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The present study deals with headteachers' and teachers' perceptions of the nature of intercultural education and the necessity of its implementation in intercultural primary schools in Greece. It also seeks to explore teachers' and headteachers' views on the teaching methods adopted and the events and activities organised in the classrooms and in the school to implement intercultural education, and why. The research methodology adopted is a mixed-method approach. It has been employed in order to add breadth and depth to the analysis and to achieve a better and more complete understanding of the social phenomenon examined. The research methods used include questionnaires administered and interviews undertaken with teachers and headteachers. Teachers and headteachers seem to have a clear idea of the meaning of intercultural education and of its principles. In addition, they support the implementation of intercultural education for a number of reasons. The results indicate that great importance is attributed to the use of cooperative learning, group work and the interdisciplinary approach to implementing intercultural education. Teachers and headteachers also seem more confident to implement intercultural education in language studies and social studies as well as in art studies. Data analysis reveals that teachers organise a variety of events and activities in order to implement intercultural education. The findings provide suggestions for the creation of a school environment m which the intercultural dimension in education will be promoted in the school, so as to meet the educational needs of native, foreign, and repatriate pupils attending both intercultural and mainstream primary schools. The contribution of the present study to the topic examined is significant, since there has been no previous research conducted in all 13 intercultural primary schools in Greece.

Women constitute more than half of the teaching force in primary schools in Greece but men are more likely than women to achieve headship. In other countries (e.g. in the USA, in the UK and in other European countries) women are represented in educational leadership in disproportionately low numbers, too. The aim of this thesis is to cast light on the neglected phenomenon of women’s relatively low participation in Greek primary school leadership and to explore the constructions of men and women head teachers and teachers regarding headship and gender. More specifically, the research offers insights into women’s and men’s experiences of progressing to and experiencing primary school leadership in Greece; examines whether and to what extent these experiences are gendered; and maps the participants' constructions of primary headship. In addition, I explore the future for women in educational leadership in Greece. The study is underpinned by a feminist social constructionist paradigm, involving a qualitative analysis of 40 semi-structured in-depth interviews with women and men head teachers and teachers. The findings suggest that women teachers in primary education in this sample, were generally less leadership-oriented than men and followed relatively unplanned occupational trajectories compared with men. Both men and women appeared to need encouragement from colleagues, superiors and family to enhance their confidence and set them on the pathway to headship. Gendered processes in relation to the recruitment and selection of head teachers, as well as traditional 'masculine' stereotypes of leadership, are challenged by the research. It is argued that both men and women participants construct accounts of approaching leadership in a fluid way, reflecting time, place and situation, rather than primarily gender. Finally, implications for theory, policy and practice are discussed and recommendations for future research are proposed.

Though only a small island, Cyprus experiences particularly high rates of mixed marriages, and has one of the highest per capita ratios of immigrants in Europe. Consequently, there are a growing number of bilingual and bicultural children now entering the state elementary school system. The aim of this study is to examine the school experiences, language and identity of a select group of Greek English speaking children who have one Cypriot and one non-Cypriot parent. The sub-questions of the study focus on how the children manage languages at school, their perceptions of their peers and teachers and their opinions about the responsiveness of the school and teachers to their bilingualism. Additionally, while recognizing the fluidity and multiplicity of identity, questions about the expressions of the children’s dual national identities within school are considered. Finally, concerns over integration at school are also explored. The study claims social justice for this group, and develops a qualitative case study to engage with the manner in which the children employ their Greek and English language abilities at school, accompanied by their perceptions of the representations of their dual national identities. Multiple, individual, in-depth interviews were conducted with eight children, aged ten to twelve. Interviews with parents were also conducted as a means of strengthening the depth of the data. Additional artifacts such as language use charts, sentence completion exercises and brochures were also collected and analyzed. Using a thematic approach data was examined with the aim of understanding how the children experience their bilingualism and biculturalism within the school. The study constitutes the first of its kind in the Cypriot context and its findings are valuable for researchers, practitioners and policy makers alike. The results suggest that languages are ‘kept separate’ at school, there is a lack of recognition of this group’s bilingualism and there are possible issues of some children’s Cognitive-Academic Language proficiency (Cummins, 1979). Additionally, teachers and schools presented as ill prepared and nonresponsive to the linguistic needs of this group of children. Further findings indicate that the children experience incidents of teasing and exclusion influenced by the highly hellenocentric ethos of Cypriot schools. The study concludes that the limited definition of a bilingual student used by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus, combined with an ineffectual multiculturalism, result in this group being overlooked. The thesis suggests a broadening of the current definition of a bilingual student and a further exploration of children’s linguistic profiles. The study concludes that the children’s school experience is characterized by difference blindness to their dual cultural backgrounds and linguistic blindness to their bilingualism, broken only by regulated incidents of performance. Importantly the study also reveals that though impacted by a weak policy and difference blindness, these children engage in active agency in constructing social roles and understandings of language and identity at school. They demonstrate resilience and flexibility and are aware of the nuances of the school, the global value of their bilingualism, the access and opportunities provided by their knowledge of English and the prospects and experiences available to them through their dual cultural identities.