Diversity characterises the current social situation and is reflected at all levels of society and its institutions and organisations, including schools. Although migration-related diversity is becoming increasingly common in schools, it is frequently looked at from a deficit perspective (see Hummrich & Terstegen, 2020; Oberlechner-Duval, 2021). The thought patterns and ideas underlying such a perspective are usually implicit and rooted in social hierarchies that are reproduced in schools. This symposium examines socially learned biases as a challenge for teacher professionalisation and school development. The four contributions deal with diversity-sensitive professionalisation through mobility (internships abroad or school service abroad) or through programmes employing an anti-bias approach in university education or further training. All contributions in this symposium adopt discrimination-critical perspectives on teaching and learning, focusing on different areas: working with newly arrived and refugee students (Rosen & tom Dieck), language as a “mark of difference” (Dirim & Guldenschuh), culturalization and devaluation processes (Mantel), stereotypes, institutional discrimination and their reflection (Dedecek Gertz et al.).

International mobility programmes are increasingly part of teacher education and professionalisation. Universities and colleges of education offer accompanying mobility programmes for future teachers in which students can gain experience in schools. But also, professional mobility of in-service teachers, such as stays in schools abroad, is supported by educational administrations. In both cases, teacher training students and in-service teachers who spend time in schools abroad are expected to acquire competencies for dealing with intercultural and multicultural education in diverse contexts ‘at home’, that is, in societies characterised by migration. However, these expectations are often not met and experiences abroad can even be counterproductive, leading to the consolidation of existing stereotypes (see Dockrill et al., 2016; Mantel in this symposium). This finding raises questions about the design of diversity-sensitive and discrimination-critical preparation and follow-up of such experiences abroad as a part of teacher training and in-service training/further education. In the symposium, we discuss questions along the lines of: How can we support teacher-training students and in-service teachers to critically reflect on their experiences during internships or work abroad? How can this reflection contribute to the development of competencies for teaching and learning in (inter)national diversity contexts?

In our symposium, we not only consider international mobility as part of diversity-sensitive education and training; we also ask more generally how teacher education and training can initiate a critical reflection of socially learnt biases in societies characterised by migration. Research shows that orientations towards dominant linguistic-cultural norms lead to discrimination in schools (see Dirim, 2010; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2015). Promoting positive attitudes towards migration in education, especially in times of stress, remains a challenge (Borgonovi & Pokropek 2018). In the symposium, we will discuss applications of the anti-bias approach in teacher training and in-service training/further education. That approach, we argue, is appropriate for encouraging students to reflect upon their own experiences – including those related to school internships at home or abroad – and to understand structures and processes of discrimination. When working with in-service teachers, the anti-bias approach can be an asset in focusing on institutional discrimination and sharpening the development of a discrimination-critical school structure and environment.

All contributions of this symposium have implications for the question of how teacher training and mobility programmes for teacher education can be designed to develop a professional approach to diversity and discrimination critique in schools.

Borgonovi, F. and A. Pokropek (2018), “The role of education in promoting positive attitudes towards migration at times of stress”, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 185, OECDPublishing, Paris.http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/1d73c833-en Dirim, İ. (2010): „Wenn man mit Akzent spricht, denken die Leute, dass man auch so denkt oder so.“ Zur Frage des (Neo-)Linguizismus in den Diskursen über die Sprache(n) der Migrationsgesellschaft. In P. Mecheril et al. (Eds.), Spannungsverhältnisse. Assimilationsdiskurse und interkulturelle pädagogische Forschung. Münster: Waxmann, 91-112. Dockrill, H., Rahatzad, J., & Phillion, J. (2016). The Benefits and Challenges of Study Abroad in Teacher Education in a Neoliberal Context. In J. A. Rhodes & T. M. Milby (Eds.), Advancing Teacher Education and Curriculum Development through Study Abroad. Programs Hershey: Information Science Reference, 290-305. Hummrich, M. & Terstegen, S. (2020). Analytische Betrachtungen systemsicher Bedingungen von Schule in der Migrationsgesellschaft: Institutionelle Diskriminierung und Rassismuskritik. In M. Hummrich & S. Terstegen, Migration: Eine Einführung. Wiesbaden: Springer, 35-51. Oberlechner-Duval, M. (2021). Overcoming the Deficit View of the Migrant Other: Notes for a Humanist Pedagogy in a Migration Society. Verlag Barbara Budrich. Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove (2015). Linguicism. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Malden, MA: Blackwell