A key aim of Tony Blair’s Prime Minister’s Initiative (PMI) Phase 2, essentially to attract more than 100,000 ‘international students’ to the UK by 2011, is to “ensure the quality of the student experience” (Clark, 2006; 80). ‘International students’ are not a homogeneous group, any more than any other group of students, yet the majority of research conducted in the field of international higher education tends to compare the experiences of ‘international students’, usually from ‘one culture’ with those of another, usually the ‘local culture’, or is an evaluation of internationalisation strategies developed by institutions. Such research is valuable but neglects to explore the complexities of interactions, particularly learning and teaching interactions, between students and academics from many different cultures. Reference may be made to the need for cultural sensitivity in pedagogical approaches, but this is rarely underpinned by stories from the field, nor informed by any reflexive accounts of the experience of the researcher (s)/practitioner (s) in grappling with layers of cultural complexity. Seldom do we embrace the experiences of students and academics from different cultural backgrounds and consider how we might all learn about the complex and culturally situated influences on teaching and learning approaches (Trahar, 2006, 2007) through a critical interrogation of local teaching and learning practices. Challenging this paucity in the literature, this paper will draw on several research projects focusing in particular on my doctoral research, completed in 2006 and a 2008 UK Higher Education Academy (HEA) Internationalisation initiative funded study led by two of its subject centres, ESCalate (Education) and LLAS (Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies), on which I was the academic lead. The aim of the HEA study was to explore perceptions and practices of internationalising the curriculum from a discipline, practitioner and student perspective and to identify the impact of ‘internationalisation’ on learning and teaching across several disciplines. The study emphasised the concept of Internationalisation at Home, a concept that acknowledges that the majority of students are not mobile and thus their exposure to cultural difference will be gained from studying in their own country, rather than another. The core theoretical framework informing both studies was that of a critical postmodern approach to adult learning. This framework acknowledges and celebrates the tension between the similarities and differences of individuals, of cultures and of learners and teachers rather than assuming a universalist approach to learning that privileges a dominant approach to teaching.

My doctoral study, a narrative inquiry, engendered critical discussion about the complexities of a multicultural higher education community, extending the aforementioned theoretical framework to propose one that was culturally respectful and synergistic. This framework was underpinned by systematic analysis of my assumptions and beliefs and the consequent meanings given to my pedagogical practices in a multicultural higher education institution (HEI). Such autoethnographic, critically reflexive accounts of academics’ experiences of working with cultural diversity, that is exploring the extent to which the rhetoric is aligned with engagement, are rare in higher education (see Brunner, 2006, Sanderson, 2007, Trahar, 2008, Turner & Robson, 2008). The HEA study was informed similarly by the methodological principles of narrative inquiry and employed the research strategy of focus groups, encouraging reflexive accounts from participants.

Both studies identified ways in which all participants – students and academics - can benefit from the greater cultural diversity afforded by UK higher education, examining in particular how ‘local’ communities can benefit from increased internationalisation ‘at home’. The latter dimension will provide the main focus for the paper.