Conference Agenda

During war and forced displacement, children are exposed to cruelty, threats, and suffering, the like of which most people in peaceful nations will never know. Upon arrival in host countries in Europe, most refugee children are immediately placed in local schools, since it is generally believed that schools— by offering routine and structure— can provide a ‘safe space’ for trauma-affected children (Eide & Hjern, 2013). Teachers, thus, end up at the “frontline of dealing with the global refugee crisis” (Capstick, 2018, p. 72).

Following increased forced migration in Europe since 2015, several studies have shown high prevalence of trauma exposure among refugee children and youth, as well as high rates of mental health problems like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Jensen et al., 2019; Nilsen et al., 2022). However, teachers in European host nations are often ill-equipped at dealing with— and caring for— trauma-affected refugee children (Costa, 2018; Djampour, 2018; Kalisha, 2023). Despite cautions against relying on teachers as mental health professionals, teachers are nonetheless perceived as advocates for trauma-affected children (UNICEF, 2019). In fact, Pastoor (2016) argues that it is crucial teachers have adequate knowledge on how trauma exposure during war, flight, and exile impact refugee children’s learning and behavior in the classroom.

If schools and schooling is indeed relied upon to address vulnerability, trauma, and other migratory-related difficulties, where does this leave teachers? How do teachers understand their role and responsibility in classrooms with refugee children?

This study explores teachers’ encounters with trauma-affected refugee children in Norway. Through semi-structured interviews, teachers are invited to share experiences of their ability and capacity to support refugee learners in their classrooms. The study draws on the concept of response-ability, defined as the ‘ability or capacity to respond’ (Bozalek & Zembylas, 2021). We integrate, too, theories on trauma-informed pedagogy (e.g., Brunzell et al., 2019; Palanac, 2019; UNHCR, 2017).

This paper discusses the use of storytelling and poetry as pedagogical tools in peace education within the Tuareg Muslim community in Southern Algeria. The central key question that the paper examines is how storytelling and poetry, as traditional oral educational practices, are utilised as pedagogical tools for promoting peace within the Tuareg Muslim community in Algeria and what challenges and opportunities arise from integrating these cultural narratives into formal educational settings to impact peace education within and beyond Tuareg communities.

The indigenous inhabitants of North Africa are known as Berbers, or as some defined themselves as Imazighen, which literally means "free men." The Berber linguistic landscape in Algeria includes several dialects (Hagan & Myers, 2006; Shoup, 2012). Within this broader Berber context, the Tuareg in Algeria cultivated a distinct cultural identity. Tuareg, a nomadic group residing in Southern Algeria, is known for their use of the Tamesheq language dialect, with their adeptness in navigating the Saharan landscape. Tuareg's cultural practices, including the veiling of men's faces, are rich in symbolism. French colonisation in the 19th century marked a significant shift, forcing a transition from nomadic to more sedentary lifestyles, yet the Tuareg maintained many traditional customs (Shoup, 2012). Moreover, the imposition of Western educational models disrupted traditional practices, including the oral transmission of knowledge and values.

Historically organised tribally with a class-based system, their society comprises nobles, religious scholars, artisans, and various strata of vassals and labourers. Tuareg's oral literature tradition, primarily in the Tifinagh or Libyan script, consists of monumental inscriptions and a vibrant storytelling and poetry culture. These oral narratives serve as a medium for imparting religious and cultural values, including pre-Islamic myths and legends.

Storytelling and poetry play a pivotal role in transmitting cultural values and shaping the worldview of the Tuareg people in Algeria. These oral traditions are integral to the informal education system within the Tuareg community, serving not only as a means of entertainment but also as vital pedagogical tools. Through narratives imbued with teachings on social values, storytelling and poetry convey profound moral and ethical lessons, ensuring the passage of the community's rich heritage from one generation to the next.

Theoretically, the concept of Assabiyah, as discussed by Ibn-Khaldun (2005), refers to the social cohesion and collective solidarity that bind a community together, enabling it to act as a unified entity. This concept is particularly relevant to understanding subjects' cultural context when considering the role of storytelling and poetry in the Tuareg community of Algeria as a means of educating peace and transmitting cultural values.

This study presents how the stories and poems of the Tuareg are more than mere words; they are carriers of values and a reflection of the community's underpinning philosophies. They foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as exemplified by the story of Amamalandilyas, which is used to instil foundational values and develop peace resolution and reconciliation skills. These narratives guide young members in understanding their cultural identities and social responsibilities, thereby shaping their worldview and moral compass.

Despite their importance, storytelling and poetry face numerous challenges in the modern era. The advent of technology, the transition towards formal education systems, and the shift from a nomadic to a sedentary lifestyle have all threatened the continuity of these oral traditions. This paper advocates for acknowledging these approaches' artistic and educational potential effectiveness in peacebuilding. This further underscores the need to shift from Western-centric methodologies to embrace traditional heritage, contextually relevant, and culturally attuned educational practices, which can significantly impact peace education in Algeria and potentially in other similar contexts.

While immigration to Iceland has grown in recent years, student populations in schools at different levels have become increasingly diverse in terms of languages and cultures.

This paper derives from the research project Language policies and practices of diverse immigrant families in Iceland and their implications for education. The objectives of the project are to explore language policies and practices of diverse immigrant families (Curdt-Christiansen, 2013; Spolsky, 2004), how these affect their children’s education and the relationships and interactions between these families and the children‘s teachers.

The research questions posed in this paper are:

· How do multilingual children‘s language identities develop within their families?

· How do they negotiate these in a school and societal environment which is mainly Icelandic?

The paper builds on Bronfenbrenner‘s ecological systems theory (1979, 2005) which views child development as being affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment, from the family settings and school to broader societal and cultural values and a further development of this theory by Schwartz (in press). It explores how different systems affect multilingual children‘s language identities. The theoretical framework also includes writings on familiy language policy (FLP). It brings together research on multilingualism, language acquisition, language policy and cultural studies. Spolsky (2004, p. 5) distinguished three components of family language policy: 1) language practices „the habitual pattern of selecting among the varieties that make up its linguistic repertoire“; 2) language beliefs or ideology „the beliefs about language and language use“; and 3) language management „any specific efforts to modify or influence that practice by any kind of language intervention, planning or management.” These have been extended further by Curdt Christiansen (2013), who notes that FLP also recognizes the relevance and influence of economic, political and social structures and processes in a given society.

While early approaches to FLP according to Curdt-Christiansen (2013), emphasized language input, parental discourse strategy and linguistic environmental conditions, more recently there has been a shift of focus in research towards issues such as why different values are ascribed to different languages, how parents view bilingualism from emotional, sociocultural, and cognitive perspectives, and what kinds of family literacy environment and parental capital are likely to promote bilingualism. These components differ from one family to another and Schwartz (2018) notes that pro-active family language management might interact with and be influenced by the surrounding ethno-linguistic community and schools (policy-makers, teachers, and peers). When children enter a new socio-cultural community, such as a school where a majority language is spoken, they also encounter culturally related challenges. There they have to learn not only the vocabulary and grammar, but they also have to recognize and acquire the cultural norms connected to the language use. Bi- or multilingual children, who are a heterogeneous group, experience the differences on a daily basis and gradually acquire insights into all languages that they are exposed to. Children sometimes use translanguaging, i.e. the effective communication through activating all linguistic resources of the individual, is used to achieve communicative goals (García & Wei, 2014). Wilson (2020) argues that whilst the language management of minority-language parents tends to be geared towards transmitting a linguistic heritage, often associated with their emotional bond to the home country, their children, who may be born in the country of immigration, may not share such a deep connection with the heritage culture. As a result, children‘s language choices may differ from their parents.

This paper presents preliminary findings from the research project, A Part and Apart? Education and social inclusion of refugee children and youth in Iceland (ESRCI). This inter-disciplinary, multi-year project, that was one of four projects to be awarded by the Icelandic Research Council in 2023 as a "Grant of Excellence" seeks to critically explore the education and social inclusion of Syrian and Iraqi refugee children and youth at pre-, compulsory and upper secondary levels and the structures created for their learning and wellbeing in their social and educational settings.

In collaboration with the UNHCR, in 2015 the Icelandic government invited around forty families fleeing the wars in Syria and Iraq to immigrate to Iceland. These so-called "Quota Refugees" settled in elven different municipalities around the country as part of state agreements with those municipalities.

Findings of previous research in Iceland have revealed multiple challenges that refugee children face in Icelandic schools and society, but also educational and social success (Hama, 2020; Hariri et al., 2020; Ragnarsdóttir & Hama, 2018). Compared to most European countries, Iceland has had a limited experience with immigration. While there has been some research on refugee groups in Iceland, ESRCI is the first extensive inter-disciplinary research . The project is directed by the overarching research question: How do the education system and socio-cultural environments in Iceland contribute to the education and social inclusion of refugee children and youth? I am one of the two principal investigators of this project.

The project is divided into four pillars. I am responsible for he fourth which is Cultural and Historical Backgrounds of Syrian and Iraqi Refugee Children and Youth. Drawing on evidence, material and data related to the theme in this pillar, the paper aims to explore how the specific traumas of war and displacement impact the acclimation of these refugees and how their cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds may influence what their overall experience in Iceland.

Research questions include:

1: What is the nature of refugee children’s and youth’s experience with the integration processes in Iceland?

2: How does displacement and the memory of war impact their social and educational development?
3: How do the schools accommodate these children‘s traumatic experiences andwhich linguistically and culturally responsive practices are in place?
4: How are the children’s and youth’s cultural needs addressed, both in school policy and practice?

Utilizing the methodology of comparative global history (Lim, 2022) and Immigration and Migration Studies (Hamlin 2021), this paper will evaluate how the social and historical backgrounds of these refugeee children affect their experiences in and out of school. Given the difficult exposure to war and violence and the physical hardship of flight and migration, it has taken these children a considerable time to adapt to these new surroundings and put their trust in the relevant educational authorities. Though their may be commonalities in all immigrant and refugee experiences, particularly in a small and homogenous country like Iceland, I am particularly interested in what makes this a Syrian or Iraqi story. How does their country of origin impact their experiences? Though they are surviving, are they thriving in Icelandic society? And if not, why not? All to often, Icelanders tend to put the blame on immigrants for not being able to adapt to Icelandic society. But is there something about Icelandic culture that makes it difficult for Syrians and Iraqis to be the best version of themselves? How are the schools building on their social and historical resources to best take advantage of this new situation?

