Educational practices at undergraduate level in Greece

Anja Timm, Lancaster University

Why are we interested in undergraduate studies in the largest sending countries?

Research focus

• University visits: classroom observation, interviews and focus groups with teaching staff, students and administrators

• Library visits

• Conversations with British Council staff, agents, alumni and others

• Education fairs, notice boards, student papers, ‘hanging out‘, etc.

Greek HE overview

• Language of instruction: Greek

• All HEIs are self-governing, but supervised by the Ministry of National Education

• Greek HE is provided by 22 universities & 15 institutions of technological education

• Current HE participation rate: 58%

• Greek universities are as yet unable to meet the demand for PG programmes

Entrance into HE

• To qualify for university applicants must pass the Panhellenic exams

• University entrance is restricted by grades

• A grade of below 17 (out of 20) will make it unlikely that applicants can enrol on a popular programme

• Whilst all education in Greece is free, payment for afternoon tuition – frontistiria – has become widespread

Greek HE: emerging themes

• Role of textbooks and libraries

• Student progression

• Student-staff relationship

• ‘Drinking coffee’

• Politics

• Academic writing

• Misconduct policies

Role of textbooks & libraries

• Two free textbooks (provided by the state)• Tailor-written for specific courses• Self-publishing (often without editorial

input)• Normally authored by one’s own lecturer• Or compiled / translated / copied• Libraries often remain unknown quantities

and / or very peripheral to student life• Implications for information literacy

Student progression

• Study as an entitlement (can’t be expelled)• The right to unlimited retakes• ‘Voluntary fail’ option• Perception of fairness• Ever increasing workload • The myth of regular purges (slipping

through eventually)• Frontistiria ‘solution’ re-emerges

Student-staff relationships

• Distant and apparently independent operators (no double marking, no external examiners), frequent use of assistants

• Ever increasing student numbers limit engagement with teaching

• Formative opportunities & feedback are rare• The privileged 10% and the masses• Support system & skills training – largely absent

‘Drinking coffee’

• Recovery from Panhellenic exams

• Making friends, networking (importance of peer group in Greek social structure)

• Supporting one another, getting advice on requirements, study skills, etc. in the absence of official sources

• Diversion

• Postponement (draft / unemployment)

Politics

• Strikes (recurrent feature)

• Highly participatory HE system

• Students as ‘full partners in HE governance’

• Student party power

• Staff involvement (politics & business)

• Politics getting in the way?

Academic Writing

• Assessment is up to individual lecturers but exams play a crucial role in the vast majority of courses

• Opportunity to exercise memorisation skills• Limited confidence in accuracy exam results• Academic writing skills are mainly self-taught • Final year thesis or project • Citation practice (staff & students)

Academic misconduct

• Plagiarism is not an offence in terms of Greek university regulations, students cannot be expelled for it; only failed

• Lecturers and students acknowledged that copy-paste is quite widespread and tolerated

• ‘Poor or bad academic practices in terms of reading, note taking, paraphrase, citation, etc.

Prospects and tactics

• High graduate unemployment

• Graduate study as a desperate measure

• Postponement strategy (army draft)

• Desirability of public sector employment

On coming to the UK

Two distinct groups of students who will come to the UK for their studies…

Background considerations for students:

• European mobility

• The British destination

• Leaving home / growing up / rite of passage