SEN students' inclusion in Greece: factors influencing Greek teachers' stance

Roles, duties and challenges of special/support teachers at secondary education: implications for promoting inclusive practices

“…The data from this study support previous data (Koutrouba, Vamvakari, and Theodoropoulos 2008;Coutsocostas and Alborz 2010;Koutrouba 2012) that highlight a need for universities and other training institutions offering courses to prospective special educators to enrich their syllabuses by incorporating modules focusing on curriculum modification, adaptation as well as on collaborative strategies and co-teaching practices that serve to accommodate student diversity. It is felt that well-informed, well-trained and sensitised teachers can create strong communities of practices that will enable them to more effectively demand and acquire the human and material resources they need, and deserve, to be able to respond to the divergent strengths and needs of all students.…”

“…In fact, the respondents appear to be aware of the highly demanding and multidimensional role they have been assigned and are worried about its achievability within a schooling system that has not been satisfactorily prepared in terms of educational resources, infrastructure and attitudes (Koutrouba, Vamvakari, and Theodoropoulos 2008;Coutsocostas and Alborz 2010). Like their counterparts in other systems, they further emphasise the social and emotional dimensions of their role in addition to the instructional ones (Villa et al 2005).…”

“…Greek teachers' accounts add weight to the complexity of implementing and generalising inclusive education policy imperatives in national settings with certain organisational, operational and attitudinal realities. They are called upon to realise the inclusive imperative by serving as agents of change without having been adequately prepared for this and without any intention on the policy-makers' part to revise long-established discriminatory traditions of schooling (Koutrouba, Vamvakari, and Theodoropoulos 2008;Coutsocostas and Alborz 2010). In order for educational practices in the secondary education level to become aligned with more inclusive initiatives, there is a need to seriously consider the barriers that are posed in systems that have been structured and to operate around a divisive ideology and practice regarding disability issues.…”

“…According to the official policy documentation (Greek Government Gazette 199/2008), the special/support teachers were identified as a distinct professional group expected to encourage the realisation of policy objectives and serve as facilitators of the process of developing and delivering special education support programmes within secondary education institutions (Koutrouba, Vamvakari, and Theodoropoulos 2008;Coutsocostas and Alborz 2010). To be more specific, the working profile of special/support teachers, as defined in the Official Greek Government Journals (449/2007, 1319/2002, includes duties such as: (a) assessing the learning needs of individual students in order to determine their eligibility for entry to the resource room (these are students facing considerable difficulties in achieving the mainstream curriculum objectives and are generally nominated either by mainstream classroom teachers or parents); (b) establishing channels of collaboration between the students' parents, their mainstream teachers and the personnel of the Diagnostic and Evaluation Centres on issues that relate to students' needs and the implementation of educational responses to meet these needs; (c) supporting and facilitating the general educational and psychosocial adaptation for students with SEND within the school setting; (d) monitoring the academic and social progress of students attending the resource room by keeping detailed records; (e) developing Individual Education Plans for each student in consultation and collaboration with the professionals of the Diagnostic and Evaluation Centres and the mainstream teaching staff in each school; (f) delivering direct individual or small group instruction that is tailored to the unique needs of the students.…”

Policies, Practices, and Attitudes toward Inclusive Education: The Case of Greece

“…A high percentage of teachers believe that financial provisions and infrastructure in Greece are inadequate for the successful implementation of inclusion in education. Construction of new school units, remodeling of old ones, and the purchase of special equipment are going to enhance the implementation of inclusive education (Koutrouba et al 2008).…”