Fostering Inclusive and Intercultural Education Across Europe
From October to December 2024, the UNI-T Teacher Academy held its fourth Community of Practice, dedicated to Education for Social Inclusion and Intercultural Education. This European training programme was led by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and brought together educators, researchers, and teacher trainers from across Europe to explore inclusive and intercultural approaches in teaching.
Structured in three complementary phases, the course combined both online collaboration and a residential session in Athens:
An online opening session on 9 October 2024 kicked off the training cycle with lively discussions and collaborative reflection.
A three-day in-person meeting took place in Athens from 31 October to 2 November 2024. Nine teachers were selected and fully funded by the UNI-T project to participate in this immersive exchange.
A follow-up online session was held on 11 December 2024, allowing participants to deepen their exchanges, reflect on outcomes, and outline next steps.
Across both online sessions, a total of 182 participants from five European countries took part in the training. Working groups were organised by language preference, with discussions held in English, French, Italian, and potentially Greek and German, depending on demand. This multilingual structure supported meaningful dialogue in a comfortable linguistic environment, while encouraging cross-cultural collaboration.
Participants had the opportunity to:
Develop their theoretical and practical knowledge in the fields of intercultural education and social inclusion
Engage in interprofessional dialogue with peers from across Europe
Take part in hands-on learning, including a school visit showcasing inclusive pedagogy in practice
Discover research-based approaches to inclusion led by NKUA and share feedback and insights from their own contexts
The face-to-face meeting in Athens was particularly impactful. As one participant shared:
“This meeting in Greece was an incredibly enriching experience — both in terms of intercultural exchange and the human connections it fostered. The school visit revealed a powerful example of dual inclusion — cultural and related to disability — and highlighted the need not only for pedagogical skill, but for genuine openness to others. The research project at the university underscored the political and ethical dimensions of educational engagement. It was a powerful demonstration of what a Community of Practice can achieve.”
This fourth Community of Practice offered a space for professional growth, collective intelligence, and mutual support, perfectly aligned with the values and ambitions of the UNI-T Academy project.