1. Integration Class 2nd Primary School of Sykies
A structure of special education
in the general classic school
which aims to give place and
the same opportunities to all students.
2. Institutionalization
• 1984 special classes were founded in
General School with the trend to include
children with learning difficulties or special
educational needs.
• The evolution of these classes is the
Integration Class at the most schools in
the towns and less in small places of our
country.
3. Other accession structures in the
general school
• Since 2004 there are programs of
Simultaneous or Parallel Support (inclusive)
in class mainly for autistic students. There is
such a case in our school.
• Since 2013 for students with s.e.n. who cannot
be served by themselves there is the opportunity
to attend a typical class with the help of Special
Staff.
• Teaching at home because of health problems
for a particular time.
4. Scientific direction-diagnosis
• The scientific, pedagogical and teaching
directions are given to the S. E. teachers by the
School Advisor of Special Education.
• Students attend the I. C. either after they have
been diagnosed by the State Diagnostic Entity
service or
• without diagnosis, just with reference of the
typical class teacher,
• parents’ request and
• the Special Education School Advisor’s
agreement.
5. The Integration Class aims
• the support to develop all the abilities of their personality
• the attendance and adaptation to the curriculum of their class
according to their capabilities, skills and personalized learning
needs.
• the acceptance and respect of students with learning
difficulties
• their accession - integration into the class level and the group
of their classmates
• The development of learning incentives,
• The development of communication skills,
• feelings conception,
• self-confidence and acceptance,
• solidarity,
• social interaction of students with the aim of equitable social
development and co-existence.
6. Aattendance - number of Pupils
In the I.C. attend:
• pupils with disabilities mental disability, physical
disabilities, disorders in Speech, specific learning
difficulties, dyslexia, attention deficit with or without
hyperactivity, autism,
• only for some hours (up to 15 hours) per week.
• up to 12 students. The number is not stable.
• The attendance is organized in small groups of 2-3
pupils with similar difficulties and nearby age.
• Otherwise, we work with each student separately
depending on the difficulty and disability of each one.
7. Attendance
• In this class attend students with autism,
Asperger, speech problems, learning disabilities
and of low school record.
• During the school year the hours of attendance
and the program of educational intervention are
redefined, for the release of the students from
the I. C. and their complete training and
attendance in typical class.
• When they graduate we cooperate with the
teachers in the secondary school and inform
them about their specific learning needs.
8. Informal-educational evaluationtraining program
• The teacher of I.C. makes an informal
educational assessment taking into account
both the suggestions of the typical class teacher
and the diagnosis by the state diagnostic
• In cooperation with the typical class teacher,
according to the educational evaluation and the
suggestion of the Diagnostic Services (KEDDY)
are defined and planned the Educational targets
and the specialized program for the student.
9. Teaching Interventions
• The educational intervention refers to the specific difficulties of students,
reading or spelling difficulties, grammar difficulties or difficulties in writing
skills and mathematics.
• The Special teacher teaches:
• Cognitive and metacognitive strategies of knowledge management and
problem solving.
• Social skills: Development of communication skills, cooperation and play
in team games, dialogue and a topic analysis.
• Organizing emotions:
• Acceptance of difficulties and development of positive attitude about
school and classmates.
• Growth of intensives for learning and working in peers.
• Development of self-confidence and autonomy.
• Management of emotions through social stories.
• makes and uses visual material such as sticks, cubes, flashcards, magnetic
material, plasticine, books, computer, software, coins, banknotes. e.t.c.
10. Collaboration with teachers
• The special teacher in cooperation with the
typical class teachers,
• we modify and differentiate or individualize our
teaching activities and school subjects in order
to be accessible and not tiring to students with
disabilities and in also our teaching intervential
to be efficient.
• As teachers we aim the use of ecosystemic
approach in relation both to the group of the
class and the families of our students.
11. "A school for all children" ....in action
• We give emphasis on programmes and activities
that highlight the principles of acceptance,
diversity, antiracism education and eliminate
discrimination.
• For example, last year we worked on an annual
program in classes which was attended by
students with autism and other difficulties. The
title of the project was “The difference through
Tales and the Aesop’s Fables”.
• The special teacher accompanies the student
and supports him to educational visits, teaching
and group activities, to the theatre and others.
12. Interventions during the break
Depending on the difficulty of each case we
modify the conditions of the surroundings where
students with autism mainly when they are
especially sensitive, play in a quiet place and be
able to cooperate and play in a small group of
classmates, for example in a quiet corner of the
ground floor under the supervision of the
special teacher or the teacher on duty.
13. Cooperation with parents
• On appointments with parents we talk about the special
characteristics and the personality of each student or about
children’s problems that occur at home and cannot be
recorded on the informal assessment in the Integration Class.
• Also, parents are informed about the learning assessment in
special class.
• We explain to their parents that the main objective of support
in special class is to follow the typical class curriculum,
differentiated, modified and personalized.
