Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to present intercultural education and its legislative framework in Greece, to analyze the intercultural dimension of Second Chance Schools (SCSs) and to describe the most important intercultural skills of adult educators who work in those schools. More specifically, the main purpose of research was to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of adult trainers regarding their intercultural education and the aspirations they have of their participation in various intercultural training programs. Firstly, the conceptual framework of principals concerned with interculturalism and intercultural education is analyzed. Then, the management models and their specific characteristics of intercultural education are presented together with its legislative framework in Europe and Greece. After that, an analysis of the intercultural character of Second Chance Schools is following, together with a description of the role of adult educators and their intercultural skills in those schools. Then, the research scope and methodology, with the main results of a quantitative survey, which was carried out with the use of a questionnaire as survey tool, are presented briefly. In particular, 109 questionnaires were collected electronically by adult educators of all specialties, who teach in 10 SDEs of the regional unit of Central Macedonia. The results highlighted the timeless need for training in intercultural education, as well as the need for the acquisition of additional qualifications, such as the knowledge of foreign languages. Regarding the characteristics of adult trainers in Second Chance Schools, they seem to be characterized by a quite high self-esteem and positive involvement in the teaching procedure.

Keywords:

Interculturalism, Second Chance Schools, adult educator, skills, readiness, intercultural education.