following questions: (1) What did motivate three international pre-service teachers to study abroad and major education? How do their desires of gaining capital (e.g., social, cultural, economic) and belonging to an imagined community impact their transnational educational migration?; (2) How do the participants navigate internship spaces and professional relationships?; and (3) How do the participants make sense of diversity in the U.S. contexts?By emphasizing the ways in which these candidates navigate their practicum drawing on their social identities, this study argues not only for the acknowledgement of the multiple identities that international teacher candidates bring to the classroom, but also for a counter-space where multifaceted identities are enacted and their counter-stories are heard. This study also suggests recommendations for teacher educators and practicum stakeholders to empower international teacher candidates. Ultimately, it demonstrates that teacher educators and teacher preparation programs need to provide a reflective and transformative (counter-) space for all teachers candidates.
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