Greek Teachers Research Articles

Occupational stress and professional burnout among Greek teachers in secondary schools under conditions of economic crisis

Σε έρευνα που διεξήχθη σε δείγμα 93 εκπαιδευτικών δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης<br />κατά το σχολικό έτος 2013-2014 διερευνήθηκαν τα επίπεδα και οι πηγές του<br />επαγγελματικού άγχους, της επαγγελματικής εξουθένωσης και της οικονομικής<br />δυσκολίας και αναζητήθηκαν συσχετίσεις μεταξύ των παραπάνω μεταβλητών σε<br />ζεύγη αλλά και στο σύνολό τους, με τη χρήση πρότυπου μοντέλου δομικών<br />εξισώσεων. Ως ερευνητικά εργαλεία χρησιμοποιήθηκαν το Ερωτηματολόγιο Πηγών<br />Επαγγελματικής Έντασης, η Κλίμακα Επαγγελματικής Εξουθένωσης των<br />Εκπαιδευτικών της Maslach και η Κλίμακα Μέτρησης Αίσθησης της Οικονομικής<br />Δυσκολίας του Barrera. Η έρευνα έδειξε μεταξύ άλλων ότι τα οικονομικά<br />προβλήματα συμβάλλουν στο επαγγελματικό άγχος των εκπαιδευτικών, ειδικότερα<br />στους νεότερους από αυτούς και στις γυναίκες.

Greek History Teachers’ Professional Identities: An Empirical Study

Greek History Teachers’ Professional Identities: An Empirical Study

An analysis of attitudes towards the gifted students with learning difficulties using two samples of Greek and Czech primary school teachers

The provision of gifted students with learning difficulties (GSLD) composes a complicated educational problem that deserves special care. This study explores teachers’ attitudes towards the GSLD in two samples of primary school teachers: 225 Greek teachers and 158 teachers in the Czech Republic, 40–59 years of age and with 14–28 years of teaching experience. A questionnaire of 26 questions, created for the purpose of this study, was administered referring to teachers’ attitudes towards opinions and information regarding the GSLD characteristics, along with three open-ended questions on the most preferable types of the GSLD educational provision. Through multidimensional scaling solutions in their trigonometric transformation (MDS-T) one large common and one minor separate system of items emerged for the two samples, which were meaningful in the direction of understanding teachers’ difficulties in accepting the contradictory core of the GSLD characteristics and educational needs. These systems of attitudes are discussed in respect to their relative importance to Czech and Greek teachers and the respective educational settings.

Success in Fulfilling Greek Teachers’ Needs in Environmental Education through an In-service Training Course in the Maraslios Teacher Training School

This paper illustrates a 4-year case study (2008 - 2012) regarding a course in environmental education that was designed for the training of 58 practicing Greek in-service elementary teachers. The aim of the study was to reveal if a six-month Environmental Education training course succeeded in fulfilling Greek in-service teachers’ needs in Environmental Education. This was achieved through an assessment of the course by the participants. Their answers to four open-ended questions were analyzed following the principles of content analysis. Results revealed that in-service teachers considered their participation in the course as useful for their professional development and mostly valued their active engagement in learning activities, the experience they gained being a learner, the fact that the course was designed so that they could – with minor adjustments –transfer it to their classroom. They also valued the fact that the course was designed trying to connect theory with practice and it was based on collaborative group work and experiential activities according to appropriate methods and approaches. Challenges in developing the course included the teachers’ different previous experience in environmental education and teachers’ need for practical work.

Evaluating an induction training program for Greek teachers using an adjusted level model approach

This study is about the evaluation of an induction training program for Greek teachers. The program was evaluated by adopting an adjusted level model approach. Qualitative and quantitative data collection procedures were applied in order to assess the value of the training. The induction training was provided to Greek teachers who are appointed as permanent public employees at the beginning of each academic year. The results were encouraging for the applicability of the level model based evaluation in educational settings. The sequential hierarchy of the model was also tested and supported for the levels that were assessed quantitatively. Further evidence is needed in order to support the integration of methods and the sequential order of the level model approach.

Unveiling the teachers’ profiles through an INSET (in service training) course of Greek primary school teachers in the pedagogy of ICT (information and communications technology) in-classroom instruction

To meet the increasing demand for change in the infusion of ICT pedagogy in education a nationwide project was launched in Greece on May 2008. An INSET course for primary school teachers in the pedagogy of ICT in classroom instruction. The writer, aimed to study the teachers' views about certain aspects of the training experience in terms of the teacher-trainees' acquisition of ICT competencies as well as of any successful implementation of ICT pedagogic practices in classroom instruction through the identification of any actual observable changes in the teachers' profiles during and after the training course. It appeared that the development and promotion of ICT pedagogic activities in the class are closely linked to the identification and successful handling of the teachers' diverse profiles on ICT in education during the training sessions and the in class instruction practices.

