Effecting change in education : the introduction of comprehensive lycea in Greece : a case study
Effecting change in education : the introduction of comprehensive lycea in Greece : a case study
This study is an inquiry into the implications of attempting to introduce effective change in secondary education in Greece. It is related to the introduction of a limited number of state comprehensive schools in 1984 within a highly centralised system. The form of the inquiry was that of a case study conducted employing reflexive ethnographic techniques. The theoretical setting provided by the ministry of education aimed to generate radical reform of the whole school function by the introduction of technical subjects into an academic curriculum, by developing democratic teacher-student relationships and progressive teaching methods, by stimulating participatory procedures to govern school life, and by forming links between the school and the community. The study evaluates the preparatory procedures engaged in for the introduction of the particular school studied and the actual performance of the school in its attempts to realise the ministerial vision. The relationship between the requirements laid down by the ministry and the provision made for the school are investigated, as are the consequences of the centralised and bureaucratic nature of the educational system for the success of the innovation. Changes in teacher and student attitudes which developed during the course of the study are explored, as are confusions between ideals and practices, discrepancies between hopes and frustrations, and the generation of self-deceptions and inner-uncertainties. The principal foci of the study are teaching, decision making in school, the non-authoritarian approach to students and extra-curricular aspects of school life. Adopting a social anthropological perspective, the researcher sought to identify the qualitative nature of these functions, their interrelatedness, and the quality of school life as a whole as it was transformed into meanings by the individual members of the school. Such individual perceptions and consequent behaviour and communications lie at the heart of the study. The study concludes that, given the existing system for the organisation of education, the reform was attempted under inauspicious circumstances. Suggestions are put forward regarding changes that might be made which could ensure a more readily achievable successful outcome in future similar developments.
University of Southampton
1987
Pigiaki, Kalliope
(1987)
Effecting change in education : the introduction of comprehensive lycea in Greece : a case study.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
This study is an inquiry into the implications of attempting to introduce effective change in secondary education in Greece. It is related to the introduction of a limited number of state comprehensive schools in 1984 within a highly centralised system. The form of the inquiry was that of a case study conducted employing reflexive ethnographic techniques. The theoretical setting provided by the ministry of education aimed to generate radical reform of the whole school function by the introduction of technical subjects into an academic curriculum, by developing democratic teacher-student relationships and progressive teaching methods, by stimulating participatory procedures to govern school life, and by forming links between the school and the community. The study evaluates the preparatory procedures engaged in for the introduction of the particular school studied and the actual performance of the school in its attempts to realise the ministerial vision. The relationship between the requirements laid down by the ministry and the provision made for the school are investigated, as are the consequences of the centralised and bureaucratic nature of the educational system for the success of the innovation. Changes in teacher and student attitudes which developed during the course of the study are explored, as are confusions between ideals and practices, discrepancies between hopes and frustrations, and the generation of self-deceptions and inner-uncertainties. The principal foci of the study are teaching, decision making in school, the non-authoritarian approach to students and extra-curricular aspects of school life. Adopting a social anthropological perspective, the researcher sought to identify the qualitative nature of these functions, their interrelatedness, and the quality of school life as a whole as it was transformed into meanings by the individual members of the school. Such individual perceptions and consequent behaviour and communications lie at the heart of the study. The study concludes that, given the existing system for the organisation of education, the reform was attempted under inauspicious circumstances. Suggestions are put forward regarding changes that might be made which could ensure a more readily achievable successful outcome in future similar developments.
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Published date: 1987
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Local EPrints ID: 460857
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/460857
PURE UUID: 21a891f1-1d37-43f9-b947-bd029847dbf8
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 18:31
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 18:31
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Author:
Kalliope Pigiaki
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