The Greek speaking Minority Education in Istanbul: how open is it? Eleni Sella

1. The Greek speaking Minority Education
in Istanbul: how open is it?
Eleni SELLA
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Greece

2. GREECE, TURKEY, ISTANBUL
IMVROS (Gökçeada) and TENEDOS (Bozcaada)
Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
image captured by GoogleMapsimage captured by GoogleMaps

3. 1st part:
1. Presentation of the Greek speaking
minority in Istanbul,
2. Historical sociolinguistic status:
population, school and extra-school
settings, use of Greek
3. Educational profile of the Greek
Orthodox minority: past and present
3.3.1. Pupil population
3.3.2. Educational problems of Greek
linguistic shrinkage: How Greek
should be taught, the teacher
specialisation specificities
2nd part:
4. The Greek speaking Minority Education
in Istanbul and the OERs
4.1. Research findings
4.2. Conclusions: Central question of
this session
5. Conclusions- Open discussion: Opinion
on the selected policy
recommendations
The Greek speaking Minority Education
in Istanbul: how open is it?
Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

4. 1. Presentation of the Greek speaking minority in Istanbul (1)
The historical, both religious and linguistic, Greek Orthodox Minority of Istanbul, and
the islands of Imvros (or Imbros or İmroz) and Tenedos, with a bilingual educational
policy consistently with the Treaty of Lausanne, is faced today with a serious problem
of language shift. The bilingual behaviour of its members, stabilized until recently,
with Greek as a mother tongue and Turkish as a second language, is rapidly changing
towards monolingual behaviour, to the benefit of the prevailing language of the state
where the minority lives, i.e. Turkish.
• There are many and varying political, social, economic and educational factors that
contribute to this observed change. The aim of this contribution is to identify and
present these factors, by focusing on the domain of education. We particularly address
the potential of open education to address some of these systemic factors. Learning
resources at present consist of paper and some digital materials which cannot fall
within the definition of Open Educational Resources (OER).
• In the first section of the paper we present the Greek speaking minority education, its
specific traits and the consequent problems, with the aim to find solutions to the
problem of the observed linguistic change. In the second section we address teacher
practices regarding openness, namely willingness to co-elaborate and share
educational resources within the given educational context.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

5. 1. Presentation of the Greek speaking minority in Istanbul (2)
• The Greek Minority in Istanbul falls under the category of the so-called historical
Greek Minorities. The Greek Orthodox community is an indigenous minority with
long standing historical existence in Istanbul, as well as in Imvros and Tenedos.
• However, heavy emigration to Greece, combined with pressures and restrictions
applied historically to the community, raises concerns as to the survival of the Greek
language of the bilingual community, which remains, nowadays, approximately, only
2.500 people, in over 18 million population of such a huge city like Istanbul.
• During the decade of 2000, things have changed to the detriment of the Greek
language. It is observed that young men and women feel the need to use Turkish. This
proves that the attitude of the minority towards the Turkish language has been
changing from generation to generation. Our hypothesis is that the extending use of
Turkish will limit even more the use of Greek.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

6. 2. Historical sociolinguistic status:
population, school and extra-school settings, use of Greek (1)
The Greek language in Istanbul: Demographic research has shown that Greek is
spoken only in a few areas in Istanbul, while it is not at all in use in the islands of
Imvros or Tenedos, while only 300 greek-speaking people remained in the islands of Imvros
or Tenedos.
The Greek language is used in school, at church, and within the family environment,
with the condition that both parents are Greek-speaking.
The Turkish language is continuously gaining ground within the Greek Orthodox
minority. Greek is still used, painstakingly, for the communication needs of middle-
aged bilingual speakers. We have observed the factors determining the use of Greek
and Turkish language to be: i) the age of the speakers, ii) family and social
background and c) social status.
Turkish language enjoys higher status, both socially and culturally, as it allows access to
higher social echelons; at the same time its position is strengthened as it connects the
speakers to the modern way of life, symbolising the attachment of the community to a
greater group, the Turkish state.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

