Intercultural education and Day long school in the Greek educational reality: Evaluation of the institution according to the

opinions of the Directors and Teachers in charge

Dionisios Loukeris I Zoi Karabatzaki III Ioanna Syriou III

Abstrac
n the modern educational environment the structure of the classes in all degrees of education has gradually been altering because of foreign students school attendance. For this the reason, a series of actions to be taken is proposed by the educational systems, so that they cope with the increased needs for the smooth integration of foreign students in the socio economic envi ronment where they live, without renouncing their cultural identity. In the present research the exploitation of the institution of Day-long school in Greece is investigated, as an alternative school type and as a pedagogic process that aims at coping with the problem of school failure and the abandonment of school environment by the foreign students. The data that were collected refer to a re-evaluation of the Day-long school framework with regard to foreign stu-

Key words: Day long school, Intercultural education, foreign students drop-out from school, bilingual socialization.

I. Pedagogical Institute, Athens, Greece II. Laboratory of Special and Curative Education, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece III. Pedagogical Institute, Athens, Greece

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dents support, adopting an intercultural model of education that aims at their cultural/linguistic incorporation, at the opening of school to the society and at the development of the students critical thought, so that they detect the possibilities of social transformation to the direction of extended forms of democratic participation and social action.

INTRODUCTION In the last years in the modern global environment mobility between the citizens of world is attempted due to a series of economic, social or even cultural causes. Thus, the modern multicultural societies are shaped whose members attempt to communicate and collaborate, each one of them carrying a different culture, depending on the cultural, social and economic environment they come from. The enterprise of the collaboration and integration of foreigners in the indigenous social environment is rendered more difficult, when the society itself has not prepared its citizens properly with regard to this type of developments. In the educational reality of the European Union the consequences are already visible. The Ministers of Education of the European Union lent fundamental importance in mapping out a single educational policy in the area of the United Europe, which would include the economic growth on the one hand and the parameter of multiculturalism on the other. In particular, they have proposed an educational policy which would aim at rendering Europe one of the most competitive economies in the world with possibilities of sustainable growth, with more and better quality places of work and bigger social cohesion (European Report on the Quality of School Education, 2000: 2). Undoubtedly, copying with student drop-out from the educational institutions has sovereign place among the indicators for the evaluation of the quality of school education. In that way, through the processes of via life learning, educators achieve the improvement of their professional qualifications, so that they are effective in their work field. A relevant objective suggested by the EU is the growth of dexterities for the society of knowledge. The central issues which map out the European educational policy are as follows: the incorporation of traditional basic skills in the analytic curricula, so that they are acquired and maintained during students lifetime, the facility provided to all-without exception-citizens for acquiring these

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basic skills, including a) people with special needs b) those who abandon school and c) the adult trainees the provision for promoting the official validation of these basic skills, so that continuous education and training are facilitated the possibility for a later employment1 An influx of mainly economic immigrants is also observed in Greece. The majority of them come from the so-called developing countries outside the European Union, while an important percentage comes from the countries under integration in the European Union (ERC, 2006: 118-125). This had as a result a change in the structure of classes in all degrees of education, because of foreign students attendance. These students are incorporated in a different school environment from the one they used to study in the past most of them facing the problem of school failure and the abandonment of the school environment (Nikolaou, 2000: 20-1).

2. Conceptual clarifications. Intercultural education and Day long school in multicultural Greece.
Based on the above mentioned framework and including the improvement of the quality of School Education, the European Council called the members of the European Union to proceed in bold changes that would involve a radical transformation of the European economy and a bold scheme for modernising the Social Security and Education systems. For the sector of the Education particularly, the Council of Education recommended that each member of the partners should make a more general speculation on the particular future objectives of the educational systems, focused on common studies and priorities, but at the same time respecting the national
1. The monitoring indicators of the work progress for the achievement of the relevant objective are: The number of individuals that complete the secondary education, the percentage of teachers that are trained in new dexterities in sectors of need, the determination of the cognitive levels of reading and writing, arithmetic/mathematics for the methodological ability for the acquisition of knowledge and the percentage of adults with education inferior to that in the first circle of secondary education, who have participated in any form of education or adult training, in groups according to their age. For more see Council of UE, Conclusions of the 13th July 2001 Council with regard to the consequent works after the Report about certain future objectives of the educational and training systems, UE C204/3, 13.07.2001, http:// europa.eu.int/ comm/ education/ doc/ official/ keydoc/ 2002/ progobj_en.pdf

