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The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities and impact of emancipatory education in the preparation of future elementary school teachers.

To serve the purpose of the study, emancipatory education was introduced to the student teachers of an elementary school teacher education program in the Curriculum and Learning Development course. The researcher then observed them during their learning activities and analyzed their portfolios providing feedback during their poster presentations. A classroom experiential model was applied.

The results of the students’ activities indicated that most of the students were able to develop the twenty-first century skills needed to conduct the activities and avoid the tendency to follow directions from someone in authority. After the implementation of this study, the student teachers revealed higher-order thinking skills and were also able to develop learning materials and assessments that were appropriate to elementary school pupils. Still, the “old tendencies” (e.g. not thinking out of the box and waiting for direct instructions) sometimes emerged.

The study was applied to a single course in one out of five parallel classes in a university in a particular area in Indonesia, a developing Asian country with a collectivist culture.

This paper exemplifies how learning and teaching activities in a higher education institution in a developing country can be designed to help future teachers prepare themselves to function and teach in a globalized society.