F.12. Inclusion Beyond Crisis: Navigating Diversity, Inequality, and Social Justice in the Schooling of Ukrainian Refugee Students in the Czech Republic

This panel explores how Czech primary and lower-secondary schools address diversity, inclusivity, and multidimensional inequalities in the context of the large-scale arrival of Ukrainian refugee students after 2022. Based on a comprehensive research project that combines multiple methods, building on earlier research initiated at the start of the migration wave (Hlaďo et al., 2024; Šeďová et al., 2024), the panel examines how schools navigate the complex intersection of cultural differences, educational needs, and social justice.

Ukrainian refugee students represent a unique group: they are forcibly displaced yet often arrive with relatively high prior educational attainment and socio-economic backgrounds. Their sudden transition into a new linguistic, curricular, and social environment brings to the forefront systemic inequalities and hidden mechanisms of exclusion within host schools. The panel examines how schools strive to create inclusive environments that value diversity while also addressing disparities in access to support, academic opportunities, and relational inclusion.

Attention is devoted to how school leaders, teachers, and supporting staff interpret inclusivity, how students experience diversity in everyday interactions, and how families navigate new educational systems under conditions of displacement. The discussion highlights the tensions between formal commitments to inclusion and the practical constraints that reproduce inequalities, such as limited resources, varying school readiness, and unequal distribution of support services.

By situating refugee inclusion within broader debates on diversity, equality, and social justice, the panel offers an interdisciplinary dialogue on how schools can more effectively respond to the overlapping challenges of diversity in democratic education systems.