The main aim of this paper is to highlight and investigate children’s perspectives on the ordinance of students’ elections and students’ councils in the country of Greece. This study is motivated by the huge lack of research on the topic in Greece and aim to seek student’s views in regards to students’ councils. This qualitative research endeavors to find how students decide to enter the school elections as candidates, what they hope to achieve through their candidacy and how they perceive democratization in education via these elections. Finally, it is asked from them to evaluate the utility of the whole ordinance of students’ communities. Six students, aged from 15 to 18, who are attending the Greek public High School (the name in Greek is Lykeio) were interviewed; three boys and three girls. The researcher chose one boy and one girl from each of the three years of High School. In order to hear children’s voice and allow them space and time to express their perceptions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with open ended questions while at the same time encouraging them to give clarifications on their answers. A thematic analysis was conducted on the transcribed material of the interviews and four primary themes were emerged: I) being candidates as a personal decision, II) aspirations for being candidates, III) Significance of the ordinance on school elections and on students’ councils and IV) democratization of children through school elections. In conclusion, this paper, by closely examining students’ perspectives and beliefs, seeks to shed new light on the neglected issue of students’ elections and councils in the country of Greece.

Η παρούσα έρευνα έχει στόχο τη διερεύνηση των απόψεων των παιδιών προσχολικής ηλικίας στην Ελλάδα για τη στοματική υγεία και των πρακτικών που εφαρμόζουν ως προς αυτή. Έλαβαν μέρος 72 παιδιά από Δημόσια Νηπιαγωγεία της Πάτρας και 60 γονείς που κλήθηκαν να απαντήσουν συμπληρωματικά για τις πρακτικές που εφαρμόζονται από τα παιδιά τους. Το εργαλείο που χρησιμοποιήθηκε για τη συλλογή των δεδομένων ήταν αυτό των ατομικών συνεντεύξεων για τα παιδιά και αυτό των ερωτηματολογίων για τους γονείς. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι τα παιδιά διέθεταν γνώσεις για τη στοματική υγεία, την οποία αντιμετώπιζαν ισότιμα με τη γενική υγεία, τους τρόπους προάσπισής της και την τερηδόνα, και η άποψη τους για τον οδοντίατρο ήταν θετική. Εντούτοις, σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις οι απόψεις τους φάνηκαν να διαφέρουν σημαντικά από την επιστημονική άποψη. Η συμπεριφορά τους ως προς τη στοματική υγεία κρίθηκε μέτρια. Τα παιδιά βούρτσιζαν τα δόντια υπό την επίβλεψη των γονέων και επισκέπτονταν τον οδοντίατρο για προληπτικούς λόγους, όμως η συχνότητα με την οποία πραγματοποιούνταν αυτά ήταν χαμηλότερη από την ενδεδειγμένη. Ακόμη, κατανάλωναν αρκετά συχνά ζαχαρούχα προϊόντα. Συνολικά, τα παιδιά προσχολικής ηλικίας έδειξαν να διαθέτουν δυνατότητες κατανόησης, γεγονός που σημαίνει ότι με τις κατάλληλες εκπαιδευτικές παρεμβάσεις είναι δυνατό να σημειωθεί βελτίωση στο κομμάτι των γνώσεων και κατ’ επέκταση στο κομμάτι της συμπεριφοράς που υιοθετούν για τη στοματική υγεία. / The present study aims to investigate young children’s perspectives and practices towards oral health, in Greece. The participants of the study were 72 children from public kindergartens of Patras and 60 parents that were asked to respond complementary accordingly their children’s practices. The data was collected through individual interviews for the children and questionnaires for their parents. The results showed that children possessed knowledge about oral health issues, practices sustaining oral health, and decay. In addition, oral health was treated equally with general health and children’s opinion about dentists was positive. However, in several cases, their views were found to differ significantly from the scientific perspective. Their behavior regarding oral health was considered moderate. The children brushed their teeth under the supervision of their parents and visited the dentist for preventive reasons, but the frequency of these was lower than necessary. Yet, children consumed sugary products quite often. Overall, the preschoolers were shown to have capabilities of understanding, meaning that with the appropriate educational interventions the knowledge about oral health may be improved and thus, the behavior they adopt may be improved as well.