Teaching Across Intersections

<< Background >>Teaching Across Intersections (TAI) is a project focused on pupils aged 11–15 in lower secondary schools whose lives are shaped by multiple forms of disadvantage. The aim is to highlight that mainstream textbooks and school curricula often ignore identities outside the normative majority – typically white, heterosexual, cisgender, non-disabled boys from middle-class backgrounds. What is missing is an intersectional perspective that reflects how factors like gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, economic status, and ability intersect. As a result, conventional teaching approaches fail to reflect the reality of marginalized children, and their specific needs remain invisible – both in curriculum content and in the daily work of educators. The TAI project therefore aims to integrate intersectionality into everyday teaching and provides methodological support to help teachers apply this approach in practice.<< Objectives >>The main objective of the project is to expand lower secondary school teachers’ knowledge of intersectionality as a tool for inclusion and to equip them with a set of soft skills that enable them to respond to the needs of pupils situated at various intersections of gender, ethnicity, economic status, religion, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, and other factors. By strengthening teachers' competencies and fostering sensitivity to these intersections, educators will be able to create a safe and welcoming classroom environment where children from all backgrounds feel seen, respected, and included.<< Implementation >>The TAI project was carried out in three phases. Over the course of the project, three main results were produced. The project also included a training activity in Romania and several dissemination events in the four participating countries.<< Results >>First, a comparative report was created based on intersectional content analysis of selected lower secondary school textbooks and a monitoring of teachers’ awareness of intersectionality. It focused on how the intersections of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, economic status, and disability were (or were not) addressed. A set of evaluation criteria for textbooks was developed.The second output was an open online educational resource (e-library) that collected relevant teaching materials related to intersectionality. It includes infographics and problem trees illustrating stakeholder roles and causes of the lack of intersectional perspective in education. The e-library allows viewing materials as an interconnected network aligned with intersectional principles. Recommendations were also shared with NGOs and other stakeholders.The final output was a methodological handbook accompanying selected textbooks. It includes practical guides and ready-to-use activities linked to existing textbook content, enabling teachers to integrate inclusive education into lessons and apply intersectionality in practice. The handbook is available in national languages.