Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

This research focuses on refugee children’s education in Greece. Particularly, the aim of this study is to investigate the expectations of educators for refugee children in reception classes. More specifically, the purposes of this work are to explore: a) the profile of the educators in the reception classes, b) educators’ attitudes to the integration of refugee children into the Greek school, c) the main problems faced by educators during the education of refugee children, d) the factors of enhancement refugee’s education and e) the profile and wishes of refugee children in the reception classes. The theoretical framework of the study describes the educational policy in Greece for refugee children. Explicit emphasis is placed on the legislative framework and the educational model which is related to education of refugee children and depicts the way in which the school community treats the ‘other’. A mixed method is adopted for data collection. The research tools used are a) bibliographical review, b) observation, c) personal narrative and d) structured questionnaire. The control group was five teachers and 103 refugee children (6-13 years old) from the school ‘Orion’, which is hosting refugee children. The research data illustrated serious problems preventing teachers from adapting to the new conditions. Educators cite language and working conditions as important barriers in their effort to enhance integration of refugee children into the Greek education. The main conclusion is that refugee children wish to go to school in the morning together with their Greek classmates.

Presenters

Ariadni Kouzeli
Preschool Educator , BA Student in University of Patras , Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education , Mikro Karavi Kindergarten , Greece

Eugenia Arvanitis
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras, Greece, Greece