Conference Program

Social justice has a twofold role in education (Badwan, 2021). Firstly, it serves as a fundamental objective in democratic societies, embodying values such as inclusive education, equal participation, and fair accessibility in resources and in opportunities for the development of individuals. Secondly, within the context of education, social justice refers to the ongoing process of raising awareness regarding power relations and targeting existing inequalities (Charity & Mallinson, 2018; Piller, 2016).

However, language, a crucial component of social justice, is notably underexplored in higher education. Drawing from the case study of the multilingual University of Luxembourg, this presentation will start with the exploration of conceptualizations and definitions of linguistic diversity as expressed by teaching staff and bachelor students. Subsequently, it will provide data about the use and role of languages in teaching and learning. The presentation will end emphasizing the need to raise awareness towards language inequality in higher education institutions and ways to address this further.

Due to the differentiated educational demand and heterogeneity of the student population, the university is called upon to promote equal access and learning opportunities for all. Teaching and assessment have to be inclusive, attentive to differences (regarding culture, gender, age, ...), so as to support the success of all students. Furthermore, it is necessary to examine summative evaluation processes at exams, to avoid biases related to stereotypes or prejudices that can distort assessment and decision-making processes, generating discrimination (e.g., Bellacicco & Parisi, 2021).

It is therefore important that university faculty be supported to upgrade their skills through specific training actions, so as to ensure student-centered teaching that is responsive to their needs (Moriña et al., 2020). Training on this topic is therefore crucial; studies report that courses related to inclusion and intercultural competence can have a positive impact on teachers’ attitudes (Moriña & Orozco, 2020; Sharma, 2012), particularly in terms of knowledge and sensitivity to students (Davies et al., 2013; Lombardi et al., 2011; Schelly et al., 2011). In addition, faculty training in inclusion has a positive impact on students in general (Cunningham, 2013; Garrison-Wade, 2012; Madriaga et al., 2010; Murray et al., 2014), because it promotes transparency and completeness of information provided in the classroom, attention to students, and the use of tools and methods that are functional for learning and teaching. It should also be considered that the inclusive attitude of teachers fosters the willingness of the most vulnerable students to make their needs explicit, making it possible for the teacher to implement the appropriate accommodations (Sapir & Banai, 2023).

The paper presents the experience of the IRIDI program, a Faculty Development initiative of the University of Turin. The START training course for researchers, particularly new hires, includes a module dedicated to the theme of inclusion (with attention to gender, specific learning disorders, disabilities, foreigners). Participants are asked to report their reflections in a teaching portfolio, a useful tool for ensuring meaningful learning (Torre & Emanuel, 2023). The documents (about 200) were analyzed through the text analysis software NVivo 11 (Jackson et al., 2019), in order to identify attitudes, difficulties and areas for further exploration, useful for responding to the needs of the teaching staff and student community and for directing future actions to support inclusive teaching.

Access to universities for non-traditional students, including people with disabilities, is increasing (Bellacicco & Pavone, 2020). However, access is not synonymous with either inclusion or success. Moreover, access without the necessary support is not an opportunity (Biggeri et al., 2020; Schreuer et al., 2024). Inclusive education is an ethical issue related to social justice and equity (Zohri & Bogotch, 2023). This paper explores some challenges contributing to universities' move towards inclusive education. The results of this work are based on a broader research project co-financed by the Erasmus + program of the European Union (ref. 2019-1-ES01-KA203-064907). The results revealed some challenges. These are institutional, regarding space and infrastructure, and related to classrooms and faculty members. The paper concludes with the idea that the challenges are not few but many, but moving from rhetoric to action is necessary. There is already much evidence of what is not working in the university to move toward inclusion, and we also know what can be done to move in this direction. Therefore, it is recommended to close the gap between policy and practice and take concrete actions that facilitate learning and participation for all students.

