Summary:
This study/work deals with the educational policy in Primary education in Greece during the (economic) crisis period of 2009-2019. In particular, the educational policy pursued during this decade in education is investigated, as well as the legislative interventions in the educational process and the important institutions and innovations that were introduced before the crisis in the Primary education. This is concerned with the institution of the All-day School Program, the ways of supporting the weak students in the public school with the provision of the Special Education actions and the Supporting education application, the implementation of innovative programs-the so-called Flexible zone- with the utilization of deviations in the curriculum , as well as the implementation of optional programs of Cross-Thematic, Interdisciplinary and Creative Activities. In addition, the working conditions of teachers are investigated with emphasis on how these were formed after the crisis, in education in general and in primary education in particular. Special emphasis is given to the key issues of teacher and of school educational work evaluation, as well as the important issue of teacher in service training. Also, the consequences of the many legislative and political interventions for the whole of the Greek society are studied.
The interpretive approach with the historical comparative analysis were applied, in order to identify and study the possible connections and/or interelations with the historical and socio-economic conditions of this time period and to make comparisons before and after the crisis.
The results showed that after the financial crisis, the implementation of the All-Day School Program, Special Education and Supporting Education was differentiated for the worse, due to the reduction of investment funds. Also, serious difficulties were found and presented in the implementation of the mandatory innovative program within the Flexible Zone, but also in the implementation of optional programs of Cross-thematic and Interdisciplinary and Creative Activities.
The required monetary and financial resources for the implementation of the aforementioned innovations in practice, were dramatically reduced or completely eliminated due to the extraordinary measures of the "memoranda". A drastic deterioration was also observed, both in the working conditions of teachers, and in the development of issues that "plagued" public education for many years, such as the issues of teacher and educational work evaluation, as well as their in service training.
Finally, through interpretive and historical comparative analysis, it was found, at the level of educational policy, that decentralization remains at the level of "rhetoric", despite the fact that there were institutional interventions for decentralization with the creation of the 13 Educational Regions, as well as other related legislation for education in particular. In particular, "de-concentration" is accompanied by significant spending cuts at each level of education. Regarding the specific ideological constants on which every political educational intervention is based, the tendency for the predominance of neoliberal ideologies as a whole was ascertained, as well as the "invisible" penetration of the private space in the public.
Key words
Educational policy, Primary education, Economic crisis, Legislative interventions, Innovative institutions and programs, Ideologies.
Keywords:
Educational policy, Primary education, Economic crisis, Legislative interventions, Innovative institutions and programs, Ideologies.
