This collaborative self-study chronicled the evolution of our foundations of education course over three semesters as we attempted to make it more inclusive of our Chinese international students' beliefs and lived experiences. Rooted in frameworks centered on intercultural competence and teacher educator tensions, an analysis of reflective journals and discussions about our experiences teaching Chinese international students revealed messages of cultural minimization within our course as well as tension between our democratic beliefs and acceptance of cultural difference. From this analysis, we made several curricular-instructional changes to our course. Interviews with students who experienced the changes revealed our (need for continued) growth as culturally competent teacher educators. The study offers implications for teacher educators and demonstrates the necessity of self-study in helping teachers of educational foundations realize its democratic promise.