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Although social justice is an old concept, practical applications of it in education are relatively new and highly dependent on contextual variables, just as social justice leadership. Social justice leadership has been fostered by various distinctive factors in western and eastern societies. From this point of view, the authors attempt to compare Greek and Turkish school principals' social justice leadership to reveal the similarities and differences between them. In this qualitative case study, 12 principals from Greece and Turkey were interviewed through in-depth semi-structured interview questions. Comparative analysis was employed to identify the similarities and differences between principals' practices, internal and external social justice leadership resources, supports and hindrances. The results show that while the principals adopt universal social justice principles, they also use their own methods because of their schools' contexts and their life experiences.

Developments in information and communication technologies, especially with the increase in internet use, have caused some important changes in the tourism industry, as in all sectors. Marketing strategies in the tourism sector have also undergone a transformation affected by these changes. As information and communication technologies develop, not only there is a decrease in communication costs, but also the regional borders of marketing activities have expanded and global studies have emerged. Transition to the digital world with the Internet; sharing information that will affect consumers' purchasing decisions, from destinations to tourism businesses and the diversity of services in tourism, has become one of the important variables of tourism marketing. The widespread use of information and communication technologies in the tourism sector has significantly changed the strategies and activities in tourism marketing, and especially the widespread use of social media has led to radical changes in the structure of promotional activities in tourism. In this study, which compares the social media usage of 5-star chain hotels, which are tourism businesses operating in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus, the Republic of Turkey and France, it is aimed to evaluate the effects of developments in information and communication technologies on tourism business marketing and the consumer-educational role of social media used in tourism marketing. Study; in addition to the advantageous and disadvantageous effects of technology and social media on tourism marketing, it also reveals the dimensions of the educational aspect.

Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are at risk for emotional, behavioural and social difficulties. Social and emotional learning (SEL) may be particularly beneficial to fostering these children's resilience. Given the importance of teacher's role in promoting SEL, the present study aimed to explore special teachers' perceptions of SEL and the practices they use to enhance their pupils' social and emotional skills. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with 15Greek primary and secondary education special teachers and were analysed with the use of reflexive thematic analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the special teachers considered the creation of a supportive school environment a key prerequisite to addressing the pupils' with SEND needs. They perceived SEL as a process aiming to the development of social and emotional skills which contributes to pupils' emotional development and social inclusion. Although they used a number of practices for this purpose, their efforts were often hindered by the lack of collaboration with general education teachers and their limited knowledge on SEL. The findings are discussed with respect to the need to enhance cooperation between the members of the school community and teachers' training on SEL.

Let's explore adultism (in early childhood education)! The first part of the article answers seven questions frequently posed by adults who first come in contact with adultism, involving concepts of adult power, children's dependence and protection, limits, guilt, the intersectionality of discrimination, and the internalization of adultism. It explains how adultism constitutes fertile ground for the cultivation of every form of discrimination. The second part of the article focuses on remedies for adultism, specifically looking at some of the practices that we implemented in our multicultural pedagogical community with children of early childhood age. We look at basic pedagogical choices, matters of organization of time and space, and details of interactions of adults and children. The article concludes that there is no given recipe against adultism, and invites adults to discover the immense, barely charted terrain of anti-adultist action.

This study reports the results obtained from the implementation of an educational program for primary education in relation to the development or enhancement of students' learning motivation. The publication of a school journal by 24 6th grade students at a public primary school in Greece and their teacher was the main project of the project. The students worked in a communicative and collaborative environment and were encouraged to actively participate in all stages of writing and publishing the magazine. The study describes the pedagogical approach followed by the teacher and the main topics of the journal. The way of collecting the qualitative and quantitative data of the research conducted and the analysis of the data are also mentioned. In relation to the quantitative data, the students' motivation index (SMI) was calculated before and after the educational project. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that after the implementation of the program, SMI had increased, and the results were statistically significant for both boys and girls. Qualitative data collected agreed with the quantitative results.

This paper presents a study conducted in a Greek Elementary school and explores the impact of Digital Storytelling (DST) on developing children's second language (L2) writing skills and their intercultural awareness. The development of digital technologies has enabled the use of different multimedia tools to reconfigure traditional storytelling. The researchers' aim was to reinforce a learner-centered approach to the teaching of writing by provoking influence in innovation of pedagogical practices that personalize learning. L2 learners of diverse cultural backgrounds attending the fifth grade (n = 21) of a Greek state elementary school, were involved in composing, sharing and reflecting upon stories from their own cultural backgrounds. The researchers built an interculturally-oriented language framework for better addressing young learners' literacies, ensuring they work in a stimulating environment, spending time online and engaging with digital applications. Qualitative and quantitative mix methods were used to estimate the feasibility of the intervention, including a pre- and post-test, teachers' journals and focus group discussions with the L2 learners. Variables of the study were fifth graders in the context of an elementary school in Greece (independent variable) and their writing skills in Greek as a second language (dependent variable). Data processing, by means of a pre- and post-test, revealed that the DST approach provided students with opportunities to acquire improved communicative competence through writing creatively. Journal data indicated that DST application in a game-based context enhanced task engagement, encouraging young learners to use interactive media in a digital environment. Young learners' intercultural competence development was also shown to be supported through the DST approach. In the focus group discussions, participants stated their interest and satisfaction in the approach and the methods applied. All in all, the results imply that the approach implemented has the potential to be used as a meaningful technology integration approach as far as language teaching and learning is concerned. The findings additionally explore pedagogical implications for future teaching practices in order to enhance and extend the approach and methods employed.

