Thessaloniki_2013

// Students & Teachers Co-researchers aiming at Change and Development //
 * = Active Research: The Political Dimension of Research and Evaluation

** Conference Thessaloniki 26 January 2013 ** Conference Hall of Central Municipal Library  in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece   − 27 Ethnikis Amynis St.  ||  ||

** download the programme **
 * in >>> English [[file:programma_EL.pdf]]**
 * in >>> Greek [[file:programma_EL.pdf]]**

**Summaries **

Jack Whitehead, Liverpool Hope University, UK. Abstract In my previous experience of conferences on education around the world, I have found that the majority of presenters adopt a transmission mode of address, rather than being able to organise their contribution in a genuine dialogue. I hope that you experience my contribution on ‘The //Living Theory produced by Teachers and Students as a basis for Change and Development’, //in a genuine dialogue. To contribute in a dialogical way in previous keynotes to international conferences I have produced detailed notes for the presentation and posted these on my website [|http://actionresearch.net] before the presentation to give participants time to read them and to raise any issues or questions to me during the presentation. You will find the detailed notes for this presentation in the What’s New Section of my web-site. To facilitate dialogue I shall pick out some key ideas from my notes and offer them for your responses. I have organized the presentation into three sections:
 * //The Living Theory produced by Teachers and Students as a basis for Change and Development //**
 * How to create living-educational-theories.
 * Collecting, analysing and using visual data in creating multimedia narratives which communicate and extend understandings of living-theories, contribute to an educational epistemology and serve the public good.
 * Participating in and contributing to web-based resources for learning from local, national and international co-operative researching communities that are influenced by economic rationalism.

>>>> See the video presentation: Jack Whitehead's presentation on 'The Living Theory produced by Teachers and Students as a basis for Change and Development' to the conference on 'Active Research: The Political Dimension of Research and Evaluation' in Thessaloniki, Greece on the 26th January 2013.

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The importance of Historical Conscience for a creative return to the future: Researching collaboratively the liberation of Thessaloniki as a case example for liberation by our modern ‘enemies and demons’ **// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.5;">Dimitris Kiritsis, Franco di Cataldo & Cennet Engin-Demir <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Abstract <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;"> The present paper consists of three parts. İn the first part the subject matter of Historical Conscience in general is explicated and it’s role for the formation of society and for a critical and creative return to the future is developed. İn the second part the opinions, experiences and attitudes of 228 Greek, Turkish and Italian students towards the importance of the knowledge of History for the formation of society are examined. Moreover, their relations with their neighbours, the association of the results with their ethnicity are investigated. Additionally, the way Greek students believe that Turkish residents of Thessaloniki should be treated after the liberation of Thessaloniki is examined. From the analysis of quantitative empirical data with the questionnaire as the methodological tool interesting conclusions emerged. In the third part ways-ideas (Active Research project) of how the liberation of Thessaloniki could be used as a case example by researching collaboratively for liberation by our modern enemies and demons are proposed.

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Narrative as a critical voice of experience in contemporary career management **// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Dr Bill Law - The Career-learning Café @http://www.hihohiho.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Abstract <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The paper tracks the development and uses of a career-management narrative technique. The technique’s objective is to enable people for attributing sustainable meaning and purposes to what they find in experience. Its development has exposed dissonances between the ways in which career management is visualised in government, in practice and in experience. The use of narrative helps us better to understand a jostling-for-position between business needs, professional expertise and street-level realities. It is particularly relevant to changing - and seemingly chaotic - economic and cultural conditions for career management. The paper reviews the research-based theoretical discourse which leads to narrative theory in careers work. It maps the boundaries of conventional careers-work thinking, and it proposes a distinctive enlargement and re-professionalisation of careers work. It also signposts emerging theoretical ideas which usefully frame the practical development of this trend.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">>>> See the video on how a client's career manegement re-frames our career expertise (a conversation with Jack Whitehead)

// **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The student and the grading system “vathmothiria” (Greek term for the hunting of big grades as self purpose) ** // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Falegos Georgios, high school student, Thessaloniki - Greece <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Abstract <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Most of the Greek students nowadays are affected by their surroundings and tend to aim for bigger grades neglecting everything else. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Many reasons can lead a student to ‘vathmothiria’. Such as the pressure many students are submitted to by their families. Another reason is the grading system itself which defines the student in cold faceless numbers and degrades all that it means to be a student. Furthermore another bad aspect of ‘vathmothiria’ is the arrogance that certain children feel due to their grades.. In addition the discrimination with which certain teachers treat students based on their grades can also lead to vathmothiria. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Such behaviour can have serious effects on children. Causing them to lose their self-confidence and self-respect and also causing severe anxiety jeopardizing their health. Parents should take under consideration the fact that being proud about their kids is not based on their grades but on their effort. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">I believe that the grading system should be reformed into another one more efficient. I hope the right people will take my suggestions under consideration.