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variety (Council, 2002). This recommendation introduces a change in the way in which the social, political and economic changes are attempted in the educational systems, so that the quality of the provided education is improved especially for the foreign students. In this particular period, important decisions to this direction were taken in Greece with the recent example of passing the 2413/96 2 Act (Official Journal of the Hellenic Republic 124, v. A, 17-6-1996). According to the provisions of this Act, the number of Schools of Intercultural Education can increase, either creating new Intercultural schools or changing existing state schools to schools offering Intercultural Education or even creating classes or departments of intercultural education depending on the educational needs. The proposal of the Prefectoral Council, the consultation of the Education of Fellow countrymen and Intercultural Education Institute (I.P.O.D.E) and the common decision of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Finance are all essential conditions. At the same time, the application of innovative actions and programs by the Ministry of Education and Religious affairs of Greece (YP.E.P.TH) and the Pedagogic Institute (P.I.) is also included in the frame of adopting broader educational innovations. Indicatively we report the programs of Environmental Education, School Professional Orientation, Education of Health, Education of Consumer and Intercultural education (P.I., 2004) through which the infusion of the Intercultural Education in all subjects and actions of obligatory education is attempted. The Intercultural Education, as a scheme for equivalent interaction of cultures aiming at exceeding their limits and constituting a hyper cultural identity (Govaris, 2001:.78), aims at a school of equal opportunities, that respects divergences and renders them valuable, gives importance in the multiplicity of language and offers alternative possibilities of learning via experiential methodological approaches (Bereris, 2001: 75-6). These actions, however, can be easier realised in school environments where flexible curricula are applied, at least with regard to the Greek educational reality. These programs exhibit the autonomy of the educational work and focus on: the self government of the educational unit (resources, facilities, equipment)
2. It is noted that the Legislative Decree 339/74 (Official Journal of the Hellenic Republic 61/11-374) which anticipated the foundation of Schools of Resettling Students, the Ministerial Decision F. 818-2/Z/4139/20-10-80 and the Acts 1404/83 (Official Journal of the Hellenic Republic 173/2411-83) and 1894/90 (Official Journal of the Hellenic Republic 110/27-8-90) that enacted the Reception Classes and the Tuition Departments preceded this Act.

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reinforcing teachers self confidence exhibiting students abilities through activities that correspond to their innate interests and needs. The school environments in which the above described conditions exist are Day long schools in the Preschool and First degree Education in the Greek educational reality. Two kinds of Day long Schools function in Greece, as in most parts of Europe (Deckert-Peaceman, 2004): the closed and the open Day long schools. The closed Day long schools, which are 28 in all, have functioned in a pilot scheme in various regions in Greece and they remain unchanged up today, because no central decision has been taken by the Ministry of Education to increase their number. Those that have prevailed are the open Day long schools. It is noted that in the current school year (2006-7) roughly 150.000 students attend the 6.636 open Day long schools in total , from which 4.271 are Primary schools and 2.365 are kindergartens (Imerisia, 2006). In this kind of Day long school the students are taught obligatory/ traditional subjects in the regular program, while in the afternoon an optional program is added which includes students homework preparation for next days courses and their occupation with creative activities, which are not included in the regular school syllabus. There is a 45 minute break between the morning and afternoon shift so that the students have a rest and have lunch in a specially equipped room3 on the school premises. In general the Ministry of Education and Religions Affairs in Greece enacted a law for the operation of the flexible kind of Day long school, as it was described above, with a series of decrees4, which define its basic directions of operation as follows: the consolidation of knowledge and skills that students are taught in the regular school program (study, additional teaching interventions in Language and Mathematics, consolidating teaching, individualised programs by schoolteachers of the afternoon classes) and the enrichment of the regular syllabus with more subjects of particular cultural and social importance (English Language, Sports, Music, Dance,
3. In Greece in the flexible Day long schools there is neither provision for the preparation of food inside schools nor organised restaurants with assisting staff (cooks, waiters etc), but the students bring fast food with them and have lunch in a specially designed area under the supervision of the teaching staff. 4. F / 50/76/121153/G 1 (13-11-02), F 50/57/26650/G 1/17-3-03, F 50/58/26861/G 1/17-3-2003, F. 50/132/90416/ Of G 1/28-8-2003, F 12/773/77094/G 1/28-7-2006

