British Educational Research Journal, May 17, 2021
Forty invited interculturalists (both academics and non‐academics) from nine countries engaged in... more Forty invited interculturalists (both academics and non‐academics) from nine countries engaged in developing a coherent culture of dialogue and collective action to address the challenge of redefining intercultural education provisions with regard to the needs of refugee children. The method of cooperative inquiry to elicit theoretical and professional expertise from the participants was adopted. This inquiry was based on four dimensions of reflective practice, drawing on experiential, presentational, propositional and practical knowledge. The intercultural experts (seen as ‘co‐researchers’ and/or ‘co‐subjects’) who participated engaged in a rigorous intercultural and reflexive dialogue developed in four distinct phases. The first two phases took place in their own local contexts and the final ones in a forum organised in Greece. During the forum, the participants’ diverse knowledge and experience were renegotiated to ascertain the ‘collective wisdom’ of the group and to address issues of otherness and approaches to refugee education, teachers’ training and mediation. The consensus reached by the participants included the following: the need for local communities to be supported so as to avoid and mitigate any hostility towards refugees; the urgency of a common European asylum policy; the realisation of the ‘other’ as a social construct based on hierarchical connotations and defined by diverse (meta)narratives; the urgency for providing formal/mainstream education to secure a pathway to social citizenship for refugees; the adoption of culturally responsive education practices to empower intercultural learning using refugee children’s own cultural knowledge and collaborating with parents; and the need for systemic intercultural and mediation training for teachers.
Early childhood is a critical period for learning and development and an opportunity to prevent p... more Early childhood is a critical period for learning and development and an opportunity to prevent possible delays and difficulties. Children's participation in preschool education has a significant positive effect on their cognitive, social and emotional development. Therefore, early childhood is vital to ensure access to quality inclusive education for all children and especially for children at risk of socio-economic exclusion, children at risk of development and children in disadvantaged environments. The new human rights approach to inclusive education requires a change of mentality and a different pedagogical approach and support systems should aim to increase the capacity/empowerment of schools to meet the diversity of students’ needs. There is a need to transform the education system, so that all students are welcome and have the opportunity to belong, to participate actively and to learn. In this article, we report a study on the investigation of the training needs, knowle...
This paper provides some insights regarding the adoption of intercultural reflective and narrativ... more This paper provides some insights regarding the adoption of intercultural reflective and narrative activities during intercultural training of 90 teachers. It introduces two activities modified to build trust in intercultural learning environments. The purpose of both activities was to ascertain whether and how reflective and narrative activities could contribute to the improvement of trust in "educating the other". The effectiveness of these activities was justified by the Narrative inquiry adopted. Qualitative data comprised of researchers' observation and participants' feedback (field notes).
This volume came into fruition after rigorous peer reflection amongst selected interculturalists ... more This volume came into fruition after rigorous peer reflection amongst selected interculturalists at the 2nd Forum of Intercultural Dialogue and Learning (http://intercultural.upatras.gr/). Its main emphasis is to highlight inclusivity and reflexive dialogue as important pillars for raising interculturality and awareness in communities of practice.
This paper is a reflective narrative of the Greek ethnic schools transformation to intermediate s... more This paper is a reflective narrative of the Greek ethnic schools transformation to intermediate spaces of learning. Based on her doctoral research findings the author (re)constructs the role of Greek ethnic schools in Australia in the light of spatiality. Greek schools can be perceived as heterotopias and/or third spaces where identity formation and intercultural learning take place. Their community and systemic role is influenced by triadic relationships, which interpret their complementary and semi-formal status as language providers. Greek schools' continuity and effectiveness in the new millennium presuppose a new intercultural and spatial learning approach taking into account the national, diasporic and transnational context.
