Experiential learning of English in Greek All-Day Primary...

ResearchPapersinLanguageTeachingandLearningVol.7,No.1,February2016,105-126ISSN:1792-1244Availableonlineathttp://rpltl.eap.grThisarticleisissuedundertheCreativeCommonsLicenseDeed.Attribution3.0Unported(CCBY3.0)

ExperientiallearningofEnglishinGreekAll-DayPrimarySchools:investigatingcurriculumimplementation

Ηβιωματικήεκμάθησητηςαγγλικήςσταελληνικάολοήμεραδημοτικάσχολεία:

διερεύνησητηςεφαρμογήςτουαναλυτικούπρογράμματος

Zaharenia-IriniKIDONIAThispaperinvestigatestheteachingofEnglishintheafternoonprogrammeofGreekAll-DayPrimary Schools. According to the Curriculum, the teaching of English can facilitate the“opening of school to society” bymeans of experiential activities that promote creativity,self-direction and cooperation .The paper, following anecdotal reports, explores thehypothesis that experiential activities are not commonplace in the afternoon programme,throughasurveyamong9SchoolAdvisorsand11TeachersofEnglish.Theanalysisfocuseson the extent to which All-Day Schools implement the Curriculum and reveals somechallenges. Itshowsthat theexperientialcurriculumsuggestionsare implementedtosomeextent,notonlybecauseofissuesthatpolicy-makersneedtoconsider,butalsobecausemostof the teachers are not familiar with the principles of “creativity”, “self-direction” and“cooperation”.Thepaperconcludeswithmethodologicalsuggestionsandexamplesofcross-curricularprojectsthataimtoencouragethesuccessfulimplementationoftheCurriculum.

�Το παρόν άρθρο ερευνά τη διδασκαλία της Αγγλικής στο απογευματινό πρόγραμμα τωνΟλοήμερων Δημοτικών Σχολείων στην Ελλάδα. Σύμφωνα με το Αναλυτικό Πρόγραμμα, ηδιδασκαλίατηςΑγγλικήςμπορείναδιευκολύνειτο«άνοιγματουσχολείουστηνκοινωνία»μέσωβιωματικώνδραστηριοτήτωνπουπροωθούντηνδημιουργικότητα,τηναυτορρύθμισηκαιτησυνεργασία.Στηριζόμενοσεανέκδοτεςαναφορές,τοάρθροερευνάτηνυπόθεσηότιοι βιωματικές δραστηριότητες δεν εφαρμόζονται στο απογευματινό πρόγραμμα, μέσωερωτηματολογίωνμεσυμμετέχοντες9ΣχολικούςΣυμβούλουςκαι11ΚαθηγητέςΑγγλικής.Ηέρευνα επικεντρώνει στο βαθμό που εφαρμόζεται το Αναλυτικό Πρόγραμμα καιαναδεικνύει ορισμένες προκλήσεις. Συγκεκριμένα δείχνει ότι τα Ολοήμερα Σχολείαεφαρμόζουν τις προτάσεις για βιωματική μάθηση σε μικρό βαθμό, όχι μόνο λόγωπροβλημάτωνταοποίαοφείλουνναλάβουνυπόψηοιδιάφοροιφορείςχάραξηςπολιτικής,αλλά και επειδή οι περισσότεροι καθηγητές δεν είναι εξοικειωμένοι με τις αρχές της

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«δημιουργικότητας»,της«αυτορρύθμισης»καιτης«συνεργασίας».Τοάρθροκαταλήγειμεμεθοδολογικές προτάσεις και παραδείγματα διαθεματικών σχεδίων εργασίας που στόχοέχουντηνενθάρρυνσητηςεπιτυχούςεφαρμογήςτουΑναλυτικούΠρογράμματος.Keywords:experientiallearning,plurilingualism,multilingualism,abilitytolearn,cross-curricularapproach,projectwork1.Introduction1.1.AimofthestudyThepresentstudyfocusesontheInstitutionof“All-DayPrimarySchools”inGreece,thatwasintroduced in 1997 as part of an educational reform aimed at the “opening of school tosociety”(ΥπουργείοΠαιδείαςκαιΘρησκευμάτων-ΠαιδαγωγικόΙνστιτούτο2015).Followingthe guidelines of the Cross-Thematic Curriculum Framework and an optional programmeuntil 4:15 p.m.with subjects such as English, Information Technology, Physical Education,Drama,ArtandMusic,All-DaySchoolsprovidespaceandtimeforexperientialactivitiesthatareanessentialprerequisite for the linkbetweenschoolandsociety.Takingadvantageofexperientiallearningprinciples,theteachingofEnglishintheafternoonprogrammecanplayakeyroleintheachievementofthesocialandpedagogicalobjectivesofAll-DaySchools.Basedontheprinciplesofcreativity,self-directionandcooperation,theteachingofEnglishcan serve both the social and the pedagogical objectives of All-Day Schools, therebyfacilitating the “openingof school to society”. The social objectivesdealwith the creativeuseofstudents’timewhilstparentsareworking,aswellaswiththeintegrationofmigrantstudents in their school environment, and by extension, in the Greek society. As for thepedagogicalobjectives,theyareconnectedwiththedevelopmentoflife-longlearningskills.All theseobjectives canbeachievedbymeansof experiential activities (Χρυσοχόος, Ι. καιΚοσοβίτσα,K.2003).Experiential activities can serve the social objectives of All-Day Schools by promotingcreativity, self-direction and cooperation. Following the principles of creativity and self-direction,experientialactivitiesintheafternoonprogrammeprovideopportunities,notonlyfor consolidation of the material introduced in the morning programme, but also forproductionofnewmaterialbystudents through theuseof resourcessuchas the internetand the school library. Throughout the process of material production, students can useEnglish as a helping tool for the management of information from various sources andsubject areas. Experiential activities can also make an important contribution to theintegration of migrant students in their school environment, by engaging learners incooperativework.Thus,alongwiththesocialpurposes,EnglishcanalsoservethepedagogicalpurposesofAll-DaySchools,throughexperientialactivitiesthatarecarefullydesignedtopromotecreativity,self-direction and cooperation. As mentioned above, the pedagogical purposes areconnected with the development of life-long learning skills. This is according to Dewey’sprincipleofcontinuitythatsuggeststhat,“thefuturehastobetakenintoaccountateverystageoftheeducationalprocess”(Dewey1938:47).Theengagementoflearnerswithgroupactivities inwhichtheyareaskedtousetheirpriorandcurrentknowledgeandexperience


