This paper examines the role of professionalism in teachers' change in practice related to dialogue and argumentation. Data were collected from 14 pre-primary and primary school teachers who participated in a professional development programme with an emphasis on promoting values such as tolerance, empathy, inclusion and social responsibility…

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…

Increasingly social scientists, including education theorists, find themselves having to fight an almost invisible racism that is masked by the racist undertones of the dominant discourse and practice of colorblindness. A continuous emphasis on colorblindness gives precedence to the role of race, diverting attention away from other forms of…

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…

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).…