When interviewing my uncle who is a 5th grade teacher, in Athens, Greece, I read him these statements and he disagreed with most of them, but he said that it depends on the student or the school that you are working at. 

“[Today, special-ed in Greece is] based on a positive view of difference and has at its heart the principle that all pupils, including those who are ‘different,’ are considered to be valued and respected members of the school community. As such, they contribute to the social structures of the school, to the curriculum, and to the strategies used by teachers to teach all children . . . The vast majority of teachers believed that socialization and social acceptance could be the major benefits of inclusion while only a minority of teachers believed that disabled pupils [could] benefit in terms of their cognitive development or the development of their career prospects.” (Zoniou-Sideri et al., 2004)

The majority of teachers (who are the minority of the teaching population) who believe that disabled students will not experience a large impact from an inclusive classroom, are likely the same teachers who hold restrictive beliefs about special education students, as listed above.  

37.2% offer in-classroom support

25.4% offer remedial support

20.9% have parallel support classrooms 

65.4% have a psychologist access  

34.3% offer speech–therapists in the schools. 

Deaf-blindness

Developmental delay

Emotional Disturbance

Hearing impairment (including deafness)

Intellectual disability

Multiple disabilities

Orthopedic impairment

Other health impairment

Specific learning disability

Speech or language impairment

Traumatic brain injury

Visual impairment (including blindness)

-Parents have been very involved for the past year because the country is in a lockdown and they have to stay home and work. 

-In Greece, the way that the student is diagnosed is if a teacher or parent has the child get a test to see what disability they have, then the government has to approve it so that the school can know that the student needs services.

-The general ed teacher and special ed teacher meet everyday to plan what the students are going to do and to talk about the special ed students and how they are doing with the material. 

-Teachers in Greece are not trained enough in being inclusive or working with students with disabilities. They need training courses or people who will guide them through the different ways to be inclusive. They have random presentations that give them tips but that is not good enough for them to know how to be inclusive and to help students with disabilities. 

-In Greece, every year there are more children being diagnosed with disabilities and this is a big concern because lots of teachers are not trained enough.

-In the schools, they need more special ed teachers because there is a shortage of them.

-Schools also need more psychologists. In his school, there is only one and she goes into the school once a week which is not enough to help all the students.

-There are schools for students with different disabilities (e.g. school for the blind).

- The government needs to make more schools or options for students that do not have severe disabilities. A student with moderate or minor disabilities should be allowed to go to a school with similarly-abled students. 

-The teachers are not really trained in social and emotional learning. 

In Greece inclusive education is not pervasive. In Greece, it is more common to see students being pulled out of classrooms and then brought back to the general education classroom. 

In Greece they don't have an IEP system like the United States. 

(2014). Two Perspectives on Inclusion In The United States. Global Education Review. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1055208.pdf

Padeliadu S., Papanikolaou G., Giazitzidou S. (2014). Implementing inclusive education in Greece through co-teaching. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274380022_Implementing_inclusive_education_in_Greece_through_co-teaching

Tsakiridou H., Polyzopoulou K. (2014). Greek Teachers’ Attitudes toward the Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs. American Journal of Educational Research *Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273794941_Greek_Teachers'_Attitudes_toward_the_Inclusion_of_Students_with_Special_Educational_Needs

The Constitution of Greece, article 16.
The Constitution of Greece, article 21.
https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/gr/gr220en.pdf

U.S. News & World Report. (2021, January 1). The Best Countries for Education. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/best-countries-for-education.

Zoniou-Sideria A., Vlachoub A. (2006). Greek teachers’ belief systems about disability and inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248988514_Greek_teachers'_belief_systems_about_disability_and_inclusive_education

-The State shall care for the health of citizens and shall adopt special measures for the protection of youth, old age, disability and for the relief of the needy.

-The notions of special/segregated provision (1981 Act) and integration (1985 Act) were officially introduced within the same decade generating social and practical confusion as to what equality of opportunity in the area of special needs means.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: makes sure that public schools provide students from ages 3-21 with disabilities with proper support.  

Head Start: gives low income early childhood students access to comprehensive developmental services.