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for common benefit, encourages inventive thinking, responsibility for learning as well ascooperationandsolvingofconflictsinconstructiveways(Kohonen1992:19-20).Byfosteringtheseskillsandattitudesfromanearlyage,All-DaySchoolsaimtopreparelearnersforthedemandsofthefuture,thatis,forcontinuousadaptationtosocialandtechnologicalchange.Asitisrevealed,theskillsthatAll-DaySchoolspromote,namelycreativity,self-directionandcooperationallcoincidewiththeprinciplesofexperientiallearning.TheteachingofEnglishcanalsofacilitateareal“openingofschooltosociety”bymeansofprojectwork ,whichmay involvenotonlystudentsandteachersbutalsothe localsocietyandparents in theeducationalprocess (Chryshochoos, 2002:38-39).Projectwork canalsocontributetotheintegrationofmigrantstudentsintheirschoolenvironmentbypromotingcooperation, collaboration and themes of intercultural education. The success of projectwork depends on the extent to which members of different learning groups are able todepartfromindividualisticandcompetitive learningtomorecooperativeandcollaborativelearning. Specifically, successful project work requires a process of cooperation, which ischaracterizedbydivisionofthetaskstobecompleted,andaprocessofcollaboration thatimpliessharedcreationofknowledge(Paulus2005:103).TheroleofEnglishinthesuccessofproject work in All-Day Schools is equally important to the role of cooperation andcollaboration,sinceitcanservebothasatoolforthemanagementofinformationandasameansforthepromotionofinterculturaleducation(Χρυσοχόος&Κοσοβίτσα,2003).Clearly,experientiallearningofEnglishisvitalfortheachievementoftheobjectivesofGreekPrimarySchools,whichbearthename“All-DaySchools”duetotheirextendedprogramme.The aim of this study, therefore, is to investigate the implementation of Curriculumsuggestions for experiential learning of English in the afternoon programme of All-DayPrimarySchools.1.2.StructureofthepaperThe study was conducted in July 2013 and included 3 Research Questions (see Kidonia2014).Alongwithexploring theextent towhichexperiential activitiesare implemented inAll-Day Schools, the study also aimed to reveal any opportunities and challenges that theexperiential learning of Englishmay involve and to offer the participants’ suggestions forsuccessfulCurriculum implementation.Duetospace limits, thecurrentpaper focusesonlyon the first Research Question. It explores the views of School Advisors and Teachers ofEnglish on the extent to which All-Day Schools implement the experiential curriculumsuggestions.Thus,afterthisintroductionthatoutlinesthebroadaimofthestudyandexplainshowtheteaching of English can contribute to the achievement of the social and pedagogicalobjectivesofAll-DaySchools,thearticlediscusseswhatismeantby“experientiallearning”.Inthiscontext,itclarifiestheterms“abilitytolearn”,“plurilingualism”and“multilingualism”thatareincludedintheCurriculum(section2.1),anddescribesthecross-curricularapproachwithitsbenefits(section2.2).Thisisfollowedbyapresentationoftherationalebehindthe2002CurriculumfortheteachingofEnglish inAll-DaySchools(section2.3).Thediscussionon experiential learning endswith a set of criteria that Teachers need to bear inmind indesigningexperientialactivities(section2.4).ThearticlethenpresentstheResearchQuestionforthestudy(section3.1).Italsodescribesthe design of the research instruments (section 3.2), explains how the research wasconducted(section3.3),and introducestheparticipants (section3.4). Inwhatcomesnext,


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an overview of the coding and analysis undertaken is provided (section 4.1), which isfollowedbytwosectionsdiscussingtheAdvisors’andTeachers’perspectivesoncurriculumimplementation(sections4.2.1&4.2.2).ThearticleconcludeswithsuggestionsforTeachers’continuingprofessional development andwithwaysof implementingprojects successfully(sections5.1&5.2).2.LiteraturereviewTheintroductionofAll-DayPrimarySchoolsin1997wasfollowedbythedevelopmentofthe2001 and 2002 Curricula. Both the 2001 Cross-Thematic Curriculum for Modern ForeignLanguagesandthe2002CurriculumfortheteachingofEnglishintheafternoonprogrammeofAll-DaySchoolspromotecompetencessuchastheabilitytolearnandplurilingualism.Aswill bediscussed in the section to follow, in thisway, theCurriculaemphasise the roleofpersonalexperiencenotonlyforsecondlanguagelearningbutalsoforlife-longlearning.2.1.RoleofexperientiallearningAll learningrequiressomesortofexperience.AccordingtoKolb(1984:38),“learning istheprocess whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”. Theexperiencemayconsistofprioreventsinthelifeofthelearner,currentlifeevents,orthoseresultingfromthelearner’sparticipationinactivitiesdesignedbyteachers(Andersenetal.1995:225). An essential feature of experiential learning is that learners analyse theirexperience,(individually,inpairsorgroups)inordertodrawmeaningfromitinthelightofpriorexperience.Theanalysisinvolvesaprocessofreflection,evaluationandreconstructionof theexperience,whichmay lead to furtheraction.During thisprocess, learnersdeveloptheirabilitytolearn,whichisdirectlyrelatedtotheideaoflife-longlearning.Theabilitytolearn may also be conceived as discovering “otherness”. The “other” might be anotherlanguage, another culture, other people or new areas of knowledge (Council of Europe-CommonEuropeanFramework-CEF2001:12).Personal experience is also a prerequisite for the development of plurilingualism.Plurilingualism deals with the communicative competence that learners build up as theirexperienceoflanguageinitsculturalcontextexpands(CEF2001:4).Itisdirectlyconnectedwithinterculturalawarenessbecauseitstressestheimportanceoftheinteractionbetweenlanguages and cultures. Examples of plurilingual competence include calling upon theknowledge of a number of languages tomake sense of a text in a previously “unknown”language,ormediatingbetweenindividualswithnocommonlanguage.Ontheotherhand,multilingualism, which is also promoted by the 2001 and 2002 Curricula, refers to theknowledge of a number of languages, or to the co-existence of different languages in aparticulareducationalinstitutionorinagivensociety(CEF2001:4).2.2.Thecross-thematiccurriculumframework(2001)The Cross-Thematic Curriculum Framework, introduced in 2001, proposes the cross-curricular approach to the teaching of all school subjects including Modern ForeignLanguages.Asitmentions,

“Modern Foreign Languages contribute to the development of pupils’ ability touse language in real-life communication situations, (..) but also as a tool foracquiringandmanagingknowledgeandinformationfromdifferentsubjectareas”(ΥπουργείοΠαιδείας καιΘρησκευμάτων- Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο. Διαθεματικό


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Ενιαίο Πλαίσιο Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών Υποχρεωτικής Εκπαίδευσης: ΔΕΠΠΣΞένωνΓλωσσών.Nodate:145).

The emphasis of the cross-curricular approach is on active, experiential way to learningwhich involves theexaminationof thematicunits from theperspectiveofdifferent schoolsubjects as part of student participation in projects. Project work begins with aninterdisciplinaryanalysisofthethematicunitthatthestudentshavechosentoinvestigateinconsultationwith their teachers, and endswith a cross-curricular, holistic presentation inwhich two or more school subjects have been integrated. It is a task-centred mode ofteachingandlearningrootedinaneducationalphilosophy,whichaimstopavethewaytoamore democratic and participatory society. Therefore, project work realizes a dynamicbalance between classroom managers who are also participants, in student discussions,role-plays, or in groupdecision-making activities, andparticipantswhoare also classroommanagers,responsibleforand leadingtheirownlearning.Thisbalanceresults froma jointprocessofnegotiationbetweenall projectparticipants, evident at all project stages, fromopening, topic orientation and data collection to material organization, presentation andevaluation.Asopposedtothetraditionalclassroom,inwhich,oneteacherleadslearningandindividuallearners are relatively passive recipients of information, in theproject classroom teachersandlearnersbecomecolleagues,whoadopttheroleofaresearcherandcooperateinpairsor groups in order to make possible an open, process-oriented curriculum. Having athematicunitusuallyrelatedtoasocialorcultural issueastheirstartingpoint,teachersoftwo or more school subjects cooperate in lesson planning and investigate the learningprocess to see how learners respond to theme, task, teachers and group, and whatcontributions they canmake to a collectively negotiated curriculum, which aims tomeetsocial needs and individual interests.With the same thematic unit as a stimulus, learnersdiscussthecontentandscopeoftheirprojectandworkontasksconnectedonacausalbasisinordertorealizecertainmacro-andmicro-goals.Forthesegoalstobeachieved,learnersneedtocooperateintheorganizationoftheirworkandconstantlyinvestigatetheirlearningoutcomesfollowingacyclicalmodelofexperientiallearning.Inotherwords,projectthemesandideasalonedonotaccountfortheeducationalvalueofprojecttasksbecause

Only when learners become involved with these ideas through a process ofdiscussion,experimentation, reflection,andapplicationof insights tonewcyclesof experimentation, will learning take place which deserves to be calledexperiential(LegutkeandThomas1991:158).

