The educational material for the four courses taught within the framework of the Greek-language program of Minority schools (History, Geography, Studying the Environment, and Social Studies/Civics) has been designed in such a way as to address the special conditions of Minority education -- especially the fact that it is intended for pupils whose mother tongue is not Greek.
The objectives of this material are:
- To cover the basic knowledge areas of the courses in the Greek-language program;
- To help Minority pupils improve their Greek, develop critical thinking, increase their knowledge and acquire skills, so as to create the necessary conditions for them to continue their studies in secondary schools
Pedagogical and Teaching Principles The material:
- Turns the curiosity of children into a motivation for learning;
- Is based on the children's activities and favors active learning;
- Benefits from the experiences and daily life of children;
- Promotes the interdisciplinary approach to knowledge: The material, through its structure, shows the interconnectedness of all knowledge disciplines.
Description
- The educational material has been developed on two levels: The first for the 3rd and 4th grades, and the second for the 5th and 6th grades. It consists of twelve “issues” and supplementary material
- The “issues” are thematic units that combine the
knowledge provided by the four courses. More specifically, they combine: (a) historical events with the concepts of place and time; (b) the concepts of the past and tradition with the concepts of change, progress, and evolution; (c) the natural with the social environment. They have a large number of illustrations and pictures and small texts accompanied by exercises and suggestions for activities. - The supplementary material includes one chronology, one geographical-historical-cultural atlas (Around Greece in 15 Days), other maps, three videos, namely (the Bazaar and its World, the Ancient Agora of Athens, Syros), and one tape with children songs in Greek, specially composed for Minority children.
The production of this material was completed during the first phase of PEM. In the period 1998-2000, there was a pilot application of this material at some Minority schools by teachers who volunteered to participate. The results of this pilot run were then assessed and some necessary changes were made. Since the school year 2000-2001, the material has been published and distributed by the governmental “Organization for Publishing Instructional Books” (OEDB) and has been used for the courses of the Greek-language program at all the Minority primary schools of Thrace