This paper provides a framework for understanding inclusion in Cyprus. The evidence base is the result of a six-month qualitative research study in five Cypriot mainstream primary schools. Despite the rhetoric in favour of inclusion, it seems that the Cypriot educational system is still highly segregating in its philosophy and does not fully…

This paper examines the experiences of minority students from two different cultural groups, immigrant children of Pontian background and indigenous minority children of Roma descent, in the Greek-Cypriot educational system. Through a joint re-examination of results from two different qualitative studies, this paper delineates similarities and…

This article discusses some preliminary findings of the English part of a European Commission Fundamental Rights and Citizenship funded project "Children's Voices" (2011-2013) concerned with exploring and understanding children and young people's experiences of interethnic conflict and violence in primary and secondary schools. This is a…

This article analyzes the ways in which emotions are constituted and mobilized by teachers to respond to growing diversity and multiculturalism in schools. The analysis is based on a two-year ethnographic study conducted in three Greek-Cypriot primary schools that are "multicultural". The following focus questions are addressed: (1) How…

The social model of disability has been a useful tool to shift the focus of disability as individual deficit to disability as a social construction in an oppressive society. However, a theory of political action is needed to create transformative change. This article develops resistance as a unifying political construct and tool for action. Four…

This article describes a study conducted at a shared secondary school in Cyprus - that is, a school which co-educates children coming from two conflicting ethnic communities on the island. The study focuses on teachers', students' and parents' perspectives about the struggles to negotiate co-existence in this school. Drawing on a three-month…

Parental involvement has been increasingly gaining support among education theorists and policymakers across many countries (Kelley-Laine 1998) as an effective way to improve student academic performance. However, the cultural assumptions underlying calls for parental involvement have received little attention (De Carvalho 2001; Lareau 1987).…

This paper explores the factors that influence the way children construct meanings about other children, and especially those who seem to experience marginalisation, within school contexts. The research involved an ethnographic study in a primary school in Cyprus over a period of 5 months. Qualitative methods were used, particularly participant…