Apart frompromotingself-directionand independentdecision-making,by inviting learnerstodetermineandconstantlyevaluatethewhat,howandwhyoftheirlearning,projecttasksalso contribute to the development of learners’ communicative competence. Morespecifically,inpursuitofthemacro-andmicro-goalstheyhaveset,learnersmoveoutoftheclassroom and use all four skills- reading, writing, speaking and listening- in a naturallyintegratedway.Theymaygatherprintedandvisualmaterial, conduct interviews,ormakerecordings of live talks and report their content, using both the mother tongue and theforeignlanguageastoolsforacquiringandmanagingknowledgeandinformationinreal-lifecommunicationsituations.Within this context, preoccupation among teachers is not principally with assessing theoutcomeoftheprojectbutwithbuildingaprocessorientationthatwillenable learnerstolearnexperientially.Theprocessentailsopportunitiesforlearnerstoexpandtheirscopeof


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action in the foreign language and to combine relevant parts of different subjects into acomposite, holistic product that they will recognise as an achievement of themselves, asindividuals andmembers of a group. In this way, teaching does not only respond to theneedsand learningstylesofall studentsbut italsocontributes to thedevelopmentof themultiple abilities or “intelligences” that they possess. These “intelligences” have beengrouped by the psychologist Howard Gardner into the following eight comprehensivecategories:a) linguistic,b)logical-mathematical,c)spatial,d)bodily-kinesthetic,e)musical,f)interpersonal,g)intrapersonalandh)naturalist(Armstrong2009:6).Fromall the above, it is revealed that the cross-curricular approach andprojectwork areproposedbytheCross-ThematicCurriculumFrameworkasvehiclesforexperientiallearningduetotheirimmensebenefitbothtostudentsandtoteachers.

The students’ motivation begins with their personal investment in the project.Thismotivationissustainedandincreasedastheworkprogresses.Firstly,becauseit affords them the opportunity to practise in the classroom the language forwhichtheythemselveshaveseentheneed.Secondly,becausetheprojectenablesthemtousethetargetlanguageinrealsituations.Thirdly,becauseinmostcasesit leadstotangibleresults-anendproductwhichtheythemselveshavecreated.Andlastly,becauseitleadstoadeepeningofpersonalrelationships-sodifficulttoachieveinday-to-dayclassroomwork-betweenteacherandstudentsandamongthestudentsthemselves.(Fried-Booth,D.L.1986:12).

Toconclude,cross-curricularteachingmakesdemandsupon languageteachers intermsoftheirownprofessionaldevelopmentinatleasttwoways:

First,itbringsthemupagainstthelimitsoftheirknowledgeandunderstandingofthe world, as they move outward from their favoured subjects. Second, itchallenges them to move forward in ways that will support their effectiveteachingoflanguagesthroughothertopicsandsubjectareas.(Hayes2010:384).

2.3.EnglishinAll-DayPrimarySchoolsIntroduced as an institution with the potential to shape social reality, All-Day Schoolspreparestudentstobecomeactiveparticipantsinamulticulturalsociety,whichisaskedtoconstantlyadapt to technological change.To thisend, they followanextended,afternoonprogramme that allows for creativity and active participation of students in the learningprocess. With a combination of school subjects designed to develop all intelligences butwithoutanyassessmentintheformofgradesorexams,theafternoonclassescomplementthemorningclasses,theypromotealternativeevaluationsuchasself-assessmentorgroupcorrectionandencouragecollaborationbothamongstudentsandteachers.Inthisway,theafternoonprogrammeaimstocreateaclassroomenvironmentmoreconducivetolearning,wherestudentswillbenotonlyrevisingandconsolidatingknowledge,buttheywillalsobeworkingcollaborativelythroughcross-curricularactivitiesinordertocreateknowledge.The cross-curricular approach along with the guidelines on multilingualism andplurilingualism make the role of English in this programme vital. Based on the cross-curricular approach, English can become both the link between morning and afternoonschool subjects and the means for the promotion of topics of intercultural education.Moreover,inconjunctionwithInformationTechnology,Englishcanbeusedasatoolforthe


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performanceofreal-life,communicativetaskssuchasmanaging informationfrominternetsources,interactingviaweb2.0toolsormakingpresentations.Meanwhile, the guidelines on multilingualism and plurilingualism encourage the use ofEnglishasalinguafranca,thatis,asacontactlanguageamongstudentswhodonotshareafirst language (Jenkins 2007:1). Within this framework, the teaching of English in theafternoonprogrammecannurtureaspiritofmutual respectamongpupils, thuspreparingthemfor“theirencounterswithculturaldifference intheir immediatecontext(i.e. intheirhomes,classrooms,schoolyardandneighbourhood)”(Fayetal.2010:586).The extracts from the 2002 Curriculum (Appendix 1/1.1) reflect the above rationale, byemphasisingtheimportanceofcommunicativeandcross-curricularactivitiesthataimbothatknowledgeconsolidationandatthedevelopmentofthecompetenceof“learninghowtolearn”.2.4.CriteriaforexperientialactivitiesIn designing activities, Teachers need to bear in mind that experience alone is notnecessarilyeducative.Therearesomecriteria thatneedtobe fulfilled if learningactivitiesaretobecalled“experiential”.Thesecriteriainclude:

• Learning goals that are meaningful to students and thus related to their livedexperiences.Inotherwords,activitiesshouldbe“morethanimmediatelyenjoyablesincetheypromotehavingdesirablefutureexperiences”(Dewey1938:16).

• Continuity of experience (i.e. tasks connected on a causal basis/see section 2.2)according to Dewey’s principle that “every experience both takes up somethingfromthosewhichhavegonebeforeandmodifies insomewaythequalityofthosewhichcomeafter”(Dewey1938:27).

• Debriefingandreflectionsince“noexperiencehavingameaningispossiblewithoutsomeelementofthought”(Dewey1916:145).

• Learning activities that involve the whole person (intellect, senses, feelings) andencouragecontactandcommunication(e.g.role-plays,games).

Andersenetal.addtwomorecriteria:

• “Recognitionofwhatlearnersbringtothelearningprocess”aswellas• “Concern for thewell-beingof the learnerandbothvaluingandpursuing theself-

directivepotentialofthelearner”(Andersenetal.1995:225-239).Alltheabovecriteriaarenecessaryforlearningactivitiestobelabelled“experiential”.3.PresentationofResearchMethodology3.1.TheresearchquestionWhile the Curriculum suggests experiential activities for the afternoon programme of All-DaySchools,anecdotalevidencesuggeststhatexperientialactivitiesarenotcommonplacein theafternoonprogrammeand, inmanycases,English teacherssimplyhelpstudentsdotheir homework. This results in students losing interest in the lesson, which eitherdiscourages attendance in the afternoon programme or causes behaviour issues. Thus, inthispaper,Iseektoanswerthefollowingresearchquestion:


