UPWELL focused on Professional Development and Teacher Self-Efficiency in Multicultural Classrooms in order to improve teachers well-being, and consequently provide a safe and inclusive space for the students. The Partnership aimed at reaching the following objectives: O1 : Contribute to the improvement of School teacher education practices by gathering data and creating resources to address multiculturality and complex challenges in the school sector. O2 : Develop a sustainable, innovative and accessible training for School teachers to improve their self-efficacy in multicultural and diverse classrooms, support the well-being of School teachers and students, and foster the enhancement of inclusive and diverse learning environments. O3: Develop and test jointly different models of Training for Trainers (virtual, physical and blended) in initial School teacher education and as part of School teachers’ continuous professional development. O4: Develop sustainable collaboration between School teacher education providers, Research Institutes, and Continuous Education Organisations, with an impact on the quality of School teacher education in Europe.
The Partnership decided to apply for this project starting from an internal debate that focused on the following needs, concerning teachers who are working in multicultural environments: N1: Need to support School Teachers’ professional development and upskilling to apply innovative practices in multicultural and complex environments and culturally relevant pedagogies; N2: Need to reinforce School Teachers’ sense of self-efficacy and well-being in multicultural and complex teaching environments to improve school climate and foster the creation of safe and inclusive teaching/learning environments; N3: Need to include well-being of School teachers and attractiveness of the profession, by encouraging inclusiveness and self-efficacy in multicultural and complex environments in education policies; N4: Need to create and circulate knowledge and resources about Professional Development and self-efficacy in Multicultural Classrooms in the School sector, to promote better pedagogical practices, increase teachers’ well-being and inform policies at EU Level.