The Cross-Thematic Approach and the ‘New’ Curricula of Greek Compulsory Education: Review of an Incompatible Relationship

Abstract

Compulsory Greek education has long shown its need for revision. The Greek Pedagogical Institute (GPI) has presented the cross-thematic approach as a panacea, yet further changes are necessary in terms of experiential learning, school subject demarcation, teaching time management, teaching material, and the student/educator role. This article examines whether these changes are incorporated in the recent educational system revision, which resulted in widespread confusion, a national debate, and the publication of A Cross-thematic Curriculum Framework for Compulsory Education ( DEPPS). A speech analysis of GPI leadership indicates the exaggerated, fictionalised, and ideological use of the term ‘cross-thematic’. Futhermore, detailed analysis demonstrates that the new ‘cross-thematic’ curricula reproduce the 1999 curricula, making no major changes to traditional school subject demarcation, or teaching time management. New curriculum elements are also problematic; the fundamental cross-thematic concepts are vague and haphazard, while the recommended cross-thematic activities (projects) are undermined by poor examples or inadequate allotted teaching time. Moreover, the ‘new’ curricula follow the goal-setting model, which leads to a multiplicity of teaching objectives and to increased content quantity, thus impeding schoolbook writing. Most importantly, the suggested integration of the cross-thematic approach in Greek schools is not ideologically neutral.