PROMOTING SCHOOL BELONGING: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF CHALLENGES AND TEACHING PRACTICES FOR STUDENTS WITH IMMIGRANT BACKGROUNDS IN GREEK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Athina Lykourinou

Abstract


Sense of school belonging refers to students’ emotional connection to school and their perception of being accepted, respected, and supported. Students with immigrant backgrounds may experience barriers to participation, social inclusion, and belonging within the school environment. The Greek educational system has been described as ethnocentric and bureaucratic, with limitations in promoting intercultural dialogue, cooperation, and inclusion. This qualitative study explores issues related to inclusive education in Greece, focusing on challenges in intercultural education, factors influencing students’ inclusion and school belonging, and teaching practices that support participation. Through the accounts of eight primary and lower secondary public-school educators, gathered in semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically, participants identified language barriers and students’ emotional needs as key challenges. Socioeconomic background, intercultural awareness, and teacher–student relationships emerged as important factors influencing inclusion. Reported practices included differentiated teaching, self-expression activities, intercultural activities, cooperative learning, and project-based learning. However, curriculum overload limited teachers’ flexibility to implement alternative practices, highlighting the tension between teachers’ efforts to respond to diverse students’ needs and the constraints of the Greek educational context.

Keywords


belonging, immigrant background, teaching practices, inclusion, Greek public schools

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v13i10.7025

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