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Theatrical Studies, Arts, New technologies in education), according to the students needs and interests, which should be taught by specialised teachers. Emphasis for the successful application of the enriched syllabus is given both on alternative learning-by-sharing, interdisciplinary, experiential teaching approaches and on undertaking innovative actions and programs as well. The Day long school is considered to be a place for the creation of authentic conditions of an alternative kind of learning, a parameter that is consistent with the basic principles of modern tendencies in education, such as the environmental education, intercultural education, education of health etc. This is the reason why the proposals for the implementation of the cross curriculum projects during its operation also contribute to this direction. (Loukeris, 2005a). The aforementioned parameters are included in the questioning for the effective operation of the school institution generally and the Day long school more specifically, since this is the paramount objective that recommends the mapping out of the educational policy to this direction and the engagement of the Greek State to harmonise with practices / strategies that also exist in the other member- states of the European Union5.

5. The progress of the policy concerning the collaboration in the sector of education and training can contribute to the success of the strategy of Lisbon, since the determination for a total answer to the challenges of the communion of knowledge, globalisation and enlargement of EU is underlined. Consequently, the following objectives, which are considered ambitious but realistic, are set up to 2010 to the profit of the community of the citizens and the Union.(Council and the Commission, 2002): The highest qualitative level of education and training will be achieved and Europe will be recognized worldwide as a benchmark, as regards the quality and the expediency of its systems and institutions in this sector. The educational and training systems in Europe will be sufficiently compatible, so that the citizens can go from one into the other and profit from their variety. The qualifications, the knowledge and the dexterities that are acquired, anywhere in the EU, will have real validity all over the Union, so that their holders can use them for their career or for further study. All Europeans regardless of age will have access in the via life learning. Europe will be open in the collaboration with other regions with a reciprocal profit and it should constitute the desirable destination of students, scientists and researchers from other countries of the world.

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3. NECESSITY OF RESEARCH
The Day long school constitutes a relatively new institution in Greece. For precisely this reason its evaluation is considered essential concerning the support of students that come from different cultural or socioeconomic environments. The elements that will emerge can be evaluated and exploited with regards to the achievement of the objective of the Day long school. This is the configuration of the open school that will blunt the inequalities and the discriminations in education, ensuring equal chances of education for all the students without exceptions. For the evaluation of the Day long institution, it was intentionally decided that the opinions of the involved teachers should be investigated in the present research. These are the Directors of the school and the teachers that teach in them, who listen to the students and parents concerns through their involvement in the educational process. The recording of their experiences through the completion of questionnaires - reflect the authentic parameters related to the problems faced by the foreign students while attending the Day long school curriculum.

