VOLUME 9, NUMBER 1, MAY 2012

A Periodic Kaleidoscope on Education and Pedagogy in Hella

‘FOLOI’

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HellenicPedagogical

Cosmos

Hellenic Pedagogical CosmosA Periodic Kaleidoscope on Education and Pedagogy in Hellas

EditorDr Leonidas C. Bombas

Contributors to this issueKoraki, AnnaKostarelos, ChristosLevaki, KaterinaPitterou, EfieProdromou, Thomai

Assistant to the EditorKleoniki Bombas

Hellenic Pedagogical Cosmos (HPC) is an informative, rather unusual, periodical on educational and pedagogical issues and developments in contemporary Hellas. It is not an academic review in the traditional sense by which such reviews have become known throughout the international academic community. The format is different, the contents as a whole are presented differently. Notwithstanding this, HPC seeks, primarily, to serve the needs of all those Anglophones whose access to the esoteric educational atmosphere of Greece is limited due to the Greek language barrier. Throughout the contents of the periodical, the non-Greek speaking reader may find a number of highly synoptic presentations of a variety of educational and pedagogical themes from a wide spectrum of ‘originators’ (e.g. academics, researchers, teachers, parents, students, journalists, politicians, etc) that rarely cross Greek borders via the medium of a ‘foreign’ language. In that sense, the heterogeneous panorama of the synchronous Hellenic pedagogy analyzed in this ‘Cosmos’ may always be of both theoretical interest and practical use to all those involved in the field of education.

Editorial correspondence should be addressed to: Dr Leonidas C. Bombas , 24 Efthimiou Papa Street, 17342 Agios Dimitrios, Greece.Tel: 697-4433234 210-9951509Fax: 210-9927659e-mail: bombas@hpcosmos.grwww.hpcosmos.gr

HPC is published two times a year, in May and November. These two issues constitute one volume.

© 2012 Leonidas C. Bombas

All rights reserved. Any part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, provided that the original source (HPC) is mentioned.

Athens, Greece: ‘Foloi’ Publications

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ISSN 1790-1049

HELLENIC PEDAGOGICAL COSMOSVolume 9, Number 1, May 2012

Editor’s lexis …and- Anthology from the press - Context of reform- Pan-Hellenic Scientific Association of Primary School Head Teachers- “Actions against violence in our schools, March 6, 2012”- In-service training of all school Directors- Health food – effective education- Greek teachers are to (once again) become students!- For the teaching of German in Greek primary schools- Intercultural Educational Actions - Tenure for teachers in Greek state schools only after evaluation- From the Executive Council of D.O.E.

- The central theme: University professors as teachers: Do they bear ‘any symbiosis’ with contemporary Pedagogy and basic pedagogical principles?

- Hellenic pedagogues: Trilianos, Athanasios- More working hours for Greek teachers!- World-wide week of action for education- Greek universities face even more acute problems today- The new books in Education/Pedagogy- Conferences & Seminars

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The valuable assistance of “Nea Ekpaideftiria – G. Malliaras” in realizing this HPC project is greatly

appreciated

Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in EducationEducation Policy Advice for Greece (OECD 2011)The future of Greece’s well-being will depend on improving educational performance to boost productivity and improve social outcomes. In the current economic context, with the need to get best value for spending, Greece must and can address inefficiencies in its education system.The challenges are significant. For example, Greece lags behind many OECD countries in performance on PISA, including countries with the same or lower levels of expenditure per student as well as countries with the same and lower levels of economic development. Salary costs per student are above the OECD average, mostly because Greek teachers have less teaching time and Greece has smaller classes.A smaller percentage of students who enter tertiary education complete a first degree within the statutory study time than in any other country in Europe. To address the challenges, the Greek government has established a bold agenda and sought advice from a task force on the development and implementation of reform proposals that reflect best practices in OECD countries. This report provides the outcomes of the work of the task force. It presents a roadmapfor how the reforms can be successfully implemented, with pointers to relevant experience in other countries. As a contribution to the on-going policy discussions in Greece, it recommends specific short-,medium- and

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long-term actions that can improve efficiency in the country’s education system.Editor’s Lexis Once more, the ever persisting peculiarly Greek tradition for many decades now of having ‘short-lived’ Ministers of Education remains strong and intact. A. Diamantopoulou ‘survived’ as Minister of Education for a total period of two years, until –that is- she was ‘transformed’ to a Minister of Development last November in the newly appointed (non-elected) Greek government under the ‘technocrat -banker’ L. Papadimos and her successor in the Ministry of Education professor G. Babiniotis ‘took’ his turn for a couple of months (the new government after the May 6 general elections will ‘provide’ yet another Minister of Education. And the tradition…goes on! The new Minister of Education of the so-called ‘care taker’ government until the new elections of June 17 is already in… her office (Mrs Kiaou)…And there is…more to come!!! In the meantime, public declarations matched with the ‘necessary’ rhetoric on all counts about educational reform and innovations across the system of education continue to be the order of the day. Promises and public statements of the Ministry of Education officials concerning the so-called ‘new lyceum in the making’ (upper secondary education) which will (finally) operate as ‘an autonomous’ schooling vis-à-vis the tertiary education entrance examinations is one of the main ‘reforms’ publicized vigorously. Of course, one has to wait and see the actual outcome on this specific promise/proposal, taking into account that similar declarations of ‘innovative intentions’ have, time and again, been around. On the other hand, the most recent legislation -passed through the Greek parliament with an unprecedented majority- concerning the election of the Administrative or Academic Councils of Greek universities (an entirely new ‘procedure’ which has been met with strong opposition by many academics), continues to create tensions and conflicts within the university premises, to the extent that most of the planned elections of such ‘Councils’ have been postponed or cancelled altogether. Finally, for the moment, the Ministry officials have stated in all tones that existing curricula and school readers/books of primary and secondary education are to be changed in an attempt to update and upgrade them on the basis of contemporary pedagogical and educational developments internationally and within the Greek society of today.

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Leonidas C. Bombas Athens, May 2012Comparative EducationalistDirector of Studies, “Nea Ekpaideftiria – G. Malliaras”

Anthology of educational/pedagogical issues as presented via the press

Unemployed Greek teachersThousands of Greek unemployed primary and secondary education teachers are looking for employment in the various schools of Cyprus. At the very top of this list of Greek secondary education teachers seeking a job in their specialty, one finds the philologists, the total number of whom has already surpassed the 2,500 mark in the related waiting list. At the same time, the interest of Greeks in tertiary education studies in Cyprus is also on the increase, according to the latest statements made by officials of the four private universities operating today in Cyprus.

Hellenic studies are booming in the USASince 1981 Dimitris Gontikas has been the Head and the driving force of a very well-known and highly successful Program of Hellenic Studies in the USA which was established at the prestigious university of Princeton. It is of particular interest and significance to note that this Program of Hellenic Studies abroad has not been established/operating on the basis of a so-called logic of “the Hellenic singularity” and of introversion, but in the spirit of an on-going dialogue within the overall field of humanities and within the artistic creation which has concerned the Eastern Mediterranean region from antiquity up to this present day. This Program, which has been funded by the philhellene S. Singer, has been widely recognized and particularly valued by both the Anglo-Saxon and the international arena. As a result of its wide recognition it has been ‘transformed’ into the most powerful (administratively) Center of Hellenic Studies abroad.

Statistics of infants in private Day Care CentersAccording to a relatively recent survey among 380 private Day Care Centers and kindergartens across Greece conducted by the Association of Private Kindergartens and Days Care Centers in Greece, the following picture has emerged concerning the school year 2010-2011: A grand total number of 16,500 infants attended private kindergarten schooling throughout the country, whereas another 24,000 children attended private pre-kindergarten. These numbers mean that, during the school year 2011-2012, 16,500 infants were to be found attending pre-primary education and 24,000 Greek children attended private kindergartens operated by the

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existing private Day Care Centers. It is clear, the Association stresses, that 40,000 Greek families trust the pre-schooling of their children to kindergarten classes operating within the existing, private Day Care Centers. Consequently, it concludes, the Greek state should recognize this reality by officially approving (issuing the appropriate licence) the day-to day operation of these Centers.

The “Click” programA new program developed by the Foundation of Greater Hellenism (Idryma Meizonos Ellinismou) under the eloquent name “Click…in History” was publicly presented during third week of January 2012. This new educational program of the Foundation gives students the opportunity to come forward and familiarize themselves with the history of their particular birth place by using and exploiting modern technology and mobile communications. As was explained by the experts who developed this innovative program, the whole idea behind this initiative is to motivate and mobilize secondary education students so that, with the correct and effective use of ICT, they may “discover” all the details of the history of their hometown and their community/neighbourhood, a type of ‘local history’ which no doubt constitutes an integral part of our own self and of our experiences.

Information technology teachersAlthough information technology teaching and learning in Greek primary education – in one form or another – already has its own history depending on each particular school and the personal and professional interest and involvement of each school teacher concerned, it is for the very first time that the Ministry of Education has decided to ‘institutionalize’ special teaching posts of qualified information technology teachers in elementary schools. Thus, with a recent Ministerial Decision, a total of 480 such teaching posts are being officially instituted, of which 288 will be occupied by university Information Technology graduates and another 192 of those by graduates of TEI (Technological Educational Institutes of Tertiary Education).

Investigating the ‘pedagogical techniques’ of a teacherThe head teacher of a primary school in the city of Larissa (Central Greece), in co-operation with the Regional Directorate of State Education, is conducting a thorough formal investigation concerning the specific ‘behaviour’ of a particular substitute teacher. According to several parents of students attending the specific school, the said teacher, while in her classroom teaching one of the school subjects, decided to stick masking tape on the mouth of two of her students because of their disruptive behaviour during her lesson. As the head teacher said to reporters, as soon as he was informed about this unacceptable incident, the teacher was immediately removed form the school altogether.

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The negative influence of ‘Greeklish’It is beyond any doubt today that an ever increasing number of Greek students use what has been coined Greeklish as their way of expressing themselves in writing. Expectedly, this rather widely spread phenomenon of Greeklish among students (and not only, of course) is quite common in their communication via the internet and mobile phone messages: A daily practice that seems to negatively affect their overall orthographic (spelling) ability. In a survey conducted by the Department of Pre-school Education of the University of Western Macedonia, it was clearly found that the wide use of Greeklish (which begins even in the primary school) leads to a noticeable increase of orthographic errors, as these errors manifest themselves in the written schoolwork of the students concerned.

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The hegemony of changes, innovations and reforms

Context of reformSuccessful change within an educational system must take into consideration the context of a country’s history, culture, and policy. These were taken into account as the OECD prepared this report on education reform in Greece.

Social and cultural contextThe social and cultural factors in Greece that are most relevant to education reform include:• A high personal and family commitment to education, reflected in significant household investments in educational services outside regular educational institutions.• A commitment to social equity and an egalitarian society, which are values enshrined in the Constitution of Greece (Article 4). The Greek system seeks to avoid privilege and any differentiation or selection among students, teachers, schools or regions on any basis other than “objective criteria”.• Constitutional commitments to free education. The Greek Constitution stipulates (Article 16, section 1): “Art and science, research and teaching shall be free and their development and promotion shall be an obligation of the State”.• A historically agricultural economy and society. This has resulted in a highly local and regional political culture in which, despite strong commitments to Greece as a nation, loyalty to village and family are paramount – even for the population that may have long-since migrated to the major metropolitan areas of Athens and Thessaloniki (Skolarikou, 2003).• A long tradition of highly centralised government and measures to ensure national cohesion and counter regionalism. Proposals for decentralisation and differentiation by region are met with concern and represent sharp departure from the past.• A high percentage of employment in the public sector (40% of GDP), with stronger benefits and employment security than is commonly available in the private sector.• Mistrust of governmental initiatives and concerns about corruption, misuse of public funds or public employment for private purposes. Consequently, the government focuses more on compliance and “preventing bad things from happening” than on providing services or a positive reform agenda.

