“The Teacher is not a Magician”: Teacher Training in Greek Reception Facilities for Refugee Education

Abstract

Greek Reception Facilities for Refugee Education (RFREs) operated for the first time in Greece during the school year 2016-2017, as a result of the need of refugee children to participate in formal education either in the refugee reception centers or in school units, with the purpose of their educational integration. The aim of this study is to examine the process and criteria with which teachers in RFREs were chosen and the training they received. The research participants were seven teachers and one Refugee Education Coordinator (REC) in the cities of Volos and Larisa, Greece. Through semi-structured interviews, the participants expressed the challenges they faced which resulted from receiving insufficient training in teaching refugee children. Based on the study findings, it can be concluded that the lack of training of teachers working in RFREs causes multiple problems, which impede educational procedures. It was found that the teachers were not able to successfully approach their refugee students so as to create the prerequisites for the children to be smoothly integrated into the Greek educational system. Lack of skills for students’ psychological support and communication difficulties due to lack of a language of mediation also causes many issues which obstruct the educational process.Greek Reception Facilities for Refugee Education (RFREs) operated for the first time in Greece during the school year 2016-2017, as a result of the need of refugee children to participate in formal education either in the refugee reception centers or in school units, with the purpose of their educational integration. The aim of this study is to examine the process and criteria with which teachers in RFREs were chosen and the training they received. The research participants were seven teachers and one Refugee Education Coordinator (REC) in the cities of Volos and Larisa, Greece. Through semi-structured interviews, the participants expressed the challenges they faced which resulted from receiving insufficient training in teaching refugee children. Based on the study findings, it can be concluded that the lack of training of teachers working in RFREs causes multiple problems, which impede educational procedures. It was found that the teachers were not able to successfully approach their refugee students so as to create the prerequisites for the children to be smoothly integrated into the Greek educational system. Lack of skills for students’ psychological support and communication difficulties due to lack of a language of mediation also causes many issues which obstruct the educational process.