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According to School Advisors and Teachers, to what extent do All-Day Primary SchoolsimplementtheCurriculumsuggestions forexperiential learningofEnglish in theafternoonprogramme?3.2.TheresearchinstrumentsIchosetoaddresstheabovequestionbothtoSchoolAdvisorsandtoTeachers inordertogainmultipleperspectivesandthusdrawsaferconclusionsaboutthefunctioningofAll-DaySchools. As a survey researcher, I need to describe and to interpret naturally occurringphenomenathatdealwith“routineandproblematicmomentsandmeaningsinindividuals’lives” (Richards2003:11),andtopresent thesephenomenafromtheparticipants’pointofview.Tothisend,Idesignedtwoquestionnaires,oneforAdvisorsandoneforTeachers,thatwereasnon-intrusiveandnon-directiveaspossible(Nunan1992:141),therebyenablingtheelicitationofapictureofExperientialLearningofEnglishinAll-DayPrimarySchoolsthatisasvalidaspossible.Inordertomakethetwoquestionnaireslook“easy,attractiveandinteresting”(Cohenetal.2011:399),andinthiswaymotivaterespondentstocooperate,Iincludedalimitednumberof items inGreek and I used a semi-structured format that allows respondents to choosebetween giving brief or more extensive answers (Cohen et al. 2011:382). For eachquestionnaire, I designed 7 items that were directly referenced against the researchobjectives (Oppenheim 1992:101). The focus of this paper is on items 1-5 that arereferenced against the aforementioned Research Question (see section 3.1). Finally, Idecided to add a section for comments, at the end of the questionnaires, so thatparticipants can articulate any views for which the questionnaire items may not providespace(Gillham2000:34).Alongwiththequestionnaire(Appendices2and3),IalsosenttheCurriculumguidelinesandprinciplestoallparticipantsandaskedthemtoreadsomehighlightedextracts(Appendix1)beforeansweringanyquestions.3.3.ImplementationOncemy studyhadbeenethically approved, I sent an initial email to4Advisors and to6Teachersinformingthemaboutthetopicofmystudyandaskingthemtoparticipateinit.Incase they were interested in participating, the 4 Advisors and the 6 Teachers were alsoinvitedtohelpmefindmoreparticipantsbygivingmetheemailaddressesofsomeoftheircolleagues.All 4Advisorsand6Teachers replied tomy initial email andhelpedme find5moreAdvisorsand5moreTeachers.Therefore,thefinalnumberofparticipantsinthestudywas 20: 9 Advisors and 11 Teachers. This sampling technique, which involves “a “chainreaction” whereby the researcher identifies a few people who meet the criteria of theparticular study and then asks these participants to identify further members of thepopulation”(Dörnyei2003:72),iscalled“snowballsampling”.Insteadof asking the4Advisors and the6 Teachers to forwardmyquestionnaire to theircolleagues, I chose to contactallpotentialparticipantsmyself followingDörnyei (2003:70)who suggests that, “questionnaire administration procedures play a significant role inaffecting the quality of the elicited responses”. Thus, my decision to approach potentialrespondentsmyself and not simply send themmy questionnaire through their colleaguesintended to show my personal interest in their views and motivate them to take thenecessarytimetoanswermyquestions.


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3.4.Participants3.4.1.TheschooladvisorsThe SchoolAdvisorsof English areprofessionals in the fieldof TESOL (TeachingEnglish toSpeakers ofOther Languages)with higher education degrees andmany years of teachingexperience.TheyareresponsibleforthescientificandpedagogicalguidanceandsupportofbothprimaryandsecondaryeducationteachersofEnglishintheprefecturetheysupervise.Aiming to gain an overview of Curriculum implementation from Primary Schools all overGreece, IdecidedtocontactAdvisorswhosupervisePrimarySchoolsnotonly incitiesbutalsointownsandvillages.Therefore,IdidnotcontactallAdvisorswhoseemailaddressesIhadavailablebut Ichosetocontacta fewAdvisorswhoareresponsible forprefecturesofAthens,andafewmoreAdvisorswhosuperviseotherprefecturesofGreece.Specifically,3of theAdvisorswhoparticipated in thesurveysupervisePrimarySchools inprefecturesofAthens,2AdvisorssupervisePrimarySchoolson islandsand4AdvisorsareresponsibleforPrimarySchoolsofotherprovincialareas.While the School Advisors of English normally supervise the Schools of one prefecture, insome cases, it is possible that they supervise schools of two prefectures. In the presentstudy,3oftheAdvisorsareresponsiblefortheschoolsoftwoprefectures.Thiscanbethecaseinprovincialareaswithalimitednumberofschools.3.4.2.TheteachersInGreekPrimarySchools,thereareTeachersofEnglishwithadifferentstatus,sonotallofthemhaveexperienceof teaching in the afternoonprogramme,which is the focusof thepresentstudy.Intermsofstatus,EnglishTeacherscanbedividedinto3categories:1)full-timeteacherswhoteachonly in themorningprogramme,2) full-time teacherswhoteachbothinthemorningandafternoonprogrammes,and3)part-timeteacherswhoteachonlyintheafternoonprogramme.Thus,formyresearchpurposes,Ihadtofindparticipantsfromthe last two categories. My participants would also need to have experience from theafternoon programme of different schools and, ideally, from schools of different areas ofGreece,inordertohelpmegainanoverviewofCurriculumimplementation.Whileitisusuallythepart-timeteacherswhoteachindifferentschoolseveryyear,therearealsomany full-time teachers without a permanent position in a specific school, who alsoteach in different schools and, in many cases, in different prefectures every year. Thepresentstudyincludes1part-timeteacherand2full-timeteacherswhohavebeenteachingindifferentprefecturesalmosteveryyear.Withtheexceptionof1full-timeteacherwhohasbeen teaching in the schools of the same area, all the other Teachers began as part-timeteachers inoneprefectureandgraduallybecame full-time teachers inanotherprefecture.Hence, all these participants can offer interesting interpretations of experiential learningdrawingontheinsightstheyhavegainedfromteachingnotonlyindifferentschoolsbutalsoindifferentareasofGreece.


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4.Analysisandinterpretation4.1.DatapreparationandcontentanalysisHavingreceivedthequestionnairesfromallSchoolAdvisorsandTeachers,Ihadtoidentifyand eliminate possible errors in them, such as missing answers, arithmetic errors inpercentagesoracrossinmorethanoneboxes(seeAppendices2and3),whichcanreducethevalidityofthedataunlesstheyarespottedatthisstageoftheresearchprocess(Cohenet al. 2011:407). After the “editing” of the questionnaire, as the above task is called, Iproceededtothe“reduction”ofthedata,whichconsistsofcodingdata inpreparationforanalysis(Cohenetal.2011:407).Thisinvolvesgivinganameorlabeltoapieceoftextthatcontainsanideaorapieceofinformation(Cohenetal.2011:559).Inthisway,Iobtained20pages of coded data that had to be represented in tables in order to be bothcomprehensibleandcomparable.While I couldeasily transfer to tables thenumericaldataand thedata fromclosed items,thiswasnotthecasewiththedatafromsentencecompletionandopen-endeditems,whichIdecidedtoputintocategorieswithoutdistortingormisinterpretingtheircontent.Inotherwords,Ichosetousecontentanalysisasawayto“condenseandquantifyqualitativedata”(Nunan 1992:147) without doing violence to it. Content analysis is a procedure in whichthemes are identified from the statements made by respondents, “with the researcherfocusingonthewaythethemeistreatedorpresentedandthefrequencyofitsoccurrence”(Spenceretal.2003:200).Theidentifiedthemescanthenbenumericallycodedandenteredintotablestobetreatedasquantitativedata.Inpractice,however,therearealmostalwayssome responses that do not fit easily into categories and have to be reported as such(Gillham2000:65).4.2.BuildingupthepictureofEnglishinAll-DaySchoolsInthefollowingtwosections,IamexploringtheviewsofAdvisorsandTeachersrespectivelyontheextenttowhichAll-DaySchools implementtheCurriculum.Thisexplorationrevealschallenges that inhibit the experiential learning of English in All-Day Schools and haveimplicationsbothforpolicy-makersandforTeachers.4.2.1.Theadvisors’challengeFromafirstlookattheAdvisors’answers,IrealisedthatthenumbersIwasprovidedwithdonot allow for safe conclusions to be drawn about the extent to which All-Day SchoolsimplementtheCurriculum.WhilesomeAdvisorsanswerthequestionaboutthenumberofschoolstheysuperviseingeneralterms(i.e.theymentiontheysuperviseallschoolsoftheirprefecture(s)), some other Advisors note that they are responsible for a big number ofschools.However,allAdvisorsoffer lowpercentagesofschoolsthatdonot implementtheCurriculum1.The lackofvalidity in thepercentagesthat theAdvisorsprovide isverifiedbytheAdvisorsthemselves.Advisor7commentsonthepercentagesasfollows:

These percentages give an indication. They represent the Advisor’s overview ofCurriculum implementation. For the percentages to be precise, the Advisorwillhave to attend the lessons of all Primary Schools of one prefecture and writedownwhethertheseschoolsimplementexperientialmethodsornot.


