For refugees and marginalized groups to challenge myths and stereotypes, they need to be given space to share their stories and speak for themselves. Stories are a human right and a responsibility – but most importantly, stories are a privilege that most refugees do not enjoy. Stories underpin all human activity as every culture has its own storytelling tradition. By telling stories and listening to individual migrants and people in communities that welcome them, youth can counter harmful stereotypes and emphasize into common humanity. Migrants and refugees are important messengers but, often, they lack the space or the platform to share their own story or participate in designing storytelling activities on migration. Storytelling is a powerful medium, a useful tool, an art. Consciously promoting positive refugee stories, can bridge any social gap and bring positive social change. The present paper documents an observational study of a mixed member of young people (people with/without migration/refugee experience) that participated in a study session held by a youth NGO in collaboration with the Youth Department of the Council of Europe. Young people that participated in it, proved that stories, keep the spirit of home and honors young refugees family and heritage. Storytelling creates deep human connections with the young people around them or the young people of the host community. The storytellers, the people that participated in the study session in question, have also found that sharing their journeys, as difficult as it can be at times, allows them to come to terms with their experiences. Stories from those who have endured similar experiences pave the way for compassion and understanding. Listening to stories, and allowing perspectives and opinions that differ from the ones that one has brings young people together and creates inclusive societies.

This paper presents findings from the Norwegian research project Non-formal Faith Education, the Public School, and Religious Minorities in Norway (FAITHED), funded by the Research Council of Norway. More specifically, it explores how public school teachers of Religious Education (RE) perceive the relationship between RE in schools and students’ engagement in non-formal religious education.

In the broader European context, RE is increasingly recognized as a vital tool for enhancing students’ sense of identity, raising awareness of diversity and inclusion, and fostering understanding of ‘the other’ (Jackson, 2014; Weisse, 2010). Given that religious beliefs and practices represent a key dimension of diversity in pluralistic societies, RE teachers are tasked with promoting knowledge and skills essential for democratic citizenship and peaceful coexistence. They are also expected to create inclusive spaces for students to reflect on existential questions and explore multiple worldviews (Engen, 2018; Bråten, 2015; Skrefsrud, 2022; Reiss, 2016).

This paper pays particular attention to how RE teachers approach the religious lives of young people from minority backgrounds – including young refugees – many of whom participate in non-formal religious education such as Quran schools and Catholic catechesis. The findings reveal that teachers are highly aware of classroom diversity and strive to include all voices. They recognize the importance of students’ lives outside school and express a desire to make curricular connections to their broader experiences. However, many RE teachers report limited knowledge of non-formal faith education and express uncertainty about its relevance and skepticism toward its pedagogical approaches.

Given this ambivalence, the paper asks whether students’ religious experiences remain an untapped reservoir of cultural and existential competence. Their religious literacy often stays confined within faith-specific settings and is rarely acknowledged as a form of symbolic capital within the non-confessional RE classroom. The paper argues for a more deliberate engagement with students’ diverse religious backgrounds as a way to strengthen inclusive and reflective pedagogical practices in increasingly diverse school environments.

Thinking Together is a cross-border, hybrid teaching project developed by the Universities of Teacher Education St. Gallen (Swizerland) and Vorarlberg (Austria). It aims to strengthen diversity-sensitive competences in pre-service teachers through structured reflection and critical reflexivity, particularly in the context of forced migration and inclusion (Barsch, 2017).
The project builds on existing mentoring and summer school programs, where students support newly arrived or refugee pupils. These practical experiences are the basis for professionally guided reflection sessions, led by experts from multiple disciplines, such as education, social work, and migration studies. The goal is to help students critically examine their professional roles, personal attitudes, and the societal power structures that shape education.
Reflection competence is viewed as a central pillar of teacher professionalization, integrating reflection-on-action and reflection-for-action (Christof, 2022). Critical reflexivity is fostered as an attitude that enables continuous negotiation between self-perception and external perspectives—vital for inclusive teaching in diverse classrooms.
Forced migration is used as a starting point to engage with broader issues of inequality and social justice in education. The project follows an interdisciplinary approach (Boix Mansilla, 2010), enabling students to integrate multiple perspectives to address complex educational challenges that transcend disciplinary boundaries.
The project is currently in its final phase. Evaluation has been conducted through a self-assessment tool focused on five key themes: asylum and forced migration, multilingualism, trauma and empowerment, school social work, and anti-racism. Initial findings from the self-evaluation indicate that participants’ perceived knowledge across all five thematic areas increased over the course of the program. Knowledge self-assessments were conducted via questionnaires at the beginning and end of the winter school (n=20), showing growth in all focus areas. Focus group discussions are planned to further explore the program’s impact from diverse viewpoints. The evaluation results and insights will be presented and discussed at the conference.