Possible Education System Reform Measures for Restoring the Socio-Political Equilibrium in Greek Society after the Crisis (2008)
Charl Wolhuter
Faculty of Education, North-West University, South Africa.
Johannes Van Der Walt
Faculty of Education, North-West University, South Africa.
Evaggelia Kalerante
Faculty of Education, University of Western, Macedonia.
Theodoros Eleftherakis
Faculty of Education University of Crete, Greece.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The article centres on the socio-political dilemma that Greece has been experiencing due to the 2008 economic crisis and the subsequent economic reforms. These reforms, despite being widely unpopular, have had an impact on all aspects of life, including education and the education system. Although educationists and educators as such cannot do much in terms of restoring the economic and socio-political equilibrium in the country, they are able to raise a prophetic voice about what should be done. As one such voice, this article discusses, based on analysis of the situation in Greece through the lens of the social space and ethical / moral action theory, how economic and socio-political equilibrium could be restored in Greece (and in other countries similarly afflicted by emerging economic reforms). Steps such as the following are suggested and discussed: the concept of education to be revisited; a new approach to education in the form of schooling to be considered; education policy to be revised; the education system to be restructured; the curriculum to be reshaped and concrete steps to be taken to put all of the theory outlined in this article into practice.
Keywords: Curriculum, economic restructuring, schooling, social space and ethical, moral action theory