4. PREVIOUS RELATIVE RESEARCH

In Greece no relative researches on Day long School as an institution for the integration of foreign students in the school and consequently in the social environment have been carried out. The existing researches mainly refer to a more general level of assessment of the work of the Day long school, at the same time pointing out the problems and the prospects of the institution. In particular, we report the following researches: The research that was carried out in 2003 by the Labour Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (INE/GSEE). The research that was carried out in the years 2002-2003 by Pamouktsoglou & Nikolaou (Pamouktsoglou et al, 2005) The researches that were realised in the years 2003-4 and 2004-5 by Loukeris & Stamatopoulou and Loukeris, Karabatzaki & Stamatopoulou (Loukeris et al, 2005a & 2005b) The research that was realised in 2005 by Papachristos and The Special Study of Evaluation of Day long School, that was completed

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in 2005 (since 2002) and was carried out on behalf of of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs with the contribution of the Managing Authority of Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training (EPEAEK), the Special Service of the Community Support Framework (CSF) and the First Degree Compulsory Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. Besides the above mentioned researches which are reported in Kyriakopoulou (2006: 293-5), we also report the following indicatively: The research that was carried out by Patinioti, Ntoliopoulou & Thomas (2002-3) and records parents opinions with regard to the operation of Day long school. The research on the Day long School by Tzikas, Porpodas & Goukos that was carried out in 2004 in the region of Thessalia. The research addressed to teachers of the regular and afternoon program of the Day long School, to parents of students who study in the Day long School, to parents of students that interrupted their study in this and to students of the 4th , 5th and 6th grades that study in the Day long School (Tzikas, Porpodas, & Goukos, 2005). The research by Tsobanidis & Tsipi that was carried out in 2004 and examines the opinions of parents whose children study in the Day long Primary School (Tsobanidis & Tsipi, 2005). It is pointed out that useful conclusions on the broader operation of day long schools result from the afore mentioned researches (Kyrjakopoulou, 2006:295-7 Loukeris & al, 2004, 2005 Tzikas et al, 2005 & Tsobanidis et al, 2005 Patiniotis et al, 2003): Parents think positively of the institution, are satisfied with the preparation of childrens homework for the next day and consider the collaboration with the teachers essential. The Day long school contributes to the childs socialization, the improvement of his personal behaviour, the stimulation of his selfascertainment and self-assurance. The majority of students did not stop attending extracurricular activities, despite the provision of varying activities in the Day long school curriculum. The lack of time of teachers for frequent contacts and consequently, collaboration between them is obvious. The material and technical infrastructure of Day long schools is not

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complete and the provision of pedagogic and teaching material is inadequate. The financing of the Day long school is insufficient and there is a big problem of bureaucracy concerning the recruitment of educational personnel. The Day long school in Preschool Education is an important institution which aids the smooth integration of students in the broader social, economic and cultural environment.

5. METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH 5.. Assumptions and exploratory questions

Our basic speculation consists in how much the Day long school corresponds to its social and pedagogic role. A basic assumption in our research is that the Day long School functions as a supportive institution for foreign students as regards: a. their integration in the school environment b. the support for next days homework study and c. he possibility to attend creative activities of non academic character, which do not exist in the regular school program. The exploratory issues that arise from the above assumption focus on the following questions: Do foreign students attend school? Do foreign students show any interest in participating in the Day long school program? How many foreign students of the regular school participate in the program of the Day long school? Are the parents of foreign students satisfied with their childrens preparation of next days homework? Are the parents of foreign students satisfied with their children attending non academic activities (e.g. cultural activities)? Is there any time dedicated to consolidating foreign students Greek language learning during students homework preparation? To what extent do foreign students collaborate with their Greek classmates during Day long school operation? Is there a rapport established between the foreign and the Greek students

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in the frame of the Day long school compared to the morning program? What other expectations do parents of foreign students have of the Day long school? 5. b. Inquiring tool The evaluation of the aforementioned parameters was made through the expression of the opinions, experiences and perceptions of Directors of Schools and Deputy Managers or teachers-in-charge in the Day long Schools in Greece, as it was expressed in a relative questionnaire. Most of the questions were of a closed type in a regular scale (very much, enough, little, by no means) or in a double categoric scale of the yes no type, while certain questions of an open type also existed. In the present work only part of the questionnaire, which had been drawn specifically for the approach of the intercultural dimension in the frame of the operation of the Day long school, is exploited and the following variables are investigated: The attendance of foreign students at school. The foreign students interest for participating in the Day long school. The extent of foreign students participation in the program of the Day long school The satisfaction of foreign students parents with creative activities The satisfaction of foreign students parents with next days homework preparation The Greek language learning consolidation for the foreign students The expectations of foreign students parents from the Day long school The foreign students collaboration with their Greek schoolmates in the frame of Day long school operation The establishment of a rapport between the foreign and the Greek students in Day long school, compared with that developed in the regular program