7. The Greek-speaking minority of Istanbul maintains a tight-knit connection to Greece,
where their mother tongue constitutes the official state language; at the same time
many community members have relatives and friends residing in Greece.
The children of the Greek Orthodox minority in Istanbul are being brought up in a
bilingual environment where Turkish and Greek are spoken, with Arabic as a third
language. Arabic is the language of another category of bilingual Greek Orthodox
children who, according to the Turkish authorities, can frequent the same classrooms
as the Greek children, as early as preschool.
As for the children coming from mixed families, the common language used at home is
Turkish. This results in children who do not acquire a close-enough contact to the
Greek language until they reach the age of primary education, while the Arab-
speaking children, who usually, have a better knowledge of Turkish, are suddenly
confronted with a language which is literally foreign to them, Greek.
Today, with the Turkish language gaining constantly in status, good knowledge of
Turkish is necessary for all vital communication needs of the minority members. So,
the use of Turkish became synonymous to an upscale in social and cultural status and,
over time, an upscale in financial status, which consequently led to further
depreciation of the mother tongue (Greek).
2. Historical sociolinguistic status:
population, school and extra-school settings, use of Greek (2)
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

8. 3. Educational profile of the Greek Orthodox minority: past and present (1)
3.1. Greek Orthodox minority schools (number of pupils and schools: constant
reduction of pupil numbers and change in pupil composition)
The evolution of the Greek Orthodox minority education depicts the decline in the population of the Greek diaspora in Istanbul.
While
• in the 1955-1956 school year (in total 51 schools) with 5,380 and 1,209 pupils for the 1976-1976 school year, (in total 32 schools),
with the respective number of students being 1,150 and 862.
• the school year 1999-2000 only a few schools seem to have survived: 10 primary education schools and 3 secondary education
schools (in total 13 schools) with 127 and 148 pupils respectively
• the school year 2013-2014 (in total 7 schools), with 119 and 125 pupils respectively.
Graphic presentation of the number of pupils on roll at minority schools from the years: 1955 to 2010
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

9. 3.2. Some facts on primary and secondary education
In the Greek Orthodox minority schools of Istanbul, in compliance with the Lausanne
Treaty, education is offered in two languages: Greek and Turkish. More particularly,
the courses: “Greek Language”, “Greek Literature”, “Physics”, “Biology”, “Chemistry”,
“Mathematics” are taught in Greek, while the courses “History”, “Geography”,
“Modern Turkish History”, “Civic education”, “Sociology” are taught in Turkish.
Moreover, English is being taught as a foreign modern language.
The educational staff employed by the Greek Orthodox schools is divided in three
categories: a) the “Rum” (Greek Orthodox, with Turkish citizenship), who are
employed following the approval of the Turkish Ministry of Education, b) the Turkish
educational staff, who are civil servants employed by the Turkish ministry and c) the
Greek educational staff, who are being “transferred” from Greece.
Greek language maintains its mother tongue status, and the young members of the
minority use it to communicate exclusively within their private sphere. This mother
tongue is evolving into a language rich in loan words and expressions from Turkish.
The decline in the use of Greek is mostly due to the absence of any stimulus expressed
in the language outside the school environment.
3. Educational profile of the Greek Orthodox minority: past and present (2)
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

10. 3. Educational profile of the Greek Orthodox minority: past and present (3)
3.2. Some facts on primary and secondary education
Furthermore, youths are not being taught Greek history, or Geography, (subjects limited
to but a few chapters in their textbooks), while Greek language and literature is
material “scarcely” provided. This comes as a consequence of a largely deficient
Greek-speaking education, which cannot be overcome or counterbalanced by the
family environment.
In the parenthesis we’ve included the number of pupils enrolled at the Zappion preschool.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

11. 3. Educational profile of the Greek Orthodox minority: past and present (4)
3.3. The minority school as a condition of communication:
a multilingual or monolingual school environment?
3.3.1. Pupil population:
The heavy emigration of community members from Istanbul has resulted in significant reduction of
the pupil population. The arrival of Arab-speaking children to minority schools of Istanbul, who
corresponded partly to children with Arab as mother tongue and partly to children with Turkish
as mother tongue, combined with their gradual increase in numbers in relation to the dwindling
population of the Greek Orthodox minority children, established Turkish as a lingua franca, even
inside Greek Orthodox minority schools. Currently, the percentage of Arab-speaking children
may, in some cases, exceed 50% of total pupil population. This phenomenon creates a complex
situation from both a linguistic and an educational perspective.
Mixed marriages constitute another important factor that we need to take into consideration, 61,5%
of the total number of marriages regarding minority members residing in Istanbul that have
taken place from 1993 to 2005 are mixed marriages.
This particular sociolinguistic background, combined with the deficient learning of both the Greek
and the Turkish languages, the late arrivals of transferred teachers from Greece, the lack of books
and the constant control of school life by the Turkish assistant school principals, have made many
parents of Greek-speaking families take the decision to move their children from minority
schools.
At present time, a number of greek-speaking or mixed families children of primary and secondary
education are attending international schools (French or English speaking colleges).
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

12. Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
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Pupil population in Greek Orthodox Minority schools in Istanbul and Imvros
Population composition for the school year 2015-2016

13. Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
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14. 3. Educational profile of the Greek Orthodox minority: past and present (5)
3.3. The minority school as a condition of communication:
a multilingual or monolingual school environment?
3.3.2. Educational problems of Greek linguistic shrinkage: How Greek should be taught, the teacher specialisation
specificities :
The factors, which have significantly determined the deterioration of minority education:
a) Bad quality of school textbooks, regarding the courses taught in the Greek language or about the Greek language. For decades,
teachers had to find recourse to notes, photocopies or old textbooks that had received the state approva (Greek and Turkish)l.
Those deficiencies have been largely overcome during the last few years with
- textbooks that were created specifically for the needs of the greek speaking pupils of minority schools and printed by a private
organisation (the Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans), since the Greek state did not have the capability to provide the
funds for a printout of the course books of the minority schools.
- textbooks for the instruction of Greek as a foreign language.
But, as a consequence of the situation described above, educational material taught is lacking structure and is ailed by various
insufficiencies since it is a product of an empirical rather than a scientific process.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

15. 3. Educational profile of the Greek Orthodox minority: past and present (6)
3.3. The minority school as a condition of communication:
a multilingual or monolingual school environment?
3.3.2. Educational problems of Greek linguistic shrinkage: How Greek should be taught, the teacher specialisation
specificities :
b) Teachers’ specialization in bilingualism and multilingualism?
Setting aside all the purely administrative problems of transferring Greek/Rum teachers to the Greek Orthodox minority schools , there
are more important, purely scientific issues regarding the specialisation of those teachers who, due to the particularities of the
bilingual status of their students, should be highly knowledgeable in all matters relevant to the linguistic, sociolinguistic,
psycholinguistic and educational aspects of bilingualism.
c) finally, the last ten years, the financial crisis and its consequences on the status of the Greek language amongst the population of the
Greek minority in Istanbul: absence of socioeconomic motivation to use the mother tongue (Greek).
These observations show that the up-to-recently established language attitude of the Greek Orthodox minority is shifting from
bilingualism – which concerns up to the generation of those who are currently 40 years of age – to monolingualism, with Turkish
language dominating, especially future generations.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

16. 4. The Greek speaking Minority Education in Istanbul and the OERs (1)
Following the overview of the Greek-speaking education in minority schools of Istanbul, Imvros and
Tenedos, it is important to bring the attention to educational matters. The demographic decline of
the Greek-speaking population in Istanbul and Imvros is something that cannot be addressed.
What can be done, though, is
▫ modernize the teaching methods of courses taught in the Greek language at school;
▫ cultivate a new philosophy on minority education;
▫ enhance Greek-speaking learning experiences for students inside and outside the school
environment.
The heterogeneous student population, combined with unbalanced teaching methods and resources
are constantly producing negative learning outcomes. Records show that student outcomes
present with significant variability and could be characterised as rather negative!
This wild dissimilarity becomes obvious in any given classroom, where the Greek language is, for
some students, a second or a foreign language while, for others, it constitutes their mother
tongue. Respectively, learning objects and modules taught in Greek, are equally addressed to
groups of fundamental incongruity: Greek-speaking and non Greek-speaking.
The educational background of teachers is disparate (the Greek-speaking part of the school
curriculum is taught by teachers educated in Greek Institutions, and the Turkish-speaking part of
the curriculum is taught by teachers educated in Turkish Institutions).
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

