The JRC announces the publication of the first Volume of the project “Educational needs of Teachers in the EU for inclusive education in a context of diversity” – INNO4DIV, as a European Commission Joint Research Centre - Technical Report:
Volume 1: Teachers’ Intercultural Competence, Working definition and implications for teacher education
https://priv-lu-myremote.tech.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/,DanaInfo=…
This is the first of a series of 4 Volumes that will be published by the INNO4DIV project in 2020-mid 2021.
INNO4DIV Project background
In a context of increasing populism, xenophobia and radicalisation, shared values and social cohesion in our diverse societies are questioned. The European Commission JRC Human Capital and Employment Unit is contributing to the advancement of the knowledge needed to design policies and support action in the promotion of EU values in the field of Education. In particular, in the field of teachers´ intercultural competence, in spite of policy impetus, research shows that teachers struggle to address the increasing diversity in classrooms. This is due, among others, 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.
Inno4Div project objectives and deliverables
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.
The execution of the project has been contracted to Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir, under contract number 938137-2019ES, and includes the following activities that will produce related reports:
- Teachers’ Intercultural Competence, Working definition and implications for teacher education
- Systematic literature review of key enabling components of teachers’ IC development and associated barriers, (to be published in November 2020)
- Selection and analysis of 20-30 innovative good practices of teachers’ IC development (to be published early 2021)
- Cross-case analysis, identification of innovation models and policy recommendations (to be published mid 2021)
Policy relevance
This research responds to the "European Council recommendation of 22 May 2018 on promoting common values, inclusive education, and the European dimension of teaching (2018/C 195/01)", which invites Member States to promote active citizenship to foster tolerant and democratic attitudes and social, citizenship and intercultural competences, and enable educational staff to promote common values through initial and continued education. It also responds to the European Commission’s intention to develop and regularly review practical reference tools and guidance documents for policymakers and practitioners and support research and stakeholder engagement to meet knowledge needs. The research outcomes will thus aim at advancing research in the field of teachers´ IC and at supporting the implementation of this Council recommendation across EU Member States.
Finally, given the EU policy developments at the time of the publication of this report, the research will also support the implementation of the communication “A union of equality: EU anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025, COM(2020) 565 final”, which emphasises that “Teachers must be trained to work with all children and be sensitive to the needs of pupils from different backgrounds, including on issues relating to racial discrimination”, among the different actions suggested on Education, under its “2.2. Beyond EU legislation - doing more to tackle racism in everyday life” Chapter.