The IMAGINE Programme: Inspiring Innovative Practice for Intercultural and Democratic Teacher Education in Europe

In increasingly multicultural societies, preparing teachers to engage effectively with human diversity and to foster inclusive, equitable, and democratic learning environments has become a central priority for teacher education. This study examines (1) how a human diversity perspective contributes to the conceptualisation and development of intercultural and democratic competences in teacher education, and (2) how non-formal, participatory, dialogical, experiential, and heritage-based pedagogies support the development of these competences among pre-service and in-service teachers through participation in the IMAGINE programme. Moving beyond approaches that primarily frame diversity in terms of cultural difference, minority status, or racialised identities, the study conceptualises human diversity as an inherent condition of contemporary democratic societies and explores its potential as both a conceptual framework and a pedagogical resource for competence development. Drawing on established international frameworks, particularly Deardorff’s model of intercultural competence and the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC), the study adopts a qualitative longitudinal case study design to examine IMAGINE, an annual residential teacher education seminar implemented since 2021. The analysis explores participants’ understandings of human diversity and examines how participatory, dialogical, experiential, and heritage-based pedagogies create the conditions that support intercultural and democratic competence development across successive editions of the programme. The findings highlight the relevance of a human diversity perspective for teacher education and identify a set of interconnected pedagogical conditions that support competence development. These include engagement with minority narratives and lived experiences, dialogical and collaborative learning, emotional and experiential engagement, critical reflection, the creation of safe spaces for dialogue, and heritage-based educational experiences. Rather than operating independently, these conditions appear to reinforce one another by enabling participants to encounter different perspectives, critically examine assumptions, engage emotionally with experiences of diversity, and negotiate meaning collaboratively. The study contributes to research on intercultural and democratic teacher education in two main respects. First, it provides empirical insights into the potential of human diversity as a broader conceptual lens through which diversity may be understood as constitutive of democratic societies, thereby opening discussion on the possibility of moving beyond predominantly culture-centred understandings of diversity towards a more encompassing human diversity perspective. Second, it provides empirical insights into the pedagogical conditions through which intercultural and democratic competences can be fostered, demonstrating the potential of dialogical, experiential, collaborative, and heritage-based learning environments for the professional development of both pre-service and in-service teachers.