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The issueofattending the lessonsofAll-DaySchools isalsohighlightedbyAdvisor1,whoprovidesthefollowingexplanationofthewaysheansweredthequestionnaire:

MypersonalexperienceofAll-DaySchoolsislimitedandtheanswersIhavegivenaremainlybasedonthediscussionsIhadwithEnglishteacherswhoworkintheseschools.

AstheAdvisors’numericaldatawasinvalid,inordertodevelopunderstandingoftheextenttowhichtheCurriculumisimplemented,IhadtolookforcommentsthattheAdvisorshadpossiblymade in thesentencecompletionandopen-ended items.Skimming through theirresponses,Ifoundthat6AdvisorshadstatedclearlythattheCurriculumisnotimplementedinAll-Day Schools, 1Advisor hadmentioned that theCurriculum is implemented and it isonlyafewteacherswhoprefertraditionalmethods,and2Advisorshadremainedneutralonthe issue.The followingextracts illustratewhat themajorityof theAdvisorsbelieveabouttheimplementationoftheCurriculum:

Ideally, the afternoon programme of All-Day Schools would be an excellentopportunity for the implementation of experiential activities. However, inpractice,thishappenstoasmallextent.(Advisor4)SincefrontalteachingisverypopularintheGreekeducationsystem,weneedtowork hard in order to introduce and implement experiential methods in theteachingofEnglishboth in themorningand in theafternoonprogrammeofAll-DaySchools.(Advisor1)

Therefore, from all the above, I have concluded that, All-Day Schools cannot easilyimplementtheexperientialCurriculumsuggestionsbecauseofthe issuesthattheAdvisorsfacewiththeirsupervision.Asmentionedinsection3.4.1,theSchoolAdvisorsofEnglishareresponsibleforschoolsofbothprimaryandsecondaryeducation,sometimesinmorethanone prefectures. The above data reveals that, this increased responsibility makes theAdvisors’ task of attending the lessons of All-Day Schools and supporting the teachers inimplementingtheCurriculumextremelydifficult.4.2.2.TeachersshowingpromisingworkInexaminingtheTeachers’perspectivesonCurriculumimplementation,Isoughttoidentifynot only which activities the Teachers have tried but whether these activities implyknowledgeoftheroleofEnglishinAll-DaySchools,asdescribedintheintroductionandinsection 2.3. Hence, in the following paragraphs, along with exploring successful andunsuccessful experiential activities, I am also seeking insights into the Teachers’understandingofexperientiallearningprinciplesandIamexaminingtheextenttowhichtheparticipants of this study have implemented projectwork successfully, thus following theCurriculumrationale.ThedatashowsthatthemajorityoftheTeacherswhoparticipatedinthepresentstudyhavetriedsomeof theactivities thataresuggested in theCurriculumand, inmostcases, theseactivities have been successful. Among themost successful experiential activities are thegames, the songs and the story reading, usually followed by dramatization, whereas thedialoguesappeartobetheleastsuccessfulexperientialactivity2.Thedataalsosuggeststhatthemajority of the Teachers are not familiarwith experiential learning and projectwork.Specifically, only 4 out of the 11 Teachers who participated in the present study have


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developedagoodunderstandingofexperiential learningandthereforehave implementedprojectwork successfully. The restof theTeachers seem tohaveapoorunderstandingofexperiential learning and projectwork. For example, Teacher 11 seems to ignore the factthat, in project work, it is the students who determine the what, how and why of theirlearningaccordingtotheirinterests(seesection2.2).AsTeacher11says:

I havebeenable to implement the suggestedactivities to someextentbecausethe children were usually tired so it was difficult for them to concentrate onactivitiessuchasprojects.

Ontheotherhand,theresponsesfromTeachers2,6,9and10revealagoodunderstandingofexperientiallearningprinciplesandjustifythesuccessfulimplementationofprojectwork.Teachers2and9mentionactivitiesthatinvolvethewholeperson(intellect,senses,feelings)and encourage contact and communication (see the criteria for experiential activities insection2.4).Thisishowtheydescribethe“BritishCustoms”andthe“fashionshow”:

On every traditional British holidaywewould learn about the relevant customsandwewouldperformtheminclass.(Teacher2)Weorganisedafashionshowsothatthechildrenlearnthedifferentseasonsandthe different clothes, shoes and accessories that we wear in every season.(Teacher9)

Inaddition,Teacher6showsrecognitionofwhatthelearnersbringtothelearningprocess(seesection2.4),assheencouragesherstudentstodo“agroupresearch”inordertocreatea poster. Finally, Teacher 10 organises dramatization around fairy tales that children find“most enjoyable”, as she says. The dramatization activities are therefore meaningful tostudents.Eventhoughthese4Teachershaveimplementedprojectssuccessfully,theirworkdoesnotclearlyreflect theCurriculumrationalebecausetheirprojectsarenotcross-curricular, thatis,theydonotexaminethematicunitsfromtheperspectiveofdifferentschoolsubjects(seesection 2.2). This weakness in Teachers’ work is possibly due to a weakness of theCurriculum,whichmayoffersomegeneralguidelines(seeAppendix1andsection2.2)butdoes not describe the rationale for the teaching of English in All-Day Schools (see theintroduction and section 2.3).Moreover, learning about the Curriculum rationale throughtrainingseemstorelytotallyontheTeachers’motivationtodevelopprofessionally.This isduetothedifficultythattheAdvisorshave inattendingthe lessonsofAll-DaySchoolsandsupportingtheteachersinimplementingtheCurriculum(seesections3.4.1and4.2.1).Giventhesechallenges,thefactthatmostoftheTeacherswhoparticipatedinthepresentstudyhaveimplementedsomeexperientialactivitiessuccessfully,whileafewofthemhavealsoexperimentedwithprojectwork,showsthepotentialoftheseTeacherstoengagewithcross-curricularactivities,iftheygetinformedabouttheCurriculumrationaleandabouttheroleofEnglishinAll-DaySchools.


