Immigrant education and the makings of a never citizen: The case of Greece by Vicki Macris A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical Cultural and International Studies in Education Department of Educational Policy Studies University of Alberta © Vicki Macris, 2014 ii Abstract This thesis delineates a qualitative research approach that investigates immigrant students’ learning and social experiences in Greek state schools. The purpose of this research was to gain deeper insights into the life and learning experiences of immigrant students and to explore the ways in which school level policies meet, or do not meet the schooling needs of immigrant students and improve immigrant education. Moreover, the research seeks to establish if, in fact, such policies are implemented, supported, and enacted. Immigrant students undoubtedly experience marginalization, exclusion, isolation and invisibility in dominant culture- normed schooling environments, while a look at educational practices in public schools reveals that immigrant-receiving societies continue to reflect the values and knowledge of the dominant society or culture (Vedder, Horenczyk, & Liebkind, 2006). The study seeks to find whether or not immigrants, minorities, or marginalized people are given the opportunities required to live a better life in their host country and to receive, at minimum, an education that is equivalent to the education most native students receive. It has increasingly become a social necessity, if not a matter of urgent moral concern in Greek society, to address the educational needs of marginalized immigrant youth who seem to be continuously isolated from public policy, as well as educational policy discourse in Greece. As such, improving the educational experience of immigrant students should be a top policy priority for immigrant receiving countries, especially those experiencing particularly high levels of immigration-related populations. Prioritizing the education of immigrant students may likely yield potential benefits not only to the population of immigrant students who are the focal group under investigation in this study, but to all marginalized and iii disenfranchised students and youth in Greek society. Improving immigrant students’ opportunities for self-invention and self-efficacy in schools goes far beyond benefiting immigrant students, alone; rather, focusing on immigrant students as a marginalized group might serve as a catalyst to inform and conscientize researchers, educators, policy makers to all marginalized youth, who continue to struggle in one of the most exclusionary systems of public education imaginable. iv Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents iii Preface ix Dedication x Acknowledgements xi Prologue xiii Chapter 1: The Encounter 1 1.1 The Problem 1 1.2 Significance of the Study 7 1.3 Locating the Researcher 14 Chapter 2: The Context 19 2.1 Immigration and its Discontents 19 2.2 Hospitality and Its Limits: What to do with the stranger 25 2.3 The rise of anti-immigrant sentiment 30 2.4 The Greek context 32 2.5 The Golden Dawn and implications for immigration 34 2.6 The resurgence of proto-fascism in Greece 37 2.7 The Rise of Populist and Neo-fascist Groups in the EU 40 2.8 Impact of right wing movements in Education and Educational Policy in Greece… 41 2.9 Conclusion 41 Chapter 3: Literature Review 47 3.1 Introduction 47 3.2 Purpose 49 3.3 The Greek Peculiarity 50 3.4 The Muslim Minority, Turkey & Greece and the Ottoman Imprint 54 3.5 Immigration Policy in the Midst of Financial Chaos 59 v 3.6 The “Problem” of Immigration 62 3.7 Educational Policy Initiatives in Greece 65 3.8 Educational Policy and the Political 75 3.9 Conclusion 77 Chapter 4: Theoretical Framework 80 4.1 Introduction 80 4.2 Greece on the periphery 85 4.3 The dark side of democracy 86 4.4 The ideal of liberal democratic state 88 4.5 Liberal Democratic States and the problem of immigration and citizenship 91 4.6 The Greek state as it stands today 94 4.7 Concept of “state” and “nation” in an Era of Neoliberal Globalization 95 4.8 Understanding Nation, State, and Ethnicity 96 4.9 Religion and the State: The Case of Greece 100 4.10 Education Theories of Social and Cultural Reproduction 106 4.11 Critical Multiculturalism 110 4.12 The State, the Church, and the Oppression of Women 112 4.13 Towards a critical deliberative social democratic model: A bridge too far? 113 4.14 Conclusion 116 Chapter 5: Methodology and Design 119 5.1 Introduction 119 5.2 Qualitative Research 120 5.3 Hermeneutics 123 5.4 Epistemology 128 5.5 Interpretive Inquiry 130 5.6 Exploratory