Best practices in GREECE
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This document summarizes the key learnings from a project between schools in Greece and Norway focused on approaches to delinquent behavior. The Greek school of Archangelos had best practices in areas like clear attendance rules, teachers having close relationships with students, and involving the local police. The Norwegian school of Fyllingsdalen found that some of these practices could potentially be transferred, like increasing teacher-student engagement, but that other practices were difficult to replicate due to differences in laws and resources. The document concludes by thanking the Greek partners for their collaboration.
Best practices in GREECE
- 1. Comenius Regio Project Approaching Delinquent Behavior at School Greece- Norway Best practices from Greece Topics: 1) General School Rules 2) Illegal Behavior 3) Integration 4) Bullying 5) School Support System
- 2. General School Rules Website reference: http://arbere.eu/general-school-rules Stratos Tsagaris Linn Gunnerød
- 3. Best practices, from Archangelos 1. A pupil can only be absent from school for a specific amount of hours/days during a school year in order to be able to pass the class. Absence must be documented by parents or a physician 2. Pupils who are late for class must bring a written confirmation from the headmaster in order to enter the lesson 3. All pupils must attend the morning assembly in the school yard before the lessons start 4. The pupils cannot leave school grounds during recess or during the school day 5. The pupils must pass their exams in all subjects to be able to move on to the next grade 6. Pupils maintain their student status during their holidays so they are responsible for their actions. The school community have the right and the authority to punish the students when they return to school.
- 4. Potential transfer to Fyllingsdalen 1. Many Norwegian teachers want clearer and more specific rules for how much absence that can be accepted during a school year. However, rules and regulations for absence are decided by the government, and not by individual schools 2. Many pupils at Fyllingsdalen are late for class in the morning. We have already carried through a project where pupils who were late for class had to bring a written confirmation from the school’s administration in order to be able to enter the lesson. Unfortunately, the number of latecomers did not decrease. 3. The morning assembly in Archangelos seems to strengthen the school’s unity and is a great forum for information. The climate in Bergen/Norway makes it hard to transfer this practice. Also, we do not have any indoor premises that are big enough to fit all the pupils. 4. Being able to prevent pupils from leaving school grounds during the day would probably decrease the number of latecomers. Since we do not have a fence surrounding the school this would demand considerable resources (staff). 5. During our project period a new law/regulation has been enforced. The main rule is that all pupils now have to pass ALL their subjects in order to move on to the next grade. We are very pleased with this new rule! 6. We think that it is a very good idea that pupils maintain their student status during the holidays. However, the law does not allow us to punish students for actions committed on their spare time.
- 5. Illegal Behavior Website reference: http://arbere.eu/illegal-behavior Symela Morfopoulou Rolf Thorsen
- 6. Best practices, from Archangelos • Surveys have been conducted among pupils in Archangelos and at Fyllingsdalen • The pupils are open about the fact that they do things that they know they should not do • It is clear that pupils in both schools face challenges that are typical of youth culture and delinquent behavior (e.g. the use of alcohol).
- 7. • Teachers in Archangelos are close to the pupils and have much contact with individual pupils. • Teachers and pupils are often in the same places and it is easier for the teachers to be aware of what is going on among young people. • The pupils must answer to the school for what they do in their spare time. • The police station is located near the school and there is close contact between the Archangelos police and school.
- 8. Potential transfer to Fyllingsdalen • We could encourage closer ties between teachers and pupils. For example by talking to individual pupils more often, or by being more visible during recess. • The police station in Fyllingsdalen is located near our school. We already cooperate with the police, but this cooperation could be closer and more frequent. We have already discussed the need for the police to come and visit our school more often in order to engage in preventive work.