The plethora of research studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education gives us a first picture of the difficulties and challenges encountered at the various educational levels, especially at the elementary level, by students aged from 6 to 12 years old. The aim was to examine the existence of math anxiety in primary education and how math anxiety differentiates performance according to gender during the COVID-19 confinement. A quantitative empirical research carried out, using a fifteen-question questionnaire, with a 5-point Likert scale, which employed the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS), the Mathematics Anxiety Scale (MAS), the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) and a math test. The sample consisted of 173 Greek sixth grade students. The questionnaire and the math test were provided to the students by the teachers at the beginning of the school year in September 2021. Sixth graders, especially girl students, get quite anxious when involved with math learning activities. Math anxiety affected more girl than boy students' grades in the math test. Math anxiety affected primary 11 to 12-year-old students, while girl students exhibited higher math anxiety than their counterparts. In addition, math anxiety affected girls' performance in the math test.

Our research looks into the impact of drama/theatre pedagogy practices and methodologies on teenage bullying in schools. Fifteen-year-old students from a countryside junior high school in Northern Greece participated in our mixed research model comprising a weighted questionnaire, participatory observation, reflective researcher logs and critical friend input. Our research question was whether drama/theatre pedagogy workshop participants can be empowered affectively, redefine their attitude to bullying at school, bond more closely, create synergies, and communicate more effectively in this safe setting, thus becoming more aware of themselves and their realities. Our findings show that drama/theatre pedagogy activities do create positive impact for all of the above.

The article traces aspects of the existing training of foreign language teachers in the pedagogical use of digital technologies in foreign language teaching. Specifically, it reflects the views of teachers who teach foreign languages in secondary education in Greece on the content, objectives and methodology of training programs concerning the utilization and application of digital technologies in teaching practice. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were implemented as the research tool to gather teachers' perspectives. The findings of the research were fed by a sample of 15 foreign language teachers (regular and contractual) selected by the method of "simple" random sampling and who were serving in the Secondary Education of the prefecture of Thessaloniki between October 20-20 November 2023. The findings show that, on the one hand, foreign language contractual teachers have not been trained in the integration of digital media in teaching, and on the other hand, although a large percentage of regular foreign language teachers have been trained in the application of digital technologies in teaching practice and express satisfaction with the training programs, they do not feel secure and often hesitate to integrate digital material into their lessons. Deterring factors include lack of teaching time, classroom management, technical support, concerns about the security of personal data, and entrenched teaching beliefs associated with the traditional model of foreign language learning. They seek systematic training that links theoretical knowledge with its application in real-life foreign language classroom situations, support and updating of their knowledge. In summary, according to the findings of the research, training programs for the use and pedagogical use of digital media in foreign language teaching should be open to all teachers (permanent and contractual), providing practices for immediate implementation, provide teaching examples and scenarios to foster digital culture and digital literacy, alongside the development of language and communication skills, which are the basis for teaching a living foreign language.

This paper argues that engaging students in informal statistical reasoning from early school years is essential for the development of statistical understanding. We investigated if and how children aged six-seven years old identified variation in a table of data and made predictions through the design of a teaching experiment. The classroom teaching experiment was comprised of four 45 minutes lessons addressing the understanding and interpretation of data sets. In order to describe students' informal predictive reasoning, we used the framework of "data lenses". More specifically, we analyzed the different types of answers the students produced as they engaged in predictive reasoning during an interview given before and after the teaching experiment. The participation of students in (classroom) and out-of-school (family) communities of practice was also taken into consideration. Our results demonstrate that the students benefited from their learning experience and developed data understanding.

Financial literacy, viewed not only as a fundamental skill but also as an investment, proves valuable for individuals, aiding them in making sound financial decisions and savings. In the current societal landscape, where financial responsibilities are important, instilling financial education early on through suitable programs becomes pivotal, particularly for the younger generation. This study aims to examine parental viewpoints regarding their children's money literacy and management, aiming to enhance social-emotional skills related to saving and giving within the preschool classroom. The study spanned two months and encompassed 101 children and their families. The project was introduced to parents, and 36 volunteer parents were selected to participate. An educational program focusing on money management and donations was executed within the classroom. Official permission from the preschool municipality administration office was obtained, and all participants provided written consent for their involvement. According to the parents, their children acquired money management skills and relished the process of collecting and donating savings to other children in need. In interviews, participating parents expressed feeling active and enthusiastic about their involvement in the school program, highlighting the productive interaction between them and the teachers.

To investigate students' interest in physics, this study explores the impact of a brief teaching intervention on the increase of interest. The intervention focused on modern physics, specifically exploring Einstein's theory of gravity and the dual nature of light. A total of 325 Greek students participated in the survey, comprising 83 students in the 6 th grade (11-12 years old), 116 students in the 9 th grade (14-15 years old), and 126 students in the 11th grade (16-17 years old). Participants completed a questionnaire, which helped determine the average level of interest before and after the teaching. The findings indicate that teaching modern physics concepts contributes to the development of students' interest. However, there is an observed decline in interest as the educational level advances, a pattern persisting despite the introduction of Einsteinian physics concepts.

