Paper explores the emergence, functioning, and significance of intercultural assistants’ (IAs) associations in Polish education, asking how these grassroots organisations support intercultural assistants themselves and contribute to the professionalisation, visibility, and stability of the occupation. The article is situated in the context of rapidly increasing cultural diversity in Polish schools, particularly following the escalation of forced migration after 24 February 2022. According to official data, nearly one million people with migration experience were registered in Poland in 2025, with approximately 1.55 million Ukrainian citizens holding residence permits. In the educational system, this translated into around 237,000 foreign students, representing 4.8% of all pupils in Polish schools. Despite the legal framework providing integration measures, research consistently shows that Polish schools remain structurally underprepared to address linguistic, psychosocial, and educational needs of students with migration experience.

In this context, intercultural assistants have become a crucial link between schools, migrant students, and families. Since their emergence around 2010, initially in response to the needs of Roma students, IAs have supported communication, adaptation, and integration processes in everyday school practice. However, their occupational position has remained precarious. Employment instability, low pay, unclear role definitions, limited institutional recognition, and lack of systemic support have been widely documented in the literature. Although the IA role was formally introduced into education law in 2024 and included in the national classification of occupations in 2025, regulatory frameworks have not fully established professional standards, sustaining uncertainty and uneven implementation across schools.

Against this background, the article focuses on a relatively new phenomenon: the development of intercultural assistants’ associations as forms of grassroots self-advocacy. Currently, three such associations operate in Poland: the Intercultural Assistants Association To Ma Sens (Kraków), the Wielkopolska Intercultural Assistants Association SWAM (Poznań), and the Tandem Association (Białystok). These organisations are analysed as initiatives located at the intersection of schooling and civil society, shaped both by the expansion of the NGO sector and by post-2022 civic mobilisation related to refugee support.

The central research question is: What roles do intercultural assistants’ associations play in strengthening the IA profession through professionalisation, peer support, and advocacy, and what constraints and costs accompany this form of grassroots self-organisation? The objective of the study is to examine motivations for establishing associations, their goals and values, their strategies for reinforcing the IA role, and the challenges they face.

The conceptual framework draws on research on multicultural education, migrant integration, civil society participation, and occupational self-advocacy. The study is informed by literature on migrant-led organisations, informal forms of engagement, and agency-building practices, situating IA associations within broader European and international debates on integration, participation, and the role of education systems as key sites of social cohesion.

The study employed a qualitative, exploratory research design aimed at capturing meanings, interpretations, and lived experiences of individuals directly involved in IAs' associations. Research was conducted across all three IA associations currently operating in Poland, as well as among coordinators of the Coalition for Strengthening the Role of Intercultural and Roma Assistants. Participants were selected using purposive sampling, based on their involvement in initiating, coordinating, or implementing association activities. The research group consisted of leaders and active members of associations occupying diverse roles, including board membership, coordination, and implementation. Most participants had migration experience, and all were women. This sampling strategy enabled the inclusion of multiple perspectives within a shared field of practice. Data collection involved semi-structured in-depth interviews: two individual interviews (IDIs) and three focus group interviews (FGIs). Interviews followed a protocol addressing the origins of associations, motivations for their establishment, goals and values, forms of professional and emotional support, advocacy activities, relationships with schools and public institutions, and perceived difficulties and costs of engagement. To strengthen data triangulation, the interview material was complemented by document analysis, including association statutes and content published on social media. Interviews were audio-recorded with participants’ informed consent and subsequently transcribed. Ethical considerations were central to the research process. Participation was voluntary and based on ongoing informed consent. Data were anonymised where possible, and given the small size of the field, participants reviewed the manuscript prior to submission to minimise potential harm related to interpretation or disclosure, in line with ethical guidelines for educational research. The empirical material was analysed using thematic analysis, understood as a flexible method for identifying, analysing, and interpreting patterns of meaning in qualitative data. The analytic process was iterative, with codes and categories continuously refined in relation to the research questions and the full dataset.

The findings demonstrate that intercultural assistants’ associations play a multidimensional role in Polish education. First, they significantly contribute to the professionalisation of the IA role by organising training, supervision, developmental meetings, and exchanges of good practices. Associations also function as spaces for “translating the system,” helping assistants and schools understand rights, responsibilities, and role boundaries within the education system. Second, associations provide essential emotional and relational support. They create communities in which assistants can share experiences of overload, responsibility, and isolation, counteracting burnout and strengthening well-being. This function is particularly important given the emotional demands of IA work and the lack of institutional support. Third, associations engage in advocacy and visibility-building. They represent IAs in relations with schools, local authorities, and public institutions, increase public recognition of the profession, and contribute to tangible changes, such as the creation of new positions or extension of assistance into counselling centres. At the same time, the study highlights clear constraints. IA work remains characterised by precarious employment, unclear standards, and managerial discretion. Association activities rely heavily on unpaid labour, limited time, and unstable funding, which increases the risk of burnout among leaders. While grassroots self-advocacy reduces isolation and strengthens agency, it may also intensify workload and emotional strain. Overall, the findings suggest that IA associations function as a temporary “prosthesis of the system,” filling institutional gaps while seeking long-term stabilisation of the profession. They should therefore be recognised not as substitutes for systemic solutions, but as key partners in designing sustainable educational and integration policies.

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