The increasing internationalization of higher education is a challenge and a resource for students and teachers. Strengthening international networks - such as the UNITA university alliance - allows members of the academic community to enrich their cultural background by confronting diversity. At the same time, this comparison requires the implementation of intercultural competencies.

This paper reports on a project coordinated by the University of Turin as part of an international mobility program for students and teachers, to discuss opportunities and limits of an initiative that brings together students from different countries and is dedicated to improving intercultural competencies. Indeed, numerous studies have shown the benefits of international mobility in meeting the demands of an increasingly heterogeneous society (Cairns, 2014). The project in question – MOTOR - Mobility Training Opportunities and Research (Grant For Internationalization, UniTo, 2022) – aims to develop innovative training pathways to strengthen internationalization-related skills for more effective management of diversity through student and faculty mobility.

If experience abroad and foreign language skills are highly valued in the labor market and are therefore extremely useful for the professional development of university students, the quest for internationalization also affects university teachers, who are daily immersed in a delocalized reality - in their relationship with colleagues from foreign universities, with foreign students and in the development of international projects. However, there are still some obstacles that hinder effective management of the relationship with diversity: these are strongly related to the lack of intercultural skills and difficulties in reading and interpreting contexts that are culturally distant from those of one's affiliation. Interaction with diversity is not always accompanied by an intercultural awareness capable of laying the foundations for dialogue and confrontation free of stereotypes and characterized by correct cultural sensitivity (Chen, 1997).

For the development of cultural awareness, there are different levels of knowledge and skills, some of which are certainly already largely achieved by the student body and teaching staff. First and foremost is knowledge of different cultures, religions, local and national expressions. However, cultural sensitivity requires another level of awareness that goes beyond mere knowledge: "It requires an understanding of one’s own developing identity and cultural heritage within a world of cultural diversity [...]"(European Union, 2019).

The MOTOR Project aims to bridge this gap by offering training courses that promote the development of cultural sensitivity by raising awareness of existing stereotypes and prejudices and opening up new perspectives. To achieve this goal, the project team designed a two-week training course in which students and teachers were familiarized with innovative methods and tools from psychological, anthropological, and sociological disciplines for dealing with cultural diversity. At the end of the project, the students had to submit a proposal for a training activity for NGOs or companies related to the topics and methods covered in the project. This final step underlined the positive impact of the participatory method used and the relevance of exchanging perspectives with students and colleagues from different countries and cultures, as well as the benefits of mobility programs.

Diversity among students – in terms of culture, age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, social status – is an important issue that Higher Education have to face in an equal and inclusive way in our complex and multicultural societies. Diversity linked to a migratory experience is quite new at University level in relatively recent migration countries, like Italy. Indeed, apart from Erasmus students and international students enrolled under special agreements between Universities, there are more and more first-generation migrant students, or their children, who challenge the system on several levels (Guadalupe-Diaz, Rincón & Rutter, 2017; Griga, & Hadjar, 2014; Launcelot, Brown, 2004). At faculty level, there is the need (not always well-recognized) to overcome prejudices dealing with their inclusion in the migration framework (which is – after the 2015 crisis more negative) and to learn how to teach in multicultural classrooms (and not-always with European legacy). At Staff level, it is necessary to develop new educational competences and practices in order to address different needs, valorize diversity as a resource for learning, and fight against the various forms of inequality and discrimination. This concerns a rethinking of some implicit and tacit knowledge, underlying certain established ideas of learning and teaching habits, as well as of the processes of teaching and managing cultural diversity in class, but also at the political and organizational level. At peer level, there is the need to update knowledge and intercultural skills already learned in the multicultural environment of compulsory tracks.

Our paper would like to discuss these three group of actors living in the higher educational institutions, starting from qualitative findings emerging from various research and educational initiatives carried out at the University of Turin and already discussed in at least other seven Italian Universities. Specifically, the contribution will point out opportunities, tensions and challenges (Beech, 2018) these students pose at tertiary education level, and open a critical discussion around this topic.