- 9. Integration Website referece: http://arbere.eu/integration Ioanna Klapsinaki Stella Lamprianou Berte Fagerås
- 10. Best practices, from Archangelos In Greece there are various ways to organize education of students with special needs: • Special Schools • In special classes in ordinary schools • In ordinary classes in ordinary schools • Homeschooling
- 11. Potential transfer to Fyllingsdalen • In Norway, integration into mainstream classes and schools is considered as the best solution for pupils. • In Bergen there is now talk about closing down on of the last remaining special primary schools. Several parents of disabled kids advocate that special schools in some cases is the best solution for the pupils. • Perhaps we should learn from Greece, and accept a greater diversity of offers depending on the individual students’ needs.
- 12. Bullying Website reference: http://arbere.eu/bulling Ira Loutsiou Stella Lamprianou Ingeborg Sundfør
- 13. Bullying The Norwegian Council of education’s definition of bullying is: • “Repeated negative or ‘evil’ behavior from one or more pupil directed against a pupil who is unable to defend him- or herself.” • Repeated teasing in an unpleasant way is also defined as bullying. To be defined as bullying, this should be repeated 2 – 3 times a month. • The last survey from our school, in 2011, showed that out of 410 pupils, 10 say they are bullied several times every week, 5 once a week, 8 of them 2 – 3 times a month. • According to the Norwegian anti bullying program, the Olweus- program, more than 60 000 children are bullied at schools in Norway. Link to the program’s international website: http://www.olweusinternational.no/
- 14. Best practices, from Archangelos • In Norway, the extent of bullying is examined through surveys every year. • In Greece there are no such studies. • This project has created a survey that can be used to find out more about bullying at school. • The teacher in Archangelos are close to the students to try to discover the bullying and do something about it.
- 15. Potential transfer to Fyllingsdalen • It can be difficult for teachers to detect bullying, and the survey made in this project may also be used at Fyllingsdalen Secondary School to get additional information on the topic of bullying and identify factors that may be difficult to detect. • Closer contact with students, as seen in Archangelos, where teachers and students are in the vicinity of each other during breaks, may help prevent bullying.
- 16. School support system Website reference: http://arbere.eu/school-support-system Margarita Basdara Thor Eirik Haugstad
- 17. School support system • In Greece there aren’t any social services at school to provide help to students or parents, if there is a problem of behavior. • When there is a problem in the classroom, the teacher who faces the problem has the responsibility of its solution. He has to advise the student by himself or herself. When he/she has difficulties in dealing with the particular matter, he/she cooperates with the class teacher or other teachers. • If the problem is very serious, the head teacher calls the teachers’ council to decide about the solution to the problem. Sometimes punishment is imposed on the student. Other times, parents are invited to school to discuss the problem. • In our school there is also a psychologist who offers her services for 2 days as a part of a pilot project. • In some difficult cases and when the school can’t find a solution, the teachers ask for the help of the police. • In fact, there is a social service in Municipality of Rhodes but they deal mostly with severe cases. They cannot offer immediate solution to problems we face.
- 18. Best practices, from Archangelos How to solve problems when there is no support system: • Great teacher involvement • The principal is present among the students • The principal's office is located in the school and the there is an open door policy to teachers and students all day • The police are present and active in the community and at school • It has established contact with private professionals, some of whom have participated in our project
- 19. Potential transfer to Fyllingsdalen • The close contact between teachers and pupils, where teachers take personal responsibility for the pupils, is similar to our system of ‘contact teachers’. • The close contact between the principal and everyone at school, is something we have mentioned several times. We believe the personal involvement of the principals shown in Greek schools is exemplary. • We see, unfortunately, that with the increasing amount of documentation requirements and tasks being added to the management in Norwegian schools, it may be difficult to copy what we have seen in Archangelos.
- 20. Thank you! We want to thank you for having been given the opportunity to participate in the project. We learned a lot about the project’s focus area, as well as a lot about the school system and the country of Greece. It has been a challenging time for Greece, and we see that it has affected our colleagues greatly. We are therefore particularly grateful that they have taken the time to complete this project with us.