Initial teacher education (ITE) is becoming increasingly important to ensure that all students have an equitable, inclusive and high-quality school experience (EC, 2021) and learn to play an active role in today’s complex and multicultural society (Cochran-Smith, 2020; Kaur, 2012). Issues of intercultural education and social justice are central in an increasingly interconnected and globalised world (Aguado-Odina et al., 2017; Bhatti et al., 2007). But it needs to be studied in depth how to promote intercultural education in ITE curricula in such a way that future teachers can acquire an habitus focused on social justice and value the uniqueness of everyone, by avoiding the risk of falling into empty rhetoric about diversity (Leeman & Ledoux, 2003; Tarozzi, 2014) and taking into account teaching and learning methods.

Thus, it might be useful to discuss ITE, starting from university teaching, by proposing a change in traditional teaching methods to achieve this much-needed valorization of diversity and the construction of shared knowledge based on dialogue (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2008). There is a need to move away from traditional delivery transmissive methods to participatory methods that effectively can engage future teachers in an intercultural dialogue and enable them to build their professionalism by deconstructing their ideals, perspectives and beliefs about diversity and their role in class and developing new interpretive lenses and teaching strategies to be effective in heterogeneous contexts. The process of questioning those implicit beliefs and knowledge and fostering complex professional interpretations must be supported (Stephens et al., 2022). In this way, a disorientation can be brought about that creates imaginative spaces for new scenarios of pedagogical action in the classroom and for professional identity (Ellis et al., 2019). Undertaking this process is precisely the basis for intercultural education, which is not only about acquiring knowledge and theoretical principles, but also about constructing and rethinking one’s own professional identity in dialogical contexts.

Our paper aims to contribute to this discussion by proposing to use collaborative philosophical dialogue following the model developed by Matthew Lipman (2003; 2008) to design courses in ITE on issues of intercultural and social justice in education in academic courses. Lipman’s approach has traditionally been used in schools to promote complex thinking (Kennedy, 2012), but its potential can also be used for ITE, especially to reflect on educational processes in heterogeneous and multicultural contexts. Indeed, it encourages the active participation of future teachers in the form of an inquiry exercise that allows them to give original interpretations and unexplored perspectives on the issues discussed and to develop an ethical stance through the confrontation with different perspectives (Oliverio, 2014; Santi et al, 2019). This process can trigger a virtuous circle between philosophical dialogue and intercultural education (Anderson, 2016), as prospective teachers develop the ability to question their own beliefs about education, move between different systems of meaning, and open up to shared contexts.

Our paper addresses this issue from a theoretical standpoint by discussing a case study conducted within a ITE course at the University of Turin (Italy), in which future teachers were engaged in community philosophical dialogues to develop, discuss and problematize some issues of intercultural education. In particular, we would like to encourage discussion on the following questions:

• How can Lipmanian philosophical practise be used and developed in ITE?
• How can it support the future teachers in building a social justice-oriented habitus?
• Could the application of this approach become a resource for ITE to address intercultural issues in terms of reflectivity?

The system of initial teacher training in England is changing and this presents new challenges for Black and Asian students whose lives are already impeded by memories and experiences of racism. This presents an increasingly uncertain future and compounds the backdrop of existing racialised structures that occur recursively to continually suppress them (Marom, 2019). Teacher training in the mid-21st century has consistently standardised and normalised practices that reinforce white spaces and cultural knowledge (Warner, 2022). The new changes to teacher training begins in Autumn of 2024 will intensify and further embed hidden racialised and oppressive expectations and practices in the training curriculum (Department for Education, 2022). This Paper examines the debilitating effect of becoming a teacher, on British South Asian people who are often positioned as deficit and under-performing.

The teacher training curriculum in England does not include teaching about race, culture or ethnicity (Department for Education, 2019) despite the UK’s rich multicultural position. Alongside this, the forthcoming new restructure will increase time on school placements; which is recognised as the main combustion point for Black and Asian student teachers, leading to acute emotional and mental difficulties or leaving the course (Warner, 2022). Being undermined, under-supported and marginalised, are some of the findings of the research of the Paper. The research conducted in an English university, was motivated by the annual recurrence of the same problems experienced by South Asian students. There were 10 female and one male student teachers, identifying as British South Asian. Their narratives of obstacles and problems that obfuscate and impede their progression and understanding are manifold. Racialised practices, embedded within both university and school systems, are found to disproportionately affect them.

Attrition rates and under-achievement of student teachers who identify as British South Asian, in the English system of initial teacher training, are an unfortunately common occurrence (Tereshchenko, Bradbury & Mills, 2021).  The Pakistani heritage of nearly all of the participants in our research, raises specific intersectional cultural issues such as high parental and community expectations, gender roles of marriage and motherhood expectations and lack of knowledge of gaining entry into and navigating higher education systems (Subedi, 2008). There are also fears of losing their cultural and religious values through the university process.  However, possession of self-efficacy means they are able to transform and rework their parents’ cultures and religion to reflect their contemporary world, thus retaining links with the past while being successful in their personal lives.

It is evident that British South Asian student teachers navigate through a social system that fears their presence and devalues them. Subedi (2008) suggests that systems of teacher training mark South Asian teachers as “inauthentic”; signifying them as “marginal, perhaps deviant, both of which are interwoven with tropes of national identity and values” (p.57). The concept of ‘gendered Islamophobia’ stigmatises them and sets them against Eurocentric, white ideals, that essentialises and categorises people according to colour, language and culture (Bibi, 2022).   However while they also engage in self-motivation and agency to navigate these situations, they become enmeshed in power hierarchies, that are evident in teacher education requirements and categorises them as non-legitimate in their teacher identities (Subedi, 2008).

Motivated by the increasing recognition of the anti-colonial potential of teacher education (TE), this study examines how Finnish teacher educators engage with and understand knowledge about and from the Indigenous Sámi people (‘Sámi knowledge’). The research delves into the discourses, meanings, practices, and challenges the interviewed teacher educators express regarding the inclusion of Sámi knowledge to TE programmes. Thus, the paper aims to contribute to ongoing Nordic and international discussions about the wicked problem of ignorance about Indigenous peoples and colonial realities ('settler ignorance'), which is documented perpetuating oppressive structures and hindering Indigenous rights (Cook, 2018).

While the phenomenon of settler ignorance and its presence in education has been globally discussed (e.g., Godlewska et al., 2020; Taylor & Habibis, 2020), the issue remains under-researched in the contexts of the Sámi, the only Indigenous people in the European Union. The Sámi inhabit Northern European regions currently spread across Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. National truth and reconciliation processes in Finland, Sweden and Norway all emphasise the goal of better public knowledge about Sámi matters, underlining its significance in overturning the historical and ongoing mistreatment (e.g., Prime Minister’s Office, 2021). Furthermore, the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance has repeatedly highlighted the need for education to address the profound lack of knowledge about Sámi people, recognizing mainstream ignorance as a source of hate speech and Sámi discrimination (ECRI, 2019). Acknowledgment of the problematic nature of transnational ignorance has prompted initiatives at both national and EU levels to raise awareness of Indigenous issues (see Saami Council, 2022).

In the Finnish context, the incorporation of Sámi knowledge into education depends largely on teachers, given the minimal support and accountability the curricula and teaching materials assign for Sámi inclusion (e.g., Miettunen, 2020). Sámi scholars Keskitalo and Olsen (2021) reinforce the interconnectedness of stronger Sámi education and Sámi inclusion in mainstream teacher education. Recognizing settler ignorance not as a mere absence of knowledge but as a cognitive, affective and social force (Cook, 2018), it has been highlighted that dismantling such ignorance necessitates proactive and systematic incentives and support at different educational levels, thus deeply affecting TE institutions (e.g., Somby & Olsen, 2022). Together with these conceptualisations, we apply Susan Dion’s (2007) theory of educators’ common ‘perfect stranger’ position toward Indigenous matters as we examine whether future teachers receive both Sámi-related teaching and opportunities for critical reflection, both of which they need to truly access the 'difficult knowledge' related to Indigenous/colonial realities.

In a preceding sub-study linked to this paper, we discovered that Finnish TE programmes' written curricula often privilege liberal/nationalistic narratives over openings for Sámi knowledge or critical reflections on colonial responsibilities (Mattila et al., 2023). Given the influential role educators play in curriculum interpretation and development, as well as in institution-wide anti-colonial efforts (e.g., Parkinson & Jones, 2019), the perceptions of educators become a highly relevant focus of research. The work of teacher educators is complex and influential considering their multiple intertwining roles and the dripple-down effect of being the teachers of teachers (see Boyd & White, 2017). Through interviews with teacher educators from Finnish TE universities, this study seeks to deepen our understanding of the current state of teaching/learning Indigenous and colonial matters and provide insights for future TE development.

Public schools should be places where students from diverse backgrounds come together to strengthen their knowledge and skills to maximize their human potential and become active citizens in a vibrant democracy. However, U.S. educators are living in increasingly polarizing times where, as of January 2023, 18 states have passed legislation that bans or restricts how concepts, such as race and equity, are taught in schools, prohibiting complex discussions of systemic injustice (Schwartz, 2023). Book banning and rejecting courses that educate students about African American history (Kim, 2023; Limbong, 2022) reflect the pugnacious state of the current American public classroom. While restrictive legislation of this nature and to this degree may not be prominent across the globe, discussions of “woke education” are occurring in parts of Europe (Cammaerts, 2022). When laws prohibit important social, historical, and political discussions in classrooms in any country, democracy is threatened.

