In this paper, I narratively inquire into (Xu & Connelly, 2009; Clandinin & Connelly, 2006) a Middle-Eastern graduate student’s learning experiences at an English-medium university in Turkey. Turkey is currently in a state of political, economic, institutional and educational reform; in part, due to its pursuit of membership into the European Union (Koc, Isiksal, & Bulut, 2007). As part of its educational reforms, Turkey is seeking to attract foreign students to its universities “to improve the quality and cultural composition of the student body, gain prestige, and earn income” (Altbach & Knight, 2007). Yet, as noted in North American contexts, higher education institutions do little to promote multicultural education, even though multicultural education has gained worldwide standing for its transformative potential (Gay, 2002; Nieto, 2005). Multicultural education can be understood as, “all students-regardless of gender, social class and ethnic, racial or cultural characteristics-should have an equal opportunity to learn in school” (Banks, 2010:3). Furthermore, as Banks et al. argue, multicultural education can aid in achieving justice within societies marked by inequalities (2005). As I learned in conversations with my participant, a foreign university graduate student in his third year of study, there are several tensions that arise from inequalities in the relationship he has with the university and his Turkish peers. These tensions seem to emerge from a lack of understanding about foreign identity and culture. Educational reforms, which incorporate multicultural education, have the potential to help alleviate these perceived tensions.

As Turkish universities gain increased international notoriety, as is evidenced by the showing of two Turkish universities on the 2010 Times Higher Education World Top 200 University Rankings, they are increasingly active in attracting a more diverse student body.  Yet, not much is known in the literature about what foreign students’ experience and learn from studying in this setting. Exploring the stories of a foreign student’s lived experiences studying in Turkey, through narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000), brings forward the tensions that disrupted this foreign student’s learning, tensions that may also resonate with other scholars teaching in European universities that accommodate foreign students. Although there is evidence of narrative inquiry (NI) work on student experiences in North American contexts (Chan, 2006 & S. Xu et al., 2007), little if any work has been done on foreign students’ experiences in European contexts. NI has the potential to look intimately at foreign student experiences in European higher education. Moreover, there is evidence that ‘these European educational systems do not adapt well to the diversity of languages and cultures that form its reality’ (Gogolin, 2002:124). NI uses a powerful experiential lens that can lend insight in how to better respond to foreign students in higher education European settings.

Further studies into foreign students' experience in European higher educational settings might bring forward new understandings of foreign student experience that would point to the need for further educational reforms like empowering foreign students by giving them voices and limiting the disparities in cultural understanding and equality through multicultural education. 

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