“Democratic School Governance for Inclusion. A whole community approach” is a Council of Europe’s (CoE) and European Union joint project, whose aim is to promote the CoE Charter for “Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE)”. The participant countries are Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland and Romania. Greece is the coordinator partner, under the auspices of the Department of International Affairs of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religions. The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, through the Joint MA “Education and Human Rights”, is responsible for the implementation and scientific coordination of the project.
The project will be implemented as action research. It seeks to promote the values of democratic governance in schools, in order to raise awareness and involve the whole community in democratic and inclusive practices, by putting emphasis on vulnerable social groups (e.g. newly arrived immigrants and refugees, Roma, disabled and LGBT persons).
The Greek part of the project focuses on the reception and inclusion of refugees in the school environment. The project activities take place from January to September 2017 at a primary school in Athens, which hosts a Structure for the Reception and Education of Refugee Children (SRERC).
The programme involves the study of the SRERC operation, through systematic observation, as well as active support of initiatives aimed at facilitating refugee children’s reception and integration in the school context (e.g. peer mediation processes, supporting inclusive educational practices and communication, cultural events, open discussions with the school stakeholders, social solidarity initiatives).
The NKUA research team consists of:
Scientific coordinator: Evie Zambeta, NKUA Associate Professor
Alexandra Androusou, NKUA Associate Professor
Nelly Askouni, NKUA Associate Professor
Mary Leontsini, NKUA Associate Professor
Yulie Papadakou, (M.A.), researcher
Vicky Lagopoulou (M.A.), researcher.