In the context of a heightened politically polarizing time in the US, it is imperative to understand how teachers committed to social justice education (SJE) navigate the complexity of their work. The purpose of our study is to examine the experiences of 17 justice-oriented educators within one school district in the state of New Hampshire, where a law banning the teaching of “divisive concepts” was passed in 2021, as they teach and lead in contentious times. The following research questions guide the study: 1) What supports teachers' commitment to socially just teaching when they encounter opposition to their work? 2) In what ways do these supports operate as protective factors for the teachers' personal and professional wellbeing? We deliberately use the term protective factors because there are forces (e.g., the law, hostility from the community) that threaten the integrity of their practice, and their students’ learning and wellbeing. This study addresses ECER’s conference theme in that it helps us to understand how educators enact SJE in a time of uncertainty, igniting hope and empowering other educators to take part in educating for greater justice.

We draw on the literature related to social justice education and social justice leadership (SJL) to inform the study. Chubbock and Zembylas (2008) define SJE as, “a teacher’s effort to transform policies and enact pedagogies that improve the learning and life opportunities of typically underserved students while equipping and empowering them to work for a more socially just society themselves” (p. 284). As Chubbock and Zembylas (2008) note the focus of SJE is to “improve the learning... of underserved students.” However, often overlooked is another vital part of SJE—the significance and necessity of SJE for privileged students to engender change (Swalwell, 2013). Challenging inequality in these communities must also be part of the larger SJE project (Author, 2021; Swalwell 2013). This is especially important to consider in the current study which takes place in a predominantly white and wealthy district. 

An extension of SJE is SJL, which is carried out by leaders who “make issues of race, class, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and other historically and currently marginalizing conditions in the United States central to their advocacy, leadership, practice, and vision” (Theoharis, 2007, p. 223). SJL is a pivotal piece in the educational equity project and goes beyond simply recognizing injustice to interrogating conditions that perpetuate marginalization and supporting justice-oriented change efforts in schools through policy and practice (Flores & Bagwell, 2021; Theoharis & Haddix, 2011).

The findings from this study indicate the kinds of support that bolstered educators’ determination and ability to persist in justice-oriented teaching. The findings offer guidance for educational leaders and educators who face similar challenges to their social justice commitments in communities across the globe.

In theories of group behavior, the concept of social identity is extremely useful because it describes individuals in terms of multiple hierarchical affiliations. Thanks to an almost unlimited capacity for rationalization, most humans cope well with multiple identities and loyalties in conflict situations. Alongside this, there are often situations in which the conflict is present and requires the person to bridge it and find a balance (Magen-Nagar & Steinberger, 2016).

Developmental psychologist Erik Erikson (1968) conceptualized an individual's identity as a multifaceted structure dynamically evolving and undergoing gradual changes over time. A crucial element within the components of one's identity is one’s professional identity (Popper-Giveon & Shayshon, 2017. Rodgers and Scott (2008) referred to the negotiation processes that take place in relation to professional identity. They posit that the identity structure is in a constant process of construction, development and changes while at the same time having a tendency to show coherence. They referred to identity as contextual, developing in relation to social, cultural, political and historical aspects, and during negotiations with the ‘other’.

Aligned with the process approach, these assumptions correspond to the perspective that characterizes individuals’ current identity state and delineates the state of their identity at a specific moment (Kroger & Marcia, 2011). The process approach posits that individuals actively seek information about themselves and their surroundings to inform decision-making and meaningful choices in life. These simultaneous processes entail a commitment to a sequence of choices and decisions among identity alternatives, all the while acquiring the necessary knowledge to evaluate these alternatives (Alsanafi & Noor, 2019; Steinberger, 2022).

Identity processes are accelerated in times of conflict. Thus, in a state of incompatibility, when individuals are exposed to central identity conflicts (Van der Gaag et al., 2020) they may feel their basic needs and values threatened. As a result, they may be prevented from considering identity alternatives. Frequent and significant conflict serves as a catalyst for change and action. Reinforcement for this exists in the theory of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1962; Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2019), according to which individuals naturally strive for balance. When a conflict disturbs the balance, individuals will be motivated to resolve it in order to reduce the discrepancy.

In this research we approach identity formation both from a process approach and a socio-cultural perspective that takes into account the contextual factors influencing identity formation. For example, Côté (2006) highlighted the development of a contextual approach as a central challenge in identity research. Theoretical models addressing identity development grapple with this challenge by acknowledging the psychosocial context in the formation of identity (Côté & Levine, 2014).

This study aimed to explore the process of identity formation among Arab Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) who aspired to teach in Jewish schools. The sample comprised 14 Arab PSTs undergoing training, engaged in a unique program called “Cross-Teach” that involved the retraining of Jewish academics to teach in Arab schools and vice versa. As part of the program, the PSTs participated in a one-day-a-week practicum in schools from the ‘other’ stream, presenting various identity conflict situations. The primary research questions focused on understanding the identity processes experienced by Arab PSTs during their training. This included examining the encountered identity conflicts, assessing whether these conflicts acted as catalysts for regrouping, and exploring the ways in which the PSTs navigated and integrated this complexity into their identity.

Linguicism is language-based racism (Dirim 2010). In its direct form, linguicism includes institutional and individual language bans, and in its more subtle forms, it extends to explicit or unspoken expectations on desired language use. Structurally, linguicism is closely interwoven with racial ideologies and often refers to racism-related marginalisation (Rosa 2019). This raciolinguistic connection is particularly evident in the devaluation of the languages of migrant multilingual persons. This is also expressed in the hierarchisation of languages and their speakers in schools (Knappik/Ayten 2020), which is reflected, among other things, in the different prestige of languages and in the contrasting treatment of foreign languages such as English and French in schools compared to so-called heritage languages such as Turkish or Polish. This hierarchy of languages is of great importance in schools, as it habitually frames the linguistic behaviour of all actors (Doğmuş 2022), which is particularly salient as schools are, at all times, linguistic spaces of teaching and learning. Teacher training itself also contributes to the reproduction of linguicism through the language-related "de_thematisation of migration society orders" (Shure 2021), the unequal assessment of linguistic competences and the creation of exclusions along the category of language (Knappik/Dirim/Döll 2013).

While experiences of racism by pupils, university students and teachers have been investigated more in recent years (Akbaba/Bello/Fereidooni 2022), experiences of linguicism of teachers have barely been explored yet. However, this topic is particularly urgent for teacher education:

• Experiences of racism in the professional environment have a severe impact on health (Madubuko 2020). Initial studies show that experiences of linguicism are particularly powerful in this context due to the importance of language for learning and teaching in schools (Ayten/Hägi-Mead 2023).
• Migrant multilingual teachers often experience a complex confrontation with expectations of loyalty directed at them, which are seen as achievable through the exclusive use of one national language only (Fereidooni 2016). They also experience “control attempts" (Mai 2020) related to the languages they use, and the often very painful devaluation of their other languages (Ayten/Hägi-Mead 2023).
• The forms in which internalised linguicism (based on the term "internalised racism", Bivens 2005) affects the professional self-image and professional actions of affected teachers have not yet been investigated. Initial insights into our data show a highly complex network of cross-referencing effects between professionalisation efforts and the risk of deprofessionalisation, which appears to manifest itself in reproductions of linguistic structures that are ultimately directed against the individual teachers themselves. This complex has not yet been investigated, nor are there any corresponding programmes for teacher training.

Our data indicate that pre-service teacher training in particular is an institution in which linguicism plays a decisive role in the development of the linguistic professional self-image.

Our data also show that experiences of linguicism play a major role in teachers' decisions to leave the profession. In view of the shortage of teachers and the educational policy hopes regarding teachers with a so-called migration background (Akbaba/Bräu/Zimmer 2013), this is a particularly great loss.

In order to better understand how teachers experience and internalise linguicism in schools, our guiding research question is:

How do teachers experience linguicism in schools and how do they interpret their experiences? A particular focus will be on exploring the phenomenon of internalised linguicism and its significance for the professionalisation of teachers.

The intensification of migratory flows around the world, largely associated with the humanitarian crisis that has been victimizing migrants and refugees more visibly since 2015, has motivated fracturing positions in civil society and in the political sphere, expressed in welcoming movements, on the one hand, and in xenophobic and segregationist movements, on the other hand, a stance that has been conquering territory in contemporary societies (Huber & Reynolds, 2014; Silva et al., 2018).

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, guided by the commitment to “leave no one behind”, has had the migratory phenomenon as one of the major challenges to be considered, namely regarding SDG 4, devoted to Education. UNESCO underlines the need to protect the right to education of displaced persons, considering the principle of non-discrimination, which comprises the inclusion of migrants and refugees in national education systems. The increase in the migratory flow to Europe leaves many migrant and refugee students helpless in the education systems, and European countries are faced with the growing need to adapt the institutional, social, and educational response to the reception of a considerable number of children and young people with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds (de Wal Pastoor, 2016).

The migration crisis added urgency to the demand of an inclusive school (de Wal Pastoor, 2016). Despite the efforts to ensure access to education for all, there are shortcomings in the quality of educational integration that compromise the academic, emotional, and social well-being of young migrants, intensifying the marginalization and stigmatization of these groups in society (Cerna, 2019; de Wal Pastoor, 2016; European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2019; PPMI, 2017; Silva et al., 2018).

According to the holistic model for the educational integration of refugees (Cerna, 2019), teachers’ training to deal with diversity is one of the main factors to improve the response of education systems to meet the learning, social and emotional needs of this population (de Wal Pastoor, 2016; Szelei et al., 2020; European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2019; PPMI, 2017).

From this panorama, the following research questions emerged: What are the teachers' perceptions and beliefs about migrants and refugees, about welcoming other cultures and about cultural diversity in schools? What training needs, opportunities, challenges, and good experiences can be identified in this area?

Professional development of teachers in interculturality is also an insufficiently studied field (Szelei et al., 2020). Research shows that teachers feel unprepared to work with students from different cultural backgrounds (de Wal Pastoor, 2016; PPMI, 2017; Szelei et al., 2020). Indeed, the increase in cultural and social diversity raises challenges and opportunities for education. For teachers to be(come) agents of positive change in this process, it is essential to promote a culture of support for teachers.

Ecologically informed research on education of migrants and refugees, that considers the educational and historical realities of specific countries (in terms of receiving and integrating migrant populations and national cultural minorities) is still scarce and this is especially true for Portugal (de Wal Pastoor, 2016). Professional development of teachers in interculturality is also an insufficiently studied field (Szelei et al, 2020).