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• A limited tradition of reliance upon private entities to serve public purposes. The Greek Constitution stipulates that, “The establishment of university level institutions by private persons is prohibited” (Article 16, section 8).• Strong labour unions and the right to organise, supported by Constitutional provisions (Article 12). Strikes and public demonstrations of perceived threats to employee rights are frequent.• Pride in Greek history and culture, reflected in comparatively traditional views about curriculum and pedagogy.• Active political participation, reflected in extensive participation in political parties and vocal demonstrations on issues facing the country. This is especially evident in the dominant role of student unions in higher education institutions, which are affiliated with national political parties.

Governmental contextA recurrent theme of this report is that Greece must move from a highly centralised and fragmented system of input controls toward a more flexible system in which the Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs focuses on responsibility and accountability for performance. Changes in the education system must be made within the framework of overall national directions. Fundamental changes in budgeting and finance, as well as in the structure of national, regional and local governments, are likely to accelerate as a consequence of the economic crisis. This, in turn, will affect the government’s human resource capacity at the school, institution, regional and national levels.Therefore, two major reforms will have significant implications for education:• Reform of central controls on budget expenditures and use of human resources; and,• Reform of regional governments.

OECD (2011), Education Policy Advice for Greece, Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education, OECD Publishing.

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Syndromes of lethargy and apocalypses of our schooling in

Greece today

Pan-Hellenic Scientific Association of Primary School Head Teachers

Reacting to the First Draft of the Law concerning the administrative framework of state education that was made public, with regard to the specific duties/responsibilities of the Head Teachers of primary schools, the Executive Council of the Association of the Greek Head Teachers has made the following observations/remarks:

1. The Head Teacher of the school is not only the person in charge of the administrative day-to-day operation of the school unit, but he is, mainly, the professional person in charge of the scientific-pedagogical work that is implemented in each school –something that is clearly delineated in all pertinent legislation. This particular responsibility or ‘capacity’ of the school Head Teacher ought, in no way, to be removed from his role, since schools of our era do not need a bureaucrat Head Teacher who will dedicate himself simply to handling related correspondence and overseeing the smooth functioning of school life. They need a Head Teacher-leader who will be able to instill a vision, so that the school unit may acquire its own culture, its own identity and, at that same time inspire and give life to all daily functioning of the school;

2. In-service training of Head Teachers ought to be implemented without delay so that they may be awarded with the Certificate of Administrative and Guiding Adequacy;

3. Given the fact that the existing legislative framework concerning the day-to day operation of Greek schools is quite ambiguous with a substantial overlapping of duties/responsibilities among its membership (which in turn creates tensions and conflict), we suggest that the Ministry adopt a clear and well-defined operational framework for all schools;

4. It is necessary that the teaching hours of Head Teachers be reduced, but we are opposed to their full exclusion from teaching duties in the school. Their connection with the teaching praxis provides additional and more

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valid knowledge of the school reality. Furthermore, the teaching hours of the assistant Head Teacher of the school should be reduced so that he may have the time to actually assist the Head Teacher in his daily work;

5. As far as the evaluation of school teachers is concerned, we believe that this whole issue is a very serious matter and, therefore, any decision on this evaluation process should be taken after an extensive discussion among all members of the educational community.

6. Finally, we strongly believe that the very clearly delineated borders/limits, as well as the crystal clear and well-defined rights and obligations of all the members of the educational community do not lead to an authoritarian school, but to a well-organized school. Through its legislation the Greek state ought to demonstrate what ‘kind’ of Head Teacher and what ‘kind’ of public school it wants.

Epimorphosis of teachers in a rapidly changing cosmos: emphasis in school

gnosis and praxis

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In-service training of all school Directors

A special in-service training program is underway by the Greek Ministry of Education aimed at the training of a total of 13,000 primary and secondary education School Directors across the country, so that they –in turn- will be adequately ‘equipped’ to carry out the much publicized procedure of self-evaluation of their respective schools. This evaluation at the school level is to be implemented to approximately 150,000 state school teachers from kindergarten to the upper secondary schools starting with the school year 2012-2013.As explained by the Ministry’s officials, five different aspects of daily schooling are to be evaluated in the framework of this evaluation process: the means-resources and the human capital; the organizational structure and the administration and management of each school; the climate and the relations within the school environment; all educational procedures characterizing each school; and, finally, the educational outcomes.Nonetheless, in relation to the fore-mentioned initiative of the Ministry of Education, it is of interest to note the following: The preliminary ‘feedback’ from the pilot implementation of this in-service training program during the current school year, with the voluntary participation of approximately 6,500 teachers (organized by the Evaluation Observatory of the Institute for Educational Policy), has shown that one out of every two participating teachers asks the Greek Ministry of Education to adopt specific measures/policies aimed at providing all classroom teachers with the scientific and pedagogical in-service training needed, so that they may be able to follow the most recent (theoretical & empirical) developments in their field. Furthermore, the teachers also ask for better and continuously updated school infrastructures and facilities at all levels of the education pyramid.

The educational horizon via the dynasty of statistics

Intra-school violence in Greek schools

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The results of a survey conducted by VPRC concerning intra-school violence are quite revealing as to the overall ‘trends’ characterizing Greek schools today. It is noted that these interesting results were presented to the public within the framework of the Day Against School Violence (March 6, 2012).

In short, then, the vast majority of Greek students turn their back on violence: A total percentage of 98% of those questioned expressed their loathing of manifestations of violence against animals; 84% disagree with the view that in certain cases violence is justified; and another 79% of the participants declared that they prefer not to be engaged in disagreements/disputes which have violent conclusions.However, 7 out of 10 students said that, at one time or another, they have observed phenomena of violence in their own school.As the assistant professor of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Mr. C. Vernardakis (consultant of VPRC) underlined, intra-school violence in Greece is mainly ‘verbal’.High percentages were recorded concerning incidents of swearing and insulting (88%) and the spreading of negative comments or rumors (67%). Only 11% of the students participating in the survey admitted that they, themselves, had at times, been the protagonists as perpetrators in incidents of intra-school violence.

The sample of this informative survey, which was carried out between 13-29 February, 2012, consisted of 700 primary and secondary education students.

Approximately one in three students expressed their disappointment when asked about their feelings concerning daily school life, with the relatively higher percentages of disappointment recorded in public schools and in upper secondary schools.On the other hand, Greek students (both boys and girls) seemed to be extremely concerned about ‘tomorrow’, as 72% of them expressed their uncertainty about their future, this percentage reaching the 83% mark for students attending upper secondary schools (Lyceum).

Interestingly enough, and despite the fore-mentioned feelings of disappointment concerning daily school life and the uncertainty for the future, most Greek students appear to like their school, placing their liking of the school at the level of 7.15 on a scale 0f 1 to 10. As far as the girls are concerned their mean score of ‘liking’ is 7.44 compared to their male counterparts who have a corresponding score of 6.85. Furthermore, in primary school the score of ‘liking’ reaches its highest value of 8.52, which falls to 7.15 for lower secondary (Gymnasium) students and 6.84 for the Lyceum students.

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Finally, on the basis of the specific answers provided by the students of this survey, it appears that a significant percentage of Greek students today can not manage their anger in their daily school life – and in general for that matter.

Combining mystery and rhetorical hordes

“Actions against violence in our schools, March 6, 2012”

The Ministry of Education, Life-Long Learning & Religious Affairs as part of its initiatives concerning issues of prevention and promotion of our students’ health has established a special Network of

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Coordinators/Teachers responsible for School Activities in all Primary & Secondary Education Regional Directorates across Greece. The main task of this Network of Teachers is the implementation, the monitoring and the diffusion of the different Health Education Programs in all primary and secondary schools. No doubt, one of the most serious issues pertaining directly to Health Education today is the so-called “bullying” and the different expressions of violence in schools.The Greek Ministry of Education, being particularly sensitized in themes and issues concerning intra-school violence, has concluded a co-operation contract ‘for the development of initiatives and actions aimed at preventing of and dealing effectively with bullying and violence among students within the school environment’ with the scientific organization S. P. H. C.A. (Society of Psycho-Social Health of Children & Adolescents) which is directed by the University of Athens professor of Child Psychiatry, Ioannis Tsiantis. In addition, the Ministry is participating in the ‘Network Against Violence in Schools’ which has both government and non-government organizations as its members.Thus, the Network has proclaimed March the 6th henceforth to be the pan-Hellenic Day Against Violence in all Greek Schools. During that specific school day all Greek primary and secondary schools are called upon to dedicate two or more teaching hours from the regular day program to actions and projects aimed at sensitizing and informing all members of the school community about bullying and violence at school. Via a specific circular sent to all schools, the Ministry makes a number of indicative suggestions concerning activities and projects that may be jointly developed and implemented by the teachers and the students of each particular school, while the active participation of the regional school councilors and those teachers responsible for Health Education in all those activities is also encouraged and recommended.

Pan-Hellenic School Day against violence in schools

The Greek Ministry of Education, in its effort to sensitize all individuals and organizations concerned, has declared March the 6th as the official Pan-Hellenic School Day against violence in schools.

According to the statements made by the Ministry’s officials, this very day should be seen as a good stimulus/starting point for all teachers, students and parents across Greece to exchange thoughts, related information and ideas. More so, as a continuation of these exchanges, teachers, students and their parents may plan and implement concrete sensitization actions aimed at preventing and effectively dealing with school violence and the so-called phenomenon of bullying that are manifested among and against students within the school environment. It is believed (hoped) that with such jointly organized and systematic actions within schools, the channels of violent manifestations in the daily lives of youths will be limited, while at

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the same time the negative consequences in their interpersonal relationships may be prevented altogether.

It should be noted in this context that this particular initiative of the Ministry of Education comes in the midst of repetitive incidents of violence (verbal, physical, psychological) that have been reported in many Greek schools and after public calls on the part of the entire educational community for institutionalized, concrete measures to effectively deal with the phenomenon of violence among and against students. Among others, highly indicative of this current concern about school violence is the most recent press release of the Secondary Teachers Federation (OLME) asking the government to adopt new measures against school violence, while also asking for systematic support and guidance by social workers and psychologists in all Greek schools: “The various forms of violence that are manifested today in educational environments as well constitute a very serious problem. However, what is not usually stressed as much as it should be is the very fact that violence on the premises of the educational institution ought not to be examined in isolation. It should be approached and examined in direct relation to the many influences of the wider social environment and the specific environment of the family within which the specific children live and grow”.

Along the same lines of argument, one may also point to an increasing number of seminars, conferences and special in-service training meetings for all professionals serving in the different levels of the Greek education system, with the issue of school violence as their focus of interest and concern. And this trend has, no doubt, become more prevalent and forceful in the course of the last 5-7 years where both the incidents of school violence seem to have acquired a highly ‘noticeable momentum’ (especially so in urban areas, but not only) and the public concern voiced on this very phenomenon has already become increasingly stronger.

Apotheosis of the daily school praxis

Health food – effective education

The private company, DOLL HELLAS Ltd., is informing all Greek consumers that during the period between January and June 2012 it is in the process of implementing a pilot program of nutrition among public elementary schools in the prefectures of Attica and Thessaloniki. This program aims at revealing and highlighting the high nutritional value of

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fruits for all children aged between 6-12 years, ages, that is, during which fruits are both necessary and beneficial.

Throughout the implementation phases of the program, elementary school children in the specific geographical areas will also be offered fruits for free, as well as printed material with recreational and informative tips.

