Internationalisation at Home and Teacher Education: Engaging International Students as Conversational Partners

Internationalisation at Home (IaH) provides a valuable yet under-utilised approach to fostering intercultural engagement in teacher education, particularly for non-mobile prospective teachers. In this study, we examined the impact of an IaH initiative in which prospective teachers were paired with international students as conversational partners within a course on language and intercultural communication. We analysed focus group interviews and written reports to explore how this experience shaped the prospective teachers' intercultural and professional development. Our analysis showed that integrating coursework with the partnership encouraged participants to critically reflect on their biases, challenge ethnocentric views and adopt a more inclusive perspective. They also gained confidence in working with diverse student populations and developed a deeper appreciation for language learning. Overall, our study outcomes suggest that thoughtfully integrated IaH initiatives can support inclusive, culturally responsive teaching and provide meaningful intercultural experiences for prospective teachers who do not participate in study abroad programmes.