5. c. Data collection process

The research was carried out through a random sampling taken from 85 Day long schools of the country. The Directors, Deputy Managers or teachers in charge of Day long schools who we addressed to, answered the questionnaires. Their opinion was considered of great importance, since they have experienced, located and evaluated as important the problems and the

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parameters of the materialization of the institution. 156 questionnaires were distributed but we collected only 136.

5. d. Description of the sample

In the questionnaires, which were completed by the Directors and the teachers-in-charge, they were asked to report their sex, their age, their years of service and their additional studies. From the data that we collected, we have 136 teachers that completed the questionnaires, 65 of which are men and 71 women. The average age for the men is 45.8 years (s.d. 6.770) and 41.1 (s.d. 8.514) for the women. Furthermore, the average previous experience for men is 22.45 years (s.d. 7.637) and 18.16 (s.d. 9.751) years for women. In the 136 questionnaires that were completed by the teachers, roughly 1/3 out of those interviewed was found out to have taken a refresher training or participated in programs of innovative activities, about 2/3 have had an in-service training and hardly 4.4% have had postgraduate studies. All the schools of the sample (a percentage of 100%) are attended by foreign students as well.

5. e. Statistical analysis of results

We processed the data of the questionnaires with the statistical package of SPSS. The percentages of all the variables of the questionnaire were calculated and the relations between the variable foreign students preference to attend Day long school and the remaining variables were evaluated. The Kendalls tau b consistency coefficient concerning the cross-correlation of categoric data was selected for the evaluation of these relations.

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PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
Table 1 presents the percentage of the answers of the variables of the questionnaire that were investigated for the needs of the present research. Table 1 The percentage of the answers of the variables of the questionnaire Percentage Variables Very Enough Little By no much means Foreign students preference 80,0 11,0 9,0 for attending Day long school The extent of foreign students participation in the program of the Day long school Satisfaction of foreign students parents with creative activities Satisfaction of foreign students parents with next days homework preparation Greek language learning consolidation for the foreign students Foreign students collaboration with their Greek schoolmates in the frame of Day long school operation Establishment of a rapport between the foreign and the Greek students in Day long school, compared with that developed in the regular program. 75,0 5,0 20,0

70,2 5,5

8,4 61,5

18,3 27,7

3,1 5,3

5,3

30,7

61,8

2,2

69,3

22,4

8,3

12,5

63,5

21,7

2,3

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In the open question what else parents of foreign students expect from the Day long school, the interviewees gave the following answers: a) Increase of the hours for students preparation of next day homework (81, 5 per cent), b) improvement in English language teaching, so that tutorial courses are decreased (79 per cent) and c) mother tongue teaching (83 per cent). Table 2 presents the values of Kendalls tau - b consistency coefficient between the variable foreign students preference for attending Day long school and the rest of the variables that were investigated in the present work. In particular, in table 2 can be observed that a statistically significant positive relation was found, in level of importance P < 0,01 or P < 0,05 , between the variable foreign students preference for attending Day long school and the remainder variables that are investigated in the present research. Any increase in these variables results in an increase in foreign students preference for attending Day long school as well. The values of Kendalls tau - b consistency coefficient between the variable, foreign students preference for attending Day long school and the rest of the variables. Table 2 Variables The extent of foreign students participation in the program of the Day long school Satisfaction of foreign students parents with creative activities Satisfaction of foreign students parents with next days homework preparation Greek language learning consolidation for the foreign students Foreign students collaboration with their Greek schoolmates in the frame of Day long school operation Foreign students preference for attending Day long school 0,56** 0, 51**