Forty invited interculturalists (both academics and non‐academics) from nine countries engaged in... more Forty invited interculturalists (both academics and non‐academics) from nine countries engaged in developing a coherent culture of dialogue and collective action to address the challenge of redefining intercultural education provisions with regard to the needs of refugee children. The method of cooperative inquiry to elicit theoretical and professional expertise from the participants was adopted. This inquiry was based on four dimensions of reflective practice, drawing on experiential, presentational, propositional and practical knowledge. The intercultural experts (seen as ‘co‐researchers’ and/or ‘co‐subjects’) who participated engaged in a rigorous intercultural and reflexive dialogue developed in four distinct phases. The first two phases took place in their own local contexts and the final ones in a forum organised in Greece. During the forum, the participants’ diverse knowledge and experience were renegotiated to ascertain the ‘collective wisdom’ of the group and to address iss...
A comparative study of adulthood was conducted to explore the levels of self-esteem and the param... more A comparative study of adulthood was conducted to explore the levels of self-esteem and the parameters of adulthood among students at the Aegean University, Department of Food Science and Nutrition (D.F.S.N.) and the students of public Institute of Vocational Training (Greek: IEK), both located on the Greek island of Lemnos. Thus, maturity, responsibility, autonomy, self-management and the sense of social responsibility were measured on a Likert scale and Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale. The research investigated whether being a student of Tertiary Education or a student of Vocational Training has an effect on the concept of adulthood or influences the level of individual self-esteem. The quantitative results brought to light that adulthood can be attained without direct relevance to the Educational Institute whereas the degree of self-esteem and self-management in women was determined to some extent by the choice of School. This conclusion has raised issues of major importance for fu...
Changing initial teacher education and lifelong learning experiences has become a real challenge ... more Changing initial teacher education and lifelong learning experiences has become a real challenge for education as we strive to cultivate 21st-century skills in our students to ready them to become new cosmopolitan learners and knowledge professionals. The concepts inherent to transformative education and reflexive pedagogies, even though they are evolving concepts, have posed some serious concerns for the structure and experiences of preservice teacher education. This article presents a reflexive account of 207 preservice teachers attending a regional city university in Greece. In this study, the prospective teachers adopted the Learning by Design pedagogical framework during their Practicum experience. Their focus was to engage in learning design in a meaningful and collaborative way. A participatory action research methodology was adopted. Major findings revealed ‘reflexive deliberations’ on planning learning repertoires and making pedagogical choices.
The ongoing civil war in Syria has displaced many citizens who have fled the violence in order to... more The ongoing civil war in Syria has displaced many citizens who have fled the violence in order to seek sanctuary and asylum in Europe. As they seek refugee status, they are living in liminal spaces in transit countries, in the hope that they will be relocated on a permanent basis to a new country. In many instances, family members have gone before them and are already ‘settled’ in new countries. The remaining family make the perilous journey out of Syria, in the hope that they will be reunited with their family members and accorded refugee status. In this article, we share the stories of five Syrian children (aged from 11 to 15 years of age) temporarily housed in the LM refugee centre near the town of Lehaina (Myrsini Ileias, Peloponnese, Greece). We asked them about their concept of ‘home’ and, using a narrative methodology, we present their personal stories of their reconstructions of ‘home’ while they are located in this liminal space. How do they share stories of their original ...
British Educational Research Journal, May 17, 2021
Forty invited interculturalists (both academics and non‐academics) from nine countries engaged in... more Forty invited interculturalists (both academics and non‐academics) from nine countries engaged in developing a coherent culture of dialogue and collective action to address the challenge of redefining intercultural education provisions with regard to the needs of refugee children. The method of cooperative inquiry to elicit theoretical and professional expertise from the participants was adopted. This inquiry was based on four dimensions of reflective practice, drawing on experiential, presentational, propositional and practical knowledge. The intercultural experts (seen as ‘co‐researchers’ and/or ‘co‐subjects’) who participated engaged in a rigorous intercultural and reflexive dialogue developed in four distinct phases. The first two phases took place in their own local contexts and the final ones in a forum organised in Greece. During the forum, the participants’ diverse knowledge and experience were renegotiated to ascertain the ‘collective wisdom’ of the group and to address issues of otherness and approaches to refugee education, teachers’ training and mediation. The consensus reached by the participants included the following: the need for local communities to be supported so as to avoid and mitigate any hostility towards refugees; the urgency of a common European asylum policy; the realisation of the ‘other’ as a social construct based on hierarchical connotations and defined by diverse (meta)narratives; the urgency for providing formal/mainstream education to secure a pathway to social citizenship for refugees; the adoption of culturally responsive education practices to empower intercultural learning using refugee children’s own cultural knowledge and collaborating with parents; and the need for systemic intercultural and mediation training for teachers.
