Interculturality in Greek Education: Practices and Challenges of Implementation

Abstract

Intercultural education is an educational movement that aims to ensure all students have equal learning opportunities at school and in society. Intercultural education seeks to achieve a harmonious co-existence of all these different cultural groups. In intercultural education, diversity is deconstructed, and the boundaries of power between dominant and non-dominant groups are not fixed. The research aimed to study the views of primary and secondary school teachers on implementing interculturalism of immigrant/refugee students in Greek educational policy. Qualitative research through the semi-structured interview method was chosen for the data collection. The constructed interview guide was based on the literature on migration and its theoretical framework. The participants in the research were twenty-two primary and secondary school teachers. Eight of them were males, and fourteen were females. The results showed that most primary and secondary education teachers positively approached immigrant/refugee students in Greek education. Furthermore, teachers mentioned that the Greek language is essential in the educational inclusion of students from migrant and refugee backgrounds. However, at the same time, some teachers had negative attitudes based on ethnocentric elements. The inadequately organized educational policy mediated their mentioned views. Therefore, it is more than a necessity to establish learning strategies and educational practices based on an educational approach that transcends the mainstream cultural elements, enhances multilingualism and diversity of social identities, and yet seeks to provide equal opportunities and eliminate educational exclusions from groups of the student population experiencing school failure or school marginalization.