Within the framework of this initiative, the Head Teachers of the schools concerned and the School Councilors of the districts are kindly requested to make sure that all pupils are appropriately informed about the benefits of the daily consumption of fruit, and, furthermore, about the need to change nutritional habits so that they may adopt health nutritional routines. It is noted that all this informative campaign within schools may be carried out as part of the regular day program of each school and, more specifically, during the so-called ‘flexible zone’ time slot that has already been prescribed in the official curriculum of the Greek Ministry of Education for primary education.

Given the fact that this program includes the handing out of – along with other types of fruit - bananas, the consumption of which might create health problems for some individuals, the Head Teachers of the schools in question are requested to inform the parents of the school in advance and to ask for their consent to the students’ consumption of the specific fruit.

Note: The Ministry of Education has already been informed about this program

Foreign Language teaching: thesis and antithesis

Greeks pay ‘gold’ for foreign language diplomas With a total cost that starts from 70 euro and may reach even the 500 euro in many cases, our country is one of the most expensive counties with the EU concerning the securing of foreign language diploma. If one is willing to keep track of the grand total of money spent annually on all those examinations held in Greece for a foreign language diploma (of one level or another), he will discover that this amount exceeds 15 million euros – despite the very fact that the Institutes or Councils of foreign languages which have the responsibility for organizing those examinations in Greece are legally considered to be non-profit organizations. The people running those foreign language (examination and diploma awarding) organizations in Greece claim that all this money

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paid by Greek candidates to participate in the various examinations constitutes for them their only source of revenue. In addition, when to the above amount of money spent annually on foreign language diplomas, one adds the rather astronomical amount of 595.6 million of euros that Greek parents pay every single year for their children to learn one or more foreign languages, it becomes more than apparent what “big business” this learning of foreign language enterprise is. As is already known to all those familiar with the Greek society and the Greek education system, English is the first foreign language in demand by far. Every year approximately 150,000 candidates participate in the different examinations directly concerned with foreign language certification. The cost of taking part in the ‘Lower’ (B2) examinations is about 180 euros and reaches the amount of 320 euro for the diploma of “Proficiency”. As far as the corresponding examinations for the French language diplomas are concerned, the cost is even higher. During the two examination periods of May and December of each year the 45,000 candidates have to pay from 100 euro for the “A1” diploma well up to 340 euro for the “Dalf Sorbonne”. The German language diplomas start from 90 euro for the “A1”, an amount that skyrockets to 500 euro for the last diploma “C2” which is considered superior to that of the Greek university degree in German philology. With some slight variations in the amounts required to participate in the corresponding examinations for Spanish and Italian language diplomas (approximately 8,000 Greeks sit annually for the Spanish language diplomas and another 6,000 for the Italian language), there is no doubt that, on the whole, foreign language diploma acquisition in Greece continues to be a very costly and – why not - lucrative enterprise.

Chronic searching for classroom catalysts in the Hellenic pedagogical

arena

Implementation of Programs with Cultural Themes With the term “Cultural Program” we mean every creative process which has as its objective the cultivation of aesthetics as well as the underlining and the promotion of elements of our culture/civilization such as:= Language= Letters & Arts= Ways of living= History= Human rights= System of values= Cultural heritage

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= Literature= Customs & traditions= Technology Given the fact that when examining a specific cultural theme/unit the school in question may visit museums, libraries, archives, theatres, discuss with qualified scientists and individuals involved in the fields of letters and arts and cooperate with municipal authorities and cultural organizations in the area, the Cultural Program could most probably function as a connecting link between the school and the local community. All Cultural Programs in primary education are implemented within the regular school hours of each school day (in the framework of the so-called ‘Flexible Zone’ of the daily schedule, as a ‘project diffused’ in all school subjects and in the extended/all day school). The Cultural Programs are planned and fully developed during the first few weeks of the school year and their duration may be from two to six months. Each teacher and each student may take part to no more than three such programs of innovative actions. For selecting a specific theme/unit to be developed and thereafter implemented as a Cultural Program, interested teachers have the opportunity to consult an indicative – yet quite extensive and all encompassing - list of such relevant themes which is provided by the Regional Directorate of Primary & Secondary Education of Attica.

The central theme of this issue

University professors as teachers: Do they bear ‘any symbiosis’ with contemporary Pedagogy and basic pedagogical principles?

To paraphrase our basic question and try to make the whole picture more vivid when it comes to considering the ‘actual presence’ of pedagogical principles in the daily teaching practice of Greek university professors, the following question presents its own interest (and concern, for that matter): Have you seen PEDAGOGY…around?Let us make this introductory note on the central theme of the issue of the HPC a bit more specific.

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As it is already known, in Greece, university teaching staff who have been elected at any level of the university ‘professorship hierarchy’ (lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, professor - with the most recent law abolishing the level of lecturer-) are officially called members DEP (Teaching-Research Personnel). When initially elected to a university membership of DEP and/or when they are promoted to the next level of the professorship hierarchy, they are basically (with very few exceptions) evaluated on the basis of their research work and their publications. With very few exceptions and only epidermically sometimes, almost NOTHING concerning their teaching abilities/potentialities/performance is seriously and systematically considered when university colleagues are called upon to ‘vote’ on their promotion to the next higher level of DEP. Those of the university DEP who serve in the different Departments of Education aside, all other university teaching staff, by definition, had no (and have no) familiarization with or training in PEDAGOGY throughout their teaching career (no doubt, one may most likely find some isolated cases of such professors who have occasionally attended one or two PEDAGOGY related seminars on their own, but that in itself does not change the overall picture as discussed in the present context).Furthermore, even most of those of the university DEP who are called pedagogues and educationalists by training and by their certified profession and teach pedagogy and other related issues (education) to university students and prospective teachers and write books and articles on how to CONDUCT GOOD and EFFECTIVE TEACHING, they themselves rather seldom ‘put their money where their mouth is’, when it comes to their own teaching praxis and their actual teaching during most of their university teaching career. Perhaps to some readers such a statement might sound as an hyperbole or something like a cynical and over-generalized conclusion, but, nonetheless, it is not very far from the truth.On the other hand, almost no one seems willing to ‘speak out in public’ about this apparent lack of PEDAGOGY among the thousands of Greek professionals who have been appointed as university teaching staff. The total lack of pertinent systematic research and the total absence of publications/bibliography on this issue, is more than indicative of the main points attempted to be made here.Upon considering this lack of PEDAGOGICAL aspects among university teaching staff, one is tempted to remind the reader of a

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very old, widely known and quite illustrating Greek saying which in a ‘a rather free’ translation into English, reads as follows: Heh, teacher, you who have been teaching for years but have not abided by your word (“Daskale pou didaskes ke logo den ekratises”).Thus, it should not be considered as an ‘inappropriate initiative’ or a ‘blasphemy’ to ask a couple of primary education classroom teachers to express their views on the ‘applicability’ of the basic pedagogical principles during their daily school praxis. A very important reminder, that is, for all those of the thousands of Greek university members of DEP who seem to have (‘somehow’) disassociated themselves form those basic principles in their own teaching practice.

L.C.B.

Pedagogical Principles and Teaching Pedagogical principles underlying early language learning are extremely diverse in their formulation. The lack of explicitness makes them not always recognizable, let alone comparable, across disciplines, countries or situations. The reason for this is that they are partly teacher belief or taken for granted. Furthermore, a pedagogical principle is a container concept. What can be understood as a pedagogical principle for English Language teaching has, in many cases, originated from political motives, socio- cultural opinions, psycholinguistic findings, methodological and didactical approaches. Pedagogy is the art and science of teaching. The Curriculum Renewal Evaluation Report “Every Chance to Learn” suggests that “the purpose of developing pedagogy is to improve student learning by selecting the most powerful teaching strategies for a specified learning outcome and to support different learners to achieve that outcome. The argument is not that one teaching strategy is always better than another, but rather that the strategies used need to be effective for the planned learning and for the learners. In a sense, it is about knowing how to choose the right tools for the job.” Pedagogy links theories and beliefs about teaching and learning to teaching practice in a consistent and coherent way. The knowledge that teachers have of learners, learning, teaching and assessment and the way they apply this knowledge to effective classroom practice is a complex interaction of theoretical understandings and practical skills. Four pedagogical issues stand out as having much relevance for teaching English:

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i. Sustain the initial motivation that very young children bring.

ii. Cater for their intercultural, social, imaginative, affective and personal self/identity.

iii. Promote basic communication skill and collaborate learning.iv. Use particular language activities that are suitable for young

children of particular ages and stages.

Intrinsic motivation is not only created by fun and games, but also by intellectual challenge and feelings of satisfaction and personal achievement. A task is appropriately challenging when pupils are expected to risk and move into the unknown but they know how to get started and have support for reaching the new level of learning. We, as teachers, should show pleasure in our subject and foster a sense of excitement and adventure in learning. We should help students set challenging goals for themselves and support increasing independence in student learning. I have also noticed that it is very helpful when we support students develop thinking by problem- solving strategies that enable them to experience success.

Teachers should always bear in mind that inclusiveness in education starts with the recognition of our diversity. It is about treating students as individuals rather than as a homogeneous group and valuing their experiences and background. It is about taking time to find out students’ particular gifts and strengths and employing an array of teaching strategies to cater for student differences in background and learning style. It is, also, the creation of a classroom “learning culture” that is built on a common sense of purpose and enables students with differing interests and capacities to contribute.

“Social interaction is important for the development of expertise, metacognitive skills and formation of the learner’s sense of self” ( US National Academy of Science, 2002). Teachers should respect the research evidence that the social processes of learning support or undermine students’ self- concept. So, we should foster and encourage students to work and learn together by demonstrating the value of teamwork and by identifying ways in which individual learning can be strengthened through group work: by doing so, we do not promote learning in a competitive environment, but we do support children’s enjoyment in learning a language, as well.

An early start in learning English as a foreign language can confer considerable advantages on children by activating natural language acquisition mechanisms, and by providing them with a linguistic and intercultural experience which can have a beneficial formative influence on their cognitive, social, cultural, acoustic, linguistic and personal development. But teachers should be very careful as far as the appropriateness of the material is concerned. Let me give an example: Supposing we are designing a first- year syllabus for

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seven- year olds learning English. Frequency studies might indicate that words like “crocodile” or “elephant” are far less commonly used than words like “engine” or “wheel”. If we design our syllabus according to linguistic considerations, we will naturally prefer to teach the more common words earlier. But “crocodile” and “elephant” appeal to children both because of their meaning and because they are fun to say, and a reliable pedagogical principle is that children tend to learn more easily words that appeal to them. As a teacher, I am interested in my students’ motivation and rapid acquisition of new vocabulary as much as in the usefulness of that vocabulary therefore, I may well prioritize the less common words.

Research into teacher excellence emphasizes the importance of “pedagogical content knowledge”, which is defined as the application of general pedagogy to a particular subject or area of learning. Excellent teachers have a strong grasp of learning theory and general pedagogical principles, but they demonstrate this in very practical ways, specific to their subject and appropriate for their group of students. We each remember the great teachers who touched our lives, kindled our interest and pressed us to do our best. We hold powerful images of such teachers. They exhibited a deep caring and love for children. They conveyed a passion for the subjects they taught, captivating their students with their passion. They approached their work with creativity and imagination, striving constantly to improve. What is more than sure is that no teacher can afford to ignore the evolution of pedagogical principles. If we cut ourselves off from new ideas and methods, even the best teaching abilities will not prevent us from becoming dinosaurs.

Effie Pitterou

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Important factors for implementing the principles of Pedagogy in the school

environmentThe fact that in the field of psychological and pedagogical research the twentieth century is considered to be the century of the child due to the fact that during that period many interesting studies revealed the particular psychological cosmos of the child is widely known. The fact that “Old” and “New” trends in Pedagogy have come into conflict with each other is also known. That fact that in the field of Education of the 21 st

century particular emphasis is placed on the development of technology is equally well known.

