European and Intercultural Dimension in Greek Education

Abstract

Negotiations concerning Greece’s accession into the European Union began as early as 1961, when a cooperation agreement was signed between Greece and the European Economic Community (EEC). These negotiations were concluded 20 years later, on 1 January 1981, when Greece became the tenth full member of the EU.[1] The next major step in Greece’s progress within Europe was integration into the Economic and Monetary Union in 2002. Greece has a 23-year history as a full member of the EU, and thus can be expected to have adopted many EU structures and regulations. One of the major parameters in the paper will be the transformation of Greece, over the last decade, from a migrant sender country into a host country. Indeed, migrant arrivals have come about largely against the backdrop of recent uncontrolled population movement following the collapse of the communist system in 1989, as well as that of the new world order and economic globalisation. The presence of approximately one million foreigners accounts for 10% of the population and has brought about a significant change in the country’s demographic makeup. Furthermore, the fact that almost 11% of the pupils in primary education come from 46 countries (IPODE, 2003) has forced Greek governments to take specific steps in education policy, which, as we shall see below, fall within the general term of ‘intercultural education’. These steps were taken, for the most part, in the 1990s, thus adding a third intercultural dimension to national and European counterparts. With the above data in hand, there will be an attempt to analyse and discuss the European and intercultural dimension comparatively, working on two levels: the political-institutional (educational policy) and the theoretical (pedagogical discourse). In particular, the major steps taken thus far by Greek governments regarding the European and intercultural dimension in education will be presented and commented on by comparison. Thereafter an outline will be offered of the theoretical discourse on the above two dimensions, as it has unfolded over the last two decades in Greece. Finally, an attempt will be made to arrive at some interim conclusions as to developments thus far and prospects for the two dimensions.