Supervisors info:
Βάσια Λέκκα, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Εκπαίδευσης και Αγωγής στην Προσχολική Ηλικία, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
This thesis focuses on the need to integrate immigrants and refugees in contemporary societies, with an emphasis on education. The violations of Human Rights, the intense mobility of people at an international and global level, the prejudices and stereotypes against them throughout society, as well as the deprivation of access to education, are some of the main factors that point to the need for reforms in the educational policies of states, adopting an intercultural dimension in education. These policies seek to ensure the equal participation of pupils in all school activities, to accept and promote diversity, to empower them, giving them space to make their voices heard in an “open” and safe context that respects and preserves multicultural identities. Intercultural Education plays an important role in this endeavour, proposing radical changes in educational systems, such as the adaptation of curricula and textbooks to include the immigrants and the refugees, the use of their mother tongue as a necessary condition for their smooth integration in the new socio-cultural context, the appropriate scientific training of teachers and their role as a “bridge” in linking parents, school and society. The intercultural orientation of education is also considered essential in the Greek reality. However, its implementation faces various problems and raises questions about the organization of education systems in a way that meets the educational needs of the multicultural class, the establishment or not of separate schools for foreign-speaking children and, on the part of the state, the desire for education in mixed classes with the main aim of strengthening and maintaining cultural differences.
Keywords:
Human Rights, Integration of immigrants and refugees, Education policy, Intercultural education
