Internationalizing Teachers’Preparedness: The Missing Link in Ontario’s Strategy for K–12 International Education?

Oct 15, 2026

The study examines Ontario’s K–12 international education strategy through four policy actors: the Ontario Ministry of Education, the Ontario College of Teachers, school boards, and Faculties of Education. It analyzes how these actors enact, interpret, and align—or fail to align—policy expectations related to the internationalization of teachers’ preparedness. Findings highlight a siloed approach, conflicting policy messaging, overlooked alignments, and weak framing that reduces relevance to Ontario’s public education goals of inclusivity, diversity, and equity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time1 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

Internationalizing Teachers’Preparedness: The Missing Link in Ontario’s Strategy for K–12 International Education? Roopa Trilokekar York University Amira El Masri York University Abstract While the need to internationalize teacher education is recognized by scholars and practitioners, little attention is paid to the role of policies and policy makers in supporting this endeavour. This study focuses on the enactment of Ontario’s K–12 international education strategy by examining four key policy actors—the Ontario Ministry of Education, the Ontario College of Teachers, school boards, and Faculties of Education—and their role in realizing (or not) the internationalization of teachers’ preparedness. A siloed approach, conflict in policy messaging, overlooked policy alignments, and weak policy Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 43:1 (2020)©2020 Canadian Society for the Study of Education/ Société canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) framing result in weakening the relevance and importance of the internationalization of teachers’preparedness to meet Ontario’s objectives of inclusivity, diversity, and equity in its public education. Keywords: internationalization, teacher education, K–12 international education, policy enactment Résumé Si l’internationalisation de la formation des enseignants est une nécessité reconnue par les universitaires et les praticiens, le rôle des politiques et des décideurs politiques dans lesoutien de cette entreprise n’est guère pris en compte. Cette étude se concentre sur la miseen œuvre de la stratégie ontarienne en matière d’éducation internationale de la maternelle à la 12e année par quatre acteurs clés : le ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario, l’Ordre desenseignants de l’Ontario, les conseils scolaires et les facultés d’éducation, dans la réalisation (ou non) de l’internationalisation de la formation des enseignants. Une approche cloisonnée, des contradictions dans l’interprétation des politiques, des désalignements stratégiques et un manque d’encadrement des politiques ont pour conséquence d’affaiblir la pertinence et l’importance de de la préparation des enseignants aux stratégies d’internationalisation pour atteindre les objectifs d’inclusion, de diversité et d’équité ciblés par l’éducation publique ontarienne. Mots-clés : internationalisation, formation des enseignants, éducation internationale de lamaternelle à la 12e année, mise en œuvre de politiques Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 43:1 (2020) [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) Introduction The need to internationalize teacher education has been identified by educational practitioners and scholars; however, there has been little, if any, attention paid to the role of policy and policy makers in supporting this endeavour. Internationalization of education has increasingly become a policy priority, with policy makers targeting the preparation of students with global, international, and intercultural competencies (Chapuis & Fortier, 2016; Egron-Polak & Hudson, 2014). Aligning with this global trend, the Ontario Ministry of Education (MoE) released Ontario’s Strategy for K–12 International Education in 2015. The strategy identifies as its goals: (1) substantially increasing the number of international students in Ontario public schools; (2) internationalizing the curriculum, particularly international languages and global curriculum; (3) enhancing international experiential learning opportunities such as mobility programs; and (4) building international partnerships with international schools and schools in other countries (Ontario MoE, 2015) . Surprisingly, in spite of the extant literature on the internationalization of teacher education, there is almost no mention of how critical the role of teachers is in achieving any or all of these strategic goals. This research seeks to understand Ontario’s Strategy for K–12 Internat

FAQs

What is the focus of the study on Ontario’s K–12 international education strategy?

The study focuses on how four policy actors support, enact, or fail to support the internationalization of teachers’ preparedness within Ontario’s K–12 international education strategy.

Which policy actors are examined in the research?

The research examines the Ontario Ministry of Education, the Ontario College of Teachers, select school boards, and Faculties of Education.

What challenges weaken the impact of policy on teachers’ preparedness?

The study identifies a siloed approach, conflict in policy messaging, overlooked policy alignments, and weak policy framing as factors that weaken the relevance and importance of internationalizing teachers’ preparedness.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Anna Hans