Current imperatives for education systems include key objectives, such as developing young people into citizens who will be equipped to live successfully in open, democratic and pluralistic societies. This issue is of crucial importance, taking into account the strengthening of nationalism, intolerance and racism in recent years and the challenges posed by the arrival of large numbers of immigrants and refugees in Greece and in Europe.

The inclusion of immigrant and refugee children into schooling is a matter of crucial importance for European societies. Equal access to school is an unalienable human right of all children, as it is enshrined in the Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in other international legal documents. Through education, knowledge is developed and skills, values and attitudes are cultivated, this way ensuring the unimpeded personality development of all children. At the same time, it is the safest way to their inclusion into societies. In the context of an intercultural approach to education, the aim cannot be the linguistic and cultural assimilation of children or their marginalization and the creation of parallel societies within the dominant society. Equal access to school is a legitimate act of respect for the fundamental human right to education, but at the same time it is also a choice with positive results for both children and the wider society.

At the same time, it is of major importance to provide children with quality education, which on one hand, will fully exploit their potential and on the other, will create a culture of democracy, respect, solidarity and justice in school and society. Fully realizing potential means that children will have equal opportunities for advancement in school and society, while a culture of democracy, which will include all children, native, minority, migrant or refugee, should involve a holistic approach; first and foremost, this is understood at the level of an educational policy inspired by a commitment to democratic principles. At the same time, it is important to teach democratic principles through the curriculum and extra-curricular activities, using participatory methods that empower students to think critically and independently and to be able to resolve conflicts. At the same time, democracy can be taught effectively within a democratic school community, so that students can become catalysts for change in their social environment (Council of Europe, 2016).

Intercultural Education has been an issue of importance in Greek education since the 1990s, when Greece became a receiving country for immigrants. After the emergence of the economic crisis in 2009, as well as the dynamic appearance of a far-right extremist group in the political scene, it became evident that the very idea of intercultural education had to be reconsidered and linked to education for democracy in order to help fight xenophobia, racism, chauvinism and euro-skepticism (Kesidou, 2019). This paper seeks to explore the prerequisites and challenges of effective democratic education in Greek schools, taking into account contemporary research data. The data is based on research, which has been conducted by the author in recent years, mainly within a European setting, seeking evidence on the effectiveness of democratic education in Greek secondary schools. The focus is both on educational policy and practice, in terms of the curriculum, teaching methodology, school culture, teachers and students. The research involved the collection of data on the formal education policy, as well as the performance of an in-depth case study in Greece; it revealed a considerable gap between policy and practice as well as that teaching democracy is challenged by inherent weaknesses of Greek education and schooling (Kesidou, 2017, Kesidou, 2021).

In recent years, there has been an increasing research interest, at national and European level, on issues concerning education for democracy and in particular on teaching democracy in schools. The field is also of growing interest at a broader international level. A published research by Sant (2019) on Democratic Education: a Theoretical Review (2006-2017) focuses on 377 scientific papers published during the aforementioned period in international journals, only in English, on the topic of "Democratic Education", highlighting the different versions and discourses, their different philosophical foundations and their views on education, but also the relevant criticisms they have made and received. At the same time, it is important to note the extensive research activity that has taken place at the level of international organizations and bodies which, in the context of 'soft governance', act as 'think tanks', providing information and guidance to member states through comparative studies and evaluation reports that influence national policy formulation. The research was part of a wider research project, which was initiated by the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education. It was conducted by collecting data on the formal education policy of all European Union member states and by performing in-depth case studies in 12 of the member states, one of which was Greece (Veugelers, W., de Groot I. & Stolk V.J., 2017). In particular, a written questionnaire was implemented addressing the research questions concerning education policy on democratic education, content of democratic education, attention to school culture, etc. The in-depth study was conducted on the basis of interviews of teachers who are involved in education for democracy and extended the focus of the research to the curriculum practiced at the school level. The paper also considers a follow up-study conducted a few years later, which highlighted citizenship education policies and practices in 10 European Union member states (Veugelers, W., Zygierewicz, A., 2021).

In the following, some of the basic conclusions are highlighted, which, to a wide extent, also correspond to further relevant research conducted at the national level (Sira, 2020, Strouni & Kesidou, 2023). The secondary school curriculum seems to include the basic goals and aims regarding democracy but often they do not go beyond the level of mere rhetoric. Teaching democracy is challenged by inherent weaknesses of Greek education and schooling. Aims and contents of democracy often remain inactive due to the traditional teaching and learning methodologies implemented in practice. In this way, the presence of democracy in the curriculum does not guarantee its implementation but it depends largely on the initiative and inspiration of specific schools and teachers. A democratic school culture seems difficult to realize due to the lack of adequate participation and cooperation of teachers, students and parents. Schools could be closer linked to the communities and the real needs of local societies. Teaching democracy can be improved, if the relevant teaching goals are explicitly clarified and asked for by policy makers, if it constitutes an everyday aim for the school community as a whole, if relevant achievements are assessed by the school unit- the latter is important to receive adequate outside support. Teachers should have the possibility to teach students how to be active citizens with an ability to value diversity. It should also be highlighted that democratic education seems to have been reduced in more recent years within the Greek secondary curriculum, while there is also the positive aspect of a growing interest on the part of teachers to be more actively involved in relevant initiatives.

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