In this cross-cultural panel, pre-service teachers, recently graduated teachers, and students in TEFL/TESL programs will discuss their training programs and personal motivations for becoming teachers. What are the priorities and values of teacher-training programs in different parts of the world? How are these programs structured, and what do they emphasize? Why do these young professionals want to become teachers? How do they envision themselves helping to make a better world–and do the training programs adequately support these motivations? All these questions and more will be briefly explored by panelists from Cambodia, Indonesia, Korea, and the Philippines.

***** Panelists: Both Champa, Phan Makara, & Thorn Va (University of Applied Research and Development, Cambodian Cohort, Siem Reap, Cambodia); Ragil Afriansah & Rizky Uly (Nusa Cendana University, Kupang, Indonesia); Jihyun Sung (Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Korea); Mary Gertrude Lorenzo & Enrico Pelino (De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines)

In this 50-minute interactive panel discussion, 2 MA graduates and a current PhD student will share their perspectives and answer questions related to: being distance based graduate students. We will share our journeys to becoming students; along with tips, suggestions, and workarounds for successful learning and research during Covid. We will also discuss if attending graduate school is the right choice (hint: it's not for everyone and there's some good reasons for/against). We will also explain some of the actions we've taken to understand and further Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and opportunities for Open Scholarship. We welcome questions from attendees and look forward to creating a welcoming session with thought-provoking takeaways for attendees.