0,53** 0,21*

0,42**

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Establishment of a rapport between the foreign and the Greek students in Day long school, compared with that developed in the regular program.
*P< 0,05, **P<0,01

0,32**

6. DISCUSSION - IMPLICATIONS From the process of the results of this research it is evident that the overwhelming majority of the foreign students wish their participation in the Day long School program, which they also attend regularly. At the same time, the majority of foreign students parents express their satisfaction with the of Day long school program which includes: their childrens preparation for the next day homework and the accomplishment of creative activities The parents satisfaction with their childrens attendance of the Day long school program has also been expressed in other researches and in particular it constitutes an element of attracting students in it ( Patiniotis et al, 2003_ Tzikas et al, 2005_ Loukeris & Stamatopoulou, 2004: 120). However, it appears to be of great importance for the foreign students specifically, if we take into consideration that the parents of the particular students, who in their overwhelming majority are both workers, can entrust their children in the secure school environment. There, according to the institutional framework of the Day long school, not only can they prepare next days study, but be involved in creative activities with the support of experienced educational staff as well, without resorting to the educational market, which is a financial burden on them(Loukeris & Stamatopoulou, 2004: 104). The above mentioned views are important, because they also have direct relation to the central issues of mapping out the educational policy, which generally aims at the reduction of school drop-out and more specifically at the possibility of acquiring the basic skills required for the integration of the students in the educational system. The Primary School, where the institution of the Day long school applies, equips the students with the fundamental knowledge which is considered to be a

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prerequisite for the progressive accumulation of knowledge via the courses which will be taught to the students in the Secondary Education6. If, therefore, we consider that in the framework of the Day long Primary School operation the students preparation time is exploited to the biggest possible degree under the monitoring of experienced teachers who support students in any difficulties they face, then it is obvious that the satisfactory completion of their studies in the First degree Education ensures increased probabilities of their transition and successful studying in the Secondary Education (Adcock, 1980). Nowadays, when the acquisition of knowledge and dexterities is considered an almost exclusive protection against the devaluation into social exclusion, marginalisation and poverty, the state is called to take into consideration the learning particularities and the cultural characteristics of all children and more specifically the children of vulnerable groups of people. Both in other countries and Greece as well, the children of poor families, children with low school record and pressing familial obligations and, among them, children of the Moslem minority, gypsy children and immigrant children, who either do not attend school at all or abandon it very prematurely, are the ostracised from the educational system (Glavas, 2006: 7). In this structure and in the continuously increasing needs for an improvement in the quality of studies, the Day long school promotes the foreign students right to have access to a new educational reality in general. This reality is called to face the continuously increasing requirements for substituting the learning deficiency of the regular program, owed to innate and extraneous factors. The students who attend the Day long School have the possibility to substitute their learning deficiencies and adequately be prepared for next days courses. This in combination with the realisation of creative activities, which in other cases parents were supposed to buy from the free market, contributes to a large extent to the withdrawal of educational inequalities and the aid of the learning result. This opinion is also expressed in the foreign students parents demand for an increase in the hours of preparation of their children for the next days courses and an upgrade of the
6. The Day long School gives students the opportunity to penetrate means and intellectual fields which in the past were offered to children belonging to the superior socio-economic classes under the veil of the innate characteristic. A characteristic which many times was also detected in the linguistic expression, since it is known that the children that have linguistic experiences of a processed linguistic code repeat it and consequently excel the children with an inferior linguistic code (Bernstein, 1991), not only in the matter of expression, but also in the matter of familiarisation with the school culture, since this is consistent with the characteristics of the scientific culture which is expressed by a processed linguistic code respectively (Bourdieu, 1973: 116).

