International Students’ Experiences of SDG Commitments in Teacher Education

Abstract

This study examines how higher education practices driven by commitments to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) shape international students’ experiences in Turkish teacher education programmes. Using narrative inquiry and guided by critical internationalisation and postcolonial perspectives in higher education, the study examines how global sustainability discourses are translated into local contexts through curriculum design, institutional language policies, and everyday inclusion practices. Interview data from six international students show that although SDG rhetoric invokes commitments to quality education, inclusion, and peace, the application of these principles remains uneven. Linguistic hierarchies, limited intercultural engagement, and symbolic compliance with SDG frameworks create tensions between such global aspirations and local educational practices. These narratives show contradictions within SDG implementation, highlighting the need for more reflexive and structurally grounded approaches to internationalisation. The study offers a context-specific account of how international students experience SDG commitments in a Turkish teacher education program, while speaking to debates on internationalisation in semi-peripheral higher education contexts.