Conference Program

The growing cultural diversity within the school system raises important questions about the role of teaching staff in fostering inclusive and democratic education. With the increasing recognition of the importance of education for social cohesion, interculturalism has emerged as a key strategy to address diversity in educational contexts, specifically following the failure of multiculturalism (Barrett, 2013). Interculturalism has been adopted as an alternative framework that encourages the integration of diverse cultural perspectives in educational practices, whose need is particularly responding to the rise of hate speech and violence against migrant communities (Bayer & Bárd, 2020).

At both the international and European levels, education is viewed as a central mechanism for promoting social and economic justice (UNESCO, 2023). Educational services represent an individual's first engagement with public life and citizenship practices (Rinaldi, 2021). The European debate also integrated education and democracy: education is essential for acquiring the attitudes, abilities, and knowledge required to coexist in a democratic society (Barrett, 2013). Despite the transformative potential of education, socio-economic factors remain a key determinant of academic success, and the achievement of “basic skills” (European Commission, 2025) is influenced by students' migrant or non-migrant backgrounds, contributing to disparities in school dropout rates (ECRI, 2024).

The Italian context has seen increasing migration flows in recent decades (Azzolini et al., 2019) and has reached about 1.3 million minors with migrant backgrounds in 2025 (Organismo Nazionale di Coordinamento delle Politiche di Integrazione degli Stranieri, 2024). In response, ministerial guidelines have aimed to integrate migrant students while valuing their cultural diversity (Wallace et al., 2021). However, students with migrant backgrounds generally tend to pursue technical or professional educational pathways instead of university-oriented ones (Santagati & Bertozzi, 2023). This behavior leads to the transfer of socioeconomic disadvantage between generations and the decrease in social mobility (European Commission, 2022). It also has consequences on the labor market and can contribute to explaining the acknowledged disparity between growing school diversity and teaching staff homogeneity (Santagati & Nur, 2025), as this mismatch can lead to underrepresentation of diverse perspectives in educational settings and limit opportunities for migrant-background students in the workforce.

Drawing from a multiple-case study that compares educational school and extracurricular activities in primary schools in Italy and France, this abstract examines how intercultural approaches can promote social cohesion by analyzing political frameworks, everyday practices, and the experiences of families. One interview from this study revealed that an educator’s migration background and religious beliefs fostered dialogue and built understanding and trust with the institution. This example highlights the connection between the personal identities of teaching staff and their ability to foster inclusive education.