There are constant developments.Have there been, however, many changes? What should we, the teachers, do today? Many answers may be given. Definitely different but, unreservedly, interesting.

Having served as a teacher in primary education teacher for the last 15 years and having followed the developments in both state and private education in Greece, I believe that the adopting and the acceptance of the basic principles/axioms of Contemporary Pedagogy as well as elements of the Old Pedagogy even today, have their value.

It is my belief that what we should reject in both cases are the extreme pedagogical situations, the ‘laisser-faire’ education on the one hand and authoritarianism and teacher-centeredness on the other. In my humble view, as in all aspects of our life, we should seek what Aristotle called ‘middle road’ or median. In any school, that is, there is not only the student, or only the teacher, we should deify neither the student nor the teacher. In any school there are not only the interests of the student but also the interests of the teacher. There is not only the personal experience of the teacher but there is also the personal experience of the child, an experience that we should take into account and positively exploit in our

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teaching. In the educational praxis both these factors make their contribution and, in turn, create a new interpersonal relationship.

Outside the school every individual ‘goes his way’. Inside the school, however, they cooperate given the very fact that the student ought to learn and the teacher ought to teach. In no way should dominance of one factor prevail upon the other; with dominance neither stakeholder gains. The school needs both. Daily school praxis always seeks, primarily, the right path to follow in the field of New Pedagogy as well as in the field of Old Pedagogy, so that we may choose those elements which are of useful today. Concepts such as child-centeredness, individual initiative, exhortation, lesson plan, the connection of school to real life, cross-thematic approach, the cultivation of interpersonal relationships, cooperation at all levels, the obligations that stem from the learning process itself, all constitute basic principles which activate both the teacher and the student and they create systematic stimuli aiming at the success of the teaching process. They constitute indices of orientation for the teacher and they contribute towards his more substantial and much better ‘teaching performance’ in his classroom.

Among all those fore mentioned concepts I will underline in particular the cultivation of interpersonal relationships, because I do believe that it occupies primary a role among the principles of Pedagogy and constitutes the very basis of successful teaching. I could, perhaps, rephrase this point by emphatically noting the importance of the sentiment that should permeate any teacher’ being, which he should then readily offer to his students, in the form of minor moral encouragement of reinforcement well up to psychological and emotional empathy and support. The relationships that are cultivated and created are not relationships of cognitive/mental subordination, and they aim at moulding individuals with critical thought. The teacher makes his presence felt in his classroom at any given moment of the teaching hour. He gives advice, provides answers to students’ questions, he tries to create mentally challenging situations; he honestly cooperates with his students. The student, on his part, is obliged to act responsibly and prepare/complete all his schoolwork.

Yet, we can not talk and write solely about the relationships between teachers and their students, about the conditions which are shaped around the magnetic field that is created among them every time. There are also the relationships among the teachers themselves. We can not talk about basic principles of Pedagogy on the one hand, without stressing, on the other hand, the great importance the cooperation of its teaching staff holds for any school. Within the framework of the Contemporary School, any Pedagogical principles can not easily find their implementation if there is not the ‘fertile ground’ for essential cooperation among all teachers –a cooperation that may well be reflected even in their disagreements.

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One of the most important changes that have been recorded over the last few years in primary education has to do with the presence of ‘teaching/subject’ specializations. Something that has been going on for many years if the field of Private Education, seems, more recently, to have started to be implemented in state education as well. No doubt, for the most productive and more effective operation of any school, the cooperation of all teachers in the shaping of school life as well as the mutual respect of the particular role of each one in the school are absolutely necessary ‘ingredients’.

The role of the head teacher of the school, in reinforcing and strengthening the ties among teachers by providing motives so that appropriate working conditions are created, is very important. As far as the so-called “All-Day or Extended School” is concerned, it is important that the cooperation between the ‘morning’ and the ‘afternoon’ teachers should be systematic and productive. In this case, the subject-specialized teachers who come from secondary education should seriously consider the age of primary school children. That is why (among others) we often hear voices and concerns stressing the lack of cooperation among teacher colleagues. In my opinion, this is a healthy and welcoming stand/reaction, to the extent, however, that such a stand does not function as a kind of ‘alibi” for us, concerning our own personal contribution to the school.

We, as teachers and workers, should of course demand and fight for the betterment of our working conditions at all levels. Barricading ourselves, however, behind our lack of cooperation or the inadequacy of didactic means and tools in our era of technology, are not characteristics of the conscientious teacher. Furthermore, our constant bickering is rather an attempt to justify our lack of initiative, a situation which is perceived as lack of real interest by large segments of our society. The only sure thing is, then, that the Basic Principles of Pedagogy will not find their actual implementation in our daily work in the classroom and in the school in general. And then, virtually everything is left to the teacher himself, who must then ‘lay down his soul’ within his classroom.

Christos Kostarelos

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Educational intervention based on current pedagogical principles: the case of the shy

student

A. CASE STUDYChristiana, 11 years old, a student of the 5th grade in a primary school in

a municipality neighboring Athens, presents the characteristics of a particular shy and timid child. Her participation in group activities is clearly limited and she hardly ever speaks in class during the lesson. When the teacher asks questions she rarely and only very reluctantly raises her hand to speak. When given the opportunity to speak, she turns red, lowers her gaze, nervously blinks her eyelids in the effort to concentrate, hums and haws, stutters and is lost for words. She needs more time than her peers to express herself, which causes the resentment of her peers, expressed either verbally of nonverbally. She never expresses her complaints and she is always smiling, sweet, kind. Her school performance is low and she does dress in a style considered acceptable by her classmates. Christiana does not seem to have developed the expected social relationships with her classmates, if one takes into account the fact that she has been attending the same school and class since the 1 st grade. Based on the sociogram of the class she does not seem to be very popular and seems to be attached to and dependent on ‘Irini, an equally low-profile child in the class, who nevertheless seems to benefit from her relationship with Christiana and to have the upper hand in the relationship. Christiana’s mother is very dynamic, does not work and seems to have high expectations of her daughter, while her sailor father comes home once a year for about two months.

B. EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONThe above mentioned case arose during the current academic year and

I came to the conclusion that a comprehensive educational intervention with a timetable, targets and evaluation of their achievement is required.

The intervention, both at an advisory and educational level, was addressed by the teacher, not only to the “shy student”, but also to her peers and her parents. In any case, the aims of the educational action were, firstly, to collect as much data as possible about the student and her

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environment, a proper use of these so the student can alleviate her social inhibitions and gain confidence and higher self-concept, to change the attitudes and perceptions of peers and developing a culture of empathy and respect towards the individuality of their classmate. Working with the student’s parents was essential for effective intervention.

1. Micro-Counseling interventionThe teacher discussed with the student to collect information about her. The interview with Christiana used “the Practical Approach of Intentional Interviewing and Counseling" and followed the basic sequence of listening: 1) careful monitoring, 2) an open invitation for discussion, 3) clarification with basic encouragement and/or paraphrasing, 4) reflection of feelings, 5) summary and 6) skills synthesis (Ivey, Cluckstem, Bradford-Ivey, 1996, p. 14-15).Teacher: (posture, facial expression and nonverbal messages generally assist in creating a positive communication climate): You didn’t come downstairs to the courtyard in the previous break (the teacher approaches and sits besides her). Is there something wrong?Christiana: (hesitantly) I do not mind, miss…Teacher: What do you mean? You don’t need some rest after such a tiring lesson?Christiana: It’s not that, miss! But…Teacher: (silence)Christiana: I prefer to stay in class. Irini is missing too… (showing nervousness and embarrassment) Teacher: Are you telling me that when Irini is missing you don’t like the break?Christiana: No, miss!Teacher: But why?Christiana: (shrugs and lowers her head) The others don’t want to play with me!Teacher: What games would you like to play during break-time?Christiana: I like playing with my play-doh.Teacher: Uh! So do you like to shape things?Christiana: (smiles and lowers her head, blushing)Teacher: Do your classmates know about your talent?Christiana: No, miss!Teacher: Have you not told them?Christiana: (“cloudy”) No, miss. They will mock me. They do that all the time anyway.Teacher: Why do you think that?Christiana: (silence, wiping the sweat from her hands with the tissue)Teacher: I understand from what you tell me that their behavior bothers you and makes you feel ashamed and embarrassed.Christiana: (nods her head affirmatively looking down)Teacher: I think you’re right to feel uncomfortable with your classmates because they behave like that. In your position I would feel the same and

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maybe I would avoid the break. Do you think there is a way to convince them that you do not deserve such behavior?Christiana: Perhaps I could bring them some of my creations in the classroom?Teacher: I find your idea excellent. It will be a very pleasant surprise during Art class (an exhibition with Christiana’s creations was organized during Christmas bazaar)

Evaluative comments:1) Careful monitoring : The teacher created the conditions and the

right climate for open communication with the student. Eye-contact, keeping a safe distance, gestures and generally non-verbal behavior, the calm tone of voice and time gave the student confidence and security during the discussion.

2) Open Call for discussion : The teacher made especially open-ended questions that help in the development of the conversation because they put the student in the process of formulating thoughts and feelings. Silence also contributed towards the same end.

3) Clarification with basic encouragement and paraphrasing : to facilitate communication with the shy child, paraphrasing was often used (so, you’re telling me that…well, you like…)

4) Reflection of feelings : The teacher focused on the student’s feelings and tried to put them into words by decoding non-verbal messages of the student (I understand that…I think/believe…)

5) Summary : The interview was short enough so as nor to create the need for abstract and summary. However, attempts by the teacher were made to include thoughts and feelings of the student that were expressed fragmentarily.

6) Composition Skills : The empathic and supportive stance towards the shy child enhanced communication between them so as to allow the teacher to achieve the original objectives of the interview (collection of data, a positive relationship of student-teacher collaboration).

2. MICRO-TEACHING INTERVENTION

The micro-teaching plan was implemented in terms of the educational program entitled “Discovering my feelings”. The program lasts 12 hours and is applied to 25 students of the 5th grade during school hours of the Flexible Zone. The choice of subject was considered essential for problematic situations in the logic of crisis management. The general objectives of the program was the emotional development of students, to foster empathy and self-awareness, the mitigation of conflicts and the formulation of smooth interpersonal relationships, the adoption of attitudes and perceptions that facilitate cooperation and mutual respect among students.

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Specifically, the micro-teaching was part of the 90-minute teaching hour of the language lessons connected with the literary text of Pantelis Kaliotsos “Ena saki mallia”1(‘A bag of hair”). Some of the specific objectives of teaching were to foster respect for diversity, altruism and understanding. The duration of the micro-teaching was 20 minutes and focused on identifying and understanding the feeling of shyness. In particular, the goal was the extension and generalization of learning objectives prior to, and awareness toward students who might feel shy because of their behavior. Another key objective was the shy student’s involvement in activities fostering interaction with her peers. To work towards this key objective it was necessary for the student to work in a different group from that of Irini’s. Students worked in groups of five.

Activity 1: Students silently read a story without an ending and related to the feeling of shyness that is given to them on a photocopy. Activity duration2: 3 minutes.

Activity 2: Through brainstorming, two groups of students provide their own outcome of the story. Each group must have different ending. Activity duration: 5 minutes.

Activity 3 (parallel): At the same time the other two groups draw faces on paper with oil pastel and mold with clay, respectively. (It was aimed for Christiana to be a member of this group thus creating conditions for success). Specifically they try to “fill” the circles with features and colors portraying the feelings of the heroes of the story.

