Symeou, Loizos

2018-05-04, Symeou, Loizos, Liasidou, Anastasia, Liasidou, Anastasia

This article uses critical discourse analysis in order to discuss the equity and social justice implications of an envisaged education reform agenda in Cyprus, as articulated by two consultation reports commissioned by the World Bank. The reports highlight, inter alia, the imperative to improve teaching and enhance accountability regimes with regard to students’ learning. Selected extracts from these documents are analyzed in order to highlight the absence of a social justice discourse in the rhetoric of educational reforms, despite the alleged centrality of a social justice discourse in official policy. The reports fail to include issues of social justice and learner diversity in discussing the necessity to strengthen the existing teacher policy framework and to mobilize structural educational reforms. This omission is indicative of the neoliberal imperatives that drive the envisaged education policy reforms as well as the low priority attributed to issues of equity and learner diversity, with particular reference to students designated as having special educational needs and/or disabilities.

2018-11-12, Symeou, Loizos, Karagiorgi, Yiasemina

Purpose: In this paper, the authors focus on a professional development programme in Cyprus aiming to enhance teachers’ intercultural understanding, awareness and competencies. This paper aims to focus on trainers’ and teacher trainees’ reflections upon a teacher professional development programme in the primary school in Cyprus with the largest number of Roma children. Design/methodology/approach: The training was provided by a small team of six trainers. Immediately after each training session, each trainer participated in an interview, while three of the trainers participated also in a focus-group interview at the end of the training. The trainers’ data were complemented by semi-structured interviews with a number of trainees either before or after the training. All interviews were transcribed, while interview questions comprised the framework for the qualitative analysis. The findings are presented by means of content analysis which formed the basis for emerging themes. Findings: The authors claim that trainee teachers appeared culturally aware and sensitive, as well as knowledgeable about intercultural education; furthermore, they seemed to implement different teaching methodologies and curriculum interventions to support Roma children’s inclusion in the local school community. At the same time, they seemed to adopt instrumental approaches towards the content and purpose of the programme, seeking explicit instructional guidelines, plans and heuristics to deal with Roma inclusion. Considering the mis-recognition of teachers’ efforts by stakeholders outside the school and the expectations of the educational authorities – voiced via their school inspectors – teachers desperately asserted the need for tangible strategies to help them cope with difference in their classrooms. Research limitations/implications: The authors argue that such professional development programmes should aim at facing, deconstructing and bringing to the fore prejudices and discrimination against the Other/s by valuing teachers, first, as reflective individuals and, second, as professionals with their own cultural backgrounds and identities, on which any training programme, of the kind presented in this paper, could start from and build on. Practical implications: Even though there is no tailored magic recipe to make teachers’ daily professional enterprise in multicultural settings easy, to help teachers master the necessary knowledge, skills and confidence, the authors suggest that training should be directly linked to classroom practice and acknowledge stress and helplessness that accompany work in multicultural school settings. Social implications: The inclusion strategy in many educational systems needs to become more comprehensive to cope with varying sources of social exclusion, faced by vulnerable groups of a different cultural background, such as Roma. Teacher training thus needs to meet the challenges of working in a diverse and multicultural environment in general and with Roma children in particular. In view of the multicultural character of local societies, a more critically oriented humanistic education is needed based on tolerance and understanding. Originality/value: The limited participation of Roma in the school system could be related to teachers’ (mis)conceptions about the Roma culture and that the widely different ways in which Roma relate to schooling are often disregarded by the school.

2005-07-11, Symeou, Loizos, Karagiorgi, Yiasemina

Instructional designers are expected to be familiar with the epistemological underpinnings of several theories and their consequences on the process of instruction. Constructivism is the dominant theory of the last decade and supports construction of knowledge by the individual. This paper discusses the basic principles underlying constructivism, particularly active, collaborative and authentic learning. Application of these principles on the process - analysis, development, evaluation - of instructional design poses certain challenges with regards to issues such as pre-specification of knowledge, authentic evaluation and learner control. Most of the problems are attributed to the fact that constructivism is a learning theory and not an instructional-design theory. Therefore, instructional designers must attempt to translate constructivism into instructional design through a more pragmatic approach that focuses on the principles of moderate - rather than extreme - constructivism and makes use of emergent technology tools. This shift could facilitate the development of more situated, experiential, meaningful and cost-effective learning environments.

