No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The new Curricula of Cyprus aspire to deliver a new ethos in teaching and learning that promotes the notion of ‘the humane and democratic school' and emphasises the right of every child to succeed. In this context, the new Modern Greek language curriculum in Cyprus has been moulded upon the notion of Critical Literacy (CL). CL is neither an instructional strategy nor a lesson plan. It is a philosophical belief committed to a different worldview. As such, CL requires people%s acceptance. Not just students but also teachers must first learn, understand and embrace the notion before applying its principles to their practice. This can only be done through a process of transformative leadership enabling teachers to become transformative leaders themselves. Has this axiom been taken into consideration in the case of Cyprus? Do teachers in Cyprus learn about CL in a process of transformative leadership? This article will attempt to answer these questions utilising the testimonies of Sandra, a primary school teacher who attended the seminars and workshops organised for training teachers to use the new language curriculum.

The challenge teachers and schools face nowadays is twofold: adopting an intercultural education framework and introducing high-quality teaching that will provide an equal opportunity for learning to all students, regardless of their ethnic origin or other characteristics. In this context, after we introduce the framework of Interculturally Differentiated Teaching (IDT), we examine the implementation of IDT in real classroom settings that are characterised by both mixed ability and cultural diversity. Drawing upon interview and observation data, we examine how teachers attempt to deal with this twofold challenge by focusing on their practices, the barriers they face, and their suggestions. Our findings caution that teachers are rather ill-prepared to deploy differentiated instruction in order to address both the goals of cultivating intercultural competence and maximising the learning potential for all their students. Our research bears wider implications, suggesting that for IDT to be successfully implemented in practice, education policy should promote comprehensive approaches of intercultural education and differentiated instruction, both in terms of teaching and teacher training.