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T17:06:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 114571-1.pdf: 33908634 bytes, checksum: 0ca2be800137923c27c3387b99eb80d5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this study is to investigate how children comprehend the composing process within the musical education in the basic schooling. To answer this question, the study sought to comprehend children s perspective about what is composition; and how they explain the process of composition. The paper is theoretically based upon researches which inquiry the composition in the musical education, especially those focused the children s perspectives (BEINEKE, 2009; BURNARD, 2000a; 2000b; 2004; 2006a; 2006b). It has been carried out a case study with a primary school 4th grade class, through weekly meetings during a three-month period, in which the students produced musical compositions. The students organized themselves to form their work groups, chose their partners and selected the available musical instruments to develop their compositions. The data were collected through participant observation, video recordings of all processes, and semi structured interviews with the students. The researcher conducted the work inside the classroom, trying not to directly interfere on the compositions, however trying to establish a positive environment, appreciating prior knowledge from the students and their contributions within the class (JEFFREY; WOODS, 2009). Results show that the students conceive their musical production in a comprehensive manner, assigning authorship sense to parodies, compositions, arrangements, and improvisations. According to them, their songs are composed of lyrics, message, rhythm, rime, friendship, voice, instruments, expression, punctuation, chorus, willingness, and choreography. They assign great value to the message that is passed through the lyrics, being the composition only making sense if it is developed with friends and presented to other people. The relation to the body is also given value within the compositions; inasmuch to a great deal of children, the composition involves gestures and choreography that are settled simultaneously. For them to feel triggered and safe in terms of developing their compositions, the children appreciate the teacher s role in conducting the activities; mainly to help organizing the class, transmit musical content, and the affective relationship built among the students. It is believed that researches that bring children s point of view about their involvement with music and with the musical composition could contribute to strengthen of those practices in the musical education. Regarding this perspective, the teaching of music assumes a commitment with building processes, reasoning and reflecting about musical practices within the classroom, appreciating the voice of a child for a more active society participation. / Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar como as crianças compreendem a composição no contexto da educação musical na escola básica. Para responder a essa questão, buscou-se compreender a perspectiva das crianças sobre o que é composição; por que as pessoas compõem música; quais os valores atribuídos à atividade de compor; e como elas explicam o processo de composição. O trabalho é apoiado teoricamente em pesquisas que investigam a composição na educação musical, em especial aquelas que focalizam a perspectiva das crianças (BEINEKE, 2009; BURNARD, 2000a; 2000b; 2004; 2006a; 2006b). Foi realizado um estudo de caso com as crianças de uma turma do 4º ano do ensino fundamental que não frequentavam aulas de música. Através de encontros semanais por um período de três meses, as crianças elaboraram composições musicais, organizando-se livremente na formação de grupos de trabalho, na escolha de parcerias e na seleção dos instrumentos musicais disponibilizados. Os dados foram coletados através de observação participante, registros em vídeo de todo o processo e entrevistas semiestruturadas com as crianças. A pesquisadora conduziu o trabalho em sala de aula, procurando não interferir diretamente nas composições, mas procurando estabelecer um ambiente positivo, valorizando os conhecimentos prévios das crianças e suas contribuições em sala de aula (JEFFREY; WOODS, 2009). Os resultados mostram que as crianças entendem a atividade de composição musical de maneira abrangente, realizando paródias, composições, arranjos e improvisações. Segundo elas, suas músicas são constituídas de letra, mensagem, ritmo, rima, amizade, voz, instrumentos, expressão, pontuação, refrão, vontade e coreografia. Elas atribuem grande valor à mensagem transmitida nas letras de suas músicas, sendo que a composição só faz sentido quando é realizada com amigos e apresentada a outras pessoas. A relação com o corpo também é valorizada nas composições, visto que, para muitas crianças, a composição envolve gestos e coreografias, que são elaborados simultaneamente. Para se sentirem estimuladas e seguras no desenvolvimento de suas composições, as crianças valorizam o papel do professor na condução das atividades, principalmente para ajudar na organização da turma, pelos conteúdos musicais transmitidos e pela relação afetiva construída com os estudantes. Acredita-se que as pesquisas que trazem o ponto de vista das crianças sobre o seu envolvimento com a música e com a composição musical podem contribuir para o fortalecimento dessas práticas na educação musical escolar. Nessa perspectiva, o ensino de música assume um compromisso com processos de produção, crítica e reflexão sobre as práticas musicais em sala de aula, valorizando a voz da criança para uma participação mais ativa na sociedade.