Triple Rule Out: Why It Is Not Ready to Roll Out

Triple Rule Out: Why It Is Not Ready to Roll Out

Do learning difficulties differentiate elementary teachers’ attributional patterns for students’ academic failure? A comparison between Greek regular and special education teachers

This study aimed to (a) investigate whether the presence of learning difficulties (LD) in primary school children differentiates Greek teachers’ attributional patterns, emotional responses, expectations and evaluative feedback for the children’s academic failures and (b) to examine possible differences between regular and special education teachers’ ratings. A total of 265 teachers (163 regular & 102 special teachers), were asked to rate eight vignettes about children’s difficulties. The description of each vignette provided three types of information: the presence or absence of LD, a statement of students’ ability (high/low ability) and effort expenditure (high/low effort). For the purposes of this study, the analysis focused only on the existence or absence of Learning Difficulties (LD/NLD). The results of the study indicate that the label of LD differentiates teachers’ attributions, emotions and future expectancies of students’ failure. Both groups of teachers (regular and special education) reported lower stability and controllability attributions for students with LD than for students without LD. At the same time, however, special education teachers view student difficulties as more manageable, and their responses convey less stable and uncontrollable attributions as compared to regular teachers. The effect of teachers’ gender was not found significant in most of the cases. Correlations among teachers’ ratings showed that the two groups of teachers seem to use a different attribution schema towards failure depending on the presence or absence of LD. Implications from the findings and future recommendations are also presented.

Views and attitudes of teachers on the educational integration of students with autism spectrum disorders

Objectives: To investigate the views and attitudes of Greek teachers on educational and vocational integration of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).Methods: A statistically reliable sample of questionnaires distributed towards a diversified teacher population is evaluated. The mean values of teachers’ responses are analyzed with respect to critical independent variables: previous relevant training; and/or experience.Results: The majority of the sample had a positive view towards the educational and vocational integration of students with ASD. Nevertheless, teachers appear to be sceptical in assuming that these students can be efficiently treated in their classroom. The vast majority of teachers maintain that students with ASD can be trained in technical vocation. However, the absence of support services is highly ranked as the most serious constraint for vocational integration.Conclusion: Training and experience substantially influenced teachers’ views and attitudes in a positive way towards the integration of students with ASD.

The Effects of Dominant Ideology on Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices towards the “Other”

In this study the aim is to show the role of dominant ideology as a co –creative condition of teacher’s perceptions and their influences on the confronting and managing practices of the ‘Other’. According to the admission that the intercultural educational programs often downgraded and recanted by the dominant perceptions and ideology, this research attempts to highlight the impact of dominant ideology as the everyday, non-rethinking experienced ideology. We admit the negative role of dominant ideology as a director of teacher’s perceptions and practices. Using the conceptual framework (Multicultural Teacher Education Framework) that Cochran-Smith suggests, the research examines the teacher’s perceptions both about the ‘Other’, the school role and the cooperative culture development. The research took place in spring 2011. The 102 Greek teachers who participated in the research were asked to declare their acceptance degree for a number of perceptions and practices. Keywords: dominant ideology, intercultural education, teacher’s perceptions

Tools for Students in the Perseus Digital Library

The texts, maps, timelines, and other tools of the Perseus Digital Library can help students learn not only the classical languages but also something about classical culture. All of the tools work together, and references to other relevant information are offered automatically along with each page of text. This article introduces the digital library to Latin and Greek teachers.

Ancient Greek with Thrasymachus

This project began as an attempt by two teachers of Ancient Greek to provide supplementary materials to accompany Thrasymachus, a first-year textbook for learning ancient Greek. While the text itself offers an excellent and appealing introduction to the language using a reading method, it has little explanation of grammar and insufficient exercises, particularly for students who have not studied Latin. Thus, the need for a supplement to the text, now on-line and evolving. The topics discussed in this article include: a brief history and description of the project (see www.vroma.org/~abarker/thrascontents.html), the format of each chapter, a chronology for completion of materials for all 32 chapters in the text, and some ideas for further refinements to link students to on-line information to enhance their study of Ancient Greek.