This study intends to contribute to improve the quality of the educational integration of migrant, refugee and ethnic minority children and young people, as well as the professional development and well-being of teachers when working with a multicultural public. For this purpose, the research aims to study the perceptions of primary, secondary and vocational school teachers about the welcoming of other cultures in Portugal and in the Portuguese education system, particularly migrants, refugees and ethnic minorities. Furthermore, it also proposes to know teachers’ preparation and training to deal with cultural diversity.

The pilot project reported on in this paper is part of a larger aim: to transform English literary education insettler collonial contexts to foreground climate and racial justice as part of its core curriculum. Climate change has been identified as the major crisis facing the world, and a foremost issue for young people. Addressing the climate crisis in education requires new approaches that reflect the urgency and scope and scale of the situation and prepares young people to lead decisions regarding justice-focused, sustainable futures. The Reading Climate Pilot Project explored the way that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander literary narratives provide new perspectives on interactions with Country, climate change, allowing readers engagement with Indigenous knowledges and perspectives for the justice-oriented citizenry of the future. There is an urgent need for this research: while Indigenous writers’ contribution to understandings of climate are well documented and awarded, and the power of story to impact on understandings of significant environmental, social and cultural issues is well established, Aboriginal writing remains significantly underrepresented in Australia’s curricula, particularly in

subject English.

This project prioritizes Indigenous stories and interdisciplinary collaboration in

English, cross-curricular knowledge sharing, developing teaching resources in English secondary

settings, and interdisciplinary and international collaboration. The project was undertaken as a collaboration between the Literary Education Lab (members: Sandra Phillips; Sarah E. Truman, Clare Archer Lean, Melitta Hogarth and Larissa McLean Davies) with the Stella Prize for the literature or women and non-binary writers, and Indigenous authors and scholars.

Research questions were:

1. How do English teachers engage with Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding Country to imagine sustainable climate futures?

2. What new knowledge about climate justice in English education can be developed

through interdisciplinary collaboration between Indigenous writers and texts, and the

environmental humanities and climate science?

3. What real-world applications of new knowledge about the intersections of climate fiction, Indigenous knowledges, racial justice and climate science have for the field of sustainability education?

Theoretical framework: The project’s conceptual approach draws on three key ideas: Indigenous relationality, literary sociability, and literary linking. First, Indigenous relationality enables thought that connects all living things (Graham 2014; Harrison et al 2017). We are not only shaped by biology but also through our story-telling activities: the stories we tell ourselves have material effects on who we become (Heiss 2015; Clarke 2016). A climate justice citizenry requires the capacity to comprehend the complex relations between human and nonhuman species and Country. Indigenous fiction establishes a corpus of narrative ready for critical classroom engagement to develop this capacity. This argument resonates with English curricula accounts of the promise of literature for building good moral character and citizenship (Atherton 2005), but also prioritises feminist concerns over whose stories are prioritised, whose stories are listened to (Hogarth 2019; Truman 2019). By changing the repertoire of stories and reading practices we can change cultural understandings and futures: this is a pressing concern in an era of ongoing resource inequalities, environmental racism, and climate disasters (Yusoff 2018). Second, the study also draws on an understanding that pedagogical literary study is sociable and relational (Phillips & Archer-Lean 2019). Third, this project activates a new transdisciplinary method called literary linking (McLean Davies et al 2021). Literary linking is informed by principles of relationality and co-design, where research participants and researchers work together to develop shared understandings. It is underpinned by a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration as a necessary component for making sense of pressing social, environmental, and cultural concerns, including climate change.

The objective of this presentation is to show the results of research in which I explored the ECE teachers' awareness of social classes. As a teacher-student, I often observed a lot of reluctance towards some of the pupils from their teachers. Very often those children were from underprivileged families. I also observed and read a lot about inequalities in education, which led me to think about whether teachers, especially those from early childhood education have knowledge and awareness about social division and how this affects the pupils they work with.

According to Bourdieu's theory of socio-cultural reproduction, children start their schooling with different inherited capitals, but the school treats pupils as if they all have the same starting position while assuming that all children are expected to acquire the same skills, knowledge and level of 'cultural familiarity'. This situation allows middle- and upper-class children to benefit from the resources brought from home and early schooling (Grochalska, 2009: 63). Pupils for whom the values of the dominant culture are distant may consequently drop out of further education at a certain stage of their education or consciously choose ‘an educational profile that reproduces the life path of their parents’ (Szkudlarek, 2007: 35). However, the idea is not that students with low-class backgrounds should be deprived of the chance to change their social position, but that those working with the pupils should understand that school is part of a system that reproduces the social structure.

There are divergences in the literature in defining social class. Some authors speak of the 'death of classes' in most developed societies (Pakulski, Waters, 1996, in Lareau, 2008: 4) or the 'obsolescence of the term', including in relation to education, without denying the existence of social inequalities (Harris, 2018: i-ii). Anette Lareau notes that social classes are often written about in a non-explicit way, using terms such as 'inequality’, ‘stratification’, ‘origin’ or analysing specific indicators such as education, wealth, income, and occupation (Lareau, 2008: 3). Also in common parlance, the term appears to be ambiguous (Wright, 2005: 1) or attempts are made to strip it of its political character, as is the case, for example, in Palska's research (Gdula, Sadura, 2012: 18). In Poland, the issue of social classes seems to be perceived rather as a historical relic. The vocabulary used to describe the social structure, i.e. terms like: 'working class’, ‘social classes’, ‘exploitation’, ‘capital’, ‘class conflict’, ‘class struggle’ (Zuk, 2010: 9), is associated with the past social system and tends to be no longer used. On the other hand, some researchers stress that we are intuitively aware of the existence of social classes (Sadura, 2012). Despite the colloquial social perception of social classes, Polish researchers undertake class analyses, including those devoted to Bourdieu's concept, which I also adopted as the basis for my exploration on social classes and educational inequality (Gdula, Sadura, 2012).

Adopting Sadura’s approach to Polish social structure, we can distinguish three main social classes in Poland: higher, middle and lower (Gdula, Sadura, 2012). All three of them have different ways of life as well as different ways of learning which is a part of the way of living and living necessities (Sadura, 2017). Understanding this is crucial to creating inclusive school environments and developing the idea of equal chances.

We examine how Palestinian teachers in Jewish schools, who are Israeli citizens, coped during the intense conflict that unfolded after the events of October 7, 2023. This period was marked by a series of coordinated attacks initiated by Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas. The attacks included a relentless barrage of some 3,000 rockets targeting Israel and the breach of the Gaza–Israel barrier by around 3,000 militants who launched assaults on Israeli military bases and civilian communities, resulting in approximately 1,200 casualties and the abduction of about 240 civilians (Dostri, 2023).

The onslaught triggered recollections of European pogroms and the Holocaust among many of the Jewish citizens in Israel and elicited a national trauma (Tal, 2023). This shifted their perception from enjoying a comfortable, modern life in a quasi-European nation to an overarching sense of survival. This sentiment manifested as heightened suspicion toward Arab citizens of Israel (Asad, 2023), accompanied by widespread conspiracy theories alleging collusion with Hamas. There was also a notable persecution of Palestinian citizens of Israel expressing support for Palestinians on social media during this period.

Amidst the escalated tension and violence, Palestinian citizens of Israel working as teachers in Jewish schools were placed on the educational frontlines (Gindi et al., 2023). They encountered unprecedented challenges in managing interactions with students, students’ parents, co-teachers, and even their daily commutes to the schools where they taught. Our exploration delves into the experiences, resilience, and strategies employed by Israeli-Palestinian educators as they navigated the complexities of teaching in an environment overshadowed by the Gaza–Israel conflict.

Throughout November 2023, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 teachers and five supporting personnel 16 of which are Palestinian citizens of Israel and one Jewish Israeli citizen. The interviewees expressed their astonishment at the events of October 7^th, elaborating on their personal concerns regarding safety, security, and the prospect of resuming teaching duties in Jewish schools. They also discussed the transformations they observed both in Israeli society at large and within their immediate school environments. By exploring the role of Palestinian citizens of Israel as teachers in Jewish schools during this tumultuous period, the lecture aims to offer insights into the transformative power of education and the mediating role of teachers’ workplace relationships in fostering resilience, tolerance, and the potential for unity even in the most challenging circumstances of external war which intensify an internal national identity conflict.

Current imperatives for education systems include key objectives, such as developing young people into citizens who will be equipped to live successfully in open, democratic and pluralistic societies. This issue is of crucial importance, taking into account the strengthening of nationalism, intolerance and racism in recent years and the challenges posed by the arrival of large numbers of immigrants and refugees in Greece and in Europe.

The inclusion of immigrant and refugee children into schooling is a matter of crucial importance for European societies. Equal access to school is an unalienable human right of all children, as it is enshrined in the Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in other international legal documents. Through education, knowledge is developed and skills, values and attitudes are cultivated, this way ensuring the unimpeded personality development of all children. At the same time, it is the safest way to their inclusion into societies. In the context of an intercultural approach to education, the aim cannot be the linguistic and cultural assimilation of children or their marginalization and the creation of parallel societies within the dominant society. Equal access to school is a legitimate act of respect for the fundamental human right to education, but at the same time it is also a choice with positive results for both children and the wider society.

At the same time, it is of major importance to provide children with quality education, which on one hand, will fully exploit their potential and on the other, will create a culture of democracy, respect, solidarity and justice in school and society. Fully realizing potential means that children will have equal opportunities for advancement in school and society, while a culture of democracy, which will include all children, native, minority, migrant or refugee, should involve a holistic approach; first and foremost, this is understood at the level of an educational policy inspired by a commitment to democratic principles. At the same time, it is important to teach democratic principles through the curriculum and extra-curricular activities, using participatory methods that empower students to think critically and independently and to be able to resolve conflicts. At the same time, democracy can be taught effectively within a democratic school community, so that students can become catalysts for change in their social environment (Council of Europe, 2016).