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The Teacher I dream of: SOS-Save Our System **// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Reppa Eugenia, Chrysidou Ioanna, Foudou Asimina, Rigou Electra (Students) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Abstract <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Two students are sitting in a classroom during a lesson of Ancient Greek. The teacher is reading from the book while the students are unable to understand a word she says. Student A tries to bring this matter to the teacher’s attention but she just simply demands that he stays quiet. This leads to an argument between Student A and the teacher. Student A says that he has grown weary of being quiet and refuses to be silenced by the teacher who threatens to expel him, since he is supposed to just listen to what she says and not to express his opinion. Student B is trying to reason with Student A and to convince him that he has nothing to gain by this. Student A insists that you cannot achieve anything by staying passive and finally convinces Student B to join him in his struggle against the teacher. The teacher, furious, orders them to step outside but the two students get up and force her to sit down at their desk while she keeps repeating that they have no right to do this. Then they invite a second teacher in order to teach them how to become thinking individuals and not just to mimic information. Teacher B asks them to become her partners in learning and suggests accepting teacher A into their group, since it is always possible to develop something fresh by using something obsolete. They finally agree and the four of them resume the lesson with renewed interest.

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Biopedagogy: A New Theory of Learning and its relationship with Active Research **// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Stamatis Alahiotis, Venetia Nikita, Helen Karatzia (Students) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Abstract <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In our present study we present the new learning theory of Biopedagogism as well as data from active research concerning the experimental application of the new theory. Biopedagogism combines recent findings in the field of the biology of learning and the function of the human brain with current pedagogical/educational theories. The new theory of learning is based on three general principles: on the role of the stage of phylogenesis and ontogenesis of the human brain and of the accordingly proper pedagogical/educational environment. Four “biopedagogical” competences are considered basic to the students’ cognitive construction and thus crucial to learning: the Technological competence, the Socialization competence, the Language competence and the Numeracy/Theorizing competence. A didactic environment which uses as a methodological tool the right in emphasis and content transformation of the school courses, according to the developmental stage of the student and the hierarchical dialectical correlation of the four competences, is expected to lead to a maximization in the learning ability. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Aim of both Biopedagogism as well as any active research is the improvement of the didactical praxis as well as of the fundamental understanding of the didactical approach. The transformation of the theory into a methodological tool for more effective teaching requires the critical participation of the teacher-researcher. Moreover, the uniqueness of the biology of every single student is necessarily taken into consideration in the planning and manifestation of the didactical practices. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The experimental application of the learning theory of Biopedagogism concerns active research carried out in the teaching of Biology to students in A class of Greek public secondary schools in Thessaloniki during the school year 2011-2012. Emphasis was given to the application of the central principles of the theory into the everyday school practice, in order to improve the didactical approach of the cognitive objectives and discover statistically significant diversification between control groups (school classes with teaching methods in agreement with the current conventional didactic methodology according to the Greek Curriculum in Lower Compulsory Secondary Education) and experimental groups (classes where teaching took place according to the learning theory of Biopedagogism), regarding school performance in Biology. The evaluation of the cultivation of the four biopedagogical competences and of the school performance of the adolescent students took place five times, using quantitative and qualitative parameters. Our first results show an affirmative strong correlation between the biopedagogical teaching and the increase in both learning and the cultivation of the four competences, proving Biopedagogism to be a useful didactic tool that can lead to satisfactory higher levels of basic competence acquisition and learning.

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Education officials required to support educators’ work: the role of the school director **// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Dr Eleni Mouzoura, Director of Experimental High School of University of Macedonia <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Abstract <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The aim of this paper is to present the views, problematic and discussion about the educators’ complex role, the increased demands by them and their consequences, such as Educators’ Professional Stress and Burnout Syndrome increased levels, which might affect Greek educators. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In this context, some thoughts are expressed about the education officials required to support educators’ work. The discussion mainly focuses on the school director’s role as well as on the skills and attributes required to support educators’ role within school environment. It has been considered that by adopting a human-centric approach, the school director could achieve to increase educators’ professional satisfaction and to prevent their professional tension, i.e. educators’ professional stress and burnout syndrome.

Συμμετοχή του Πρότυπου Πειραματικού Σχολείου του Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης στο Διεθνές Συνέδριο με θέμα Ενεργός έρευνα: η πολιτική διάσταση της έρευνας και της αξιολόγησης Περίληψη

Τίτλος: //**Συζητώντας με τον Αριστοτέλη**// Title: //**Discussing with Aristotle**// Students of Model Experimental School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki present a play based on Aristotle's book "Πολιτικά" (“Politics”). The core of the play is a dialogue between the famous Greek philosopher and the students of Linguistics class who study his scripts for the Panhellenic exams. Aristotle comes from the ancient era in order to answer students' questions about politics and their direct relation with education. In fact, the play is not only a try of the students to get closer to the ancient text through the perspective of the modern world, but also a proof that those great philosophic texts are still alive in our days. The students of Model Experimental School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Actors: Konstantinos Mouratidis, Irene Nathanailidou, Alkistis Manakouda, Konstantinos Petsanis, Chryssanthi Tsolakidou, Konstantina Tzioufa, Konstantinos Voundas. Texts: Dimitra Kyveli Barmpoudi, Elefteria Kyriakopoulou. Powerpoint: Dimitra Koutali, Athina Tertiropoulou. Photo, video, montage: Katerina Alexandrou, Agapi Farra, Elpida Galata, Nefeli Rafti, Dimitra Rapti, Kelly Tsitsia. Editing: Adamantia Batou, Stella Solomou. The supervisor teachers: Anastasia Deligiannidou, Anna Agelopoulou