17. 4. The Greek speaking Minority Education in Istanbul and the OERs (2)
Educational material could fall under two categories:
i) traditional textbooks for learning Greek, and other courses, addressed to Greek-
speaking students (books issued by the Greek Ministry of Education) and
ii) textbooks for learning Greek as a foreign language (books issued by the
University of Crete, collection named “Margarita”) complemented by digital content
including language exercises and audio, which can be optionally used by the teacher.
But, as regards to this material, it is important to point out that it cannot fall within
the definition of Open Educational Resources (OER).
In general terms, it is safe to say that the educational system in the Greek-speaking
minority schools of Istanbul cannot properly function as it is. It requires radical
changes in order to find a balanced approach constituting an educationally viable
“modus vivendi” between students of different mother tongues, while equally
blending the different training background of the teachers.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

18. 4. The Greek speaking Minority Education in Istanbul and the OERs (3)
Open Educational Practises (OEP) as well as Open Educational Resources (OER) once encompassed
in current educational practice can offer a credible solution, enabling educational staff to be
released from the mandatory use of any “official” educational material provided by the Greek
Education Ministry. At the same time, it enables teachers to abandon a secondary educational
source that was provisionary, at best, and certainly insufficient to provide educational material
for all education levels of the minority schools.
We would aim at encouraging and stimulating educators to use or repurpose Open Educational
Resources, possibly even cooperate with the LangOER network, in order to come up with the
appropriate content intended for the specific group of students, based on the principles of the
OER principles. This would help develop a knowledge repository of all learning objects.
It is possible to develop a site parallel to, or part of, the Greek Digital Learning Object Repository
“Photodentro” (photodentro.edu.gr), which would service the educational needs of Primary and
Secondary education of the Greek-speaking minority of Istanbul. The material created should be
available online, residing on public domain and released under the appropriate content licence
allowing for the no-cost access and use of the digital content for educational purposes.
The same content could be used by educators teaching students having Greek as a second language
(i.e. to Greek diaspora schools, with 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation of Greek emigrants all over the
globe), or for students who learn Greek as a foreign language.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

19. 4. The Greek speaking Minority Education in Istanbul and the OERs (4)
To my knowledge there are no Open Educational Resources (OER) for teaching Greek as a second or
foreign language, which is a grave omission given that Greek constitutes a less used language
(LUL) and a minority language.
Moreover, it would be realistic to assume that the educational policy in Greece or in Turkey would
oppose the use of such educational material within the classroom. This is highly probable, given
that the modules and the educational material are subject to strictly scrutinized interstate
agreements between the two countries. At which point, the use of OER could be extended under
the framework of Open Educational Practices, allowing for flexible teaching outside the
classroom. We tend to think that such practice could invigorate the Greek language, increase
student engagement and have a positive impact on student results. At the same time it would be a
practice educationally innovative, promoting creativity with regard to content, objectives,
approach, activities and methodology.
A large-scale Greek digital learning object repository for primary and secondary education can be
found on the website called “Photodentro” http://photodentro.edu.gr/lor/ with smaller-scale
Photodentro repositories up and running in parallel, such as http://dschool.edu.gr/. We could
begin building up from this existing repository, initially examining whether the material available
is applicable, or if it can be repurposed in a way that can be used for the educational needs of the
Greek-speaking children of the Minority in Istanbul. If not, new content may be developed, based
on the principles of open educational resources and practices, of which the educators should be
informed.
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Eleni SELLA, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