Activity 4: Each group shares the roles of the heroes of its own story and presents it to the other groups (role play), as do the other two groups with their paintings. Activity duration: 6 minutes

Activity 5: An interactive discussion follows between the groups with the support of the teacher. Activity duration: 6 minutes

The evaluation of the micro-teaching process is primarily took into account the active participation and the degree of interest and involvement of students and long term behavioral change, attitudes and perceptions of all students.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ivey, A. E, Glucksten, N. B, Bradford-Ivey, M. (1996). Simvouleftiki methodos praktikis prosegisis. Athina: Ellinika Grammata

Anna Koraki

1 Anthologio Logotechnikon Keimenon E’ & St taxeon Dimotikou, YPEPTH, OEDB (2009), s.1122 Activity time is indicative

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In Search of Piaget…Upon exchanging my presence in university amphitheatres for the school classroom two years ago, one of the conclusions I immediately arrived at was that everything I had learned in my student years may have contributed towards the cultivation of my spirit and the broadening of my horizons and thought; it may also have made me aware of the various schools of thought concerning my chosen field of study. However, in no way did it offer me any practical help in the daily challenges I was to face as a teacher.

None of the great theorists of Pedagogy told me how to teach equivalent fractions in mathematics; how to make indifferent George pay attention; how to bring equilibrium back into the classroom after an argument; how to teach Maria that we do not talk out of turn in class; how to get Nicole to try to master mathematics and to get her to like it. No one answered the questions that tormented me daily – as they do every practising teacher; questions, which, if they were left unanswered, would significantly obstruct the teaching process.

Thus, I set out alone to find the solutions. I experimented with teaching approaches; I rejected, I adopted, I consolidated and I modified them. Now, though I am still at an experimental stage as I believed I will always be, having repeated some of those teaching approaches and having verified their more or less beneficial qualities, I am in a position to evaluate them and to examine them from a different perspective.

Based upon my actual teaching practices, this new perspective would allow me to discover within the established pedagogical theories the necessary knowledge which would provide every prospective teacher with the much needed arsenal with which to begin his teaching career.

Can it be that the theories which I so readily denied at the outset of my teaching career are to be found present in my teaching practices? Where are Piaget, Bruner, Watson and Thorndike to be found in the teaching process?

In trying to organize the overview which follows I will refer separately to the representatives of the two main schools of thought of Pedagogy, that of behaviourism and that of cognitive theory.

A basic axiom of the former is that of dependent-associative learning during which an independent stimulant is connected to a dependent one. In my personal daily experience this theory has many applications.

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Specifically: at the beginning of the school year Nicole was neutral towards (neutral reaction) problems in mathematics (independent stimulant). Her repeatedly low marks in tests (dependent stimulant) left her with feelings of disappointment and low self-esteem (dependent reaction). As she had come to connect mathematics with failure and frustration she decided to quit trying. It is characteristic that her participation in learning games which contained any type of mathematical challenge, but bore no connection to mathematics as a lesson, was minimal. This last point is an example of an extension of the aforementioned theory concerning the generalization of stimulants which causes a dependent reaction – displeasure in this case.

Similarly, we can explain the cases of other children who for some reason do not like a certain lesson and demonstrate low achievement in it. In reality the rejection of a school subject does not constitute loathing of the lesson in itself, but the need to escape its ensuing negative sentiments.

Thus, aiming to combat Nicole’s negativity towards mathematics, I continually reinforced her every success in the lesson while – especially so at the beginning of the school year. I made sure to give her the chance to speak when I felt certain that she had the correct answer. In so doing, I facilitated her feelings of satisfaction with herself. Verbal encouragement, a smile, a look of approval from me to her all served, according to Thorndike and Watson, towards her extinction of previous learning of any undesirable feelings she had previously experienced with the lesson; the reason being that unpleasant feelings were now being replaced by pleasant ones. In fact, as Thorndike points out, according to the law of results, stimulants which produce satisfaction are stronger than those producing dissatisfaction and so more likely to be repeated. One may safely conclude then, that in all likelihood Nicole will continue her effort so as to repeat the pleasant feelings it now brings. According to Skinner, another behaviourist, the above mentioned method which I used is a form of operant conditioning, or positive reinforcement. Skinner also informs me of negative reinforcement in which undesirable behaviour is reinforced by the teacher as it produces pleasant results for the student. I would place Mario as well as Manoli under this category. Mario fails to look me in the eye or occupies himself with something else every time he has not done his homework. Manoli, on the other hand, always asks to be excused from the classroom for the same reason. If I ignore Mario when he seems to be so preoccupied with something else or if I allow Manoli to leave the class, I will be reinforcing behaviour which has proved to be effective and ‘painless’.

Finally, in Skinner’s theory I recognise Stavros, a very sweet and sensitive child. In the first term of the school year he was constantly making jokes in class. With a view to making him feel comfortable and to encourage his participation, I would smile at most of his jokes. Realizing however that,

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with time, his jokes were multiplying I decided to phase out this behaviour. I ignored his jokes and remained expressionless every time he said something irrelevant to the lesson. Within a few days Stavros’ humour ceased to be so manifest in class.While I ‘encounter’ the behaviourists in my classroom in cases concerning, mainly, the behaviour of the students, the theories of the cognitive psychologists complete the puzzle with their contribution in dealing with the purely didactic aspects of the school process.

Walking into the classroom as a teacher, one of the first things I observed was the way I talk. More simplified expressions, a slower pace and the avoidance of more pedantic words are some of the main characteristics of my speech vis-à-vis my students. According to Piaget: It is important to avoid imposing upon students words they have not assimilated or combinations of words whose content they are not able to deal with cognitively because of the lack of assimilative schemata. The result of such an imposition would be the accumulation of deficiencies in the thinking processes of the child which, clashing with the basic need of the mind for organization of cognitive material, would be rejected of distorted.Furthermore, another insight offered by the work of Skinner is that students often do not adequately respond to our questions because they have not yet reached the required biological maturity in cognition. I presume that this explains the case of Sheila who seems unable to tackle questions that present no problem to the rest of the class. I must assume that she has not yet fully developed the necessary cognitive schemata to respond to my questions.Moreover, theories formulated by representatives of the same school of thought, for example Bruner’s ‘experiment-discovery’ method in which students try on their own to discover the ‘relationship of things’ in a given scientific area, or the other one which states that we must first develop our students’ self-concept are, on the whole, widely recognized by teachers and lead to easily reached conclusions once one finds himself in the classroom in that capacity.

In conclusion, it seems that my original position must be modified. Indeed no principle of Pedagogy can show me a specific and sure route to follow in all I encounter in my school day. However, many of the paths I have instinctively gone down so as to create a more hospitable climate for the learning process, have specific references to the theories of the great minds of Pedagogy and have helped me explain many of the expected and other not so expected, results that I have obtained.

Thomai Prodromou

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Cultural pluralism in our xenophobic cosmos: contemporary

philanthropists and stoics… in action

Intercultural Educational Actions

The Greek Ministry of Education, Life-Long Learning & Religious Affairs is in the process of implementing a number of educational actions along intercultural lines and in close collaboration with the countries of origin of the immigrant populations living in Greece.

The specific content of these intercultural educational actions, which focus on secondary education during the entire school year 2011-2012, take the form of : a) the operation of Welcoming Classes and also the operation of Reinforcing Tutorial Classes for students belonging to vulnerable social groups (immigrants, Greek repatriates, Roma, Muslims); and, b) the promotion and the strengthening of educational bilateral co-operations between Greek schools and the schools in the countries of origin of our immigrants and our repatriates.

These joint educational actions are, principally, being implemented between Greek schools and the schools in the countries of origin, countries such as Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, among others, countries of origin of the comparatively larger immigrant/repatriate populations settled in Greece. These actions provide all students concerned with the opportunity to develop their knowledge and their skills in different areas, which through their joint work, come into contact with the teachers, the students and the culture of their - or their parents – country of origin.

As part of this ‘package of intercultural education actions’, the Ministry of Education has also provided to all interested parties the necessary theoretical framework in the form of a concise synopsis of the pertinent literature, as well as instructive in-service training material for the teachers directly involved.

Agonies and ecstasies within the educational liturgy

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Greek universities face even more acute problems today

In their latest joint statement made public after a special meeting, the Rectors of all Greek universities stress the fact that –almost a year after the voting in of the new legislation for higher education- the problems related to the effective operation of the universities across the country have become more acute, while “no solutions have been proposed for handling the tension” between the academic community and the Ministry of Education. They emphatically point out that the dialogue needed and the spirit of consensus are totally lacking on the part of the Ministry, something that has to be changed by the new Minister of Education. The ‘Council of Management/Administration’ and the way that this newly suggested ‘structure’ is to be elected according to the new law, finds the vast majority of all university teaching staff strongly opposed to it.

Furthermore, the successive cuts in the funding of the day-to-day operation of the universities have already created serious problems, problems which the Ministry should solve by providing alternative sources of funding for tertiary education in the midst of this economic crisis and austerity measures affecting the whole of Greece.Another problem facing Greek universities has to do with the so-called ‘student care’ and the housing of students under the ‘university run scheme’ of providing student accommodation, as well as student meals, and the many ‘drawbacks’ characterizing this whole issue for years now.

As far as the perennial issue of the lack of teaching personnel is concerned, all Rectors ask for the appointment of those university professors who have already been elected and continue to be ‘on the waiting list’ of the Ministry of Education for formal appointment. In addition, they ask for more teaching staff (special contracts) for their respective institutions’ needs.Finally, the Rectors call for particular attention to the on-going research projects within the universities and the delay on the part of the Ministry to co-finance all those important research initiatives, a delay that may result in the loss of large amounts of money from the European Union and other public and private organizations which provide their ‘matching funds’ for the research.

An eclectic autopsy of authentic data at random

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Excellence and innovation in education for the school year 2011-2012

The Greek Ministry of Education, Long-Life Learning and Religious Affairs has already introduced as of last year a special action called “Excellence and Innovation in Education” addressed to all primary and secondary education teachers across Greece.

This action aims at utilizing all learning that takes place in Greek schools as the basis for support and development of the educational product, through the reinforcement and public presentation of the best school practices. This action constitutes a very specific initiative on the part of the Ministry of Education and attempts to pave the way for a contemporary public school which is open to continuous improvement, to change, to polymorphy as well as to mechanisms of continuous feedback and support of the professional development of Greek teachers. These efficient school practices, as they will be revealed and presented via the procedure of this action, are going to be uploaded to the special site of the Ministry under the title ‘Excellence & Innovation’, a site that, from now onwards, will function as the ‘instructive pool’ for ideas and good school practices available to all those interested.

For the school year 2011-2012 the public invitation of the Ministry to participate in this educational action is addressed to all primary and secondary school teachers, who are asked to submit their projects that have been completed during the last school year – or, at the very latest - by February 15, 2012.

All interested teachers may participate with:a) Individual projectsb) Group work that was the result of synergy among several teachers

The actual content of those actions submitted may concern: a) The teaching methodology of school subjects;b) The implementation of different school activities (e.g. environmental education, health education, intercultural programs, etc);c) The development-implementation of proposals for the most effective co-operation of the educational community (school director-teachers association-students-parents-local community);d) Actions which promote education that integrates all individuals and populations irrespective of particular characteristics/background.

The Ministry of Education officials will select the 100 most innovative contributions during the current school year and the teachers submitting those works will be awarded at a special ceremony.