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5.Suggestionsforteachers5.1.ContinuingprofessionaldevelopmentInexperientiallearningterms,Teachersareregardedas“self-motivatedlearners”(Graingerand Barnes 2006:213) who take responsibility for their continuing professionaldevelopment.Throughindividualstudyorthroughparticipationinactivitiesforprofessionalgrowth, the aim for Teachers is to understand how theory and practice can inform oneanother and how this transformative process can inform their work (Johnson 2006:240).That is, in order to grow professionally, Teachers may not simply acquire theoreticalknowledge, but they may link this theoretical knowledge to their own experientialknowledgeand thusbecome“activeusers andproducersof theory in theirown right, fortheir own means, and as appropriate for their own instructional contexts” (Johnson2006:240).5.2.ImplementingsuccessfulprojectsToimplementprojectssuccessfully,theEnglishTeachersofAll-DaySchoolsneedtoconsidersome suggestions from the literature. First of all, they need to bear in mind thatheterogeneousgroupsderivingfromcarefulanalysisoftheTeacherhavebeenproventobethemost effective formof learningduringproject tasks (Legutke andThomas1991: 225).Therefore, throughout the projects, they need to organise students in cooperative teamsthat consist of “at least two friends and a balanced mixture of high, average and lowachievers”(LegutkeandThomas1991:225). Inaddition,theyshould identifyandfocusonclear, appropriate, subject-based learning objectives and they should continually monitorthedepthof students’understandingby informalassessmentduring theactivities (Barnes2011:207). The English Teachers of All-Day Schools should also be prepared to drop thethemeforaperiodinordertoteachsubject-specificskillsandknowledge,andtheyshouldgive students early opportunities to apply newly learned skills and knowledge whenreturning to the theme(Barnes2011:207).Finally, inorder togainmaximumbenefit fromthe projects, both teachers and students can keep journals or diaries where they will bemakingnotesandreflectingontheir learningexperiencesand findings3(Kohonen2001:92,Catapano2005:26).6.ConclusionsandimplicationsThecurrentpaperhighlights thekey roleofexperiential learningofEnglish in thehealthyfunctioningofAll-DayPrimarySchools. ItexplainshowtheteachingofEnglishcandevelopthe students’ life-long learning skills, and how it can contribute to the creative use ofstudents’ timeand to the integrationofmigrant students in their school environment, bymeansofexperientialactivitiesandcross-curricularprojectwork.ThepaperalsorevealssomeofthechallengesthatinhibitexperientiallearningofEnglishinAll-DaySchools.ThechallengesdealwiththeAdvisors’difficultyinattendingthelessonsofAll-DaySchools,whichisanissueforpolicy-makerstoconsider,andwiththefactthatmostTeachersarenotfamiliarwiththeprinciplesofexperientiallearning.Despitethesechallenges,theTeacherparticipantsofthisstudymanagetoshowpromisingwork.Themajorityof themhave implementedsuccessfully someof theactivities thataresuggested in the Curriculum,while a smallminority has experimentedwith projects. This


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implies their potential to also engage with cross-curricular activities if they get informedabouttheCurriculumrationaleandabouttheroleofEnglishinAll-DaySchools.Therefore,thepapersuggeststhatTeachersneedtotakeresponsibilityfortheircontinuingprofessional development andprovidesbothmethodological suggestions andexamplesofcross-curricular projects in order to encourage the successful implementation of theCurriculum.Notes1. To see the Advisors’ answers, please follow this link: http://attik.pde.sch.gr/sym06-

gath/DATA/Drastiriotites/EnglishinAll-DaySchools-STUDY.ppt.2. To see the Teachers’ answers, please follow this link: http://attik.pde.sch.gr/sym06-

gath/DATA/Drastiriotites/EnglishinAll-DaySchools-STUDY.ppt.3. To see examples of successful cross-curricular projects, please follow this link:

http://attik.pde.sch.gr/sym06-gath/DATA/Drastiriotites/EnglishinAll-DaySchools-ACTIVITIES.ppt.

ReferencesAndersen,L.,Boud,D.andCohen,R.(1995).“Experience-basedLearning”.InG.Foley(Ed.),

UnderstandingAdultEducationandTraining.Sydney:Allen&Unwin,225-239.Armstrong,T.(2009).Multipleintelligencesintheclassroom.Alexandria:ASCD.Barnes,J.(2011).Cross-curricularlearning3-14.London:Sage.Catapano, S. (2005). “Teacherprofessional development through children’s projectwork”.

EarlyChildhoodEducationJournal,32/4:261-267.Chryshochoos,J.E.,Chryshochoos,N.E.,andThompson,I.E.(2002).Themethodologyofthe

teachingofenglishasaforeignlanguagewithreferencetothecross-curricularapproachandtask-basedlearning.Athens:ThePedagogicalInstitute.

Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education (7th ed.).Oxon:Routledge.

Council of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:Learning,teaching,assessment.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Dewey,J.(1938).Experienceandeducation.Indianapolis,Indiana:KappaDeltaPi.Dewey,J.(1916).Democracyandeducation:anintroductiontothephilosophyofeducation.

NewYork:MacmillanPublishing.Dörnyei,Z.(2003).Questionnairesinsecondlanguageresearch:construction,administration

andprocessing.NewJersey:LawrenceErlbaumAssociates.ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΣΤΗΣΚΥΒΕΡΝΗΣΕΩΣΤΗΣΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗΣΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑΣ.[GOVERNMENTGAZETTEOF

HELLENIC DEMOCRACY]. (November 22, 2002). ΦΕΚ Β 1471: 19572-19574. [FEK B-GAZETTENUMBER1471:19572-19574].

Fay,R., Lytra,V.andNtavaliagkou,M. (2010).“Multiculturalawareness throughEnglish:ApotentialcontributionofTESOLinGreekSchools”.InterculturalEducation,21/6:579-593.

Fried-Booth,D.L.(1986).ProjectWork.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress.Gillham,B.(2000).DevelopingaQuestionnaire.London:Continuum.Grainger,T.andBarnes,J.(2006).“Creativityinthecurriculum”.InJ.Arthur,T.Graingerand

D.Wray(Eds),LearningtoTeachinthePrimarySchool.Oxon:Routledge,209-225.Hayes, D. (2010). “The seductive charms of a cross-curricular approach”. Education 3-13:

InternationalJournalofPrimary,ElementaryandEarlyYearsEducation,38/4:381-387.


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Jenkins,J.(2007).Englishasalinguafranca:attitudeandidentity.Oxford:OxfordUniversity

Press.Johnson,K. (2006). “The sociocultural turnand its challenges for second language teacher

education”.TESOLQuarterly,40/1:235-257.Kidonia, Z. I. (2014). “Experiential learning of English in Greek all-day primary schools:

investigating curriculum implementation” Unpublished MA dissertation, University ofManchester.

Kohonen,V., Jaatinen, R., Kaikkonen, P. and Lehtovaara, J. (2001).Experiential learning inforeignlanguageeducation.Harlow:Longman.

Kohonen, V. (1992). “Experiential language learning: second language learning ascooperative learnereducation”. InD.Nunan (Ed.),Collaborative language learningandteaching.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,14-39.

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning anddevelopment.EnglewoodCliffs,NewJersey:PrenticeHall.

Legutke, M. and Thomas, H. (1991). Process and experience in the language classroom.Harlow:Longman.

Nunan,D.(1992).Researchmethodsinlanguagelearning.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Oppenheim, A.N. (1992). Questionnaire design, interviewing and attitude measurement.London:PinterPublishers.

Paulus, T.M. (2005). “Collaboration or cooperation?: analyzing small group interactions ineducational environments”. In T.S. Roberts (Ed.), Computer-Supported CollaborativeLearninginHigherEducation.London:IdeaGroupPublishing,100-108.

Richards,K.(2003).QualitativeinquiryinTESOL.Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan.Spencer, L., Ritchie, J. and O’Connor, W. (2003). “Analysis: practices, principles and

processes”.InJ.RitchieandJ.Lewis(Eds),qualitativeresearchpractice:aguideforsocialsciencestudentsandresearchers.London:Sage,199-218.

Υπουργείο Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων- Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο. [Ministry of Educationand Religious Affairs- The Pedagogical Institute]. (2015). Oλοήμερο Σχολείο. [All-DaySchool], at http://www.pi-schools.gr/programs/oloimero/oloimero_01_03/, accessed 14October2015.