Intercultural Education has been an issue of importance in Greek education since the 1990s, when Greece became a receiving country for immigrants. After the emergence of the economic crisis in 2009, as well as the dynamic appearance of a far-right extremist group in the political scene, it became evident that the very idea of intercultural education had to be reconsidered and linked to education for democracy in order to help fight xenophobia, racism, chauvinism and euro-skepticism (Kesidou, 2019). This paper seeks to explore the prerequisites and challenges of effective democratic education in Greek schools, taking into account contemporary research data. The data is based on research, which has been conducted by the author in recent years, mainly within a European setting, seeking evidence on the effectiveness of democratic education in Greek secondary schools. The focus is both on educational policy and practice, in terms of the curriculum, teaching methodology, school culture, teachers and students. The research involved the collection of data on the formal education policy, as well as the performance of an in-depth case study in Greece; it revealed a considerable gap between policy and practice as well as that teaching democracy is challenged by inherent weaknesses of Greek education and schooling (Kesidou, 2017, Kesidou, 2021).

To be an adolescent with migrant background it is not an easy task. During this phase of life, self-image and self-concept have to be reworked, so one is more fragile and more exposed to one's own evaluation and that, particularly relevant, of peers. Besides, as children of immigrants, they have to cope with many cultural systems of reference, and their identities’ multiple faces to build a coherent sense of identity (Syed, 2010). They face the fundamental key task of exploring and defining their cultural and ethnic identity. Succeeding in this task is considered to be an important resource for accomplishing the generic developmental tasks faced by all young people. This identity challenge (i.e.,) has been studied by many researchers (i.e. Baumert et al., 2024; Benet-Martinez et al., 2002; Behtoui, 2021; Lilgendahl et al., 2018; Portes et al., 2011). Most published research has used a quantitative approach, which leaves very little room for adolescents' lived experiences. In this scenario, qualitative research (QR) for its characteristics, allows us to have access and includes the pre/adolescents’ voices and perspectives (ages 10/11–19/20). Conducting a meta-summary on QR on this topic allows us both to access these subjects’ perspectives and to understand the development in the field (which kind of and how much research has been conducted). The thematic summaries of data resulting from the systematic review can give us insight into little-explored topics and provide suggestions on possible new work paths. To the best of our knowledge a systematic review in this field, with this goal, has not yet been done.

This research by underlining the pre/adolescent point of view, can contribute to enhance the knowledge on this topic.

This paper explores what dance experiences young people can have in upper-secondary school and what happens within. The main concern is the apparent prevalence of inequalities in access to dance in education for young Portuguese.

Dance can introduce strong body awareness, allow people to enjoy a 'totalizing' self-experience (Karkou & Oliver, 2017), linking the capacity for expression, movement, balance, and knowledge of the body with relationships with the social environment (Costa et al., 2004). Enabling dance in education can immeasurably expand students' abilities to master more complex tasks and support social and emotional learning across the curriculum, stimulating self-fulfillment, the sensitive construction of relationships, promoting responsibility and leadership, inspiring to understand and address the most critical challenges of their times as citizens of the world (Brown, 2017).

The European Action Strategy recognizes the transformative potential of cultural practices - such as dance - to strengthen democracy (Council of EU, 2022). Articulate art and education may stimulate cognitive development and make the learning processes more relevant to modern societies (UNESCO, 2006).

Nevertheless, a European political agenda governed by numbers and vehemently market-oriented (Council of EU, 2019; Macedo, 2018) still prevails, focused on providing young people with the skills to successfully enter the world of work. Although this is also important, it may lead schools to become instrumental to the market (Nada et al., 2022). Education can and must go further.

In Portugal, the “Profile of Pupils Leaving Compulsory Schooling”(2017) considers these concerns and European guidelines, establishing a set of principles, areas of competence, and values that should be included in education, while simultaneously recognizing the importance of a more humanist education, based on social justice. The “Curricular Matrices of Upper-secondary Education” in Portugal(2018) show that the human, expressive, and artistic dimensions are growingly neglected as we progress through the education system. The "Guiding Principles of Curricular Revision"(2001) blur the core of secondary education, turning it into a "passageway" between elementary and higher education, devaluing its central role.

The curricular pillars of the Portuguese education system aim to respond to the National and European Qualifications Framework as recommendations that have reaffirmed competitive, economic, and mercantilist principles, leaving small room for exercising citizenship of body, brain, and soul. Appears necessary to unleash new strategies to connect education to humanity to build an increasingly democratic and citizen society (International Commission on the Future of Education, 2022). Dance is a possible way forward.

In this paper we establish a dialogue between the field of education and the one of dance. Experience with the arts is recognized as a right, and access to dance is defended within the education framework for all, to build fairer, more equitable, and sustainable presents and futures (idem). We argue that education with the arts incorporates ethical, aesthetic, and solidarity principles (Macedo, 2021; Monteiro, 2021) and that the arts are a way of life and of building relationships rather than a technical practice.

It seems trivial to assume the importance of arts in education, at least in a theoretical way (Monteiro, 2014). However, we are still being confronted with a duel between science and arts, reason and emotion, as dissociated. Science is seen as the primary source of reliable, cognitive, and valuable knowledge rather than the artistic experience seen as less valid and credible. This segmented view tends to be reproduced in the educational system where the arts become secondary (Eisner, 2002), with dance coming lastly in the curriculum (EURYDICE, 2009). We argue that dance has a strong potential for young people’s personal and social development, intertwining in a more holistic perspective of education that needs further investment and research.

As lifelong learning (LLL) is a significant condition for employability, social inclusion and active citizenship, the European Council has been emphasizing the importance of adult learning for the last two decades (European Commission, 2001; 2016; 2019). While good-quality motivation and good-quality learning strategies are important determinants of continued learning in adulthood (European Commission, 2016; Lüftenegger et al., 2012), learning processes in adult education are an understudied terrain, especially among low-educated adults, who we can expect to be insufficiently developed in these learning skills.

Educational psychological research agrees that learning is a complex interplay of motivation, regulation and cognitive processing and, regardless of the age of the studied population, individual differences in learning quality exist (Vermunt & Donche, 2017). It can therefore be expected that also low-educated adults should not be considered a homogeneous group of learners, but learner profiles, differing in the quality of learning motivation and use of learning strategies, may be present. In person-oriented research, motivation and learning strategies have so far mainly been studied separately, rather than as an integrated whole. Yet literature points to the strong reciprocal relation between the two components, in which neither motivation nor learning strategies are the protagonist (e.g., Alexander, 2017). For this reason, the current study seeks to answer the question of which qualitatively different learner profiles exist among low-educated adults, based on learning motivation and learning strategies used, investigating both components, relative to each other.

Learning motivation is conceptualized in this study according to Deci and Ryan's (2000) Self-Determination Theory (SDT), in which quality is understood as the degree to which behaviour is self-determined. Amotivation is situated at the lower end of the SDT-continuum, which is the same as a lack of motivation. Next on the continuum are various forms of extrinsic motivation. The least self-determined form of extrinsic motivation is external regulation. This behaviour is initiated by external pressure, such as rewards or power. Introjected regulation refers to behaviour that is self-imposed, such as behaviour to avoid guilt or boost the ego. The third and most self-determined form of extrinsic motivation, is identified regulation. It refers to behaviour that is posed because the learner finds it valuable. At the very top of the continuum is intrinsic motivation which refers to behaviour that stems from inherent interest or pleasure.

The distinction in quality for the component of learning strategies is conceptualized according to the Learning Patterns Model (LPM)(Vermunt & Donche, 2017). Students tending toward a meaning-oriented learning pattern process learning content in a deep way, combined with a high degree of self-regulation strategies. Students with an application-oriented learning pattern prefer to make connections to concrete situations and prefer both self- and external regulation strategies. Students with a reproduction-oriented learning pattern process in a surface manner and prefer strong external regulation by the learning environment. Students can be identified lacking any regulation strategies and using few to none processing strategies and whom the model labels as the undirected learning pattern. The former two patterns are considered good-quality patterns, while the latter patterns are considered poor-quality learning.

Although both theories have a tradition of variable-oriented research, person-oriented studies have increasingly appeared to distinguish between individual quality. For each component of learning (motivation, regulation and processing strategies), typically, four profiles are found, differentiating between a high- versus low-quantity and a good- versus poor-quality profile (e.g., Cents-Boonstra et al., 2019; Shum et al., 2023). Based on the insights of earlier person-oriented research, we hypothesize learning profiles among low-educated adults to be distinct not only in terms of quality but also in terms of quantity.

When you enter the Southsea high school, you enter an open area called the “lounge”. The lounge is a place you pass through, but it also serves as a place to hang out, meet other students and to take a break and rest in the comfort of the sofas. Everybody knows and notices that the lounge is primarily populated by the racialized minoritized students. The white students hang out in the canteen. This resonates with Beverly Daniel Tatum’s classic and poignant question ‘Why are all the Black Kids sitting together in the cafeteria?’ (Tatum 1997). In this paper I wish to follow another but related question, investigating the internal logics and negotiations of the majoritized white students and the minoritized racialized students in how they make sense of the ways in which they can take up space in the high school - and in society in general.

I conceptualize racialization as an affective process (Ahmed 2012, Zembylas 2015, Manning 2023) of differentiation (Deleuze 1990, Massumi 2009) to understand the affective, spatial and embodied experience of standing out, blending in or passing as a racialized Other. Educational contexts and inclusion are seen as connected to how spaces are able to embody some bodies and not others as naturally belonging (Puwar 2004, Ahmed 2012).

Based on group interviews utilizing the creative methodology of identity mapping (Futch & Fine 2014, Jaffe-Walter & Khawaja 2022) with students from both the lounge and the canteen, I ask how they negotiate their sense of embodied and spatialized belonging in relation to each other and the spaces they can inhabit.

The analysis shows how the students are actively engaged in creating inclusive spaces for themselves within and beyond the high school in a political and societal backdrop where high schools with high numbers of racialized minoritized students are seen as “ghetto schools” and problematized as less successful schools in terms of achieving integration and social cohesion. This paper sheds light on how the students themselves negotiate a sense of social cohesion and community and how it links to their sense of belonging in school and, more generally, in society.