Users and experts: Greek primary teachers’ views about boys, girls, ICTs and computing

The purpose of this study was to examine primary teachers’ views about the abilities and personality characteristics of boys and girls relative to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and computing, and to explore the relationship of teachers’ gender-stereotyped views with teachers’ gender, age, computer experience and self-efficacy in educational computer use. Participants were 241 Greek primary teachers who responded to a structured questionnaire. All teachers recognised that developing ICT skills was equally important for all students, but nearly half of them thought that boys were more likely to have the aptitude, interest and personality characteristics to pursue studies in information or computer science. Teacher views on gender and technology were not associated with teacher gender, self-efficacy in educational ICT use, computer experience or age. Findings suggest that teacher preparation and professional development programmes should address gender equity issues.

Integrating Lmss In The Educational Process: Greek Teachers’ Initial Perceptions About Lams

E-learning with the use of Learning Management Systems, has been increasingly adopted in Primary, Secondary and Higher Education with the expectation to increase students’ motivation and infuse activity-centred learning strategies with various educational benefits. This study has investigated the initial perceptions of Greek teachers about the integration of LAMS, a Learning Activity Management System, in the educational praxis. Through a multifaceted research method, involving a small scale participatory action research, the research team attempted to investigate the preconditions required to integrate LAMS in the everyday lesson. Two tutorial workshops were organized with the participation of 46 educators from geographically diverse urban areas, from K-12 to Tertiary Education. Results indicated that teachers have developed a positive attitude towards LAMS and the use of collaborative online tools during the educational process. Although teachers have certain objections on integrating LMSs, which stem mainly from the current status of the Greek educational system, they accept relative advantages of integrating online collaborative approaches over the traditional face-to-face approach. Well-organized and carefully implemented tutorial workshops can spark teachers’ interest and bring about change in the educational process. Small scale interventions such as these can prove to foster dialogue among teachers of various backgrounds and set the foundations to create online communities of practice for innovative teachers.

An in service training course, (INSET) on ICT pedagogy in classroom instruction for the Greek primary school teachers

To meet the increasing demand for change in the incorporation of ICT in education the Greek Ministry of Education and the Institute of Educational Policy of Greece, launched a nationwide project of in-service training (INSET) of teachers of the second level, training of teachers in the use and evaluation of ICT pedagogy in classroom instruction. The main focus of the study was to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of this in-service training in the pedagogic use of ICT in classroom-based instruction. Through the data collected and analyzed it is argued that a successful training course could be associated with the selection and utilization of specific research and instruction theories. These theories tailored to the acknowledged different profiles of the teacher-trainees as well as the time and setting of the course could promote effectiveness and produce fruitful outcomes.

Advanced E-Learning Services for Teachers

In Greece, the training system and education can be adapted to distance lifelong e-learning and the teachers, the society and the economy can be benefited via the introduction and training of in-service teachers in (a) the Video Conferencing (VC) technology and mode of distant training, granted that VC is put into a learning framework, and (b) Knowledge Management (KM) methodology, through lectures and seminars. Incidentally, VC technology and KM methodology can be integrated into in-service teacher distance lifelong training and development, and to this end, an example, a hybrid model, of the manner VC technology and KM methodology can be integrated into in-service teacher distance lifelong training and development, that is, a microteaching session via VC and KM, which is advisable for Greek teachers of all specialisations in Greece or abroad, is given.

Comparing beliefs and intentions about the importance of teacher–child interactions among Greek and Cypriot pre-service kindergarten teachers

Though a host of research has explored the association between beliefs and practices, limited research has been undertaken exploring the association between beliefs and intentions. Considering the potentially important influence of teachers' beliefs on their practices, the present study aimed to examine what, if anything, Greek and Cypriot pre-service kindergarten teachers had in common in terms of self-reported beliefs and self-reported intentions concerning the importance of teacher–child interactions and the relationship between them. Pearson correlations and one-way ANOVA analyses were used to compare overall mean scores for beliefs with those of intentions. Research results indicated that nationality does not predict mean scores in the Beliefs and Intentions Scales. Statistically significant differences were revealed only on independent items, on both scales. Finally, correlation analysis revealed that pre-service students' beliefs predict their intentions.

Greek kindergarten teachers' and parents' views about changes in play since their own childhood

Play is both a right of children and a learning method for preschoolers and school aged children. It is influenced by all forms of social change on a local and global level. The rapid pace of life and the competitive modern lifestyle, particularly in western societies, are leading to a decrease in spontaneous play and to its replacement by more structured activities at home and in school. Furthermore, apart from the lack of leisure, there is also a lack of space where children can play, especially in big cities. Children's and parents' free time has been reduced to a minimum by multiple everyday tasks. Also, the major influence exerted by the media over the last decade has affected and reduced children's free play. In order to find out whether those changes in children's play have also occurred in Greece, we have conducted similar research; we examined kindergarten teachers' and parents' views on how play has changed since their own childhood. The results of this study are presented in this paper.