The parent quantitative research deals with teaching self-efficacy in primary education in Greece. The research aims to investigate teachers' teaching self-efficacy in primary education in Greece. Specifically, an attempt is made to investigate how primary school teachers evaluate their level of self-efficacy regarding teaching tasks, managing disciplinary incidents in the classroom, and motivating students to be actively involved in the classroom and learning tasks, how the self-efficacy of primary education teachers from their educational experience and studies and what are the possible obstacles to the self-efficacy of these teachers. A sample of primary education teachers was recruited for this purpose. The research shows that the overall self-efficacy perception of teachers is exceptionally high with teachers considering themselves to be more effective in managing the classroom and implementing teaching strategies/educational approaches. Also, the self-efficacy of primary school teachers seems to be influenced by their educational experience and studies. Instead, it seems that teachers' overall self-efficacy perception is related to factors such as the stress and pressure they experience, the degree of effectiveness they generally feel as individuals, and their goals.

The ability to relate mathematics teaching to real life is the common goal of many countries' mathematics curriculum National Society for Experiential Education's (NSEE) [2011] "Eight Principles of Good Practice for All Experiential Learning Activities." (intention, originality, planning, clarity, monitoring and evaluation, reflection, evaluation, and acknowledgement) recommend that students' experiences and the meaning and learning they derive from those experiences should be consolidated. Students' ability to develop mathematical skills is directly linked to their ability to relate, which includes skills such as "problem solving, reasoning, communication." Bringing real-world contexts to mathematics lessons can affect students' attitudes towards mathematics and also support their mathematical association skills. In this context, it is important to analyze how the activities in the textbooks, which are the first resources in the classroom, are prepared and to what extent they connect the student with real life. In this regard, the focus is on the activities in the primary school mathematics textbook. In this study, the relationship of the activities in the Greek Primary School 3rd-grade textbook with real life was analyzed based on Gainsburg's (2008) classification. The document analysis method was used in the study, which was conducted on the basis of qualitative research. The data source of the research is the Greek Primary School 3rd grade mathematics textbook. The data obtained was analyzed using the descriptive analysis method. As a result of analyzing a total of 147 activities, it was determined that the activities were collected in the type of classical word problems and partially included activity types associated with real life.

The study investigates secondary students' understanding of "orbital" and "electron cloud" concepts in different quantum contexts (for values of the ?principal quantum number n = 1 and n = 2) on the basis of their verbal and pictorial representations, evaluating also their consistency. Participants, which were 192 12th-grade students from six urban secondary schools of Northern Greece, represented these two concepts through two corresponding tasks of a paper-and-pencil assessment tool, each of which comprised two parts for verbal and pictorial representations, respectively. Results provide evidence that although students struggle to express verbally the orbital and electron cloud concepts, their competences in the corresponding pictorial representations are relatively better, exhibiting inconsistencies between verbal and pictorial representations. Inconsistencies also exist between representations of the orbital and electron cloud concepts, since students appear to have verbally a better understanding of the electron cloud than the orbital, whereas the opposite holds true for their pictorial representations. Comparing verbal and pictorial representations, the pictorial ones appear to be more consistent tools, whereas a quantum context defined by n = 2 seems to be more challenging for students compared to that of n = 1. Furthermore, an analysis of student profiles leads to their categorization in four classes, providing additional relevant information. Implications for science education are also discussed.

This paper presents the findings from a survey conducted on primary students to map their views toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in Greece according to their urban or rural setting and gender. The sample included 281 primary students from different public schools in Attica and 69 primary students from a Greek province. A close-ended questionnaire was digitally distributed to collect the data. The findings revealed that most students, from both settings, consider themselves good at mathematics and science. At the same time, they do not report it to be very likely that they would follow a career that is related either to these subjects or engineering and technology. Regarding their personal skills, most of them stated that they have communication and cooperation skills. Concerning differences between the two settings, there were statistically significant differences in favor of rural students in whether they believed they could improve, both in mathematics and science, their belief that their knowledge in STEM subjects could be useful in their adult life, and their views on the causes and effects of environmental issues. Finally, limited gender differences emerged in favor of the boys' responses regarding future STEM careers. The implications for further research on geographical, gender, and socioeconomic disparities in STEM education are discussed.

Immunization is a highly cost-effective investment in health, proven to be an effective tool in controlling and eliminating dangerous infectious diseases. Health science students require evidence-based knowledge to tackle challenges in healthcare, particularly in the field of vaccination. The aim of the current study is to asses students' knowledge on vaccinations and further explore their feedback after attending Educating Vaccination Competence web-based course (EDUVAC web-based course). Students from five Higher Educational Institutes voluntarily participated in the EDUVAC web-based course. The course provided various study materials, including PowerPoint presentations, videos, quizzes, texts, and references to reputable websites. It also offered small assignments and self-tests for self-evaluation. An online questionnaire was available to students before and after they completed the EDUVAC web-based course. The mean knowledge score on vaccines increased significantly after the EDUVAC web-based course (p<0.001). The majority of the students (95%) felt that the web-based course has benefitted them for their future career and 96.4% would encourage other students to attend the EDUVAC web-based course. Overall, our findings suggest that EDUVAC is a valuable resource for those seeking to enhance their understanding of vaccination.

