Reflective teacher agency in internationalised higher education: situated culturally responsive teaching amid tradition and globalisation

As internationalisation reshapes higher education (HE), culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is increasingly recognised as essential for equitable learning. However, limited research examines how CRT is implemented in practice within internationalised and English-medium classrooms. This qualitative instrumental case study investigates how reflective teacher agency (RTA) mediates CRT implementation in an international undergraduate course in Taiwan. Data were collected through semester-long classroom observations, a semi-structured interview, and document analysis. Guided by six CRT dimensions, the findings show that student-centred and culturally grounded practices were prioritised, while other dimensions were implemented more selectively in response to contextual constraints, including time pressures, linguistic diversity, and institutional expectations. Rather than reflecting incomplete implementation, this selectivity illustrates CRT as a situated process of pedagogical judgement. This study contributes primarily to CRT scholarship by conceptualising RTA as an enabling mechanism through which teachers selectively implement CRT in internationalised HE.