RESPONDING TO STUDENT DIVERSITY: TWO CASES IN CYPRUS

This study set out to examine how the Cypriot educational context is structuredto promote inclusive education to cater for the needs of the increasingly diversestudent population in Greek-Cypriot public schools. Emphasis was given toidentifying barriers to the inclusive education of non-Greek-Cypriot students.Ways of addressing these barriers, and therefore ways to promote an inclusiveand essentially a multicultural education in schools in Cyprus, were explored.The research design involved the evaluation of two cases: a primary school inLimassol and a secondary school in Nicosia. Both schools catered for anethnically diverse student population. The use of a multi-method techniqueallowed primarily for the exploration of the “voices” of pupils in these schools, onthe topic of inclusive educational provision present in their schools. Teachers’interviews extended the image of the inclusive & multicultural education as itexisted in the schools studied.During the study the most significant barrier to non-Greek-Cypriot students’inclusion appeared to be the lack of Greek language skills, which affects theirsocialization, participation and achievement at school. Other barriers lie with thenegative attitudes of classmates and teaching staff in schools. It is recommendedthat a unified governmental attempt to provide assistance with learning the Greeklanguage in both Primary and Secondary education, and in eliminating negativeattitudes towards non-Greek-Cypriot students could greatly improve theirlearning experiences and inclusion in schools.