Jean Kirshner is Co-founder of the Belize Education Project. She was a public school teacher for Douglas County School District. She is currently Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Northern Colorado.

George Kamberelis is Professor and Chair of the Graduate Program in the Department of Education at Western Colorado University, USA. He is also Co-director of the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Chapter 1 - Belize Education Project: Professional Development across Cultures

Section One: Introducing the Study: Purpose, Context, And Method

Chapter 2 - Socio-Political Context of the Work: Colonialism and its Impact on Culture, Identity, Education in Belize

Chapter 3 - Interpersonal Context of the Work: Relationships as a Foundation for Transformation

Chapter 4 - Participatory Action Research: Humanizing Approach

Section Two: Findings and Discussion - Foregrounding Relationships in Professional Development

Chapter 5 - Early Years: Promise and Problems

Chapter 6 - Understanding Teachers' Lives and The Realities of Teaching in Belize

Chapter 7 - Constitutive Effects of Relationship Building and Solidarity

Chapter 8 - Voices of Belizean Educators: Autoethnographies in Dialogue

Section Three: Implications for Research and Practice

Chapter 9 - Looking Forward, Sharing Insights: Furthering our De-Colonizing Work and Notes to Kindred Spirits

This volume describes a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project involving educators from Belize and the U.S. to illustrate the critical role of shared dialogue in transnational teacher education.
First identifying issues which inhibited the success of formerly didactic training delivered to Belizean teachers by U.S. educators, this volume documents the transformational impact of a shift to collaborative training approaches and uses first-person accounts from Belizean and U.S. stakeholders to illustrate their successes. Chapters powerfully illustrate that by engaging in Freirean-like dialogue and building relationships based on a mutual understanding of the cultural and historical context, as well as the identity of educators involved, partners are better able to engage in effective transnational pedagogical collaboration. Particular attention is paid to the importance of acknowledging the post-colonial setting and unique positionality of teachers in Belize.
This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in action research and teacher research, multicultural education, and continued professional development in particular. Those interested in teacher training, education research, and international and comparative education will also benefit from this book.