‘I don’t know how I would have done it without them:’ international graduate students’ informal pedagogy-centered communities of practice as processes of competency and confidence

This study situates the classroom teaching experiences of six international graduate students enrolled in an American communications program at a public research university within the framework of communities of practice (CoPs). Students represented the fields of communication studies, journalism, and radio-television-film. Findings show CoP formation was not driven by existing formal institutional pedagogy programming. CoPs emerged informally at the individual course level, where they developed primarily through upper-level students rather than through faculty. Moreover, pedagogy resources specific to the international graduate student experience did not exist, adding to the labour this group must perform in order to succeed in the classroom. As a resource, informal CoPs foster a sense of belonging for students, helping build confidence in the classroom. Interviewees also discussed successes they had in leaning into their international identity in the classroom.