The intersection of education and immigration presents a multifaceted and dynamic landscape that significantly influences both individuals and societies. Schools serve as essential platforms, equipping immigrant students with the necessary linguistic, cultural, and academic skills. They play a crucial role in shaping a sense of belonging and civic engagement among immigrant youth. Despite these benefits, challenges such as language barriers and socio-economic disparities persist. Recognizing these challenges, inclusive educational policies are imperative to address the diverse needs of immigrant populations. Research into the impact of immigration on school systems is crucial for developing effective strategies and ensuring equitable educational opportunities for all. As global migration trends persist, understanding the interplay between schools and immigration is essential for building inclusive and culturally rich societies.

Within the framework of this research project, the school organizational practices related to the establishment of preparatory measures for newly immigrated students and their transition into regular classes in secondary education are examined. Concerning the development of schools and school culture, the study delves into questions regarding the extent to which the establishment of preparatory classes for newly immigrated children and adolescents entails structural changes towards intercultural openness in the school. It also investigates whether a school with already implemented measures for intercultural school development shows different ways of organizing the education of newly immigrated students. Factors such as the criteria underlying past decisions on organizing the education of newly immigrated students are considered, and the possible explanations for differing processes and routines in the school are explored (Herrmann 2017). This includes examining the orientation patterns and positionalities of school management and teachers regarding migration-related heterogeneity and diversity in general.

This research project also aims to investigate how teachers perceive dealing with diversity as a professional task. Secondly, it explores how appropriate conditions for this task can be achieved (Tillmann 2017). Understanding diversity as a pedagogical opportunity and enrichment as advocated by Trautmann and Wischer (2011) is a pedagogical attitude that has not yet been embraced by a majority of teachers (Solzbacher 2008).

This presentation delves into the life stories of individuals engaged in education within the context of prison life, focusing on experiences in both Ireland and Greece. Positioned within a broader project on the lived experience of prison education, this research draws theoretical inspiration from key concepts in recognition theory, identity formation, and critical adult education, rooted in the works of Axel Honneth (1996, 2003, 2012) and Paulo Freire (2000, 2005).

By interweaving these foundational theories, the overarching aim was to critically examine the multifaceted aspects of identity formation and the relationships created in the unique environment of prison education. Of particular interest is the lasting impact of these dynamics on individuals post-release. The theories of recognition and identity formation offer valuable insights into the development of self-awareness and the negotiation of identities within the prison education setting. Furthermore, critical adult education theories bring into sharp focus transformative learning, agency, and praxis, by viewing education as a means to address social inequalities and take action for social justice.

The central research question guiding this exploration is:

What are the significant events and milestones identified by individuals participating in prison education as learners in their narratives?

This question is approached through the lenses of recognition and transformation, employing the theories above to deepen our understanding of the complex interplay within the prison education environment.

Considering that all participants in both countries were early school leavers, examining key factors influencing early school leaving within the Irish context is essential. According to Tusla – the Child and Family Agency in Ireland (2007), some of these factors include:

a) Sense of belonging: Students who feel alienated and have reduced participation in school are more likely to drop out,

b) Attitude toward school: Beliefs and attitudes that students hold toward school significantly impact their likelihood of dropping out, more specifically, factors such as locus of control (feeling in control of one's actions and outcomes) and motivation to achieve are crucial predictors of dropout rates.

And c) Stressful life events: Increased levels of stress and the presence of stressors, such as financial difficulty, health problems, or early parenthood, can be associated with higher rates of early school leaving. These challenges can negatively impact a student's ability to cope with school demands, leading to disengagement.

Indeed, all these factors emerged in the participants’ narratives when reflecting on important events and milestones surrounding their re-engagement in education while serving their time.

Overall, this presentation contributes to the growing discourse on social justice and intercultural education by shedding light on the nuanced experiences of individuals in prison education, by presenting their voice and their stories the way they narrated them and providing insights on education for social justice.

The objective of this presentation is to discuss the results of a research project on early childhood education teachers’ awareness of social classes and its consequences for their views on education, and in particular on the possibilities for pupils to change their social position.

Although there are attempts to talk about the death of classes (Mikiewicz, 2014: 43), the topic of class inequality is still relevant and debated, and educational inequalities are not decreasing (Blandford, 2017; Eribon, 2019; Kulz, 2017; McGarvey, 2017; Reay, 2017).

Bourdieu and Passeron's theory of socio-cultural reproduction speaks of the reproduction of the social class by the school system. Related to this is the division into inheritors, i.e. children from the upper classes who possess the qualities that the school system values, and les miracules, children from the lower classes who, despite objectively difficult conditions, experience social mobility (Kłoskowska, 2006: 25). This division is related to two modes of cultural acquisition: total learning and methodological learning. Total learning begins with primary socialisation and is followed up within schooling; in other words, it is early and imperceptible to the child. Methodological learning takes place as part of secondary socialisation and schooling. It is characteristic of pupils with a low-class background and is associated with uncertainty and difficulties in acquiring cultural competence, among other things required by teachers. In addition, pupils with a lower-class background have to deculturate, which is, de facto class eradication or liberation from what has been acquired during primary socialisation and is considered inappropriate by the school system (Bourdieu, 1984: 66-68).

Pupils entering school have different inherited capitals, yet the school does not seem to take this into account and treats pupils as if they all had the same starting position. As a result, children's knowledge and experiences other than those desired by the school are excluded (Grochalska, 2009: 63). According to Szkudlarek, pupils who have undergone total learning find it easier to find their way around the school requirements and use what they have already been equipped with at home (Szkudlarek, 2007: 35).

The different class backgrounds of pupils, and the different ways of acquiring culture, while promoting the culture of the privileged classes and excluding what is incompatible with it within the school system, leads to the differentiation of an individual's educational and life chances already at the earliest stages of education. By making the educational establishment culturally unfamiliar and inaccessible to pupils of low-class backgrounds, the school system, of which teachers are a part, contributes to the self-exclusion of pupils from the path leading to a change in life trajectory. At the same time, the neoliberal narrative seems to overlook the objective difficulties faced by pupils from underprivileged classes. Instead, it speaks of poverty of aspiration, laziness, and parental responsibility for the (poor) choices of educational institutions for their children (Hursh, 2014).

My aim was to explore early childhood education teachers’ openness to the pupils’ social mobility, their awareness of class differences and social inequalities, and ideas for overcoming them. Teachers, along with pupils' resistance (Giroux, 2018), academic resilience (Smulczyk, 2019), and happy coincidences (Mikiewicz, Sadownik, 2014), are the factor that has a major impact on potential changes to pupils’ life situations. In my presentation, I will provide a preliminary typology of teachers' pedagogical convictions that contribute to either social reproduction or changes to pupils' social position.

Benevolence is driven by an innate human behaviour giving hope to others. People respond to many tragedies with compassion, often stepping up to help others in different ways—assisting others, donating funds, or giving their time. Over the past decade, global charity, and humanitarian efforts to help others have been staggering. According to the Charities Aid Foundation, World Giving Index (2024), in 2022, Americans, the leading global donors, gave $499.3 billion to charity. These statistics, however, exclude unregistered, not-for-profit, or non-profit organizations and the small-scale charitable acts performed by individuals or groups.

Despite the substantial financial resources and good intentions, increasing evidence suggests that advancement for individuals experiencing severe financial instability has yet to show consistent progress. Lupton (2011, 2015) argues that while people are very generous in charitable giving, much of their money is wasted or harms the people it is targeted to help. While the intention behind charitable giving and acts of kindness seems noble, its impact on broader societal improvement still needs to be investigated. Furthermore, there is a risk of perpetuating adverse outcomes, inadvertently turning good intentions into bad. Chang (2008) refers to these well-meaning but potentially harmful groups as "bad Samaritans" (p.19) who unconsciously support neo-liberal colonizer/colonizing dichotomies and are more generally defined as "helping behaviours from developed countries" (Pinazo et at., 2010, p. 393).

This study was grounded in Niehaus's (2020) theory of good intentions, stating that "altruists' effectiveness often falls short of their intentions" (p.1). This research tested this theory based on the above arguments and the researcher's extensive work in a developing country that receives much small-scale charity. This research explored the behaviours, motivations, and initiatives of these good-intentioned, small-scale individuals and groups, assessing the perceived impact of their endeavours.

It is widely accepted within anthropology, education, sociolinguistics and beyond, that language learning as a process happens across contexts, as students participate in multiple complex learning systems and make connections through and across these. Ignoring these connections has consequences for pedagogy, classroom experience, and learning outcomes. A wide range of powerful research examines language learning across home, school, and other contexts and highlights what is lost when teachers overlook students’ language and literacy learning experiences in different contexts (cf. Bronkhorst & Akkerman 2016).

However, there remains a dearth of research detailing the specific ways secular and religious language and literacy learning processes intersect. Some emerging research examines the learning of a single language (Avni 2014; Rosowsky 2016), while other work illustrates multiple language learning processes within highly observant communities wherein religion frames all language learning (cf. Fader 2009). Yet studies of language learning complexities, challenges, and exclusions experienced by religiously minoritized students attending both secular schools and religious afterschool programs (as the majority do in many traditions, cf. Pomson 2010) remain rare (Meyer 2016; Badder 2022 are some exceptions).

I suggest that uncertainty about the place of religion in our contemporary, conflict-laden moment, narrow understandings of secularism, and misunderstandings of the value, use, and meaning of religious language and literacy have led scholars to silo religious language to religious spaces and to view any appearance of religious language practices outside of those spaces as a problem, if not a direct threat, to secular education (cf. Dallavis 2011; Sarroub 2002). In the process, as Skerrett (2013) powerfully argues, myriad continuities and opportunities for effective and meaningful learning are being missed, to the detriment of students and scholarship. Indeed, in ‘secular’ spaces, religious understandings and viewpoints get articulated, very often in ways that do not align with or directly contradict their manifestations in the lives of religious communities (Badder 2024).

My research aims to investigate the intersections of literacy ideologies and language learning experiences encountered by religious students enrolled in secular schools in Europe across the contexts of their everyday lives. Specifically, I zoom in on a Jewish community in Luxembourg, where French and Biblical Hebrew language and literacy are brought into contact and conversation in complex ways that subvert expectations for religious and secular language use and boundaries.