• We work teachers and parents together to help students at
home in simple ways, with social development activities
outside school, for independence, a common strategy against
negative behaviour, choice of the current learning goals and
choice of educational activities so to avoid pressure and to
have effective results from the educational intervention.
14. Parents' Expectations
The problem we often face is the
importance the parents give to respond
their child to the demands of the
curriculum of school subjects
underestimating the very individual
needs of the disabled children.
15. General Observations - Suggestions
• Our country having signed all the
international declarations and conventions
on the rights of children with s.e.n.,
unfortunately, neither in the past nor in the
present the appropriate importance is
given to special education and training of
students with s.e.n., nor they are treated
in a similar way with general class.
16. NSRF
and education
• In recent years, special education and public education as a
whole is reconfigured under the orders of the EU. The state is
reducing public funding to schools and almost entirely special
education passes on funding from European programs
(National Strategic Reference Framework).
• The right of children with difficulties for stable public education
stops being right and converted into service-commodity. Their
training is implemented without continuity, duration and
stability. It starts in the middle of October and ends with the
end of the school year.
• The parallel support (inclusion) and many integration classes
have not started yet although the school year began on
September 11, while supporting our school started on 7
October.
17. Financial crisis and education
• The current economic crisis experienced by the
Greek society affects the public health, the
education and special education because of the
steadily funding decrease from the state.
• As a result public school is not supported any
longer or the school structures and
infrastructures based on modern educational
needs of our students are not developed.
18. The "right to education" does not apply
to all children
• Neither in the past nor today,
unfortunately, all students with s.e.n.
cannot be educated in public schools.
• Many students are in structures of the
Ministry of Health or
• various private institutions.
19. Lack of public support services
• In the public school there are not support services and
staff that our students need, such as school
psychologists, occupational therapists, speech
therapists, social workers, etc.
• Their families also need additional psychological or
counselling and psycho-educational support on a
systematic and consistent basis but these services are
not offered enough or are not offered at all by a public
entity.
• Parents look for a private sector with a minimum
coverage from their insurance fund, if they work, and if
they are unemployed then there is no provision for the
child with s.e.n.
20. KEDDY .... eliminated with staff
shortage
• KEDDY, the public educational institution
responsible for diagnosing and supporting
pupils with s.e.n. today is understaffed and
it can not respond in time to parents and
teachers requests to collaborate and
support the students.
21. Inclusion, yes! But what about
structure?
• Facilities in our schools are not
appropriate or adapted to respond
to longstanding demand for a
school that stands for all children,
without discrimination. e.g.
• the Class of Integration, in many
cases is a very small space, there
are no libraries, event rooms, utility
rooms, didactic material, etc.).
22. Fusions and abolitions
• The class fusion and abolition at schools lead to
an increase of students in classrooms (25 to 27
students for a teacher) and the needs of
students become more, especially for students
with learning difficulties, for foreign students,
students with widely different educational and
social cultural origin, etc.
• So the class teacher can not devote extra time
for these students.
23. Chasing … the syllabus!
• The curriculum is given by the Ministry of
Education without taking in account the
suggestion teachers make.
• They do not correspond to the perceptiveness
of the average student and besides students
are getting tired and they are discouraged by
the learning process.
• Teachers feel stressful by the present time and
it is like the syllabus is “chasing” them.
24. Pupil ... the hardest worker
• Teaching schedule from 8:00 am – 2:00
pm with 7 educational hours a day, every
day and
• 9 up to 13 different subjects a week it is
exhausting especially for the students with
difficulties.
25. Competition…and “marks hunt”
• Greek school is competitive and getting good
marks is of great importance.
• The school program is constructed by
consecutive testing.
• This causes stress and feelings of disadvantage
and low self-esteem to our students.
• Students come to a point of a classification and
marginalization or exclusion.
• The proclamation “a school for all children” has
no meaning in a competitive and intensive
environment, especially for disabled students.
26. The future of education is
precarious work?
• The increase in
elastic and
insecure or
precarious work for
new teachers
causes serious
survival problems.
27. Educational policy
... fragmented, without continuity, duration, stability
• There is really a long way to make “a
school for all children” but the policy
applied in education is not successive and
it has no duration and stability.
• On the contrary, teachers and parents will
not quit struggling together for our
students’ rights.
28. I was left
Again with no bus
Again with no teacher
Again with no school
04/10/2013,
Demonstration for the deficiencies in special education in
Athens
29. Much more to be done
• We have tried to give you a spherical idea about
the evolutions and the targets for “A school for
all children and teachers” in public school.
• We know that in practice there is need of much
more to be done.
37. I, you, we ... for all children
• We believe that the experiences of
teachers from different countries,
cooperation and exchange of ideas
among them are all necessary in order to
build a school together that will be
democratic, inclusive, collaborative and
supportive for the educational rights of all
our children.
