The link between democracy and education runs through most historical and philosophical accounts of democracy (Sant, 2019, p. 657). Yet, the democratic role of education is often contested (Ávalos & Razquin, 2017; Edling & Simmie, 2020). International schools traditionally build on an 'international ethos' of valuing diversity, international mindedness, critical thinking, and educating global citizens, but these values are often in tension with neoliberal discourses and a predominantly western viewpoint (Cambridge and Thompson 2004; Dvir, Shields, and Yemini 2018, Gardner-McTaggart 2021). However, in order to participate effectively in democratic life in the 21st century, intercultural sensitivities and being able to identify with a global community are essential (Matthews and Sidhu 2005).

The study is based on in-depth interviews with ten student teachers in three different universities in Europe. The participants in this study have chosen to prepare for a teaching career in international schools or other international contexts, and attend teacher education programmes to that aim. 'International' teacher education programmes are rooted in the idea that teaching in international contexts requires a different perspective and other competences than that provided by national teacher education (Levy & Fox, 2016; van Werven, 2016). Through interviews with student teachers preparing to teach in international schools, this study addresses the following research question: what are student teachers in international programmes' perceptions, understandings and practices when it comes to democracy and diversity in education?

Democratic education is a large and long-standing field of educational scholarship, going back to Dewey (1916). Democracy itself is a highly contested concept, leading to different versions of democratic education with differing aims and practices (Sant, 2019). The concepts of international mindedness, global citizenship education, and intercultural education are also contested, may be overlapping, and have a plurality of meanings (Barratt Hacking et al., 2016; Bourn, 2015; Pashby et al., 2020). Studies have investigated the various ways teachers can develop global competences (Parkhouse et al., 2016; Savva, 2017), as well as student teachers’ and teacher educators’ perspectives on democratic and culturally responsive education in national contexts (Kasa, n.d; Pareja de Vicente, n.d.; Stacy, n.d.; Simms, n.d.; Kirkwood, 2001; Gaudelli, 2010; Burner & Biseth, 2016). However, teacher education tends to get less scholarly attention than other educational stages, and international education is also underresearched (Bunnell, 2016).

This paper takes as a starting point a critical pedagogy lens and a ‘thick’ concept of democracy (Gandin & Apple, 2002). This entails a broad view of what may constitute democratic education, which includes e.g. ideas of global as well as local active citizenship, intercultural communication and approaches to diversity in international classrooms. A critical lens allows for investigating structures that reproduce inequality and injustice, and how they might be transformed. Through a critical lens, education can be seen as maintaining inequality and dominant ideologies, but also as a path to breaking free from patterns of oppression (Freire, 2014; Kincheloe, 2012; Apple, 2004; Carr, 2008).

The empirical data consists of semi-structured interviews with 10 students in teacher education programmes which aim at educating teachers for international contexts. The participants are enrolled in three different European universities. Nine of them are studying for bachelors' degrees in international teacher education for primary schools, while one is studying for a postgraduate certificate in international education. The universities are located in Norway, The Netherlands and the UK. The students have a range of nationalities, and some have more than one citizenship. Europeans account for around half, while the others are East Asian and North American. Some of the participants have international school experiences from their own childhood, and some already have international teaching experience. They are at different stages of their teacher education programme. The majority are in their early to mid 20’s, and nine of the ten are women. The participants were contacted through their universities. A call for participation was sent to all students from contact persons at the universities, and the participating students actively contacted the researcher in response to this call. All participants received an information letter about participation in the project, which explained how interviews would be conducted, how data would be handled, and underlined that participating was voluntary, that data would be anonymized, and that the choice to take part or not would have no impact on their studies or their relationship with the university. The interviews were done online (via Zoom or Teams) and each lasted between 45 minutes and one hour. Questions were open, allowing students to reflect freely on terms like democracy, citizenship and diversity in an international education context, and on their own understandings, opinions, learning, experiences and plans for the future. I have used a reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022). This is aligned with my position fully in a qualitative paradigm, where my subjectivity and reflexivity are resources to achieve depth and nuance in the analysis. After an initial familiarisation and note taking, the data is transcribed and coded, before themes are developed based on these codes.

The analysis is currently ongoing. Conclusions will be available at the time of the conference. Preliminary analysis suggests that the participating student teachers show a strong engagement with the concepts of democracy and diversity in a pedagogical context, and a particular concern with intercultural education and ensuring the inclusion of all students. They reflect on their own identities as global citizens and as teachers, and grapple with what it means to teach in diverse, complex and changing environments.

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