Contribution
Description: What are Greek early years teachers' perceptions for Greek children's learning and knowledge about their peers' cultural difference? What teachers think about the effects of several activities on both Greek and ethnic-minority children, especially when these activities are correlated with children's different culture, language and religion?
Teachers' perceptions about ethnic-minority children's diverse backgrounds in the field of early childhood education in Greece, appears to be unexplored. . This study attempts to investigate pre-school teachers' views about the teaching of ethnic-minority children as well as the degree to which such attitudes might influence children's learning in respect to children's different culture, religion and language. The extent to which teachers' perceptions are consistent with the assimilationist, the multicultural or the anti-discriminatory perspective is examined. Furthermore, it is this study's intention to identify where do, the greatest needs for improvement lie and what suggestions can be made to improve teachers' practice in order to serve both Greek and ethnic-minority children's educational needs in the context of the multicultural school.
Methodology: Conducted in the areas of Athens and Crete, this small-scale survey has utilized a self-administered questionnaire and a semi-structured interview plan to obtain data from a sample of 37 early years teachers. Therefore, the quantitative results were backed up by qualitative data, obtained from interviews with preschool teachers.
Conclusions: The major results indicate that:
The vast majority of Greek pre-school teachers do not believe opportunities to practice diverse culture, religion, language and customs as being of great concern. Despite teachers' claims for the opposite, the notion that ethnic-minority children should be assimilated in the school context and subsequently in the Greek environment as soon as possible is widely perceived as the most advantageous perspective in teachers' responses. In this respect, ethnic-minority children should be similar with their Greek peers as much as possible and this notion is widely accepted and legitimised from the majority of teachers. Nonetheless, any perceptions of integrating ethnic-minority children in the Greek pre-school setting do not promote equality and respect for children's diverse cultures.
When teachers were asked to appoint the most favored activities, the majority did not approve the implementation of initiatives related to ethnic-minority children's religion and language as being highly important. The realization of several multicultural schemes was preferred instead.
However, it would not be of much avail if teachers continue to hold stereotyped perceptions about ethnic-minority people and diverse cultures in general. In this sense, teachers need to address their possible prejudices and stereotypes so that any confusion about differential cultures could be challenged through dialogue and empathy.
Collaborative work with both ethnic-minority and Greek parents would be a good starting point for the development of a reciprocal and honest relationship. Only through a frank and open relationship between the previously referred stakeholders, we can begin to understand where they stand. Sensitive issues will inevitably be the focus of some discussions and educators as well as Greek parents might have their long-held beliefs challenged. In this way, we could work towards the improvement of ethnic relationships and the establishment of equality and mutual respect.
Finally, Greek early years teachers' views about the formation and transmission of specific knowledge about ethnic-minority children's culture, religion and language should be revised and reevaluated. This is a prerequisite for the development and the adoption of an anti-discriminative perspective and the most effective way to teach all children within the ideas of equality and social justice.
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