Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how student teachers' 'geographical imaginaries' influence not only where they choose to go in the context of educational internships abroad, but also their actions during the stay, as well as what they expect to learn based on their imaginaries of the chosen destination.

Paper long abstract:

Based on three months of ethnographic fieldwork in the Philippines and Denmark, this paper examines how student teachers' 'geographical imaginaries' influence on choice of destination, actions, and expectations of learning, in the context of educational internships abroad. In a context of increased internationalisation of higher education (IoHE), it is relevant to explore how this instrument of internationalisation and the students who engage in educational internships shape the world.

By employing spatial and mobilities theories, I focus on the movement of people, knowledge, and educational practices, in order to disrupt the flat and spatial fixities, which are often found within research on IoHE (Larsen 2016). Salazar (2012), Kölbel (2018), and Thompson's (2017) ideas about geographical imaginaries inspire the study.

Based on the material, I argue that 'geographical imaginaries' shape not only Danish students' choice of destination for outgoing mobility, but also what they find possible to learn during their stay abroad. The study shows that using geographical imaginaries as an analytical perspective can capture the historical and political influences on students' motives for choosing a certain part of the world to travel to and that students' actions are influenced by imaginaries about the correct way of teaching, the good pupil, and good teacher.

The study contributes to the existing field of research within IoHE with empirical knowledge and with new perspectives of what influence student flows and students' decision-making. This provides a critical North-South perspective to the predominant understanding of educational internship as a way to achieve personal and professional development.