This blog is the first in a series of four posts from the QAA-funded Collaborative Enhancement Project (CEP): Supporting Staff to Enhance the International Student Experience. The project is led by De Montfort University (DMU) in partnership with the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Wolverhampton.

The project was developed in response to a persistent gap in UK higher education: while institutions invest significantly in internationalisation strategies, staff rarely receive structured, sustained support to translate those strategies into genuinely inclusive teaching practice. International students are often framed through a deficit lens as lacking in: linguistic competence, cultural familiarity, or academic preparedness, rather than as partners who bring knowledge, experience, and perspectives that enrich the learning environment for everyone. A deficit narrative, in this context, refers to the tendency to locate problems within individual students rather than within institutional structures, curricula, or pedagogic practices (Lomer and Mittelmeier, 2021). These narratives are widespread and often unintentional, embedded in the language of support services, assessment design, and everyday classroom practice. Challenging them requires more than goodwill; it requires dedicated time, structured reflection, and institutional investment. 

Across the four partner institutions, the project team designed and delivered a series of cross-institutional workshops for academic and professional services staff. Each workshop was adapted to its local institutional context, inviting staff to examine not just what they do, but why, and what institutional conditions make meaningful change possible or difficult. From these workshops, the project team developed a set of resources now available to the wider sector, including a Deficit Narrative Audit Tool and an Inclusive Practices Resource. Details of all project outputs will be shared as the project concludes.

De Montfort University workshop insights

As the host institution and lead, we took responsibility for developing the workshop materials and presentation that formed the foundations for all subsequent workshops across the collaborating universities. Central to the design of these materials was the requirement of a reflective and introspective approach, to develop meaningful and authentic conversations. Drawing on existing literature as well as our own experiences of teaching and researching internationalisation and international student experiences, we aimed to create a workshop that resonated with the realities of teaching at DMU and, in particular, with how these issues intersect with DMU's block teaching model, so that discussions felt grounded in participants' day-to-day practice.

Participants represented a range of roles across the university, including academic staff, professional development colleagues, and senior leaders such as the Associate Dean Education in Business and Law, the Deputy Dean of Business and Law, and the Head of International. Their presence proved particularly valuable in helping to bridge conversations between institutional policy and teaching practice. For example, some tutors shared challenges around accommodating students who arrive late in the term, particularly within the constraints of block teaching.

Through discussion with senior colleagues, participants became aware of forthcoming regulatory changes that will limit late arrivals beyond the first two weeks of teaching. This exchange highlighted how spaces for dialogue between those shaping policy and those delivering teaching can help clarify expectations and support more coherent approaches across the institution. It also created a discovery space where examples of good practice that might otherwise have remained hidden to colleagues across the university could be shared and amplified, including fresh approaches to assessment design, curriculum delivery, and co-creation with students.

What we discussed

The workshop encouraged group discussions around positionality as staff teaching international students, inclusive pedagogical practice, and the possibilities of co-creation with students. Participants reflected critically on the persistence of deficit narratives and what it means, in practice, to move beyond them.

These conversations opened up deeper reflections around ethical internationalisation: the sense of duty of care that staff feel towards international students navigating new academic, cultural, and social environments, alongside a frank acknowledgement that institutions have a moral responsibility to students they recruit internationally, not just a commercial one. When we recruit students from across the world, take substantial fees from them, and fail to create the conditions for them to genuinely thrive, that is not simply a pedagogic shortcoming, but an ethical failure.

Colleagues spoke candidly about the structural constraints that make it difficult to translate good intentions into practice. Heavy workloads, institutional pressures, and factors beyond the control of individual educators were frequently mentioned. A recurring theme was the lack of dedicated time, space, and structured staff development opportunities to support colleagues in engaging more deeply with inclusive internationalised pedagogies.

International students don’t have safety nets to retake a year. 

Workshop participant, DMU

If they don’t feel safe, they can’t be critical.

Workshop participant, DMU

Key takeaways

What struck us most was the depth of engagement in the room and what it revealed about unmet need. Many participants remained after the formal session had ended to continue conversations with colleagues and facilitators, discussing possibilities for future workshops and ongoing collaboration. The energy in those conversations made clear that staff are not indifferent to these issues. What they lack is the institutional time and space to act on them.

For practitioners reading this, the central message from our DMU workshop is this: individual commitment is necessary but not sufficient. Meaningful progress in supporting international students requires institutions to invest in professional development as a structural priority, not an optional add-on. Staff need time, space, and the opportunity to reflect alongside colleagues across roles and levels, including those who shape policy.

The resources developed through this project are designed to support exactly this kind of sustained, structured engagement. In the posts that follow, our partners at the University of Manchester, the University of Wolverhampton, and Manchester Metropolitan University share their own experiences of running the workshop and the insights it generated at their institutions.

References

Lomer, S. and Mittelmeier, J. (2021) ‘Mapping the research on pedagogies with international students in the UK: A systematic literature review’, Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1872532