Global environmental challenges brought on by over-consumption, limited resources, and climate change will task teacher education programs to prepare teacher candidates with new paradigms in problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation. Skills such as collaborating across cultures and borders, thinking critically and creatively, reflecting on deeply embedded assumptions, and negotiating uncertainty will all be needed to surmount these challenges. EcoJustice education addresses these needs. When combined with critical place-based pedagogies, skills, and attitudes associated with global citizenship may also develop. Four preservice teachers participated in a research trip to Lesvos, Greece, to learn about and aid in the refugee crisis there. Participants documented their experiences via critical reflections and dialogues and analyzed these data. Findings suggest that through engagement in a critical place-based learning experience, preservice teachers challenged conceptions of their role as Americans and shifted towards a more global, EcoJustice consciousness.

This article highlights the need for a new type of corpus that will combine both a learner and a pedagogic corpus. The need for such a type of corpus is underlined by the interaction between input and output and the expected impact of the former on the latter within all instructional settings. Such a corpus will allow us to collect data, including teacher language, learner language, coursebook content, etc. and relate it to students' output at specific points in time. Our study aims to present and describe the "Young Learner Corpus of English" (henceforth, "YoLeCorE"), which is an example of a combined pedagogic and learner corpus. "YoLeCorE" consists of 1,5 million tokens and includes both the input and the output of 17 Greek young learners (aged 8-9) of English as a foreign language. "YoLeCorE"'s unique characteristic is that it includes not mere samples of learner language, but all the language that each and every one of the students listened to, read, or produced -- orally and in writing -- during a whole school year. It includes four distinct sub-corpora (one for each language skill) and allows researchers to conduct a variety of analyses and thus track the process of instructed second language acquisition.

The objectives of the present study are to investigate both the history of the collection of scientific instruments from the Maraslean Teaching Center (MTC) and the potential for the collection's use in STEM education programs. Although MTC went by a number of different names during its long history, its institutional goal remained the same: training the Greek state's primary school teachers-to-be. To so do, it was necessary to assemble a collection of scientific instruments. The first objective of the paper is to present in detail the gradual enlargement of the collection from the last quarter of the 19th century through to the 1930s, along with the way the instruments were used in science lessons and the central role MTC played in relation to other regional teaching schools in Greece in terms of the distribution, administration, repair and maintenance of the equipment. The second objective is to investigate the role the historical scientific instruments can play not only in the history of science, but also in contemporary science teaching. The findings reveal that the history of laboratory physics education in MTC along with the corresponding collection of the historical scientific instruments can be a fertile ground for implementing STEM education programs. Finally, the findings imply the broader integration of STEM education and history of science in order to promote cultural and procedural aspects of science in student teachers and beyond. Such integration gives rise to broader research on introducing STEM education to cultural embedded environments, such as museums and historically important schools and laboratories, such as MTC.

The physics' subject aims to provide the student with a broad understanding of the physical phenomena that occur around them every day and introduce them to the scientific search. The use of experiments in the teaching of the subject contributes to the understanding of these phenomena, the development of skills and critical thinking and has many benefits for the emotional, social and psychomotor fields of the students. In total, 178 primary school teachers who have taught physics from West Greece, were enrolled in our study. All participants completed a questionnaire electronically, based on teachers' attitudes towards physics teaching on specific factors. No differences were found between genders, teachers' attitudes towards the use of physics experiments are not affected by their years of service with minor exceptions, while teachers develop more positive attitudes towards experiments over the years of teaching physics. Moreover, teachers' field of study plays an important role on their attitudes towards experiments, there are no differences to the age group of teachers and their attitude towards the use of experiments in the teaching of physics with an exception. Though further research is needed, our questionnaire helps to identify factors that affect teachers' attitudes towards performing experiments in physics teaching.

Background/purpose: Despite progress in inclusive education policies, research has largely neglected the analysis of learning environments that are adjustable for all students. School gardens are learning environments that emphasize the broader view of participation on current perspectives of inclusion. This article discusses the possibilities and limitations of using school gardens in inclusive learning environments and their relations with different inclusive education national policies. Materials/methods: We performed a content analysis of inclusive education national policies and 16 learning activities tested and implemented in four schools from Slovenia, Spain, Greece, and Portugal participating in an exchange project which promoted teaching with school gardens supported by digital tools. Results: The study revealed illustrations of how activities that combine the use of school gardens with digital tools can emphasize collaboration and participation in inclusive learning approaches. However, fostering inclusive practices was found to be either constrained or promoted by each country's view of inclusion in educational policies. Conclusion: Integrating teacher collaboration and project-based learning with garden-based school activities fosters student collaboration and participation, while offering enriched sensorial experiences that benefit the learning and development of all students. School gardens also foster inclusion through deepening intercultural understanding and stronger student interactions that heighten awareness and normalization of diversity.

