A little less balance in new teachers' professional development

Teachers’ work is influenced by teachers’ personal biographies. Key experiences in this biography give insights in teachers’ personal interpretations, which reflect what they think is “good education”.  This study reports on student teachers’ and new teachers’ personal interpretations in their teaching practice, during and after an international teaching internship, and how this influences new teachers’ professional development. The international teaching experience interrupted existing, familiar ways of thinking or acting and gave the beginning teachers a new or different perspective on their teaching practice or the type of teacher they want to become.  The study also explored how the interruption of an international internship influenced new teachers’ professional self-understanding during the transition from student to teacher. Examples are described how the international experience made the new teachers aware of an experiential continuum, as they recognized the value of this previous experience in their present teaching practice.