Early childhood is a critical period for learning and development and an opportunity to prevent p... more Early childhood is a critical period for learning and development and an opportunity to prevent possible delays and difficulties. Children's participation in preschool education has a significant positive effect on their cognitive, social and emotional development. Therefore, early childhood is vital to ensure access to quality inclusive education for all children and especially for children at risk of socio-economic exclusion, children at risk of development and children in disadvantaged environments. The new human rights approach to inclusive education requires a change of mentality and a different pedagogical approach and support systems should aim to increase the capacity/empowerment of schools to meet the diversity of students’ needs. There is a need to transform the education system, so that all students are welcome and have the opportunity to belong, to participate actively and to learn. In this article, we report a study on the investigation of the training needs, knowle...
This paper provides some insights regarding the adoption of intercultural reflective and narrativ... more This paper provides some insights regarding the adoption of intercultural reflective and narrative activities during intercultural training of 90 teachers. It introduces two activities modified to build trust in intercultural learning environments. The purpose of both activities was to ascertain whether and how reflective and narrative activities could contribute to the improvement of trust in "educating the other". The effectiveness of these activities was justified by the Narrative inquiry adopted. Qualitative data comprised of researchers' observation and participants' feedback (field notes).
This volume came into fruition after rigorous peer reflection amongst selected interculturalists ... more This volume came into fruition after rigorous peer reflection amongst selected interculturalists at the 2nd Forum of Intercultural Dialogue and Learning (http://intercultural.upatras.gr/). Its main emphasis is to highlight inclusivity and reflexive dialogue as important pillars for raising interculturality and awareness in communities of practice.
This paper is a reflective narrative of the Greek ethnic schools transformation to intermediate s... more This paper is a reflective narrative of the Greek ethnic schools transformation to intermediate spaces of learning. Based on her doctoral research findings the author (re)constructs the role of Greek ethnic schools in Australia in the light of spatiality. Greek schools can be perceived as heterotopias and/or third spaces where identity formation and intercultural learning take place. Their community and systemic role is influenced by triadic relationships, which interpret their complementary and semi-formal status as language providers. Greek schools' continuity and effectiveness in the new millennium presuppose a new intercultural and spatial learning approach taking into account the national, diasporic and transnational context.
Forty invited interculturalists (both academics and non‐academics) from nine countries engaged in... more Forty invited interculturalists (both academics and non‐academics) from nine countries engaged in developing a coherent culture of dialogue and collective action to address the challenge of redefining intercultural education provisions with regard to the needs of refugee children. The method of cooperative inquiry to elicit theoretical and professional expertise from the participants was adopted. This inquiry was based on four dimensions of reflective practice, drawing on experiential, presentational, propositional and practical knowledge. The intercultural experts (seen as ‘co‐researchers’ and/or ‘co‐subjects’) who participated engaged in a rigorous intercultural and reflexive dialogue developed in four distinct phases. The first two phases took place in their own local contexts and the final ones in a forum organised in Greece. During the forum, the participants’ diverse knowledge and experience were renegotiated to ascertain the ‘collective wisdom’ of the group and to address iss...
