Conference Program

The cross-border, hybrid teaching project Thinking Together, developed by the Universities of Teacher Education St.Gallen (Switzerland) and Vorarlberg (Austria), addresses the urgent need to strengthen diversity-sensitive competences in pre-service teachers. By focusing on critical reflexivity, the project empowers future educators to navigate the complexities of forced migration and inclusion in increasingly diverse classrooms (Barsch, 2017).

Building on existing mentoring and summer school programs, where students support newly arrived or refugee pupils, Thinking Together integrates structured reflection sessions guided by interdisciplinary experts (e.g., critical race theory, multilingualism, trauma studies, migration). These sessions encourage participants to critically examine their professional roles, personal biases, and the societal power structures shaping education. Reflection is conceptualized as a dynamic process—bridging reflection-on-action and reflection-for-action (Christof, 2022)—to foster an attitude of continuous self-assessment and perspective-taking.

Forced migration serves as a catalyst for exploring broader issues of inequality and social justice in education. The project’s interdisciplinary approach (Boix Mansilla, 2010) enables students to synthesize diverse perspectives, addressing educational challenges that transcend disciplinary boundaries.

Completed in late 2025, the project’s impact was evaluated through a self-assessment tool targeting five key themes: asylum/forced migration, multilingualism, trauma/empowerment, school social work, and anti-racism. Preliminary findings (n=20) indicate significant growth in participants’ perceived knowledge across all areas, as measured by pre- and post-program questionnaires. Focus group discussions further illuminated the program’s transformative potential from multiple viewpoints.

At the conference, we will present these evaluation results and discuss how critical reflexivity can advance inclusive teaching practices in contexts of migration and diversity—contributing to broader dialogues on democracy, equity, and education.