2013-05-01, Symeou, Loizos, Theodorou, Eleni

This paper examines the experiences of minority students from two different cultural groups, immigrant children of Pontian background and indigenous minority children of Roma descent, in the Greek-Cypriot educational system. Through a joint re-examination of results from two different qualitative studies, this paper delineates similarities and differences of how life at school is experienced through the eyes of children who are not part of the mainstream, in an effort to gain insight into the nuances of being a minority child in the specific educational system. Comparisons across the two groups of children suggest that although both groups shared a minority status, they nonetheless experienced marginalisation across different dimensions that were linked to their dual multilayered position as both insiders and outsiders. Attention to such complexities enables us to gain deeper understandings of children's lives, as too often the category of 'minority child' seems to be treated as a monolithic and homogeneous one.

2017-04-03, Symeou, Loizos, Mavrou, Katerina, Theodorou, Eleni, Preece, David A., Stošić, Jasmina, Troshanska, Jasmina, Frey Škrinjar, Jasmina J.

Parent training has been shown to be an important means of supporting families living with autism–but such services are not universally accessible. A multinational project funded by the European Commission has been developed in order to establish such parent training in three south-eastern European countries. To ensure that the training was relevant and appropriate, a survey was carried out in autumn 2015 to ascertain the attitudes of parents of children with autism in Croatia, Cyprus and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia regarding this issue, and to identify the areas of training that they felt most important. Two hundred and fifty-three surveys were distributed, and 148 were returned, a response rate of 58%. Respondents in the three counties were overwhelmingly positive about parent training, with almost 90% stating that they would like to attend such training. Weekend training sessions were preferred by the majority of respondents. There was wide variation between the three countries with regard to what content was felt important to be included, with parents in the FYR of Macedonia seeking information in the greatest number of areas. Five topics were prioritised by parents across all three countries. These were:• Strategies for enhancing my child’s communication • Strategies on facilitating my child’s interaction with other children • Sensory integration and development • General information on behavioural management strategies • Identifying and/or developing socialisation opportunities

2007-07-01, Symeou, Loizos

In this paper, I present the findings of a study which explored teacher-family collaboration in state primary schools in Cyprus. The research strategy was one of multiple case study, with a sample of seven teachers, their pupils and the pupils' parents. The research approach was ethnographic and the data set reported in this paper includes the data collected from the field of two of the sites. The analysis of the data showed that participant parents, regardless of their background, valued their children's educational success, wanted their children to do well in school, and correspondingly saw themselves as supporting their children in one way or another. The evidence, however, demonstrated a variation in familial perspectives and needs and a considerable distinction in how families of different background used their school contacts. These conclusions draw on Bourdieu's views of cultural capital and seem quite consistent with the findings of other researchers elsewhere.

2006-01-01, Symeou, Loizos, Karagiorgi, Yiasemina

This article focuses on in-service teacher training in Cyprus and points to the necessity for reorganisation of existing practices and reformulation of national policies within the framework of continuous professional development. Examination of this issue results from the need of the educational system to respond to the challenges of the European educational area and overcome the identified inefficiency of the current training scheme. On the basis of the gap between emerging challenges and current practices, policy recommendations are proposed with regard to the organisation as well as the content of a possible training scheme that will incorporate a holistic, long-term approach to ongoing teacher professional development. Such recommendations include, among others, decentralisation of training provision and funds, as well as multiplicity of providers, along with accountability measures, such as legislative frameworks and quality assurance standards. At the same time, it is suggested that in-service teacher training should combine national priorities with locally perceived needs and extend beyond taught seminars towards personal study, reflection and alternative modes of professional development. Finally, it is recommended that in-service evaluation mechanisms should be established to maximise effectiveness through links to school improvement.

