Addressing educational needs of teachers in the EU for inclusive education in a context of diversity (Inno4Div): Volume 2 - Literature review on key enabling components of teachers' intercultural and democratic competence development and their associated barriers

Abstract

In spite of policy impetus, research shows that teachers struggle to address the increasing diversity in classrooms, among others, due to the lack of competences to deal with it. The acquisition of Intercultural Competence (IC), which could be defined as “the ability to mobilise and deploy relevant attitudes, skills, knowledge and values in order to interact effectively and appropriately in different intercultural situations”, is a crucial need for teachers to deal with diversity and to be successful in their teaching. In this context, in 2019 the JRC launched the INNO4DIV project with the aim to support polices in the field of IC of teachers, through the analysis of literature and innovative good practices which have successfully addressed the existing barriers for teacher´s IC development.

Within this context, the main purpose of this deliverable is to provide an updated list of key enabling components (KECs) for the development of teachers’ intercultural and democratic competence and the barriers that hinder such development.

The Literature review confirms prior research, which served as a departure point for the present study, and identified the following 8 KECs: 1. a common understanding of the knowledge skills and attitudes related to IC; 2. supporting policies; 3. effective initial teacher education curricula, including mandatory IC and related assessment methods, naming specific learning objectives and competences, and how to foster them with respective tools, methods and teaching approaches in classroom education as well as in extracurricular activities; 4. availability of high-quality professional IC courses for teachers’ continuous professional development; 5. integrated IC across the school curriculum; 6. the application of effective teaching methods, based on adapted pedagogical approaches such as: Peer-learning, IC networks, IC working groups in school, IC connections within and beyond teacher training, Experiential Learning Collaboration, Challenging assumptions, and Communities of Practice; 7. the availability of supporting tools; and, 8. a whole school approach to intercultural learning, framing, accompanying and supporting teachers IC learning and teaching activities, which needs to be promoted by policy makers and has to be put into practice by the respective educators and school administrators.

In addition, the review detected a new essential KEC: Teacher educators with experiential knowledge about interculturality and diversity.