This study aims to research the phenomena of Racism and Xenophobia in pre-school education in the context of Greek reality through the attitudes and views of teachers who are the communicators of educational practice. The radical change in the racial and religious homogeneity of Greek education in recent decades as a result of globalization and the high mobility of populations has created significant challenges in the educational scene, giving rise to the need to investigate the phenomenon. For the study, we employed a qualitative methodology. The teachers stated that issues such as xenophobia, religious differences, and the economic hardship in which many families have fallen due to the economic crisis make the phenomenon difficult, making the predictions for its development ominous.

The current study explores the impact of visual arts education on early childhood, highlighting its role in enhancing creativity, imagination, and emotional expression in pre-school children. It explores the perspectives of pre-school teachers on the importance of visual arts in children's development and the challenges they face when integrating the arts into the curriculum. The study used quantitative and qualitative research methods. The study highlights how pre-school educators value the visual arts for its potential to enhance cognitive and social skills and how demographic factors influence these perceptions. In addition, it explores the practical aspects of art education, including classroom management and resource allocation, to offer a comprehensive view of the current state and future potential of visual arts in early childhood education. Finally, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the central role of the visual arts in early education. It highlights the need for supportive educational policies and resources to enrich the learning environment.

This paper examines the current education policy for achieving digital education in European Union overall and in Greece specifically. By using a theoretical framework of policy enactment, this study explored different factors which could predict technology integration and digital education. A survey was conducted with 205 classroom teachers across 32 primary schools in Greece. The analysis tracked the progress towards achieving digital education. The results of this study confirmed that current policies are accurately targeted on significant areas which are predictors of technology integration. This paper recommends strategies for achieving, scaling, and sustaining school system improvement for digital education.

With the global increase in forcibly displaced populations, understanding and improving educational opportunities and outcomes for refugee youth is of paramount importance. This scoping review focuses on understanding the extent and nature of evidence related to school engagement among refugee parents and students. The review's scope was limited to peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2015 and 2023. The review reveals insights into research contexts, methodological and theoretical approaches, empirical interests, and key findings on enablers of and barriers to school engagement. Additionally, the paper identifies three significant themes requiring attention in future research: inconsistent framing of central themes, the prevalence of deficit accounts regarding refugee parents and students, and omissions concerning critical aspects of school engagement.

In adult education, understanding the dynamics of motivation among incarcerated individuals to attend English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes is crucial for effective educational programming, successful rehabilitation, and recidivism reduction efforts. The present study, focusing on Greek prisons, investigates two key aspects: a) the influence of sociodemographic factors (marital status, age, gender, and occupation previous to sentence) on inmates' motivation to attend EFL classes and b) the relative prevalence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors driving inmates to attend EFL classes. Grounded in theories of foreign language learning motivation, the study employed quantitative methods with a large sample of 400 adult inmates enrolled in English classes at Second Chance Schools across all Greek prisons. The findings reveal that marital status, age, gender, and previous occupation are factors that significantly impact inmates' motivation to attend EFL classes, with female inmates demonstrating higher motivation than their male counterparts. Notably, the study highlights the predominance of extrinsic motivation among inmates, with the desire to make their families proud being the most highly rated motivational driver.

The paper attempts to investigate how contributive primary school principals' e-leadership proved to the work and preparation of teachers for the implementation of the Distance Education during the COVID-19 pandemic. By employing quantitative modes of enquiry and specifically a significant number of questionnaires, we concluded that the teachers' level of education doesn't affect their opinion towards the degree of the school principals' contribution to their work and preparation or the implementation of distance education, contrary to their educational experience. Moreover, the majority of teachers who participated in the research consider the presence and involvement of the electronic leader as important.

The current study examined whether the extent to which students perceived their teachers provided positive support influenced associations between teachers' emotional intelligence and social emotional learning (SEL) beliefs and multiple dimensions of students' other-oriented cognitions (i.e., perspective taking empathetic concern, and prosocial motivations and goals). Forty-three fifth-grade and sixth-grade teachers from 12 Greek elementary schools and 353 students (192 boys) were participants. The majority of students were White and of Greek nationality. Teachers' emotional intelligence was associated positively with students' empathic concern and prosocial goals. However, the association between teachers' emotional intelligence was related negatively to students' perspective taking skills, but only when students reported receiving less positive support from their teachers. Conversely, when students reported high levels of positive teacher support, teachers' comfort with SEL teaching practices was related positively to students' prosocial goals. Findings also highlighted differences in Greek teachers' emotional intelligence and comfort with and commitment to SEL teaching practices as compared to those reported in other countries. Additionally, girls rated themselves as higher in empathetic concern than did boys. Implications for teacher training and professional development that support teachers and students' SEL are discussed.

Previous studies have found positive effects of Game-Based Learning for mathematics. While most studies assume that this effect is explained by the presence of flow/immersion during games, this has not yet been established. The aim of the current study is to verify if immersion indeed is associated with mathematical skills improvement when using a Game-Based Learning intervention. This was tested among 59 Greek high school students, using authentic design. After having received a traditional education module, the students were tested and then engaged for four weeks in a desktop-based 3D Virtual Learning Environment where they could play mathematic minigames. They were subsequently re-tested to verify if they showed a significant increase in mathematical skills. The students showed an improvement in their mathematical skills (Cohen's d = 1.26), with significant results for functions, geometry, and thinking skills and methods. On the individual level, about half of the students showed a 10% increase in one of the domains (numbers & calculations, functions, geometry, thinking skills and methods, and algorithms and number theory). Immersion was found to be reflected by engagement and presence, but neither one of these aspects was associated with mathematical achievement after the intervention. It is concluded that Game-Based Learning is an effective approach to increasing mathematical skills, yet the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. The authors discuss several alternative mechanisms based on the literature that can be verified in future studies.

