As migration patterns continue to reshape European societies, schools face the increasing challenge of fostering positive academic outcomes for students with an immigrant background. In some countries, including Slovenia, Sweden, and Cyprus, the proportion of immigrant-background students is particularly high which is reflected in samples of international-large scale assessment studies. According to data from the IEA ICCS 2022 study, more than 20% of students in these countries report having an immigrant background. This category includes students born in the surveyed country with two parents born abroad, as well as students born outside the surveyed country. Given the growing presence of immigrant-background students in European classrooms, it is essential to understand the factors that shape their school experiences, as these experiences are important to their academic success.

One of the most researched indicators of having a positive school experience is students’ perceptions of their relationships with teachers. Prior research has consistently shown that strong student-teacher relationships are key predictors of academic achievement, motivation, and engagement (e.g., Murray-Harvey, 2010; Roorda et al., 2011). Moreover, they serve as a protective factor in students’ adjustment to school (Archambault et al., 2024) and play a crucial role in fostering a sense of school belonging (Štremfel et al., 2024). Teachers not only serve as educators but also provide essential emotional and psychological support. This role is particularly important for students with an immigrant background, who may encounter additional challenges in their school life, such as prejudices, stereotyped attitudes, and discrimination from the school community (Ortega et al., 2020; Peguero & Bondy, 2011). Understanding how these students perceive their relationships with teachers is of utmost importance.

The ICCS 2022 dataset provides a valuable framework for analyzing these dynamics. As a study focused on civic and citizenship education, ICCS 2022 includes variables that offer a unique perspective on student-teacher relationships. Civic and citizenship education, which is typically taught and integrated across various subjects (Klemenčič Mirazchiyski, 2023), presents an interesting entry point for fostering positive student-teacher interactions. This study uses ICCS 2022 data to examine how factors related to civic and citizenship education influence are associated with perceptions of their relationships with teachers in Slovenia, Sweden, and Cyprus. The findings aim to inform evidence-based strategies for creating more inclusive and supportive school environments across diverse educational contexts. With the present research, we aim to answer two research questions: 

1)    What are the main predictors of perceptions of student-teacher relations in students with an immigrant background related to civic and citizenship education? 

2)    How are these predictors similar and different across three countries in students with an immigrant background? 

The ICCS 2022 international dataset comprises data from 22 countries/educational systems and two referential participants. This study focuses on data from three European countries with a high proportion of students with an immigrant background: Slovenia, Sweden, and Cyprus. In Slovenia, 4,958 students participated in the study, of whom 21 % reported having an immigrant background. This is similar to the sample of Sweden and Cyprus in which 21 % of students also reported having an immigrant background. All data in this paper are taken from the student questionnaire data in the ICCS 2022 study. To examine how variables related to civic and citizenship education are associated with student-teacher relationships, the following variables from the ICCS 2022 dataset were selected: ● Students’ perceptions of student-teacher relations at school (S_STUTREL) ● Students’ perceptions of openness in classroom discussions (S_OPDISC) ● Students’ perceptions of student interaction at school (S_INTACT) ● Student reports about civic learning at school (S_CIVLRN) ● Students’ beliefs about their influence on decision-making at school (S_INFDEC) Data analysis was conducted using RALSA (Mirazchiyski, 2021), a statistical package in R designed for analyzing data from international large-scale assessments such as ICCS and PIRLS. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and linear regression models were employed to investigate the research questions. For identifying students with an immigrant background, the S_IMMBGR variable was used. Linear regression models were estimated with S_STUTREL as the dependent variable, while the selected civic and citizenship education variables served as independent variables. Student gender (S_GENDER) was included as a control variable to account for potential gender-related differences in student-teacher relationships.

This study examines the predictors of student-teacher relationships among students with an immigrant background in three European countries—Slovenia, Sweden, and Cyprus—which, according to ICCS 2022 data, report relatively high proportions of immigrant-background students. Preliminary analyses indicate both commonalities and differences in the factors predicting student-teacher relationships across these countries. Given that 21% of students in Slovenia's ICCS 2022 sample identified as having an immigrant background, this study adds knowledge on how predictors of student-teacher relationships in Slovenia compare to those in the other selected countries. Since civic and citizenship education is integrated across multiple subjects (Klemenčič Mirazchiyski, 2023), these analyses provide a valuable perspective on fostering positive student-teacher relationships—particularly for students with an immigrant background—by emphasizing teaching practices related to civic and citizenship education and promoting democratic school and classroom culture. The findings will be discussed in the context of Slovenia’s educational system.

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