Υπουργείο Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων- Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο. [Ministry of EducationandReligiousAffairs-ThePedagogical Institute]. (2011).ΟιΞένεςΓλώσσεςστοΣχολείο:ΟδηγόςτουΕκπαιδευτικούτωνΞένωνΓλωσσών. [ForeignLanguagesatSchool:ForeignLanguage Teacher’s Guide], athttp://rcel.enl.uoa.gr/xenesglosses/docs/ΟΔΗΓΟΣ%20ΕΚΠΑΙΔΕΥΤΙΚΟΥ.pdf, accessed 14October2015.

Υπουργείο Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων- Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο. [Ministry of EducationandReligiousAffairs-ThePedagogical Institute]. (Nodate).ΔιαθεματικόΕνιαίοΠλαίσιοΠρογραμμάτωνΣπουδώνΥποχρεωτικήςΕκπαίδευσης:ΔΕΠΠΣΞένωνΓλωσσών.[ACross-ThematicCurriculumFrameworkforCompulsoryEducation:ModernForeignLanguages],at http://www.pi-schools.gr/download/programs/depps/english/14th.pdf, accessed 14October2015.

Χρυσοχόος, Ι.καιΚοσοβίτσα,Κ. (2003).“ΗσυμβολήτηςΑγγλικήςγλώσσαςστοΟλοήμεροσχολείο”. Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο, 21/11 (Νοέμβριος), από http://www.pi-schools.gr/programs/oloimero/oloimero_03_05/pages/news/newsItem001.htm,προσπελάσθηκε14Οκτωβρίου2015.


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APPENDIX1

CURRICULUMGUIDELINESANDPRINCIPLES(Extractsgiventoparticipantstoread)

1.1 The2002CurriculumguidelinesCHAPTERB-THEENGLISHLANGUAGEINALL-DAYPRIMARYSCHOOLSTheteachingofEnglishintheafternoonprogrammeaimstocontributetotheachievementof the objectives that the Curriculum of English for Primary School has set following theprinciplesofliteracy,multilingualismandmulticulturalism.The afternoon programme aims at knowledge consolidation through group, pair andindividual learning.Itsobjectiveistogivestudentsmoreopportunitiestoacquirelanguagecultureandtodevelopcommunicativecompetencebypractising:

• Grammar,syntaxandvocabulary• Appropriatelanguageusedependingonthecommunicativecontext• Receptiveandproductiveskills• Communicationand learning strategies (especially for thedevelopmentof thekey

competenceof“learninghowtolearn”)

Moreover, both the morning and the additional afternoon school programmes giveopportunitiesforcross-curricularactivitiesinwhichthesubjectofEnglishcanbeembedded.These activities offer students a holistic engagement with social issues and allow forcombinationofinformationfromvariouscognitivefields.Consolidation activities should vary. They should offer possibilities for both individual andgroupworkandaimat thedevelopmentof receptiveandproductive languageskills.Theyshouldalsoinvolvestudentsinspeechactsofcommunicativevalue.Consolidationactivitiescaninclude:

1) Readingoftexts(magazines,booksetc)2) Watchingandcommentingoneducationalfilms(e.g.documentaries)3) Developmentofdialoguebetweenstudents4) Learningofsongs5) Projectworkorcross-curricularactivitiessuchas:

• WritingofanewspaperinEnglish• Role-play/dramatizationinEnglish

(Translated fromtheGovernmentGazette:ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΣΤΗΣΚΥΒΕΡΝΗΣΕΩΣΤΗΣΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗΣΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑΣ-FEKB1471:19572/22-11-2002)


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1.2The2011CurriculumprinciplesCHAPTER2THEFRAMEWORKANDTHEPEDAGOGICPRINCIPLESOFTHEUNIFIEDCURRICULUM3.HowourstudentslearnKnowledge is acquired, not offered. Through memorization we do not obtain trueknowledge.Knowledge isnotsomething“ready”tobeofferedtous. It isonly informationthat can be offered to us (even thoughwe can find information by ourselves ifwewant-especiallynow,intheeraofmultiplesourcesofinformationwherewelive).Dependingonhowwemanagetheoffered informationwemaybe ledtoknowledge. In fact, thewaytoknowledge(orto learning) involvesaprocessofpersonaldevelopmentthattransformsus.During this process it is uswho construct the knowledge. This iswhatwe should bear inmind concerning the knowledge that our students acquire. It is them who construct theknowledgewhile investigating and trying to understand theworld around them. Thenewknowledge or the newmental schemata are constructed and interpreted by our studentsdependingontheirperceptionsorbeliefsthateachoneofthemhasformulatedonthebasisoftheirpriorknowledgeandexperience.Whilesynthesizingnewmentalschemata,whoeveracceptstoentertheprocessof learningunderstandsbetterwhathe/shealreadyknowsbycombiningnewandoldexperiences.Our studentsaccept toenter theprocessof learningwhen,thewhatandhowweaskthemtolearnismeaningfultothem.(..)Forthisreason,itisnecessary that thematerialsandmeansweuseare relatedwithourstudents’ livesandwiththecontextinwhichtheylive.Experiential Learning is until today themost important way of education apart from theformaleducationsystem.Theuseofexperientiallearningmethodsandpracticesisofmajorimportanceinforeignlanguageeducationbecausethelanguage,eitherthenativelanguageor the foreign language cannot be memorized. Unless the language is used in realcommunication situations it cannot be learnt. Conditions for language use andcommunicationarecreatedinlearningenvironmentsthatpromotecollaboration.(TranslatedfromtheForeignLanguageTeacher’sGuide2011:15-18/ΥπουργείοΠαιδείαςκαιΘρησκευμάτων-ΠαιδαγωγικόΙνστιτούτο)


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APPENDIX2

ΕΡΩΤΗΜΑΤΟΛΟΓΙΟΣΧΟΛΙΚΩΝΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΩΝ

1) ΣεπόσαΟλοήμεραΔημοτικάΣχολείαείστευπεύθυνος/η;ΤοΑναλυτικόΠρόγραμμαΣπουδών τηςΑγγλικής Γλώσσας για τοΟλοήμεροΔημοτικόΣχολείο έχοντας ως στόχο « να δώσει στους μαθητές περισσότερες ευκαιρίεςαπόκτησης γλωσσικής παιδείας και ανάπτυξης της επικοινωνιακής τους ικανότητας»(ΦΕΚ 1471, 22 Νοεμβρίου 2002, σελ.19572) προτείνει μία σειρά δραστηριοτήτωνεμπέδωσης της γνώσης του πρωινού προγράμματος με βιωματικό χαρακτήρα(παρακαλώδείτετηναναλυτικήπεριγραφήτωνδραστηριοτήτωνστοσυνημμένοαρχείο«ΠρόγραμμαΣπουδώνΟλοήμερου»σελ.19573).Επίσης,ηβιωματικήμάθησηαποτελείπαιδαγωγική αρχή του Ενιαίου Προγράμματος Σπουδών των Ξένων Γλωσσών πουεγκρίθηκε από το Υπουργείο Παιδείας πριν από 2 χρόνια (ΦΕΚ 2320, 17 Οκτωβρίου2011)-(παρακαλώδείτετηνενότητα«Πώςμαθαίνουνοιμαθητέςμας»στονΟδηγότουΕκπαιδευτικούτωνΞένωνΓλωσσώνπουσαςεπισυνάπτω,σελ.15,16,17,18).

