How ‘intercultural’ is education in Greece? Insights from policymakers and educators

Abstract

Schools in Greece, particularly in inner-city areas, have seen a considerable increase in the number of migrant students over the past two decades. In this article, we discuss the intercultural education policy, which was introduced in 1996, in response to the migration and diversity the country has seen since the mid 1980s. We explore how policymakers and other stake-holders in the field of education have defined the notion of interculturalism and its implementation in schools. Our discussions draw on two separate studies, which used very similar tools and methods to elicit information. The article provides new insights from educators about how to respond to Greece's diverse student population.The results not only highlight gaps between government policy and school practice, differences between traditionalists and progressivists, but also show that Greece has still a long way to go, to leave behind its ethnocentric image and fully implement intercultural education within all public schools, not only in the so-called intercultural schools.

The Process of Education Policy for Refugees within a Schedule to Promote Democracy

“…Reception classes are meaningful when students' developing knowledge is scheduled and there is visible gradual social inclusion in performing creative processes in the educational environment. In other words, these classes are effective when they aim at forming social experience by encapsulating approaches to valuing co-existence through everyday interaction [15]. Thus, reception classes are the transitional stage aiming at the adaptive upgrading without rejecting refugee students' cultural capital.…”

Educación intercultural en Cataluña (España): evolución de los discursos y de las prácticas (2000-2016)

“…Many teachers defi ne as 'intercultural' any initiative related to diversity, often in the form of intercultural projects or folkloric activities, which tend to emphasise stereotypes and to simplify the complex webs of meaning hidden by cultural diversity (Bleszynska, 2008;Palaiologou and Faas, 2012;Portera, 2008). Another common and even more troubling practice amongst teachers is the tendency to conceive of intercultural education as a form of special education that exclusively concerns immigrant students and, thus, to plan only special actions and measures to integrate culturally diverse students (Allemann-Ghionda, 2008;Bleszynksa, 2008;OECD, 2010), such as second language education and support.…”

“…Another common and even more troubling practice amongst teachers is the tendency to conceive of intercultural education as a form of special education that exclusively concerns immigrant students and, thus, to plan only special actions and measures to integrate culturally diverse students (Allemann-Ghionda, 2008;Bleszynksa, 2008;OECD, 2010), such as second language education and support. This may be why the implementation of what educators consider an intercultural education is often infl uenced by school demographics, with greater awareness of cultural diversity, and more practices related to it, at schools with higher percentages of immigrants (Díez, 2014;Forrest, Lean and Dunn, 2016;Palaiologou and Faas, 2012). This tendency was identifi ed years ago by various researchers (Leeman and Reid, 2006;Norberg, 2000;Santos Rego and Nieto, 2000) and remains current despite the progress made on intercultural education at the discursive and political levels.…”

“…According to several authors (Allemann-Ghionda, 2008;Luciak, 2006), shortcomings in initial and continuing teacher education are one of the main causes of this décalage between the theoretical formulations of intercultural education and the actual practices found at schools. In some countries, such as Greece or France, universities do not generally include this subject in their curricula (Allemann-Ghionda, 2008;Palaiologou and Faas, 2012). In those countries where they do, such as Spain (García López, 2002;Rodríguez-Izquierdo 2004;Peñalva and Soriano, 2010), it is often in the form of optional subjects (OECD, 2010), such that this training is voluntary, as with continuing education, which, because it is not compulsory, is pursued only by those practicing teachers who are most interested in the subject (Garreta, 2003).…”

Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives on the Use of Multicultural Literature in Their Classrooms

“…However, some eschew the term multicultural education because it has been seen as a failure to accomplish these goals because "it is often argued that multiculturalism places too much emphasis on difference and diversity" (Palaiologou & Faas, 2012). Other educational systems have revised and/or renamed their educational programs (e.g., intercultural education; antiracist education; critical multicultural education) but what matters most is the content and purpose (Coulby, 2011), not what the program is called.…”