20. 4.1.Research findings (1)
In our effort to investigate how familiar teachers are with open educational resources (OER), and
develop an understanding of their intentions and feelings towards the use of OER, we have
developed a questionnaire, organising a survey specifically addressed to the teachers of the
Greek-speaking Minority schools of Istanbul.
From a grand total of 68 Greek-speaking educators, one third has participated. According to the
evidence gathered, one may draw the following general conclusions, albeit temporarily (since the
survey shall be repeated):
a) Educators are left to their own devices, facing an adverse situation with students of
different mother tongues and different cultural backgrounds, co-existing in an environment
dominated by another more commonly used language. Furthermore, the Greek language
knowledge level, even within Greek-speaking students, is quite variable: there are those with
Greek as mother tongue, while others have Greek as a second language. The third group, of non
Greek-speaking students, approach Greek as a foreign language.
b) The educational material at their disposal is often characterised (by teachers) as “insufficient
and inapplicable” to “non-existent”:
According to answers received by educators in Istanbul:
i) “The first four classes of primary school use the Margarita series for learning Greek as a foreign
language. There is also a quite particular compilation provided by the Ecumenical Federation of
Constantinopolitans, which is based on the official Greek textbook of the Greek Ministry of Education. This
material has the approval of the Turkish authorities. The book and digital material of the Margarita method
may also being used on occasion.”
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21. 4.1.Research findings (2)
This testimony suggests that the educational material is chosen according to the composition of the student
population:
For non Greek-speaking students a “traditional”, non-open educational material is used for learning Greek as
a foreign language (that would be for the Arab-speaking of Turkish-speaking pupils). At the same time,
for pupils having Greek as mother tongue, as well as for children having Greek as second language
(children coming from mixed families), the choice of educational material is exclusively intended for
students with Greek mother tongue. Moreover, according to the testimony examined, the choice of the
educational material depends on the preference of the educator, who has a choice of two different types of
material for three linguistic profiles of students in primary education. Finally, we wish to draw attention
to the expression “on occasion”, used here, which suggests that not even “classic”, non-open digital
content is being used on a systematic basis by educators...
ii) “Since no material from the Margarita series has been approved with regard to the 5th and 6th class
of primary school, colleagues usually download Margarita 5-7, depending on the level of their students.”
In other words, as far as those pupils are concerned, evidence demonstrates that the choice of educational
material is shrunk into one sole source. Interpreting the evidence here suggests that the teachers perform
a simple download of the Margarita series books, intended for learning Greek as a foreign language, in a
digital form (no hard-copy).
iii) “In junior high-school, the official Greek textbooks on Greek language are being used, which have the
approval of the Turkish authorities – they are almost identical to those circulating in Greece- and considered
particularly hard by our pupils. This is why our colleagues teaching Greek language have to make a selection of
content they find on the Internet, in order to cover their needs in educational material.”
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22. 4.1.Research findings (3)
For the pupils of secondary education it appears that the educational material for learning Greek
depends on the selection made by their language teacher. The evidence shows that educational
staff is completely alone in their difficult task, while there is absence of scientific or state support
and guidance, therefore each teacher picks the provisionary solution of their preference...
iv) “In high school, there is no approved language textbook, so Greek instructors are literally
improvising. We’ve managed some level of coordination among the three minority schools, though, so that the
same phenomena and subjects are being presented, approximately, in all classrooms.”
Finally, as we see here, in order to teach the Greek language in high school, language teachers
“improvise”, again without any support or guidance, drawing solely on their own expertise and
experiences!
According to testimony received by educational staff in the island of Imvros it is indicated that their
source of educational material is different, because of a difference in pupil composition:
“All our students –with the exception of one- are repatriated from Greece and are familiar with the textbooks of the
current program (of the Ministry of Education), so until now we did not have to use the Margarita series.”
In the island of Imvros it was possible for the Greek Orthodox minority school to resume its activity
in 2013, following a closing of 49 years (in 2015, a secondary school also resumed its activities).
The long shutdown period was due to an operating ban imposed by the Turkish authorities in
1964. The pupils of the currently operating primary school are the grandchildren of those who
had to abruptly evacuate the island of Imvros and seek refuge in Greece. First and second
generation of natives that had to repatriate to Greece are returning now back to the island, along
with their families. Their children, born in Greece, have Greek as their mother tongue and
constitute the “core” of the student population currently attending at the Greek-speaking
minority school of Imvros.
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23. 4.1.Research findings (4)
As shown above one can safely hold the assumption that educators come across significant difficulties in their
work, while they are in search of the appropriate educational material... We firmly believe that open
educational resources can have a consequential role if they are encompassed in this search.
As for the attitude and the level of familiarity of the teachers regarding OER, the answers we have received, through
our survey, can give us reason to be hopeful, especially given the circumstances...