This retrospective study examines involvement in school bullying at all developmental stages, from elementary school to university, in relation to personality traits. Participants were 216 university students, 162 (75.0%) females and 54 (25.0%) males. The majority of the sample (88.9%) aged 18-24. Students completed the International Personality Items Pool (BFFM) and a self-report questionnaire about school bullying online. The results show that the involvement roles in personality trait A3 (don't insult) of the Agreeableness (A) scale differ significantly at all educational levels. However, trait E6 Extraversion (E) and the Conscientiousness (C) scale differ at the elementary school level, and trait N6 of the Neuroticism (N) scale varies at the middle school and N3 differs at the high school. All participants differ statistically significantly in A3, Conscientiousness scale at all educational levels. Those involved differ statistically significantly in the traits Neuroticism, C8, and C9 and in two traits of Openness (O). Throughout the course of schooling, victims showed a higher score on the Conscientiousness scale than the bullies/victims. The victims who became the bullies (victims/bullies) had a higher score on the Emotional Stability scale than the bullies who became victims (bullies/victims). About half of the participants said that the experience affected them positively and the other half negatively. Those who answered that it had a positive impact on them showed a statistically significant difference in characteristics E7 (talkativeness) and N10 (pleasant mood). The findings help inform a new perspective of anti-bullying intervention that targets personality traits in all the roles and their rotation.

Despite stakeholders' desire for organizations to participate in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, some organizations do not invest in CSR due to uncertainty around the value it provides to performance. This research investigates the effect size of the relationship between CSR and performance via a meta-analysis of 17 articles. A series of performance-indicating groups emerged and effect sizes were calculated using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. These groups include in-role performance, extra-role performance, employees' affective attitudes towards organizations, and organizational-level outputs. Results suggest that CSR has a large effect on performance across a range of contexts. Implications for career counseling are discussed.

Successful integration of digital technologies in the education of young children still needs to be solved. Despite a growing body of research focusing on learning through digital technologies in childhood, there are areas of knowledge where the impact of digital technologies has yet to be explored. A prominent example is nanoscience and nanotechnology (NST), a new interdisciplinary field that promises to solve long-standing global challenges. Considering that NST concerns elements that cannot be observed with the naked eye, their understanding by young children requires appropriate teaching methods. These distinctive aspects of NST align well with the capabilities of smart mobile devices, the critical feature of which is their ability to display interactive simulations and playful visualizations. This study investigates and compares the effect of using tablets and alternative experiential teaching on developing the ability to understand nanoscale elements. To implement the research, we conducted a week-long intervention, including experimental and control groups. Children in the experimental group participated in a nanoteaching session during the school curriculum, using educational software on tablets. The children in the control group participated in a precisely similar instruction but without using technology. To assess the children's performance, the Nanoscale Elementary Knowledge Comprehension Test (TENANO) created for the needs of this study was used. The sample consisted of 101 s-grade primary school children in Greece. The results showed that teaching with tablets compared to alternative experiential teaching contributed significantly to developing young children's nanoliteracy level. Moreover, gender and non-verbal cognitive ability did not seem to differentiate the development of children's ability to understand nanoscale entities.

Unfolding item response theory (IRT) models are important alternatives to dominance IRT models in describing the response processes on self-report tests. Their usage is common in personality measures, since they indicate potential differentiations in test score interpretation. This paper aims to gain a better insight into the structure of trait personality, by investigating whether the dominance or alternatively the unfolding IRT model are better descriptors of the response processes on a personality measure constructed under the dominance response theorem. For the assessment of the dominant model, the Graded Response Model (GRM) is used; while for the unfolding model, the Generalized Graded Unfolding Model (GGUM) was examined. All analyses are conducted with the freely available R. A sample of 1340 Greek adults, employed in private and public organizations, fulfilled the Trait Personality Questionnaire 5 short-form (TPQue5). Findings contradict previous research on trait personality. In accordance to the construction method employed, the TPQue5 items are best understood by monotonically increasing item response functions (IRFs). Individuals responding to the TPQue5 increase their probability of endorsing its items as their trait level increases; this stands for all personality dimensions, although Openness to Experience exhibited mixed type of item response patterns. Further research directions, implications and limitations are also discussed.

This study focuses on exploring pre-service primary general teacher students' (N = 40) reflections on the opportunities they were given to awake their creativity, by participating systematically (13 weeks) in music improvisation activities, in the context of the course Music Education in a university classroom of a Greek Department of Primary Education. More specifically, it focuses on teacher-students' reflections on the implemented music improvisation activities, on team interactions, their perceptions regarding classroom atmosphere and the way they feel during their participation, their confidence-as future teachers-to integrate the music improvisation activities in their classroom, their preference for individual or group music improvisations activities, and their beliefs on the characteristics of a creative teacher. The improvisations were carried out individually, in pairs and in groups, using their voice, their body, and percussion musical instruments. Data were collected through observation, diary keeping, and questionnaires with open-ended and closed-ended questions. As the findings indicated the primary general teacher-students expressed positive attitude regarding the awaking of their own creativity, enjoyed their participation, developed a rather strong self-confidence to implement improvisational activities as future teachers and considered as creative teacher a well-prepared facilitator who ensures the conditions for an interesting, structured lesson and promotes cooperation.