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Prosopography of a synchronous Hellenic pedagogue

Trilianos, Athanasios

Professor of Teaching (Didactics) Methodology at the University of Athens (Department of Primary Education).Professor Trilianos received his first degree (1969) from the Faculty of Philosophy, Univ. of Athens, his Master’s in Education (1973) and his Doctorate (1977) in Education (Univ. of Hartford, Trinity College and the University of Connecticut USA). For several years, while studying in the USA, he served as a teacher in Greek community schools in Hartford. Upon his return to Greece he was appointed as a philologist in secondary education, and thereafter he was transferred to Marasleion Pedagogical Academy (in-service training of

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primary school teachers) where he taught for a number years. In the year 1989 A. Trilianos was elected to the position of the assistant professor in Teaching Methodology-Theory & Praxis (Dept of Primary Education, Univ. of Athens), and from 1998 onwards he has been serving as a full-time professor and present-day chairman of the Department of Primary Education.

Professor Trilianos has served as Vice-President of the Pedagogical Institute and President of the Units of the Institute for Evaluating Primary Education across Greece. He has organized a number of Conferences and has served on many scientific committees. He has served as the evaluator of the Greek language school readers for grades three and five, while he has also served on several task forces and committees of the Ministry of Education on different educational-pedagogical issues.

As part of his teaching and research interests he has participated in several joint research projects in Greece and abroad and has published his work in many books and articles in journals of education and pedagogy. Among others, mention may be made to the following books of Professor Trilianos: 1. An Analysis of Modern Greek Educational Thought: 1925-1975, University of Connecticut, Storrs, U.S.A.  1977, (Doctoral Dissertation).2. Modern Educational Thought in Greece and Turkey: 1930- 1980, The Isaac World  Educational Center, U.S.A. 1985 (in collaboration with F.A. Stone).3. Neo-Hellenic Education, Athens 19874.  Approaching the Teaching Method via the Grouping of Students, Athens 1988 .5. Methodology of Teaching, Athens 1992 & 2003. 6. Critical Thought and Teaching, Athens, 1997, 7. Framework of Evaluating School Readers, Athens 1999.

Oxymora schemata in the Greek education mosaic

The “secret’ of the new Lyceum (upper secondary school)If one takes a look at the public declarations made by successive Greek Ministers of Education as well as those statements made by several other state officials during the period of the last thirty years, declarations concerning the changing of - or changes made to - the system of access to tertiary education, he will definitely be surprised: the outcomes of the newly adopted systems of access to tertiary education were exactly the opposite of the promises made in the first place! Interestingly enough, the very individuals who, just a few year ago, were cheering and applauding the changes they had made concerning the system of access to tertiary education, today ‘discover’ that the “current system for entering higher education is not valid” and that with “the

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current system an enormous economic network of shadow education is flourishing”. A development that, unfortunately, creates, re-creates and perpetuates social barriers, given the very fact that Greek children coming from relatively poorer families have clearly fewer opportunities.We recall all those quite recent developments in the Greek education system, in order to show what the value of the most recent ‘promises’ regarding the proposal of the Ministry of Education concerning the “new Lyceum” and the system of access to tertiary education is. All these ‘new promises’ are nothing more than mere ‘copy/paste’ of previous public declarations which accompanied the erstwhile changes, the cinders of which our teachers and our students are breathing in today.If one traces and thereafter focuses on the ‘core’ of the Ministry’s proposals concerning the new Lyceum and the system of access to tertiary education, he will realize that what occupies a central position in this proposed change is the particular measure aiming at bringing the so-called pan-Hellenic examinations to the core of all three grades of the Lyceum.

Despite the arguments to the contrary, and the many efforts on the part of the Ministry of Education, such a change does not take into account the many and multifaceted socio-economic and cultural differences characterizing very large segments of the Greek population, and thus the proposed ‘new Lyceum’, instead of effectively tackling these differences, will only make them more acute and more pronounced – bearing with them all the negative consequences for the individuals concerned and their families.

Christos Katsikas (site: alfavita)

The alpha hypothesis

The teaching of a second foreign language in elementary schools

On the basis of a Ministerial Resolution that was published in the Official Gazette of the Greek Government on February 8, 2012, all pertinent details concerning the teaching of a second foreign language in state primary and secondary schools are elaborately described.

More specifically, as far as elementary schools are concerned, the following are in order:

=The teaching of a second foreign language is included in the weekly school program of grades five and six in the form of two teaching hours;

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=For the most effective organization of second foreign language teaching, all state schools are expected to implement the scheme of parallel teaching classes, so that the smooth operation of each school is facilitated;=The corresponding classes in the second foreign language (French or German) are organized on the basis of the pupils’ choices upon selecting either French or German as a second foreign language;=With the exception of schools located in relatively remote areas of the country (e.g. islands, small villages) where such a class may be in operation with only 10 pupils, the general norm for the country as whole is that a minimum number of 12 pupils is required to set up a second foreign language class;=In cases where this minimum number of 12 pupils is not reached, then it is obligatory that all pupils attend the teaching of the second foreign language which was chosen by the majority in the specific school;=All Head Teachers should make sure that parents and guardians of children who are to attend grades five and six during the coming school year 2102-2013, are fully informed in advance about all these details/procedures concerning the teaching of a second foreign language and, more so, on the importance/usefulness of the teaching of a second foreign language;=Parents and Guardians of children who are going to attend grade five as of the school year 2012-2013 should submit their second foreign language choice to the school Head Teacher by the end of May (at the latest) of each school year.

Pragmatism in the abyss of educational un-orthodoxy

World-wide week of action for education

The world-wide week of Action for Education is an international campaign which is organized annually by the Global Campaign for Education. A large number of NGO’s and several Networks of the Citizens’ Society take part in the programs of the organizations along with millions of students and school teachers from a total of 120 different countries.

For the 9th consecutive year, ActionAid Hellas coordinated the world-wide Action for Education in Greece between April 22 and 28, 2012. Greek primary and secondary students from all over the country participated in this year’s activities and united their voices with millions of other students from around the globe.

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This year’s action had the overall title: “Rights form the very first day! Education and care during early childhood”. The very first years of childhood (0-8 years) play a highly decisive role in school success for all children, as well as for their success in their life in general. Factors such as the correct nutrition, health care, a safe environment and access to an appropriate education of high quality do secure the all-round (integrated) development of each child.

Participating schools, teachers and their students had the chance to receive appropriately designed educational material for free from ActionAid, material which included both supportive and creative ideas, topics and themes for specific actions within the framework of the overall initiative described above.

Amalgamation

The signing of an agreement with the Goethe Institute for the teaching of German in Greek primary schools

The objective of this most recent bilateral agreement, which was signed by the Deputy Minister of Education Ms E. Christofilopoulou and the CEO of the Institute Mr Bruno Gras, concerns the Greek-German collaboration in several aspects of education. Thus, according to statements made by he Deputy Minister, within the overall framework of the collaboration a ‘charter’ was signed, and from the coming school year onwards, Greek primary students will have the opportunity to be taught both German and French.

The newly appointed Minister of Education George Babiniotis (professor of linguistics at the University of Athens) expressed his deep satisfaction with this development and as a specialist in linguistics stressed the fact “we do no have (yet) the linguistic polymorphy that is so much needed in today’s educational systems”.

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Mr. Christofilopoulou added that: “This mutually agreed/signed ‘charter’ of co-operation helps, deepens and enriches both the skills and the qualifications that our teachers already have so that, in turn, they may help our children to come into contact with and get to know the values and the culture/civilization of the other European countries”.

The agreement, which directly concerns 340,000 students another 2,500 teachers, includes the co between the two parts for the in-service training of German language teachers in Greek state schools by jointly organizing free of charge special seminars, as well as co-operation for the teaching of German in Greek public schools. In addition, the agreement also includes specific school contacts and visits of Greek school to the Goethe Institute and visits of the Institute staff to Greek schools. Educational material developed and used by the Goethe Institute will be uploaded in the ‘Digital School” portal of the Greek Ministry of Education, while special scholarships will be awarded to teachers of the German language in Greek primary schools.

Amorphous pedagogical enigmas…with school neophytes

Traditionally, social exclusion in Greece has been linked to specific categories of susceptible groups of the population, such as:

• economic underprivileged groups, • single parent families and orphans, and • ‘handicapped’ (mentally and physically).

Initiatives addressed to these groups, which were undertaken at a local level, were primarily of charitable or welfare character and were oriented towards providing assistance either for subsistence needs or for skills development through occupational training. These initiatives were mostly carried out by local charitable associations or institutions, with the support of the local authorities (municipalities) and the Greek Orthodox Church. State financing was secured through registrations as “social welfare organisations” with the General Secretariat of Social Welfare. During the 1980s, in policy terms additional groups were recognised to constitute socially excluded people (Kassimati 1998):

• repatriates, immigrants, • prisoners, ex–prisoners,

• young delinquents,

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• drug users, former drug users, • people living in remote areas, • people with specific cultural and religious characteristics.

Even though there are a number of issues related to the ‘identification’ of the groups ‘at risk’ of social exclusion and the ways in which financial support (from national, European Union and other sources) is allocated to them, there is hardly any dispute of the fact that ‘people with special needs’ belong to this model of social exclusion/inclusion. In fact, in the majority of the texts referring to social inclusion, the category of disabled people rests comfortably at the top of the list. Educational exclusion is most often seen as the problem of inequality of educational opportunities and partly as a consequence of this inequality of social opportunities. This has been a primary argument and rationale behind carrying out of school based reforms in the latter half of the twentieth century. But on the other hand educational exclusion also deals very deeply with different cultural ways of life, cultural values and languages, power relations and the diversification of knowledge. Until the early 1990s, Greece was a very homogenous society, and homogeneity was seen as a positive feature of Greek society. But in the 1990s Greece transformed from an emigration country to a reception country; without having previous experience in dealing with such phenomena (Kiprianos et al. 2003). During this period, the Balkan countries faced a severe economic crisis, which led to an estimated 600,000 foreign immigrants migrating south and settling in Greece. These newcomers have altered the Greek population landscape. Legal foreign workers are provided with social insurable rights and social protection, but care for the illegal immigrants is limited to emergency services provided either by humanitarian organisations or by the informal support networks (Skourtou et al. 2004). In general it appears that social or other policies in Greece are EU driven. Thus, a landmark in the introduction of local initiatives fighting social exclusion was the implementation of the Community Support Framework in 1985. The projects which were implemented as a result of EU funding were initially based on the participation of the local authorities (municipalities, universities, school units) in their designing and implementation. In parallel, the main actors also made an effort to earn gains in favour of the existing initiatives: that is to benefit from the financing potentials offered by the Community Support Framework. The overall situation concerning the forms of social exclusion and the initiatives to combat it in Greece are characterised by the following features (LOGIN 2000): • Social exclusion is defined by reference to specific groups of the population. • Actions to fight social exclusion aim at the social inclusion of the excluded groups mainly through education and training and, whenever

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possible, through the participation into the labour market in protected settings or through supporting employment and subsidised schemes. • Main actors at the origin are usually people directly connected with the specific population groups.

Within this context, most of the initiatives concern people with Special Educational Needs (SEN). These initiatives were created by individuals directly linked with the problem as a response to the lack of appropriate state facilities. • A main problem affecting the development and the sustainability of local actors as implementers of educational projects is their dependence, to a large extent, on central state financing or on EU financing. Local financing is rather limited and in the most cases comes from the municipalities. Municipal support is nevertheless an important factor of success for the local initiatives.

In addition to the financial problem, another basic issue affecting the sustainability of local initiatives is the fact that their existence is known only to a narrow public, and experience exchange activities among them are rather limited. In an initial stage these activities need to be organised and supported by national and EU authorities, however, specially targeted events and activities should be stressed and made known to a wider audience.

(Educational Policies that Address Social Inequality Country Report: Greece This report was written by the Greek team:

Julia-Athena Spinthourakis, Eleni Karatzia-Stavlioti, Georgia-Eleni Lempesi and Ioanna Papadimitriou Department of Elementary Education University of Patras, Greece  November 2008)

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Pedagogical analyses of diagnostic interest

From the Executive Council of D.O.E.