A comparative study of adulthood was conducted to explore the levels of self-esteem and the param... more A comparative study of adulthood was conducted to explore the levels of self-esteem and the parameters of adulthood among students at the Aegean University, Department of Food Science and Nutrition (D.F.S.N.) and the students of public Institute of Vocational Training (Greek: IEK), both located on the Greek island of Lemnos. Thus, maturity, responsibility, autonomy, self-management and the sense of social responsibility were measured on a Likert scale and Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale. The research investigated whether being a student of Tertiary Education or a student of Vocational Training has an effect on the concept of adulthood or influences the level of individual self-esteem. The quantitative results brought to light that adulthood can be attained without direct relevance to the Educational Institute whereas the degree of self-esteem and self-management in women was determined to some extent by the choice of School. This conclusion has raised issues of major importance for fu...
Changing initial teacher education and lifelong learning experiences has become a real challenge ... more Changing initial teacher education and lifelong learning experiences has become a real challenge for education as we strive to cultivate 21st-century skills in our students to ready them to become new cosmopolitan learners and knowledge professionals. The concepts inherent to transformative education and reflexive pedagogies, even though they are evolving concepts, have posed some serious concerns for the structure and experiences of preservice teacher education. This article presents a reflexive account of 207 preservice teachers attending a regional city university in Greece. In this study, the prospective teachers adopted the Learning by Design pedagogical framework during their Practicum experience. Their focus was to engage in learning design in a meaningful and collaborative way. A participatory action research methodology was adopted. Major findings revealed ‘reflexive deliberations’ on planning learning repertoires and making pedagogical choices.
The ongoing civil war in Syria has displaced many citizens who have fled the violence in order to... more The ongoing civil war in Syria has displaced many citizens who have fled the violence in order to seek sanctuary and asylum in Europe. As they seek refugee status, they are living in liminal spaces in transit countries, in the hope that they will be relocated on a permanent basis to a new country. In many instances, family members have gone before them and are already ‘settled’ in new countries. The remaining family make the perilous journey out of Syria, in the hope that they will be reunited with their family members and accorded refugee status. In this article, we share the stories of five Syrian children (aged from 11 to 15 years of age) temporarily housed in the LM refugee centre near the town of Lehaina (Myrsini Ileias, Peloponnese, Greece). We asked them about their concept of ‘home’ and, using a narrative methodology, we present their personal stories of their reconstructions of ‘home’ while they are located in this liminal space. How do they share stories of their original ...
Heritage languages bring forward an intriguing challenge in the cosmopolitanization era as divers... more Heritage languages bring forward an intriguing challenge in the cosmopolitanization era as diversity is defined on the basis of interconnectivity. Heritage languages are not an ethnospecific issue alone confined in traditional binaries (mainstream vs minority status). They are intangible aspects of cultural heritage and an important component of plurilingualism. Modern citizens communicate in plurilingual settings and develop a wide range of language repertoires over their lifespan in their effort to sustain personal/professional growth and inclusive participation in local/global democratic processes. Only plurilingual and intercultural competent citizens have the ability to fully participate in public discourse and interact with ‘others’ in all aspects of their interconnected lives. In this context, a culturally responsive pedagogy recognizes the active role teachers and students must undertake to construct their learning and acquire intercultural competence acting as ‘agents of change’. Remodeling teachers’ intercultural training emerges as an urgency due to widespread nationalization, ethnocentricity and radicalization of modern world. Culturally responsive teachers avoid ‘methodological nationalism’ as well as reflect on and adapt their teaching philosophy using learners’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds as a valuable resource. Culturally responsive pedagogy paves the way to a more reflective professional practice presupposing teachers’ strong intercultural awareness, competence and responsiveness. Finally, culturally responsive instructional design reaffirms equitable pedagogy through collaborative teaching praxis, responsive feedback, epistemological framing and scaffolded learning. Heritage languages teaching can be contextualized in a mainstream and culturally responsive pedagogy framework.
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