Culture Shock and Adaptation: Canadian Pre-Service Teachers’ Reciprocal Learning Experience

This chapter investigates the culture shock and adaptation processes experienced by eight Canadian pre-service teachers during a two-week international internship in Beijing, China, as part of the Teacher Education Reciprocal Learning Program (RLP) among the University of Windsor (UW), Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), and Southwest University (SWU). By utilizing narrative inquiry, the authors delve into the cross-cultural encounters and adjustments of these pre-service teachers, highlighting their initial cultural disequilibrium, particularly in food culture, and their subsequent adaptation efforts. The narrative reveals the challenges faced by these teachers, such as navigating dietary restrictions and learning Chinese dining etiquette, as well as their engagement with Chinese school culture and history. Through these experiences, the pre-service teachers not only navigated their culture shock but also began appreciating the depth of Chinese culture and education system and developed a better understanding of the importance of bicultural education in bilingual education. The study extends its analysis to the reciprocal learning and reflections of both the Canadian pre-service teachers and the authors, who served as program facilitators, thereby enriching the dialogue on cross-cultural understanding in teacher education. This chapter contributes to the literature on international teacher education by offering insights into the complex dynamics of culture shock, adaptation, and reciprocal learning within a Sino-Canadian educational context.