Abstract
Inclusive education has been the subject of scientific research worldwide, as it is a prerequisite for promoting equality and ensuring universal access to education for all children. In the present study, the term inclusion is considered in the broadest sense, including the students’education from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The purpose of the present study is to estimate the level of intercultural sensitivity which the secondary education principals of the Piraeus Secondary Education Department have embraced as well as the demographic, geographical and occupational factors that affect it. Furthermore, great consideration has been taken into studying and examining the relation between the principals' emotional intelligence and intercultural sensitivity. Material - Method The sample consisted of 125 (n=125) principals of the formal schools of the Directorate of Secondary Education of Piraeus, who serve in schools in both urban and island areas. The electronic questionnaire was used as a method of data collection, which consisted of three parts: The first and the second part included 14 questions were related to demographic and occupational - educational characteristics. The third part concerned the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) (Chen &Starosta, 2000). The fourth part was the Emotional Intelligence Scale (Wong & Law Emotional Intelligence Scale-WEILS) (Wang & Law, 2002). The statistical analyzing was performed with the statistical package for the social sciences IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 26.0. Results: The intercultural sensitivity of the sample was found to be high, with a higher dimension of Enjoyment of Interaction. The Emotional Intelligence of the sample was also found to be high, with the higher dimension Using Emotions. A statistically significant positive relationship was found between Intercultural Sensitivity and gender, with female principals being more aware. The age group 53-60 years showed a higher degree of intercultural sensitivity. In addition, a statistically significant positive correlation was found between intercultural sensitivity and the overall scale of emotional intelligence, as well as with all its dimensions. The increase in the Emotional Intelligence scale and the increased number of students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds at school were associated with an increase in the average score on the Intercultural Sensitivity scale.
Published Version
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