Interview 133 5.7 The Critical Hermeneutic Dimension 136 vi 5.8 Case Study and Ethics Review 138 5.9 The Participants 143 5.10 Words Unspoken 144 5.11 Selection of Participants: Challenges and Contingencies 146 5.12 Translation and its discontents 149 5.13 Grandeur, risk, and betrayal 151 5.14 Translation as an art of interpretation: Translation with a hermeneutic twist 154 5.15 Concluding Thoughts 156 Chapter 6: Research Findings 159 6.1 Introduction 159 6.2 Section I: The Immigrant Student and Immigrant Parent Experience 160 6.2.1 First Encounters 161 6.2.2 Reluctant to Speak; Reluctant to Be 161 6.2.3 Immigrant Parents Feel Disconnected from their Childrens’ Schooling 162 6.2.4 A Matter of Age 164 6.2.5 Fear of the Other 164 6.2.6 Inadequacy of the State School System to Provide Support to Immigrant Students 165 6.2.7 Shadow Education 167 6.2.8 Greece: A Place of Opportunity 168 6.2.9 Defining Identity 169 6.2.10 Selective Immigrant Discrimination and Racism 170 6.2.11 Neglected, Invisible and Overlooked 171 6.2.12 Church and State Relations 174 6.3 Conclusion 175 6.4 Section II: Sense-making and co-construction from the policy actors’ and educators’ perspectives 176 6.4.1 “Mother Tongue” 177 6.4.2 What’s in a name? 180 6.4.3 Reception Classes and Teacher Training 182 vii 6.4.4 The Untranslatables 188 6.4.5 Differentiated Instruction 190 6.4.6 Broken Policy: The disconnect between policy and practice 191 6.4.7 The ties that bind: Orthodoxy and the State 192 6.4.8 Books and Resources: Truth, or something like it 194 6.4.9 Perpetual Political Instability 196 6.4.10 Lack of Trust in the “System” 197 6.4.11 Greeks are not xenoracists 198 6.4.12 Citizenship Confusion and Policy Instability 200 6.4.13 Inclusion and Diversity 202 6.4.14 Teachers as Reactive, not Reflexive 203 6.4.15 Notions of Criticality 203 6.4.16 So, are Greeks racists or not? Denying Racism is the “New Racism” 205 6.5 Conclusion 214 Chapter 7: Analyzing and Interpreting the Findings 218 7.1 Introduction 218 7.2 That was then, and that is now 222 7.3 Keeping my Distanc(iation) 226 7.4 The Invisible Immigrant 227 7.5 Country of Origin 233 7.6 Age of Immigration 235 7.7 Immigrant parent involvement in their children’s’ schooling 239 7.8 Parapaideia/Παραπαιδεία: Shadow Education and a System of Corruption 241 7.9 Teacher Education 245 7.10 Policy inconsistencies: The disconnect between policy and practice 246 7.11 Resistance to change 250 7.12 The Untranslatables 252 7.13 Are Greeks racists? 253 7.14 Conclusion 255 viii Chapter 8: Meta-Theoretical Analysis 258 8.1 Introduction 258 8.2 The Greek Exceptionalism 260 8.3 What’s in a name? 268 8.4 The Uniqueness of Nationalism in Greece 271 8.5 How “Public” are Greek Public Schools? 279 8.6 Religious Minorities 285 8.7 Understanding Greek Citizenship 288 8.8 Conclusion 292 Chapter 9: Concluding Remarks and Recommendations 294 9.1 Introduction: The never citizen 294 9.2 Reflections 295 9.3 Summary and Discussion of Key Findings 298 9.3.1 Invisibility 298 9.3.2 Country of Origin 298 9.3.3 Age of Immigration 299 9.3.4 Immigrant parent involvement in their children’s’ schooling 299 9.3.5 Παραπαιδεία (Shadow Education) and A System of Corruption 300 9.3.6 Teacher Education 300 9.3.7 Policy inconsistencies: The disconnect between policy and practice 301 9.3.8 Resistance to change 301 9.3.9 Philotimo 302 9.3.10 Greece’s Economy and Individualism 302 9.3.11 Racism 303 9.4 Drawing Conclusions 303 9.5 Policy Recommnedations 304 9.6 Limitations and Future Directions for Educational Practice and Policy 306 9.7 Future Considerations 307 9.8 Concluding Remarks 309 References 311 Table and Appedices 359 ix Preface This thesis is an original work by Vicki Macris. The research project of which this thesis is a part, received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board under the Project Name “EXPLORING THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF IMMIGRANT YOUTH IN GREEK PUBLIC SCHOOLS: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL POLICY,” No. Pro00029605, and was approved on June 11, 2012. Certain parts of this thesis, but not entire chapters, have been published in journals and as part of a book chapter. Parts of Chapter 2 of this thesis have been published as Macris, V. Towards a Pedagogy of Philoxenia: Negotiating policy priorities for immigrant Students in Greek Public Schools. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies [JCEPS]), (12 pages) Volume 10, Number 1. Parts of Chapter 3 have been published as Macris, V. (2012). National identity and the education of immigrants: Greece and the rights of ‘non-citizens.’ In A.