Research has illustrated that a positive diversity climate at school can improve students’ wellbeing and life-satisfaction (Aldridge et al., 2018). It has also been shown to reduce minoritized youths’ personal experiences of discrimination (Heikamp et al., 2020), which makes it important to create. Specifically, research shows that perceptions of a positive diversity climate buffer against personal experiences of discrimination and thus predict better belonging among minoritized students (Baysu et al, 2016; Heikamp et al., 2020; Lee, 2017). Further, a positive climate including contact and cooperation among students, multicultural values, and emphasizing a common humanity, has been shown to be positively associated with the intercultural competence of both immigrant and non‐immigrant background students (Schwarzenthal et al., 2020).

Despite such clear benefits for embracing diversity and creating a positive climate for it in classrooms, many teachers, students, and school communities struggle to create the opportunity for diversity to be positive and productive. In schools there is often a dominant cultural narrative that difference is deficit (Mitchell, 2013) as identified through research on varying issues around race, language, social class, ability levels, religious backgrounds, culture, gender, sexuality, and other identity markers that can minoritize and “otherize” students, teachers, and other members of school communities (Spencer et al., 2020). These issues impact students’ perceptions of belonging (Lee, 2017) and can play a role in violent and deeply troubling bullying issues (Siperstein et al., 2022) as well as impacting academic achievement. Further, the pandemic has exacerbated many of these issues for students and teachers from minoritized groups (Meinck et al., 2022); poor mental health issues are dramatically on the rise (Theberath et al., 2022) and there is an increasing call for attention to social and emotional learning and wellbeing in schools (Heineke & Vera).

In the context of inclusive education, these challenges to create a positive climate for diversity are important to grapple with. Therefore, this study explores the perceptions of teachers, students, and administrators from schools in four European countries: Finland, Norway, Germany, and England regarding diversity and how to make it positive and productive in schools.

In the Fall of 2022, we hosted focus group conversations with 55 participants from schools where substantial levels of diversity (across all facets, language, ability, class, race, religion, etc.) exist with students, teachers, and administrators in Finland, Norway, Germany, and England to explore their perceptions of diversity and the possibilities for diversity to be positive and productive in schools. The data collected for this study is part of a larger study exploring teacher orientations for creating a positive climate for diversity in teaching/learning spaces. However, for this study, we focused on the participants’ definitions of diversity, their experiences with it in teaching/learning spaces (both positive and negative) and the opportunities participants articulated regarding how to make diversity positive and productive in teaching/learning spaces. Specifically, we investigated: - How do teachers, students, and administrators define and discuss diversity? o Across the varying contexts, do patterns emerge regarding what aspects of diversity are discussed and/or absent? o What possibilities and/or challenges do teachers, students, and administrators discuss for making diversity positive and productive in teaching/learning spaces? We are engaged in a collaborative analysis to generate the answers to these research questions. One of our research team members was present at each data collection event and is also participating in the collaborative analysis discussions. Each conversation is focused on inductive coding regarding definitions and discussions of diversity, paying attention to presences and absences as well as possibilities and challenges.

Preliminary findings suggest that across varying schools in multiple European countries, teachers, students, and administrators are discussing and attending to myriad factors of diversity including race, nationality, language, gender, and sexual orientation. Disability/ability was also discussed across the focus groups, however, with less frequency than the topics previously listed and rarely in a way that included expansive notions and diverse experiences with disability/ability. Many perspectives were shared regarding possibilities and challenges to creating positive climates for diversity including curriculum demands, policy issues, teacher education/support, and societal perspectives/impact of broader oppressive projects. A major focus of these conversations was gender fluidity and sexual orientation along with race and multilingualism. The limited explorations of disability/ability in the context of discussions of diversity is a notable finding and worthy of further exploration and theorization. Implications/Conclusion The implications of this research are vast for developing and sustaining inclusive learning environments for students from a variety of backgrounds, including those with disabilities. The kind of attention and at times lack of attention disability/ability receives in conversations related to diversity in teaching and learning spaces is notable and impactful in terms of the work that needs to be done to further disability rights and opportunities in inclusive classrooms.

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