ERIC Number: EJ795415
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 8
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1478-2103
EISSN: N/A
The Cross-Thematic Approach and the "New" Curricula of Greek Compulsory Education: Review of an Incompatible Relationship
Aggelakos, Ostas
Policy Futures in Education, v5 n4 p460-467 2007
Compulsory Greek education has long shown its need for revision. The Greek Pedagogical Institute (GPI) has presented the cross-thematic approach as a panacea, yet further changes are necessary in terms of experiential learning, school subject demarcation, teaching time management, teaching material, and the student/educator role. This article examines whether these changes are incorporated in the recent educational system revision, which resulted in widespread confusion, a national debate, and the publication of "A Crossthematic Curriculum Framework for Compulsory Education (DEPPS)". A speech analysis of GPI leadership indicates the exaggerated, fictionalised, and ideological use of the term "cross-thematic". Futhermore, detailed analysis demonstrates that the new "cross-thematic" curricula reproduce the 1999 curricula, making no major changes to traditional school subject demarcation, or teaching time management. New curriculum elements are also problematic; the fundamental cross-thematic concepts are vague and haphazard, while the recommended cross-thematic activities (projects) are undermined by poor examples or inadequate allotted teaching time. Moreover, the "new" curricula follow the goal-setting model, which leads to a multiplicity of teaching objectives and to increased content quantity, thus impeding schoolbook writing. Most importantly, the suggested integration of the cross-thematic approach in Greek schools is not ideologically neutral. (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.)
Descriptors: Compulsory Education, Time Management, Experiential Learning, Instructional Materials, Educational Change, Thematic Approach, Foreign Countries, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Design, Content Analysis, Discourse Analysis, Intellectual Disciplines, Class Activities, Ideology, Curriculum, Elementary Secondary Education, Criticism
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Greece
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A