Systemic influences on teacher beliefs and practices

Abstract

Research on teachers’ beliefs, education system design, and multilingual education underscore the need for professional development and structural reforms to move beyond symbolic inclusion of newly arrived migrant students towards equitable educational outcomes. This paper presents an investigation on how immersive and receptive educational systems models influence secondary school teachers’ beliefs, practices, and perceptions concerning linguistic diversity and the inclusion of migrant-background students. The study draws on survey data from 111 secondary school teachers across five European regions, Spain (Asturias), Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia-Brussels), combining descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, and thematic analysis of open-ended responses. The analysis revealed that while teachers across both system types expressed inclusive intentions, their practices and perspectives varied. Across both models, strongly asset-based perspectives were relatively rare, while policy clarity emerged as a key factor enabling more consistent inclusive practice. Together, these findings point to meaningful differences in how systemic orientations relate to teachers’ understandings and enactments of inclusive pedagogy.