The present research aims to investigate teachers' views as critical factors in the success of inclusive education on the Parallel Support (PS) institution in Greece and the educational policies implemented. PS is an educational support provided by a special education teacher, alongside the mainstream teacher, in the classroom, exclusively for a child with a SEND. The research questions focus on teachers' attitudes and conceptualisations of implementing parallel support in N. Aegean and the policies adopted. A semi-structured interview was used as a methodological tool. The semi-structured interview supports an in-depth study of the topic and captures the participants' views through their derived discourse. Twelve primary school teachers from the region of N. Aegean with at least 2 years of teaching experience in PS were selected. Three of them were women. Most teachers working in PS in the Greek education system are men. Findings revealed that the teachers in our research stated that they were positive about PS operation, but this should depend on the nature of special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Some participants said that PS would help all pupils. In addition, teachers were concerned about working together to support students with SEND and education policy issues. Problems such as inadequate logistical infrastructure, shortages of qualified staff, insufficient training of teachers in inclusive education and curricula designed for the mainstream student population highlight insurmountable challenges for the effective implementation of PS.

Objective: Using the FAST (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) Heroes educational programme, this intervention sought to educate residents in a nursing home to recognise and recall the three main stroke symptoms and prepare them to act in an appropriate way, in the event of a stroke emergency. Design: Participatory action research. Setting: A nursing home in Northern Greece. Method: Fifteen residents (n = 15, aged 78-92, mean age = 86.6 ± 4.4) were enrolled and educated through a series of FAST Heroes activities, specially tailored for this new target population. Stroke awareness was measured before, after and 3 weeks post-programme implementation. Fourteen residents completed the programme. Results: Participants demonstrated significant increases in stroke definition, stroke symptom knowledge, appropriate course of action and emergency number knowledge after completing the programme. Notably, 64.3% of participants could accurately identify stroke symptoms, and all participants (100%) correctly knew to call an ambulance in case of witnessing a stroke; 78.6% of the participants correctly identified the European emergency number 112. In the follow-up period, knowledge gain was retained as residents scored significantly higher in three out of four sections of the questionnaire. Conclusion: This study is the first attempt to utilise the FAST Heroes educational intervention in target populations which hitherto have had limited or no access to such educational programmes. This initial intervention showed promising results and could form the basis for extension to a wider population.

The present study contributes to the development of effective measures to evaluate classroom climate, especially in elementary education where these remain limited. In addition, it addresses a typical "flaw" of several studies by approaching classroom climate as a group-level construct rather than an individual characteristic. Following a multilevel approach, we attempted to establish validity evidence for an adapted version of the Classroom Behavioral Climate (CBC) questionnaire and examine its equivalence across two contexts. The participants included 2963 students from 176 fourth and fifth grade classes. Multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analyses resulted in a shorter version of the CBC with three correlated factors in both countries. Two-level models performed better than the single-level models. Configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance was also achieved. The study highlights the need for researchers and practitioners to use appropriate methods and instruments to evaluate the classroom environment based on their research aims and intended use.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of an intervention on primary school students' construction of knowledge on ocean acidification and the development of their systems thinking. Eighty-five 11 to 12-year-old students from five different classes of two public primary schools in Greece participated in the 8-h intervention. The intervention included inquiry-based and knowledge-integration activities, and students worked in groups during all activities. Rich pictures, made by the groups at the beginning and the end of the intervention, were used to evaluate their progress in their knowledge concerning the carbon cycle, as well as in their systems thinking. Our findings showed that the intervention contributed to primary students' conceptual knowledge of the carbon cycle and the inclusion of ocean acidification in the carbon cycle. It also helped them improve their systems thinking, indicating that students' systems thinking at this age could be developed through formal instruction with interventions which emphasize content knowledge and use an earth systems approach. Moreover, our findings indicate that the systems thinking perspective can serve as an effective approach to help children better understand and critically engage with complex environmental issues, such as ocean acidification.

Greek and Spanish are two languages that display a similar subject distribution with unergative/unaccusative verbs, but different word orders with focused subjects (SV in Greek and VS in Spanish). Here we consider subject-verb word order in second language (L2) Greek and L2 Spanish in order to test the Interface Hypothesis (IH). To this end, we report a word-order selection task, with a Greek and a Spanish version. The two versions of the task were administered to L2 intermediate and advanced learners and native speakers of Greek and Spanish. The results show that the first language (L1) Spanish learners of Greek approximated more closely native word orders than the L1 Greek learners of Spanish. For the Spanish learners of Greek, the advanced group performed at ceiling, while the intermediate group performed native-like only with unergatives in neutral and direct interrogative subject-focused contexts. On the other hand, for the Greek learners of Spanish, the intermediate group failed in all contexts, while the advanced group performed native-like with unaccusatives in neutral contexts. This asymmetry between L2 Greek and L2 Spanish reveals that the L1-L2 combination determines the learners' performance, and this is unexpected under the IH.