Pre-school education in Greece –a hostage of official educational policy for many years now- continues to be undermined and devalued by the total lack of planning and specific action on the part of the Ministry of Education. There is no doubt that pre-school education constitutes the foundations of every system of education, considering the very fact that the first years of attending school determine, to a great extent, the entire process and the overall development of all students. The educational policy and the educational planning which aspire to bring changes and ‘cure’ our truly ailing education system, should always start its the organization at base level. Thus, it is required that specific goals and targets should be set, along with the necessary planning of all those institutionalized arrangements needed for the essential organization and structuring of the Greek kindergarten. In short, it is possible that the kindergarten that Greek teachers as an entity have envisioned for many years now, may actually become a present-day reality.

The executive council of the DOE underlines the fact that the views and the well-documented recommendations of the teachers themselves are totally absent from the Ministry’s proposed changes, since their representative professional body has not been called on to participate in this planning of educational changes.

Some of the main issues/problems associated with the daily operation of kindergarten across Greece are:= No appropriate school premises and the necessary infra-structure that may correspond to the demands of the program of studies and the needs of the teachers;= Lack of basic financial resources so that even the most basic operational needs could be met;= Large numbers of children per class, without any consideration of the particular developmental characteristics of that age;= The responsibility of organizing and overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school unit lies with the teacher in charge. However, there is no corresponding reduction of her/his teaching hours as there is in the case of primary school head teachers.

Among others, DOE advocates the operation of the so-called extended or all-day kindergartens in today’s Greece, with the appropriate school buildings, the necessary infra-structures, the auxiliary staff needed and reduced number of children per class (from 25 to 15).

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The ecosystem of conferences, seminars, symposia, workshops

December 2011“On the education of individuals with special needs: A challenge for the school and the society”14th International Conference (Thessaloniki)Greek Educational Society

January 2012“Reinventing the University in a time of crisis”World Universities Forum 2012 (Rhodes)University of the Aegean

“The professional development of teachers for a better school: structures and roles”One-day meeting (Athens)Aristoteleio University of Thessaloniki

“Exploiting the use of educational video for the teaching of Greek language”Seminar (Athens)4th Regional Directorate of Primary Education

“The teaching of Arts in primary and secondary education”Seminar (Thessaloniki)Greek Association of Arts Teachers

February 2012“Systems of Education in Europe and in the U.S.A.”One-day meeting (Municipality of Palaio Faliro, Athens)The 10th Primary School of P. Falirou 7 the School Councilor

“Systematic – psychoanalytic approaches to education/teaching”Seminar ( Peiraias)Foundation of Aikaterini Laskaridi

March 2012“The language of paideia/education and of reforms”10th Pan-hellenic Conference (Thessaloniki)Aristoteleio University of Thessaloniki

“The role of table games in the educational process:Seminar (Athens)4th Regional Directorate of Primary Education

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“On the organization of educational units; The school head teacher: Leader, Mentor or manager?”Two-day meeting (municipality of Peristeri, Athens)Private School of Avgoulea-Linardatou

“Physical education and sports”15th international conference (Thessaloniki)Greek Association of Physical Education teachers of Northern Greece

“On the education of children from rom families: Experiences and prospects”Conference (Athens)University of Athens (Centre of Intercultural Education)

“The transition from primary school to gymnasio (lower secondary: contemporary didactic approaches to the teaching of language”One-day meeting *Athens)Laboratory of Applied Linguistics ‘G. Babiniotis’

“Informatics and the new school”6th Pan-hellenic Conference (City of Patras)Pan-hellenic Association of Informatics Teachers

April 2012“Intra-school violence and bullying. Facing/dealing and preventing the phenomenon”One-day meeting (Municipality of Agios Dimitrios, Athens)The Association of Teachers of the 1st School in the area

May 2012“New directions in the History of Education”One-day meeting (Athens)Hellenic-American Union & the Greek Society of the Historians of Education

“ Critical approaches to primary education school subjects”One-day meeting (Thessaloniki)Association of Primary Education Teachers Attending in-service Training

“Research in childhood: Defining a new research field”3rd Pan-hellenic Conference (City of Ioannina)Department of Pre-School Education, Univ. of Ioannina

“Quality in education: Trends and prospects”Pan-hellenic conference (Athens)Department of Primary Education, Univ. of Athens

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“The psychological heath of children and the role of their teachers”Pan-hellenic Conference (Athens)Cultural Movement of Primary Education Teachers

“The power of literature: Didactic approaches – exploiting didactic material for primary and secondary schooling”One-day meeting (Athens)Department of Primary Education, Univ. of Athens

Analgesic paradigms for educational amnesty

The “luxury” of theater education

On the 22nd of last December 2011, just one day before the beginning of the traditional Christmas break for all Greek schools, one of the many circulars of the Greek Ministry of Education held an unpleasant surprise for all those people in Greece who love, serve and teach theater in general and in the education filed in particular: the

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independent teaching of theater education as a separate school subject was being ‘ousted’ from the official curriculum of the so-called pilot elementary schools of the country, the teaching of theater/drama was not a part of the weekly program of the Greek Gymnasium (lower high school), while the school subject called ‘Elements of Theatrology’ that used to be part of the Lyceum (upper secondary school) program had already been eliminated since September 2011.

The question, of course, is: Do we need Theater Education as an integral part of the daily schooling of our children; Less than Mathematics; Ancient Greek; Biology; Physics; Religious teaching...; etc?

This is a rather old question in the case of official Greek educational policy and practice. As it is known, one of our most renowned pedagogues, Miltos Kountouras –as early as 1927 - had recommended the inclusion of theater education in the formal curricula of the country and, in fact, he had applied the pedagogical dimension of theater in the Girls’ School of Thessaloniki. Furthermore, in the UK, for example, so-called theater education has existed in English schools since 1966 and from the early 1970’s onwards theater education – of one form or another - has become a regular school subject at a pan-European level.

Unfortunately, the Greek Ministry of Education adopting the suggestions of several of its ‘advisors’ who continue to consider theater education a “luxury” for Greek students, or, worse, a “wasting of school time” activity, has already made its final decision: No theater education in today’s Greek schools, despite the many and multifaceted benefits for our students themselves. This is one more development in the wrong direction which had characterized the Greek education system for years now.

Dimitris Sklavos (primary school teacher, theatrologist)

Monolithic logic in the framework of an austerity chaos

More working hours for Greek teachers!During, a joint press conference with several Ministers of the Greek government in Athens on August 2, 2011, Angel Gurria (Secretary General of the OECD) presented the “Report” of the OECD concerning the “Greek economy”. At that time Angel Gurria handed in to the then Greek Minister of Education, Anna Diamantopoulou, the “Study” conducted by the OECD entitled “Better Performances and Successful Reforms in Education, Proposals for the Educational Policy in Greece”,

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a study aimed at upgrading the quality of education and improving the outcomes of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education in Greece.

Among other observations and recommendations, the authors of this study investigating aspects of the Greek education system in the 21st

century underline the fact that “Greek secondary teachers work fewer hours when compared with the corresponding mean workload of their colleagues in Europe” and that “the cost per student in Greece is high”. And this comparatively high cost per student is so, mainly, due to the existing student-teacher ratio, given the fact that the mean number of students per teacher in Europe is 14.4 compared to that in Greece (Primary Education) which is 10.1 students per teacher.

In this vein of analysis, the OECD experts are crystal clear in making very concrete proposals: “Greece should increase the weekly compulsory teaching time by an average of four to five hours in order to ‘match’ the average of OECD countries. The changes in this respect should focus on increasing the workload of the most experienced and the better trained teachers in both Primary and Secondary education”.

Thus, on the basis of the above mentioned observations and proposals by the OECD officials concerning the Greek education system and the overall prevailing views and trends with regard to educational issues and reforms/adjustments to the present-day globalized demands and priorities, it seems almost certain that in the next few months a number of new ‘developments’ will be presented and adopted by the Greek government in line with the specific recommendations made by the OECD study. Most likely Greek teachers would be asked (?) to work for more hours with less pay (something that has already been made a reality within the framework of the austerity measures affecting the entire Greek work force and pensioners alike), and –expectedly- one may legitimately wonder what the future of Greek education might be in the year to come.

Looking for a catharsis in the Greek educational tragedy

Tenure for teachers in Greek state schools only after evaluation

Starting from the next school year, thousands of primary and secondary school teachers are to be evaluated on a compulsory basis, whereas the “ticket” to permanent employment in Greek state schools will be secured only by those newcomers in the teaching profession who will meet the more demanding criteria set by the Ministry of Education. This new measure (Presidential Decree) prescribing the main points of the evaluation of all teachers focuses on two levels/aspects: a) The specific abilities of the teachers and their professionalism; and,

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principally, b) Their actual performance/outcome in conducting their didactic duties/obligations. A total of 20 different criteria will be used in evaluating those two aspects of state school teachers already in service and all those new teachers aspiring to secure a permanent teaching post in state primary and secondary schools. Upon reading the draft of this Presidential Decree, one notices no specific mention of particular consequences for those of the permanent teachers already in service who may receive a negative evaluation, whereas in the case of those newly appointed teachers in state schools who are under the working status of ‘a two year probation period’, a possible negative evaluation might cost them their permanent removal from a teaching post in state education.

According to the Greek Ministry officials “the evaluation of all teachers aims at bringing to the forefront and highlighting the positive elements of those teachers, while at the same time pinpointing their possible weaknesses in teaching so that these weaknesses could be eliminated. It is stressed that this newly adopted evaluation scheme in the education sector will not have a “punitive” character and will not lead to firing teachers. On the contrary, the basic objective of this evaluation policy is, briefly, the following: if a teacher does not manage to achieve a satisfactory evaluation score, he will be provided with all the necessary support through the appropriate in-service training so that the final outcome of this whole procedure would be beneficial for both the teachers and their students”.Needless to say, this newly adopted ‘evaluation initiative’ on the part of the Ministry of Education has already been received with strong opposition by the Federations of Primary and Secondary Teachers across Greece. They estimate that this specific evaluation policy might serve as the ‘stepping stone’ for a future lay-off of state school teachers, in view of the very fact that Greece has agreed with the so-called Troica (European Commission, European Central Bank, IMF) to reduce the total number of public servants by 150,000 by the year 2015.

Euphemisms in the agora of education

Studies about Quality Management in Greek Higher Education

Very few studies have been published concerning the Greek higher education system in general and quality management more specifically. Overall, the study of Greek higher education has been neither in the forefront of interest of social and political science research in Greece nor of the international literature in higher education studies. There are a few articles about Greek higher education in journals and sections in books, including the entry by Eliou on Greece in the Encyclopedia of Higher Education (Clark & Neave, 1992, pp. 265-275), which provides an overview of the historical development and state of the art of

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Greece’s higher education in the early 1990s. Eliou mentioned that “concern over the condition of higher education has been expressed for many years in OECD reports (1962, 1965, 1980, 1982, and 1984) which, however, have not impeded certain development[s]”.