2018-03-15, Symeou, Loizos, Afantiti-Lamprianou, Thekla, Alexandrou-Leonidou, Vassiliki, Karagiorgi, Yiasemina, Karamanou, Marianna

The contribution of Action Research (AR) to school improvement is well-documented. This study records the accounts of two primary school leaders, involved in AR projects that focused on the development of students’ oral communication skills. Drawing data from diaries with fieldnotes and systematic reflections, the study presents leaders’ experiences, as they translated feedback into modifications and redefinitions to bring about change. Despite difficulties encountered, the leaders acknowledged the value of collaborative school-based enquiry for teachers, students and themselves, mainly reflecting notions of catalytic and democratic validity. The paper highlights that AR as a tool for individual and school improvement, can enhance understandings of school performance and empower participants to focus on school outcomes in an educational context that does not implement accountability measures. AR can certainly help principals in Cyprus reconceptualise and rediscover their pedagogical role as instructional leaders to improve teaching and learning. Yet, to address outcome and process validity, the paper argues about the need for evaluative tools.

2021-05-06, Symeou, Loizos, Stylianou, Elena, Chrystalla Papademetri-kachrimani, Hadjipapa, Sophia, Petroudi, Georgia

EDucation and DIgital Cultural LABoratory (EDUCLAB) is a project co-funded by Erasmus+ 2018 of the European Commission in the field of early childhood education [grant number 2018-1-IT02-KA201-048316]. The main aim of the project is to develop training material for early childhood and care (ECEC) educators working with an increased number of students (age 3-6) with migrant background, on how to plan, organize and implement cultural and artistic workshops in the classroom in the framework of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The focus of the project is to prepare children to visit museums, libraries, archaeological sites, theatres and musical institutions, to provide them with a "key" to enjoy such visits and to be able to interpret the art they are going to explore during these visits. In this chapter we present a suggested framework on how educational cultural workshops could be organized and implemented for children aged 3-5 with diverse cultural backgrounds at early childhood education and care (ECEC) facilities. The framework has been developed for the purposes of the EDUCLAB project. The framework is developed on the basis of an in-depth analysis of data collected during focus-group discussions with approximately 50 educators conducted across all five partner countries (Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Turkey); two focus-groups with a minimum of five educators each, for each partner country. The focus-groups aimed at identifying best practices and pedagogical approaches in planning and implementing cultural workshops in early childhood education, as well as the skill gaps of early childhood educators in relation to the use of digital technologies and in the field of inclusive education. The analysis of the data led to the identification of skill gaps and pedagogical approaches, as well as of other emerging themes, including school-parents' relations, characteristics of good practices relating to the implementation of cultural workshops in early childhood education and care, as well as challenges faced by educators across Europe in organizing and implementing cultural workshops. In the last section of this chapter we present guidelines, practical and useful indicators for educators, as these emerge from the analysis of the data collected and supported by references to contemporary literature.

2007-05-01, Symeou, Loizos, Karagiorgi, Yiasemina

Needs-identification studies should be systematically conducted to bring clarity to the decisions about the expectations from particular in-service training schemes. This article aims to present the results of a research study diagnosing teachers' in-service training needs in Cyprus. For the purposes of the study, questionnaires were distributed to a random stratified sample of schools state-wide. Findings outline teachers' preferences on aspects of professional development, such as content, teacher participation, efficiency and organization. Despite the resulting diversity of collected views, emerging recommendations focus on the adoption of preferred thematic orientations, the development of alternative forms of in-service training, the establishment of links with school improvement, the shift of organizational models from the central to the local level and the enhancement of teacher involvement in in-service training activities. These findings can prove significant in shaping professional development policies within the framework of a recently announced initiative for educational reform in Cyprus.