This cohort presents an interesting case for three reasons. First, the Luxembourgish state has recently been working to secularize, including detaching itself from connections with religious communities and removing religion from the public realm. Second, French holds an awkward space in Luxembourg. Historically a language of prestige, it is tightly interwoven with ideologies of laicité and rationality and echoes of colonial memories. French is also the last official language taught in the state school curriculum and graduates from the Luxembourgish system often report feeling less competent in French. Additionally, existing research shows that teachers cite having French (or another Romance language) as a reason that students are unable to access the university education track (Horner & Weber 2008). Third, the Jewish community at the heart of this research has simultaneously experienced its own rapid internal changes. As members grapple with these changes and their implications, they are experiencing new forms of uncertainty about their community, its history and future. In response, French has emerged as a point around which they seek to cohere as a community.

This paper therefore explores how students in a Luxembourgish Jewish congregational school program make sense of the ways French and Hebrew overlap, zooming in on how such connections shape student understandings and experiences of Hebrew, themselves as Hebrew users, as Jews, and as students in secular schools.

Building off of the work of Viesca et al. (2019), that important teacher knowledge and skills for working with multilingual learners fall into three major categories—context, orientations, and pedagogy—a multinational team of researchers has embarked on further exploring the orientations necessary for quality teaching and learning to occur with multilingual students. In Viesca et al. (forthcoming), this team operationalized five orientations, drawing from the empirical and theoretical research suggesting the orientations necessary for positive school and classroom climates for diversity. Since diversity in every possible aspect (e.g., language, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc.) is a major feature of multilingual populations, embracing diversity and elevating it to create community and a sense of belonging is critical for the work of teaching multilingual students.

In 2022, the team conducted an exploratory qualitative study, holding interviews and focus groups with teachers in Finland, Norway, Germany, England, and the US to discuss orientations and how they can create a positive climate for diversity. We also asked for specific feedback on the orientations we had identified and defined (Viesca et al., forthcoming). We sought insights from myriad practitioners working in varied contexts (e.g., grade level, content area, country, etc.) to understand the perspectives different practitioners held to these orientations. In this study, we examine the interview data (n = 22) to reveal the perspectives and ideas shared by our research participants regarding the orientations of interconnectedness and openness.

We conceptualize interconnectedness as humanizing teaching and learning that produces belonging (Viesca et al., forthcoming). We view humanizing connections from one person to another, connecting the individual to the collective, as essential for co-constructing a positive diversity climate and creating great learning opportunities for multilingual learners. For this to be possible, relationships and practices must be purposeful for the community’s inherent diversity to be positively productive and thus capable of generating widespread, authentic belonging. To accomplish this, teaching/learning spaces must be deliberately developed to ensure individual self-actualization occurs in reciprocity and with accountability (Hayes & Kaba, 2023; Simpson, 2017). This way, personal self-actualization (grounded in self-determination and agency) ensures collective self-actualization through reciprocity and shared accountability. With interconnectedness, all forms of diversity can come into a relationship in positive and productive ways while co-creating authentic love and belonging at the individual and collective levels.

We operationalize openness as teaching and learning that embraces multiple knowledges with grace. To counter issues of power that are deeply entrenched in our society and communities, we propose a commitment to epistemic humility, or openness, which is necessary to co-construct a positive diversity climate. Such openness is grounded in an ongoing acknowledgment and investment in what one can and cannot know. This kind of openness also recognizes that there are multiple ways of knowing, and thus, no universal epistemology or ontology should be privileged over all others. Such humility counters various issues of supremacy that impact teaching and learning practices, policies, and spaces. It is also the openness necessary to adopt new ways of thinking upon receiving additional information. Educators practice openness in teaching/learning through critical self-reflection and an ongoing commitment to rethink and disrupt various messages, biases, and social norms we accept without question. Finally, the kind of openness necessary to co-construct a positive diversity climate is the openness that embraces and operates around a clear understanding of humans as flawed (Hayes & Kaba, 2023). This openness in application accepts and expects all human beings to exist and operate in imperfection, thus offering grace, acceptance, and understanding to both others and self in the face of conflicts, mistakes, and problems, as well as successes and celebrations.

In the past ten years, there has been a noticeable rise in studies investigating family language policies in immigrant groups and transnational, mixed-marriage families in Greece (e.g. Chatzidaki & Maligkoudi, 2013; Gogonas & Maligkoudi, 2020; Maligkoudi, 2019). This paper reports on a small-scale study focusing on family language policies in Greek-Ukrainian families living in the city of Thessaloniki, in Northern Greece.

The participants in our study are six Ukrainian mothers married to Greek citizens who have been living in Greece for five to 14 years; among them they have eight children between the ages of 5 to 14 which were born in Greece (with one exception). All mothers are highly-educated, multilingual individuals most of whom have occupations which exploit their ethnic and linguistic background. They have raised their children in two or three languages (Greek, Ukrainian and/or Russian), and are strong supporters of the maintenance and transmission of the Ukrainian language. They have also been actively involved in supporting the Ukrainian cause since the beginning of the war with Russia.

Our study is framed within a Family Language Policy (henceforth FLP) framework drawing from earlier (e.g. Curdt-Christiansen, 2009; King, Fogle & Logan-Terry, 2008; Spolsky, 2004; 2012) and more recent conceptualizations of the field which focus on meaning-making, experiences, agency, and identity constructions in transnational families (e.g. Curdt-Christiansen, 2018; Curdt-Christiansen & Lanza 2018; Fogle & King, 2013; King & Lanza, 2019; Smith-Christmas, 2019).

In particular, the aim of the study was to investigate the families’ language policies as revealed through an examination of the parents’ language practices and language ideologies and measures falling under the language management aspect of FLP (Spolsky, 2004; 2012). Following Curdt-Christiansen (2009; 2020), we deemed it important to take into consideration not only the language ideologies and patterns of communication among family members, but also factors such as the mothers’ educational background, personal language learning experiences, migrant profile, and the financial resources of the family.

Moreover, we wished to investigate how broader sociolinguistic issues impact these mothers’ choices, and, in particular, the stance our informants take with regard to the hotly debated issue of abandoning Russian as an everyday language in Ukraine. After Ukraine became an independent nation in 1991, a process of Ukrainisation was established, which entailed measures in favour of the Ukrainian language as a means to construct a new national identity (Seals & Beliaeva, 2023). However, a large segment of the population continued to use Russian instead of Ukrainian irrespective of their allegiance; apparently, for many Russian-speaking Ukrainians the Ukrainian language is not necessarily a token of nationhood and is not intricately linked to the Ukrainian identity (Bilaniuk, 2016; Kulyk 2016; 2018). However, in the aftermath of the political developments of the past ten years (the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity in late 2013–2014, the annexation of Crimea by the Russians, the strife at the eastern border, and finally, the Russian invasion in 2022) there seems to be a rise in the number of people who call for the abandonment of the Russian language and the adoption of Ukrainian instead (Harrison, 2021; Seals & Beliaeva, 2023), a phenomenon some authors refer to as ‘linguistic conversion’ (Bilaniuk, 2020). In this context, we wished to examine how the six participants negotiate the ongoing changes in language ideologies and attitudes in Ukraine and the impact this may have had on their language policies with regard to the two languages.

The purpose of methodology in social research is to be able to understand research methods and their reasoning. The word method comes from the Greek: meta ta hodos, “to follow a path”. While in empirical social research the path was usually thought out and planned before the start of a journey, Participatory Action Research (PAR) cannot plan this path in advance, because the purpose of PAR is to find ways collectively in the double hope that the path was feasible in terms of the research, but above all that this path can initiate the desired change through the research.

While after the years of 1968 the focus of the research communities was on changing the world, the focus was on the word ‘Action’. So questions like, how to change the world as social scientists or what role social scientists play in changing the world. The new uprising of the last decade of the then so called action research (Lewin, 1946) placed the focus on the participation of non-academics in academic research (Lenette, 2022). Questions, like whose knowledge is present at the universities, who has a role in picking or producing knowledge in academia, came up front. The panelists came together in last years ECER events around a shared interest in such questions around PAR and social inequalities and continued to exchange afterwards. This panel is hence a collaborative reflection of different dimensions of participatory research as an articulated need for an alternative way to do research on co-creating a process with groups in participatory research while we manoeuvre academic demands- a part of the research journey which is not usually shown in conferences. We hope to display this juggling of priorities that we do as academics, area experts, teachers and/or students while we navigate societal/ institutional hierarchy, power relations, expectations, and unwritten rules.

Through perspectives of different research projects across Europe, all of us are tracing considerations in those processes - not just the conscious decision but also making sense of influences, positionalities, localities, etc. At the same time, we seek that our reflections can resonate with the audience's experience, contributing to unravelling their hidden journey as researchers.

Constanza Cárdenas Alarcón will develop the idea of uncertainty and vulnerability as a researcher in her study about inclusive curriculum made by teachers in Chile. How do we comply with the plan before you have a plan?

As Lingyi Chu's narrative research on cross-cultural youths’ transitional care leans onto the community as co-researchers, she questions how space, context, and identity play together in shaping her intercorporeality over her status of a shifting “in-out-sider” (Zhao, 2017)”. An ongoing concern: How does the researcher being a visible minority influence multicultural encountering when researching identity and belonging matters in a homogeneous context?

As Jacqueline Hackl uses Collective Memory Work (Haug 2000) - a hegemony critical research, education and political method using memory scenes to work on transformatory possibilities in a collective - when researching discrimination experiences in education, she reflects on how her methodological/methodical choices and considerations are linked to her positionality. One question that follows: How can we widen or intervene in what is possible with(in) educational research?

Michael Doblmair seeks opportunities for participation of co-researchers in research collaboration in political struggles. As an activist researcher (Ulrich 2019) he addresses the notion ‘Action’ in his PAR. He will focus on grouping processes in Action Research. As in voluntary political activities groups are seldomly consistent, we constantly have to ask: How can we achieve participation, continuity and consens in constantly changing groups?

In the rapidly evolving landscape of education and growing educational inequalities, the need to maintain diversity and inclusive practices has never been more important. "Teachers of Colour, Minority and Indigenous Teachers: Continuities and Futures in Educational Research" is a symposium that aims to explore the diversity of staffrooms in shaping the educational landscape, addressing challenges such as (linguistic) racism, and fostering a more just and resilient future.