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English language teaching, which is an activity realised in the afternoon in private tuition centres and has an economic cost. The problem of inequality of opportunities in education, that can come from the interaction of exterior factors, such as the familial and school environment, is one of the most important questions which the Sociology of Education dealt with (Bourdieu, 1973: 74-5). Without deepening into any kind of sociological consideration, but through the total review of the tendencies that prevail, we assume that school today should be addressed to all students and more specifically to those that come from different socio cultural or familial environments in a way that it would blunt the educative inequalities and manifest the diversity of students concerning their culture. The last parameter is a point that should be given appropriate attention, because foreign students parents opinion recordings have emerged their satisfaction with their children Greek language learning in the Day long school and, simultaneously, their concern about their mother tongue teaching. If we attempt to explore the previously mentioned opinions, it turns up that foreign students parents have accepted that Greek is the dominant language, which constitutes an essential condition for their childrens professional and social evolution and for this reason they prompt them to acquire it as fluently as they can (, 2000: 170). Learning the Greek language exclusively, however, intensifies the fast assimilation of foreign students in the sovereign monolingual and mono cultural school (Markou, 1996). It is explicit that we refer to a depreciation/scorn for the cultural capital of these people who come from different cultures from the dominant one, which with the overlapping of cultural deficit the explanatory framework of a series of researches concerning the differences between the indigenous and foreign students is legalised (Govaris, 2001: 46-51). This, however, threatens with the danger of foreign students rejecting the native spoken language and culture as dominant elements resulting in their ghettoization and conscious adherence to their own language and their own culture, rejecting even social and cultural universal values (Schumann, 1978_ Govaris, 2001: 50-1). From the above mentioned views, it becomes clear that mother tongue is a very important factor for the achievement of foreign students bilingual socialization which means a parallel growth of the mother tongue and the language of social frame in which they are included (Cummins, 1981, 1996). Nevertheless, a foreign student, who has acquired his mother tongue to a sufficient degree, can more easily acquire other languages as well, the language of the social context in which he lives included. Bilingualism is a datum that should not be ignored, because, whoever waives a language in favour of another, does not offer children any remarkable

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service, on the contrary he impedes a smooth Self structure (Damanakis, 1989: 143). The mother tongue is one of the fundamental elements of an individuals national and cultural identity, a basic means of communication with the members of the national or cultural group which he belongs to and also a figurative bond of the individual with his history and culture (Cummins, 1981).

7. PROPOSALS Consequently, according to afore mentioned views, the Day long School has to a degree corresponded to the expectations of foreign students parents. However, the operational framework of the Day long school should reexamined with regard to the support provided to foreign students, adopting Cummins intercultural model of education (Govaris, 2001: 197-204) and should aim at: a cultural / linguistic integration the active participation and collaboration of foreign students parents with the educational staff (Reynolds, 1999) and the development of the students critical thought, so that they detect the possibilities of social transformation to the direction of extended forms of democratic participation and social action. It is explicit that all the above educational processes place under contestation the socializing function of the school, where the students accept the values and the rules of the society which are connected to the roles that have been assigned to them (Turner, 1971). They reject the opinion that socialization is a predetermined operation, where the deterministic perception for the relation of people and society leads to the configuration and moulding of the first into the second (Cohen, 1968: 58). Simultaneously, severe criticism is inflicted on the conflict theory, according to which the school functions as a means of class structure reproduction through the processes of legalisation and socialization (Blackledge & al., 2000, p.p. 304 6). In this way the philosophy of Day long school can be focused on the interpretation of school life based on the common comprehension of the meanings that signal the daily behaviour of those involved in the educational process (Hargreaves, 1975). It objects to the generalised interpretation of all similar issues of school life for each case and it proceeds to specialised explanatory approaches, depending on the factors that affect and differentiate

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the particular case from the others (Hatzigeorgiou, 1998, p.p. 272-5). This, in our opinion, can also comprise one of the qualified advantages of Day long Primary School, since in this way it is possible each students uniqueness to be manifested as the State main concern for mapping out the educational policy and teaching methodology that would respect the particularity of each students educational status.

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