Two indicative answers are the following:
“I know about Photodentro, because I frequently use the site «online textbooks». I find it very interesting and I
sometimes use it, especially for Greek students. But I don’t think its material can be applicable for teaching Greek
as a second or a foreign language.
The European network (you are referring to) could probably constitute yet another source for material intended for
Greek language teaching in our schools. This is why I believe it would be very important to receive more
information about it.”
- I didn’t know about Photodentro. But I went through the material and my answer cannot be any more positive....
Absolutely, its material can be used by us (school in the island of Imvros).”
To summarise, our impression is that the educators, in their majority, are not familiar with OER; those who are
familiar with the digital learning object repository «Photodentro» are using it passively, in its more «traditional»
form. Thereby they use the language textbooks «sometimes», only for students with Greek as their mother tongue.
They do not use the educational material for non native speakers of Greek (Greek as a second or foreign language),
because they believe that their level of Greek language knowledge does not allow them to benefit from it.
However, they express an interest in receiving more information on OER, as they consider that “it might constitute
yet another source of educational material in teaching Greek language – as well as other courses-
taught in our schools”. We should point out that their answers show that they have not attempted to modify
the material, out of «fear of the unknown» and poor knowledge of the technical aspect demanded for such an
effort.
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24. 4.2.Conclusions
Central question of this session: To answer the question: «Policies for OER in less
used languages: are nations and regions using lessed used languages side-lined?»,
we could offer the following observations as far as the bilingual minority community discussed
above is concerned.
• A small percentage of educators are passively using open educational resources.
• Teachers are not actively involved in content creation as a group and do not subsequently
participate in collective creation practices that enable sharing of open access teaching material.
• Teachers consider that the existing material found under the digital learning object repository
Photodentro is unwieldy as far as students with Greek as a second, or Greek as a foreign language
are concerned.
• Teachers are asking to receive information, training, and instruction about OER, either in the
form of live seminars and courses or through distance learning opportunities.
• Thus, we could appeal to language teachers to engage in helping develop open educational
resources specifically intended for students with Greek as a second language and/or Greek as a
foreign language (both categories are necessary for reaching the student population of the
Minority schools in Istanbul). Moreover, such content could prove particularly beneficial to other
stakeholders as well, besides the particular minority student population.
In order for the educators to take part in the events of the LangOER network they should receive
information enabling them to explore the principles, the policies, the management, the creation
and sharing of open educational resources.
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25. 5. Conclusions - Open discussion (1)
Opinion on the selected policy recommendations:
i) [regarding the recommendation]: Governments should: Support collaboration with other
nations or regions in establishing quality OER in LUL
- We should make sure that a national information campaign reaches language teachers, briefing
them on open educational resources. This campaign needs to have the approval of the Turkish
state, given that the educational material intended for the Greek-speaking education in Istanbul
is subject to interstate agreements between Greece and Turkey.
ii) [regarding the recommendation]: The European Commission should: Revitalise the
commitment to OER that it expressed in Opening Up Education, with a particular
focus on OER in LUL as a means of maintaining cultural and linguistic diversity
- We could urge Turkish teaching personnel of the minority schools in Istanbul and Imvros to
become familiar with OER and take them up so as to create, in collaboration with their Greek
colleagues, bilingual Open Educational Resources (in Turkish and Greek). This action could be
particularly beneficial for bilingual students, while it could enable the enhancement of their
competencies in the language they are less familiar with. Finally this «bipartite» bilingual
material should help the students become better acquainted not only with the languages of their
everyday life, but also the civilisation of the two language communities, helping revitalise the
linguistic and cultural diversity of Istanbul and Imvros.
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26. iii) [regarding the recommendation]: Institutions should: Facilitate teacher and
support staff training in the creation, adaptation and use of OERs.
- The results of our survey suggest that teachers are «receptive» into being educated on
open educational resources and open educational practices. Information needs to be
disseminated and effort needs to be put so that it can be demonstrated that with
regard to both substance and practice OER and OEP are beneficial to their work.
We believe that a reliable means of disseminating information on OEP is through
institutional channels: minority schools should help train teaching personnel, which
in turn would mean that the Ministry of Education in Greece and Turkey need to
propagate their use. During our initial investigation, trying to establish an
understanding of the inclination of the minority schools in Istanbul towards OER and
OEP, we came in contact with the Assistant Coordinator in Education, at the Greek
Consulate in Istanbul, who responded very positively to the idea of an information
campaign addressed to teachers on the dissemination of OER in the Greek Orthodox
minority schools there. The next step would be to approach both national authorities,
which need to embrace the effort of training teachers in creating, adapting and
redistributing content through Open Educational Resources.
Thank you for your attention.
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5. Conclusions - Open discussion (2)