Teachers' conceptualisations of educational policy regarding the inclusion of migrant and refugee students in the education system

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the views of the teachers of secondary education on the educational policy for the inclusion of immigrants in Greek schools. Nine teachers of secondary education, two men and seven women with many years of experience in public schools took part in the survey. For the collection of the survey data, qualitative research was chosen through the instrument of semi-structured interviews. From the findings of the survey it was evident that in terms of educational inclusion of migrant students, teachers report that the language that should be taught as a factor to support their adaptation to education and society is Greek. There were few teachers, who mentioned the contribution, that mother tongue can have and the importance of integrating their cultural capital. At the same time, on the issues of educational policy, most of them stressed the problems of material and technical infrastructure and teacher training.