In this connection, he cited Psacharopoulos (1988) and noted that problems hampering the external efficiency of the higher education institutions were: excessive politicization, excessive privileges, indiscriminate distribution of opportunities, curricular rigidity, excessive central regulation, too much student absenteeism and scantiness of funds for research”. Eliou also discussed that the overall evaluation of Greek higher education might focus on the existence of a network of problems at three levels. At the first level, he mentioned that “the existing structure of secondary education, in conjunction with the infrastructural inadequacies of tertiary education, maintains a problematic system of entrance into IHEs and creates powerful social pressures which, in turn, contribute to the development of excessive central regulation and to student emigration”. At the second level, Eliou noted that “the structural problems have effects on the quality of the education provided, which is marked by its cramping uniformity, the shrinkage of requirements in terms both of learning and of grading, and a type of high school rationale”. At the third level, “problems created by the structure and quality of higher education are expressed in a number of ways—under the statutory cover of the laws—in the day-to-day running of the institutions: in excessive absenteeism among students; in shortcomings in the teaching of faculty members; and in indirect party-political intervention, which distorts the conception of participation, isolates the voice of the academic community, and maintains inertia”. Like a scaffold, the problems mentioned by Eliou built on each other, and it seems each problem was designed to hamper the internal efficiency of Greek higher education institutions. In that way, Eliou’s conclusion becomes plausible: “…in the extensive and substantive literature concerning higher education which is developing in Greece, two important points stand out: the need for radical intervention in higher education; and the need for this intervention to be prepared with specialised research on the one hand, and with consensus procedures, on the other, to ensure the widest possible support from the social and political spectrum” (Eliou, 1992, p. 274). More recently, some publications have addressed issues of quality assurance and quality management in Greek higher education. Bourantas et al. (1996) provided a short text about traditional evaluation systems in Greek higher education and formal types of internal evaluation in the Athens University of Economics and Business (e.g., ad hoc student feedback and small studies on teaching load). Billiris (2004) contributed a short chapter to the volume “Accreditation and Evaluation in the European Higher Education Area” (Schwarz & Westerheijden, 2004). It was a short chapter, because the author noted that evaluation and accreditation at that time had not been formally established in Greece. Regarding accounting reform in Greek

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universities, Venieris and Cohen (2004) published an article that explains why this reform, six years after its inception, had not yet seriously progressed. They analyzed this situation by using Pettigrew’s (1977) theory of organizational change and decision making. The authors claimed that introducing the accounting reform had failed because it “was conceived in a narrow frame, with a little investigation of the effects of its application on the organizations involved and without profound reference to the problems and contradictions that might occur” (p. 201).

One of the few articles on evaluation in Greek universities supported Sporn’s findings (Politis & Siskos, 2004). The authors stated that the survival of companies and organizations in a contemporary, demanding society made continuous improvement imperative and they pointed out that this was also the case in higher education. They emphasized that the rapidly evolving environment caused changes both in the framework conditions within which universities operated and in the expectations placed on them. Another voice regarding quality assurance, Stamoulas (2006) published his article, “Greece before Bologna Process: Confronting or Embracing Quality Assurance in Higher Education?” His article went beyond the limits of a strictly technical debate about the implementation of evaluation procedures or what its criteria ought to be, with the purpose of presenting the broader socio-political and economic background that influences the enactment and operation of quality assurance in Greece. The author claimed that “it is not clear though how Greece will be meeting the goals of the Bologna Process, and in moving on the reform front with the rest of Europe without re-engineering socio-political and economic conditions that hindered quality assurance in the past” (Stamoulas, 2006, p. 443). Altogether, our brief review does not only point to the fact that the study of higher education in Greece is still a developing area of research, but extends to a general concern about the state of development and reform of Greek higher education and focuses specifically on the issue of ‘quality’. This study thus hopes to make a significant contribution to further our understanding of the drivers and obstacles that might champion or impede change in Greek higher education; in consequence, this study provides a specific focus on the late emergence of quality management in the Greek higher education system.

Antigoni Papadimitriou, 2011 (“The enigma of quality in Greek higher education”, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Twente)

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Asynchronous metaphors of holistic authenticity

Greek teachers are to (once again) become students!

A total percentage of 82% claim that they have already attended a number of in-service training programs/seminars, but more than one out of three teachers interviewed in this survey have indicated that they are not satisfied with the content, the methodology and the organization of those in-service training programs. As far as the motives for participating in such programs are concerned, Greek teachers put first the ‘official certification of in-service training’ secured through their participation first. At the same time, when asked about the thematic units of those programs and their preferences, they indicated the specific units/topics of: “managing classroom problems”, “contemporary/modern didactic approaches” and the “use of new technologies”.

Concerning the most productive types or forms of in-service training, the majority of teachers prefer the so-called ‘mixed system’ which includes intensive or short duration (crash) seminars and distance

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training using ‘conventional’ means with the optional use of new technologies. More specifically, 24% of the respondents seemed to prefer intensive (crash) seminars, whereas another 14% prefer ‘independent’ day meetings of in-service training. A number of interesting points have also been revealed via the pertinent data collected concerning the knowledge of foreign languages and the use of new technologies. A percentage of 30.7% of Greek teachers have had their knowledge of a foreign language certified, while 47% of primary and secondary education teachers admit that their level of knowledge in the filed of new technologies is from “zero to moderate”.

The data presented above was collected via a survey conducted by the Pedagogical Institute in the month of June 2010, employing as a sample population a total of 27,785 Greek teachers -53% of them being primary education teachers and the remaining 47% teachers of different teaching specialties (school subjects) in secondary education across Greece. It is noted that the teachers who took part in this survey were aged between 31-50 years and had been in service (state education) for more than a decade. The majority of those teachers (66.2%) were university graduates, where a percentage of 5% of them have indicated that they had completed some ‘other’ studies as well.

Calligraphic protocols of new books on education and pedagogy

Teaching & learning of positive sciences with the help of the computer (I didaskalia & mathisi ton thetikon epistimon me ti voithia tou ypologisti): Psycharis, S. (ed.)

Mathematics for children aged 4-6 years (Ta mathimatika ton paidion 4-6 eton): Kafousi, S. & C. Skoumpourdi, “Patakis” Educational policy & planning for a contemporary school (Ekpaideftiki politiki & schediasmos gia ena sygchrono scholeio): Yfanti, A., “Livanis”

Deviant & delinquent behavior of students in schools (Apoklinousa & paravatiki symperifora ton mathiton sto scholeio): Thanos, T. , “Kyriakidis”

The views of secondary education teachers concerning the role of the sex of their students in the teaching process (I apopsis ton ekpaideftikon tis defterobathmias ekpaidefsis gia to rolo tou fylou stin ekpaideftiki diadikasia): Champidis, T., “Kyriakidis Brothers”

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Memories of school life (Anamnisis scholikis zois): Papadopoulos, S. , “Kyriakidis Brothers”

Research in education for sustainable development (I erevna stin ekpaidefsi gia tin aiforo anaptyksi): Liarakou, G. et al., “Pedio”

Improvising theatre for the school (To aftoschedio theatre sto scholeio): Kontogianni, A., “Pedio”

Motives in education (Ta kinitra stin ekpaidefsi): Kostaridou-Efklidi, A. ,

Freedom and education/pedagogy in J.J. Rouseau’s “Emile” (Eleftheria ke agogi ston Emilio toy J.J. Rouseau): Pantazis, A., “Grigoris”

Educational assessment of students with difficulties in learning and adjustment (Ekpaideftiki aksiologisi mathiton me dyskolies mathisis ke prosarmogis): Agaliotis, I., “Grigoris”

The image of Greeks in Turkish compulsory education readers of History and Civic Education (I Ikona tou Ellina sta tourkika egchiridia Istorias ke Politikis Agogis tis ypochreotikis ekpaidefsis): Tsianakas, E., “Stamoulis”

School violence (Scholiki Via): Triga-Mertika, H., “Grigori”

The teaching of Greek language: The language of the school (I didaskalia tis ellinikis glossas: I glossa tou scholeiou): Collection of papers, “Ianos”

Interdisciplinary approaches to linguistic literacy (Diepistimonikes prosegisis tou glossikou grammatismou): Collection of papers, “Epikentro”

Let’s go…to university 2012 (Pame…panepistimio 2012): Michaloulis, S. , “Orientum”

Everything is a matter of education/paideia (Ola ine thema paideias): Stylianidis, E., “Minoas”

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(Hellenic) Greek Educational Society

The National & Kapodistrian University of Athens in co-operation with the Greek Educational Society (GES) organized a special honorary meeting on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the HES which was established in 1981. This special event took place on December 21 2011 in the Functions Hall of the University of Athens with the presence of professors from the Senate of the University and almost all past presidents of the society since its establishment. The current president of the Society Prof. K. Malafantis was the key note speaker underlining “The 30 years of continuous presence and contribution of the HES to the Greek education & paideia”, while emeritus professor M. Meraklis –who was especially honored by the Society- spoke about “The myth of Sisyphus and its pedagogical meaning”.In the course of those 30 years since its ‘very first steps’ in the Greek educational and pedagogical arena, the HES has organized numerous conferences and seminars with the participation of the most prominent Greek and non-Greek

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educationalists dealing with virtually all themes and topics along the education-pedagogy continuum. With a grand total membership –at one period or another- nearing 800 individuals from all over the country, the HES constitutes the single largest organization of its kind in Greece. Understandably, university professors from the different Greek University Departments of Education have always played a pivotal/instrumental role in the day-today affairs of the Society. Today, along with the ‘central office’ based in Athens, the HES operates a number of ‘local offices/departments’ in Thessaloniki, Crete, Patras, Ioannina, and Rhodes.

“Greek education policy and the challenge of migration: an ‘intercultural’ view of assimilation”In a recent article entitled “Greek education policy and the challenge of migration: an ‘intercultural’ view of assimilation” Ruby Gropas and Anna Triandafyllidou argue that there is a conceptual confusion in Greek education policy between intercultural and multicultural education approaches while what is actually practiced is full scale assimilation of immigrant children into the dominant national culture. The article is published in Race, Ethnicity and Education (Vol 14: 3, 2011). For more see: 

Abstract

This article explores the policy responses and conceptual underpinnings of intercultural education in Greece. In the past two decades, and as a result of migration, Greece has seen its demography significantly and irreversibly altered in social, cultural, economic, ethnic, racial, and religious terms. Faced with an increasingly diverse student population, novel education policies are required. This article addresses the following questions: How has intercultural education been designed in Greece in response to growing immigration? What are the main objectives of Greek educational policy as regards contemporary Greek society overall and the immigrant population in particular? Are these changing, and if so in what direction? Is intercultural education perceived differently on the part of the various stakeholders? Based on

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our empirical research we highlight the connection between education policy approaches, practices and national identity discourses in order to explore the conceptual confusion of intercultural vs. multicultural education approaches and the importance of the national context. We also raise a number of issues that we consider merit further examination both in policy and research terms in order to expand and enrich intercultural education in Greece.

The central theme of this issue

University professors as teachers: Do they bear ‘any symbiosis’ with contemporary Pedagogy and basic

pedagogical principles?

To paraphrase our basic question and try to make the whole picture more vivid when it comes to considering the ‘actual presence’ of pedagogical principles in the daily teaching

practice of Greek university professors, the following question presents its own interest (and concern, for that matter): Have you seen PEDAGOGY…around?

Let us make this introductory note on the central theme of the issue of the HPC a bit more specific.As it is already known, in Greece, university teaching staff who have been

elected at any level of the university ‘professorship hierarchy’ (lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, professor - with the most recent law abolishing the level

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of lecturer-) are officially called members DEP (Teaching-Research Personnel). When initially elected to a university, membership of DEP and/or when they are promoted to the

next level of the professorship hierarchy, they are basically (with very few exceptions) evaluated on the basis of their research work and their publications. With very few

exceptions and only epidermically sometimes, almost NOTHING concerning their teaching abilities/potentialities/performance is seriously and systematically considered

when university colleagues are called upon to ‘vote’ on their promotion to the next higher level of DEP.

……..

Thus, it should not be considered as an ‘inappropriate initiative’ or a ‘blasphemy’ to ask a couple of primary education classroom teachers to express their views about the

‘applicability’ of the basic pedagogical principles during their daily school praxis. A very important reminder, that is, for all those of the thousands of the Greek university

members of DEP who seem to have (‘somehow’) disassociated themselves form those basic principles in their own teaching practice.

L.C.B.

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