Structural inequalities and the perpetuation of systems of power that maintain racial hierarchies in schools across Europe and beyond are a common starting point. Related, overarching questions focus on how institutional practices, policies and cultures within education systems contribute to the marginalisation or empowerment of minority teachers. In addition, counter-narratives that challenge dominant racial ideologies are explored by highlighting the voices of teachers who resist racial inequalities, thereby providing a broader understanding of how individuals navigate and challenge discriminatory practices.

The symposium brings together four contributions to what has now become an important and wide-ranging field of educational research (see Gist & Bristol, 2022; Gutman et al., 2023). Each contribution addresses unique aspects of diversity within the teaching profession and its impact on the educational landscape:

Paper 1 emphasises the importance of a diverse teaching workforce in actively challenging and unlearning stereotypical prejudices in South Africa. It examines how schools can become cultivated sites where diverse teachers and learners can serve as valuable opportunities and encounters for unlearning the epistemic damage of stereotypical biases and myths.

Paper 2 explores the perceptions of minority pre-service teachers on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in Israeli teacher education. This aspect of diversity involves the intersection of technology and education, emphasizing the importance of considering the diversity of pre-service teachers when incorporating AI applications in teacher education programs.

Paper 3 focuses on the biographical narratives of minority pre-service teachers who bring multilingualism into the classroom. On the one hand, it sheds light on the ambivalences that arise when they hardly distance themselves from the monoglossic language ideologies of the German school system. On the other hand, it highlights their potential to combat linguistic racism.

Paper 4 investigates the impact of study abroad experiences on the perceptions of diversity and inclusion among in-service teachers in Japan. Findings reveal that while participants recognize alternative practices for inclusion, they struggle with effectively implementing change within the existing school culture, balancing their commitment to diversity with the pressure to conform to prevailing norms.

Together, these four papers contribute to the broader conversation about the importance of teachers of colour, minority and indigenous teachers, and teacher mobility, in shaping a more inclusive and socially just education system in Europe and beyond.

The commitment by some historically ‘white’ schools in post-apartheid South Africa to retain their historical identity and privilege is especially evident in two discernible, yet inter-related paradigms. The more prominent one concerns the slow pace of learner diversity, while the other relates to the starkly neglected matter of teacher diversity. While historically excluded ‘black’ learners are kept at bay via the emergence of a new race-class discourse, ‘black’ teachers are excluded through an ambiguous language of ‘qualified, but incompetent’. Incompetency derives from one or several intersectional identity markers, which can include anything from culture, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, class, to qualification and knowledge, ultimately casting diverse teacher identities in images of mistrust. Of interest to this paper, on the one hand, is a seemingly a priori association of competence, as well as unquestioning trust coupled with ‘white’ teachers. While on the other hand, ‘black’ teachers are treated with suspicion and mistrust, not only because of their presumed incompetence, but because of who they are and the kinds of knowledge they stand to bring. What, therefore, is the role of schools in disrupting the binary between ‘white’-competence-trust’ and ‘black’-incompetence-mistrust? And how might schools become cultivated sites where diverse teacher and learner cohorts can serve as valuable opportunities and encounters for unlearning the epistemic harm of stereotypical biases and myths?

Hunter, M. (2016). The Race for Education: Class, White Tone, and Desegregated Schooling in South Africa. Journal of Historical Sociology, 29 (3), 319–358 Ingersoll, R., May, H. & Collins, G. (2019). Recruitment, employment, retention and the minority teacher shortage. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27(37), 1-37. Kohli, R. & Pizarro, M. (2016) Fighting to educate our own: Teachers of color, relational accountability, and the struggle for racial justice. Equity & Excellence in Education, 49(1), 72–84. Sleeter, C. E. (2001). Preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 94–106. Teeger, C. (2015). Ruptures in the Rainbow Nation: How Desegregated South African Schools Deal with Interpersonal and Structural Racism. Sociology of Education, 88 (3), 226–243.

During these days there is growing interest in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the education world (Celik, 2023; Păvăloaia & Necula, 2023). The academic institutions for teacher training carry out procedures for the integration of these applications in the teaching and learning of students. In this framework, the pre-service teachers at the academic institution who come from different sectors: Arab, Jewish, Christian, and ultra-Orthodox were exposed to practical lectures and workshops on the integration of AI applications in education. The research used a mixed method approach using qualitative and quantitative analysis. This paradigm calls for an in-depth examination of investigated phenomena through qualitative analysis but also enables data quantification to examine general trends through quantitative analysis. Two research tools were used: (1) a reflective protocol (2) a questionnaire regarding the dimensions of pre-service teachers' use of AI tools. The analysis of the study reveals six main categories: 1) the contribution of the exposure to AI applications; 2) AI applications and their use in teaching-learning; 3) reducing gaps between the students with the use of AI applications; 5) assessing the use of AI applications; 6) skills acquired with the use of AI applications. This research provides an understanding of the pre-service teachers from a multicultural academic institution's perception regarding the uses of AI in the early stages of their teaching, and its main uniqueness. In light of this, these findings help policymakers in teacher training in academic institutions from two main perspectives: policy aspects – it offers a comprehensive, wide, and multicultural perspective regarding the various ways in which students use AI applications and their perspective, and teacher training process and the scaffolding that students from a different background and culture need for establishing their role as future teachers in AI era.

Celik, I. (2023). Towards Intelligent-TPACK: An empirical study on teachers’ professional knowledge to ethically integrate artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools into education. Computers in Human Behavior, 138, 107468. Păvăloaia, V. D., & Necula, S. C. (2023). Artificial intelligence as a disruptive technology—a systematic literature review. Electronics, 12(5), 1102.

Research on minority (pre-service) teachers in Germany dates back to the first decade after the turn of the millennium (Lengyel & Rosen, 2015, p. 162). However, there is a lack of research in this area, which contrasts with education policy that has long since developed a strategy for recruiting minority teachers. According to education policy, minority teachers posses specific competencies due to their own or their families' migration experiences, and as such are bridge-builders, integration facilitators, etc., who contribute to reducing educational inequalities in the German school system. Migration researchers in educational science in Germany are critical of this ethnicization as it promotes stigmatization and deprofessionalization (see Goltsev et al., 2023, p. 128; Rosen & Jacob, 2023). In a recent literature review on minority teachers in Germany, multilingualism was identified as one of four research foci (Rosen & Lengyel, 2023). This paper focuses on biographical perspectives towards monoglossic language ideologies (Thoma, 2022), building on an exploratory finding from this review that minority (student) teachers exhibit ambivalence towards multilingual language practices in school. This paper uses biographical narrative interviews with plurilingual student teachers (n=10) to investigate the impact of past school experiences on their professional identities in relation to multilingualism. The research question is: What is the impact of past school experiences on student teachers' views of multilingual practices in future schools? The Grounded Theory analysis (according to Charmaz, 2014) shows that the minority student teachers hold 'one-language-at-a-time monolingual ideologies' (Wei, 2018, p. 16): Because they believe that it was acceptable to be asked to act monolingually in their previous schooling and plan to continue to do so as teachers, they do not distance themselves from the monoglossic language ideologies of the German school system. This is theorised in relation to the concept of linguicism (Skutnabb-Kangas, 2015) and a raciolinguistic perspective (Rosa & Flores, 2020), and discussed in relation to findings that consider students' perspectives. Here, studies show that multilingual students who have experienced that 'my teacher had an accent too' see themselves as legitimate members of a linguistically heterogeneous community (Putjata, 2019), pointing to the potential of multilingual minority teachers to combat linguistic racism.

Lengyel, D. & Rosen, L. (2015). Diversity in the staff room – Ethnic minority student teachers’ perspectives on the recruitment of minority teachers. In Tertium Comparationis, 21(2), 161–184. Putjata, G. (2019). Language in transnational education trajectories between the Soviet Union, Israel and Germany. In Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung 4, 390–404. Rosa, J., & Flores, N. (2020). Reimagining Race and Language: From Raciolinguistic Ideologies to a Raciolinguistic Perspective. In H. Samy Alim et al. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Language and Race (pp. 90-107). Oxford University Press. Rosen, L. & Lengyel, D. (2023). Research on Minority Teachers in Germany. In M. Gutman et al. (eds.): To be a Minority Teacher in a Foreign Culture (pp. 107–123). Springer. Rosen, Lisa & Jacob, Marita (2022). Diversity in the Teachers’ Lounge in Germany – Casting Doubt on the Statistical Category of “Migration Background”. In European Educational Research Journal, 21(2), 312-329. Skutnabb‐Kangas, T. (2015). Linguicism. In Carol A. Chapelle (ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 1–6). Wiley. Thoma, N. (2022). Biographical perspectives on language ideologies in teacher education. In Language and Education, 36(5), 419-436. Wei, Li (2018). Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language. Applied Linguistics 39 (1), 9–30.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the study abroad experience on teachers’ perceptions about diversity and inclusion at schools. It examines how these teachers are minoritized as outsiders who bring in unnecessary challenges to schools. As a theoretical framework, this research adopted Functional Context Theory of Learning (Sticht, 1975). The theory regards learning as information processing, in which the learners actively look for information and use it to construct a meaningful interpretation of the world. These interpretations lead to the knowledge base, with which learners further interpretate new incoming information. In this research, the study abroad program, that are intended to build a global view, is predicted to change teachers’ way of processing information. Consequently, the teachers with study abroad experiences are hypothesized to have unique perspectives on the issues and challenges that schools are facing, including the diversity and inclusion issue. In terms of methodology, in-service teachers in Japan who had participated in a four-week study abroad programme as part of their teacher education training programme between 2015 and 2020 were invited to complete a survey and follow-up interview. The survey and interviews focused on the participants' perceptions of diversity and inclusion issues in schools, as well as how they believed their views on these issues were treated among teachers. As can be seen from the results, the returning teachers who took part in the study reported that they had experienced a unique struggle. Although they can see an alternative way of practicing inclusion at schools, they do not necessarily know an effective way to make changes in the current school culture. While they care about diversity and inclusion of students and teachers, they also feel their need to fit in to the current teachers’ culture by acting as if they care more about uniformity.

Sticht, T. (1975). Reading for working: A functional literacy anthology. Alexandria: Human Resources Research Organization.