Koh, Puay Yeong Eugenia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4562-7152, Li, Yu, Lu, Xiangyu, Rajek, Katharine Gronow and Almenara, Wendy Cook (2026) Rehumanising teacher education in the AI age: A cross-cultural virtual exchange on teacher positionality and professional identity. In: Second International Conference on Innovation and Development 2026, 20 Aug 2026 - 21 Aug 2026, Victoria University, Australia.

Abstract

In the rapidly evolving AI age, teacher education requires structured human-to-human dialogue that challenges “single-story” understandings of diversity and identity. While artificial intelligence accelerates access to information and content production, it cannot replace relational, ethical, and dialogic learning experiences that help preservice teachers (PSTs) critically reflect on their own positionalities and professional identities. This presentation explores a collaborative virtual exchange initiative between Victoria University (Australia) and the University of Montana Western (United States) as a model for globally connected, socially and culturally responsive teacher education. The project employed a low-cost, high-impact hybrid model consisting of pre-class discussion activities, asynchronous engagement, and a 90-minute live Zoom seminar with breakout-room discussions. The workshop centred on teacher positionality, social justice, and professional identity formation in early childhood and teacher education contexts. Students from both institutions shared personal, cultural, linguistic, and educational experiences while examining how these shape their approaches to teaching and learning across different national, sociopolitical, and cultural contexts. The seminar integrated conceptual prompts drawn from Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital, Rawls’ theory of distributive justice, post-structuralist perspectives, and discussions surrounding surveillance and disciplinary framings in education. Interactive activities encouraged PSTs to critically reflect on implicit bias, equity versus equality, and the role of educators in creating justice-oriented and culturally responsive learning environments. Breakout-room discussions provided opportunities for participants from diverse cultural backgrounds, including students from Asia, South America, Australia, and the United States, to engage in reflective dialogue about diversity, identity, and educational practice. This presentation draws on a collaborative autoethnographic methodology and reflective Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) framework to examine how carefully scaffolded virtual exchange can deepen PSTs’ understandings of teacher positionality and broaden narratives of professional identity across borders. Preliminary reflections suggest that the combination of asynchronous preparation, synchronous dialogue, and relational engagement created meaningful opportunities for intercultural learning and critical reflection that extended beyond traditional classroom boundaries. The presentation will discuss the pedagogical design of the initiative, key student reflections, and the challenges and affordances of implementing virtual global exchange in teacher education. It will also outline future directions for the project, including expanded asynchronous collaboration, co-designed community engagement activities, online professional development workshops, and structured intercultural dialogue prompts focused on diverse cultural identifiers. This project contributes to ongoing conversations about international education and socially just teacher education by demonstrating how accessible virtual exchange models can foster empathy, reflexivity, and cross-cultural understanding in contemporary teacher preparation programs.

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