Conference Program

Migration has become one of the current social issues shaping contemporary European education systems, placing teachers at the forefront of negotiating diversity and inclusion in everyday school practice. Rather than being neutral transmitters of curricular content, teachers actively interpret social phenomena and construct meanings that influence classroom climates, peer relations, and the educational trajectories of students with migrant backgrounds (Woodcock & Anderson, 2024). This paper examines narrative frames as key cognitive and discursive tools through which Czech lower-secondary school teachers make sense of migration (Seiger et al., 2025), with a specific focus on perceptions of migrants from Ukraine. Drawing on recent typologies of migration narratives, the study distinguishes between inclusive frames (solidarity- and victimization-oriented) and exclusive frames (crisis- and xenophobia-oriented), which represent contrasting ways of interpreting migrants’ presence and societal impact (Bayerl et al., 2023). Understanding the psychological and attitudinal foundations of narrative frames is crucial for designing policies and professional development initiatives that foster inclusive school environments.

The main aim of the study is to investigate how the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of teachers’ attitudes toward migrants from Ukraine, conceptualized within the ABC model of attitudes, predict identification with inclusive and exclusive narrative frames. In the Czech context, understanding how teachers perceive migrants from Ukraine is essential for establishing functional and inclusive educational policies (Pivarč, 2024). The project addresses three interrelated research questions: (1) How are affective, cognitive, and behavioral attitudes toward migrants from Ukraine structured among Czech lower-secondary school teachers? (2) To what extent do these components predict teachers’ endorsement of inclusive and exclusive narratives? (3) Are there identifiable profiles of teachers based on combined attitude patterns and narrative orientations? By linking psychological attitude components with narrative framing, the study offers an integrative perspective that connects individual dispositions with broader discursive structures, particularly as inclusion is driven more by social learning than by specific organizational techniques (Ainscow, 2020).

Methodologically, the project employs an advanced quantitative design based on a survey administered to Czech lower-secondary school teachers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) combined with Path Analysis will then be used to test direct and indirect relationships between attitude components and narrative frames. Additionally, Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) will be applied to examine group differences across selected sociodemographic and professional characteristics.

The study is expected to generate both theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically, it advances understanding of how individual-level attitudes translate into narrative positioning within educational contexts. In practice, the findings will inform teacher education and professional development by identifying attitudinal patterns associated with inclusive framing, thereby supporting targeted interventions aimed at democratic schooling, educational equity, and the strengthening of inclusive school cultures.