A profile of the effective teacher: Greek secondary education teachers’ perceptions

This paper examines the perceptions of Greek secondary education teachers on effectiveness in teaching. Through a structured questionnaire, 340 teachers reported their views on the tactics which are considered to contribute to effective teaching and on the behaviour and personal traits attributed to effective teachers. Descriptive and factor analysis showed that teacher flexibility in knowledge dissemination and sociability in communication, the display of friendliness, open-mindedness, tactfulness, supportiveness, respect and humour, are considered, among others, to be outstanding attributes of an effective teacher. However, the inflexibility of Greek curricula and their obsession with academic performance objectives discourage teachers from implementing effective instructional strategies, from establishing real human relationships with their students and from displaying behaviour and developing personal traits attributed to effective teachers.

Straub/Huillet—Brecht—Benjamin—Adorno

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. For the Threepenny Lawsuit, see: Brecht, Dreigroschenprozeß. For the “fundamental reproach,” see: Brecht, Arbeitsjournal. 399–400 (Vol. I. 27.3.1942). For the Hollywood poem, see Brecht, Hollywood. 2. Mummlius Spicer, for example, speaks with a “steady, deep voice … without any transition, simple, as though he were fulfilling a contract,” (16) while Afranius Carbo employs the “schooled voice of a lawyer” (26) and the Young Man himself, when reciting the Caesar anecdote, describes himself in the following manner: “When I quoted the famous anecdote, I gave my voice a little of that intonation in which I used to recite lines I had learned in front of my Greek teacher.” (44) 3. Handke feels that the quote is “moralizing-prophesying” (115) and detracts from the film, while Chevalier agrees: “It's a shame that the film ends on the Brecht-text, warning of the ever-present risk of war, as it has a reductive effect on the film's reception. It did not need this quote.” (12). 4. Tantalizingly, though, Kluge writes, “The films of Godard and some examples of the Young German Cinema made an impression on [Adorno], due to their manifest difference with Hollywood productions,” but is not more specific (Cited in: Brenez 285). 5. See: Ishaghpour, Cinéma contemporain 109–124; Byg 233–248; Brenez 283. 6. The evidence for this viewpoint is manifold. As examples: “Unending sameness also governs the relationship to the past. What is new in the phase of mass culture compared to that of late liberalism is the exclusion of the new. The machine is rotating on the spot” (Aufklärung 142). “Every film is a preview of the next, which promises yet again to unite the same heroic couple under the same exotic sun: anyone arriving late can not tell whether he is watching the trailer or the real thing” (Aufklärung 172). “The totality of the culture industry … [consists of] repetition. The fact that its characteristic innovations are in all cases mere improvements to mass production is not extraneous to the system” (Aufklärung 144). 7. As Brenez affirms: “Like many artists and theoreticians of his era, Adorno, however, accorded an almost extraterritorial status to Chaplin … The exceptional importance of Chaplin for Adorno continues to be uncovered in his analyses on the invention of the actor where he sees, inversely, the elaboration of a model of liberty” (281, 282). 8. Perez, for instance, contends: “Adorno and Greenberg were wrong in their sweeping dismissal of popular culture … their rejection of popular art in the name of high art pointed the way to the recuperation of the avant-garde as high art enshrined by the bourgeois culture it intended to contest” (277, 278). 9. “Lyotard sees the postmodern as marking the moment after one phase of modernist innovation has gained acceptance and before the next phase begins: the postmodern not as a break with the modern but as the moment between modernist breaks” (Perez 282). 10. See, for instance, the statement: “Only [the public's] deep unconscious mistrust, the last residue of the difference between art and empirical reality in the spiritual make-up of the masses explains why they have not, to a person, long since perceived and accepted the world as it is constructed for them by the culture industry.” (Kulturindustrie 344). And: “If it seeks to keep a grip on the masses, the ideology of the culture industry itself becomes as internally antagonistic as the very society which it is targeting. It contains the antidote to its own lie” (Filmtransparente 356). 11. “That artworks can make political interventions is dubious; if this does occur, then it is most often peripheral to the artworks; endeavoring to achieve this usually causes the artwork to sink under the term” (ÄT 359). Furthermore: “The political positions explicitly taken by artworks are, in contrast, epiphenomena, mostly resulting in a burden on the development of the artworks, and, in addition, the termination of their social truth content” (ÄT 344). 12. “When I read Marx's Capital, I understood my plays … This Marx was the only spectator for my plays I had ever seen.” (Zuschauer 69).