ΛαμβάνονταςυπόψητιςοδηγίεςτωνΠρογραμμάτωνΣπουδώντου2002και2011παρακαλώαπαντήστεστιςερωτήσειςπουακολουθούν:

2) Σε ποιό βαθμό τα Ολοήμερα Δημοτικά Σχολεία στα οποία είστε υπεύθυνος

εφαρμόζουν τις προτάσεις για βιωματική μάθηση στο απογευματινό τουςπρόγραμμα;

%τωνσχολείωνεφαρμόζειτιςπροτάσειςσεμεγάλοβαθμό %τωνσχολείωνεφαρμόζειτιςπροτάσειςσεμικρόβαθμό

%τωνσχολείωνδενεφαρμόζειτιςπροτάσεις

Παρακαλώαναφέρατε3λόγουςγιακάθεμίααπότιςπαραπάνωαπαντήσεις:

3) Tα σχολεία αυτά εφαρμόζουν τις προτάσεις των Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών για

βιωματικήμάθησησεμεγάλοβαθμόεπειδή:

1) 2)

3)4) Tα σχολεία αυτά εφαρμόζουν τις προτάσεις των Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών για

βιωματικήμάθησησεμικρόβαθμόεπειδή:1)

2)


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3)

5) Τα σχολεία αυτά δεν εφαρμόζουν τις προτάσεις των Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών για

βιωματικήμάθησηεπειδή:

1)

2)

3) 6) Με βάση τις απαντήσεις που δώσατε στις ερωτήσεις 3, 4 και 5 ποιές είναι οι

ευκαιρίες και οι προκλήσεις που συνεπάγεται η βιωματική μάθηση της ΑγγλικήςστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμματωνΟλοήμερωνΔημοτικών;Παρακαλώαναφέρατεορισμέναγενικάσυμπεράσματα.

7) Κατάτηγνώμησας,τιθαπρέπειναγίνειώστεοιβιωματικέςδραστηριότητεςπου

προτείνουνταΠρογράμματαΣπουδώνναμπορούνναεφαρμοστούνεπιτυχώςστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμματωνΟλοήμερωνΔημοτικών;

(Παρακαλώαναφέρατε3προτάσεις)

Παρακάτωμπορείτενααναφέρετεσχόλιαπουθαθέλατενακάνετεσχετικάμεταθέματαπουδιερευνούνοιπαραπάνωερωτήσεις.

ΣαςΕυχαριστώπολύγιατησυμμετοχήκαιτονχρόνοσας!


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APPENDIX3

ΕΡΩΤΗΜΑΤΟΛΟΓΙΟΚΑΘΗΓΗΤΩΝ

1) Ποιός είναι ο αριθμός των Ολοήμερων Δημοτικών Σχολείων στο απογευματινόπρόγραμματωνοποίωνέχετεδουλέψει;

ΤοΑναλυτικόΠρόγραμμαΣπουδών τηςΑγγλικής Γλώσσας για τοΟλοήμεροΔημοτικόΣχολείο έχοντας ως στόχο « να δώσει στους μαθητές περισσότερες ευκαιρίεςαπόκτησης γλωσσικής παιδείας και ανάπτυξης της επικοινωνιακής τους ικανότητας»(ΦΕΚ 1471, 22 Νοεμβρίου 2002, σελ.19572) προτείνει μία σειρά δραστηριοτήτωνεμπέδωσης της γνώσης του πρωινού προγράμματος με βιωματικό χαρακτήρα(παρακαλώδείτετηναναλυτικήπεριγραφήτωνδραστηριοτήτωνστοσυνημμένοαρχείο«ΠρόγραμμαΣπουδώνΟλοήμερου»σελ.19573).Επίσης,ηβιωματικήμάθησηαποτελείπαιδαγωγική αρχή του Ενιαίου Προγράμματος Σπουδών των Ξένων Γλωσσών πουεγκρίθηκε από το Υπουργείο Παιδείας πριν από 2 χρόνια (ΦΕΚ 2320, 17 Οκτωβρίου2011)-(παρακαλώδείτετηνενότητα«Πώςμαθαίνουνοιμαθητέςμας»στονΟδηγότουΕκπαιδευτικούτωνΞένωνΓλωσσώνπουσαςεπισυνάπτω,σελ.15,16,17,18).

ΛαμβάνονταςυπόψητιςοδηγίεςτωνΠρογραμμάτωνΣπουδώντου2002και2011παρακαλώαπαντήστεστιςερωτήσειςπουακολουθούν:

2) Έχετεδοκιμάσεικάποιεςαπότιςβιωματικέςδραστηριότητεςπουπροτείνονταιστο

ΠρόγραμμαΣπουδώντου2002;(Παρακαλώσυμπληρώστεμε«Χ»)Έχωδοκιμάσειόλεςτιςπροτεινόμενεςδραστηριότητες

Έχωδοκιμάσειμερικέςαπότιςπροτεινόμενεςδραστηριότητες

Δενέχωδοκιμάσεικαμίααπότιςπροτεινόμενεςδραστηριότητες

3) Μπορείτε ναδώσετε 3παραδείγματα επιτυχώνβιωματικώνδραστηριοτήτωνπου

έχετεδοκιμάσειστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμμα;(Εναλλακτικάσυμπληρώστεμε«Χ»τοσχετικόκουτάκι)1)2)3)

Δενέχωδοκιμάσεικαμίαβιωματικήδραστηριότηταστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμμα

Οι βιωματικές δραστηριότητες που έχω δοκιμάσει στο απογευματινόπρόγραμμαδενήτανεπιτυχείς

4) Μπορείτε να δώσετε 3 παραδείγματα μη επιτυχών βιωματικών δραστηριοτήτων

πουέχετεδοκιμάσειστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμμα;(Εναλλακτικάσυμπληρώστεμε«Χ»τοσχετικόκουτάκι)1) 2) 3)


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Δενέχωδοκιμάσεικαμίαβιωματικήδραστηριότηταστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμμα

Οι βιωματικές δραστηριότητες που έχω δοκιμάσει στο απογευματινόπρόγραμμαήτανεπιτυχείς

5) Παρακαλώσυμπληρώστετιςπαρακάτωπροτάσεις:

α)Μπόρεσαναεφαρμόσωβιωματικέςδραστηριότητεςστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμματωνσχολείωνπουέχωδουλέψειεπειδήβ)Μπόρεσαναεφαρμόσωβιωματικέςδραστηριότητεςσεμικρόβαθμόστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμματωνσχολείωνπουέχωδουλέψειεπειδή

γ)Δεμπόρεσαναεφαρμόσωβιωματικέςδραστηριότητεςστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμματωνσχολείωνπουέχωδουλέψειεπειδή

6) Μεβάσητιςαπαντήσειςπουδώσατεστηνερώτηση5,ποιέςείναιοιευκαιρίεςκαι

οι προκλήσεις που συνεπάγεται η βιωματική μάθηση της Αγγλικής στοαπογευματινόπρόγραμματωνΟλοήμερωνΔημοτικών;(Παρακαλώαναφέρατεορισμέναγενικάσυμπεράσματα)

7) Κατάτηγνώμησας,τιθαπρέπειναγίνειώστεοιβιωματικέςδραστηριότητεςπου

προτείνουνταΠρογράμματαΣπουδώνναμπορούνναεφαρμοστούνεπιτυχώςστοαπογευματινόπρόγραμματωνΟλοήμερωνΔημοτικών;

(Παρακαλώαναφέρατε3προτάσεις)Παρακάτωμπορείτενααναφέρετεσχόλιαπουθαθέλατενακάνετεσχετικά

μεταθέματαπουδιερευνούνοιπαραπάνωερωτήσεις.

Σ

ΣαςΕυχαριστώπολύγιατησυμμετοχήκαιτονχρόνοσας!


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Zaharenia-IriniKidonia([email protected])holdsaB.AinEnglishLanguageandLiteraturefromtheUniversityofAthensandanM.Ed.inTESOLfromthe

UniversityofManchester(UK).ShehasbeenteachingEnglishforover10yearsinavarietyofcontextsinGreece,bothinthestateandprivatesector.Hermainresearchinterestsareteachinglanguagestoyounglearnersand

classroominteraction.

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