Inclusion classes (IC) are one of Greece's most crucial educational inclusion policies. This paper explores the institution of inclusion classes as a supportive educational framework for students with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) for their inclusion in the mainstream education system through teachers' conceptualisations. In this research, interpretive phenomenological analysis was used. Nine teachers of inclusive education in primary schools were involved in the study. The results showed that teachers had approached inclusion classes as closed structures with specific clinical criteria for selecting students with SEND and facing institutional barriers. At the same time, participants stressed through their discourse that the attitudes of school community members depend on the characteristics of students with SEND, which sometimes leads to their stigmatisation and categorisation and raises issues of educational and social exclusion. An implication of existing policies is the necessity to incorporate fully inclusive education principles and establish a learning framework of functional emancipatory pedagogical practices.

Students with General Learning Difficulties present low levels of social competence. In order to increase them, students participate in school psychological support programmes. There are no research data available in Greece regarding social competence in students with General Learning Difficulties in the first grades of elementary school. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of an intervention programme, which focused on strengthening their social competence, in the first grades of primary school. The levels of social competence of the students were evaluated before and after the implementation of an 8-month social empowerment programme, following a mixed-methods approach with the use of semi-structured interviews and observation in the school context. The participants were 21 students with General Learning Difficulties, 18 education professionals, whose classes the 21 students attended, together with the 21 parents of these students (one parent per student). The results showed that the social competence of the participants was low before and that it increased after their participation in the intervention programme. In addition, girls had higher social competence than boys both before and after their participation in the intervention programme. These results highlight the benefits of classroom intervention programmes for children with General Learning Difficulties.

The importance of mathematics education in preparing students to become successful citizens raises continuous challenges for schools and educational systems, especially in minoritized settings. Research has identified practices and structures in the social and educational context that do not equally support all students' learning and all teachers' teaching and learning to teach. The study presented here employs a cultural-historical activity theory perspective to identify micro and macro practices and structures that challenge Muslim teachers' mathematics teaching and their professional development in Western Thrace, Greece. The data exploited in the study, which is part of a larger project on Muslim students' learning, were generated through interviews with in-service minority teachers. The results highlight micro and macro socio-political formations that interact to activate minoritization processes. These shape the practice of teaching mathematics as well as individual and collective identities connected to learning and teaching mathematics.

Access to youth culture by adolescents has changed as new communication technologies have found new ways of offering media content to viewers. Adolescents today access more content more frequently. However, the greater their exposure, the higher the likelihood of this leading to risk behaviors such as access to pornography, plagiarism, piracy and copyright violation. The aim of the present study is, therefore, to determine the frequency of these risk behaviors linked to the Internet content accessed and downloaded by minors, analyzing this variable in accordance with gender, age and context (Spain, Italy and Greece). We analyzed the responses provided by 2,529 adolescents (1,264 girls/1,262 boys) aged between 10 and 17 years from Spain, Italy and Greece. In general, adolescent boys, especially those aged 16 and 17 years, reported engaging more frequently in risk behaviors, particularly in reference to accessing youth culture content. Likewise, in terms of context, the highest means were observed among participants from Attica (Greece) and the Madrid Region (Spain), whereas the lowest means were observed in the Marche Region (Italy) and Navarre (Spain). The results revealed statistically significant differences in terms of gender, age and context. Thereby, they highlight the importance of focusing on media education from a gender perspective.

The purpose of this research work was the study and investigation the perceptions of general education teachers in Greek primary education regarding the inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder in the general school context, as well as their knowledge about this disorder. A total of 60 general education teachers participated in the survey. The research tool used was the questionnaire and knowledge were measured by closed-ended questions, which would have a 5-point Likert format (1 = "agree" to 5 = "disagree"). In the present research: (1) teachers' perceptions of inclusive education for autistic children in general education classes were studied; and (2) the relationships between individual and demographic teacher characteristics. and their perceptions of inclusion. An important finding of the statistical analysis of the results was that teachers were generally found to have a relatively moderate level of knowledge, as assessed by a 48-question questionnaire. In addition, it was found that gender, educational level, and participation in autism education programs did not appear to significantly influence teachers' scores on this questionnaire.

Informatics and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) have been closely intertwined with education for about 50 years worldwide and about 40 years in Greece. This article focuses on the content of the learning subjects of Informatics and ICT in Greek schools, which are included as independent subjects in all primary and secondary school grades, aiming at well-educated graduates to be able to use ICT in an effective, creative, and ethically correct way, and to be prepared to participate actively in the digitally enhanced society. To this end, a review was conducted to all current curricula of the primary and secondary education in Greece for the learning subjects of Informatics and ICT to present the basic principles and content of the instruction of these two subjects, as well as the student's skills that the teaching of these subjects aims to develop. Informatics and ICT as learning subjects in Greek are being taught in all grades of primary and secondary education by specialized Informatics teachers. For the instruction of them, constructivist learning theories are proposed, and collaborative, project-based and game-based approaches are promoted. given the rapid advances in computer and communication science, it is imperative that ICT curricula are updated or reformed to meet the needs of the ever-changing landscape.