What service training should be conducted in school

Gives a brief view of the in-service training of primary school teachers in Greece in the historical contexts as well as the current situation. The major purpose, however, is to investigate the views of directors and vice directors of “regional in-service training centres” (PEK) about the different aspects of in-service training of primary school teachers. These include: the objectives and curricula of different in-service training programmes; the methodology of teaching and practice; the assessment criteria for trainee teachers; the criteria for the selection of trainees and trainers; the provision of daily allowance for trainees and trainers; the organizational set-up; the financing and nature, duration and management and control of different training programmes. The results showed that generally the respondents were satisfied with the existing situation. The chi-square (w2) test demonstrated that position/rank and qualification had no significant impact on the opinions of directors and vice directors regarding most of these aspects.

School education staff (teaching and non-teaching), including:

• Teachers (including those in pre-school and vocational education) and the trainers of such teachers
• Head teachers and school managerial staff
• Staff involved in intercultural education or working with children of migrant workers and travellers
• Staff working with pupils with special education needs
• Staff working with pupils at risk, such as mediators and street educators
• Counsellors or careers advisors
• The inspectorate
• Other education staff at the discretion of national authorities

For participation in an in-service training course for language teachers :

• A qualified and practising foreign language teacher working in school education
• A trainer of such foreign language teachers
• A teacher re-training as a school education foreign language teacher
• A primary or pre-primary teacher who is (or will be) required to teach foreign languages
• A teacher of another subject in school education through the medium of a foreign language
• An inspector or advisor in the field of school education language teaching

For a grant for pure language training :

• A school teacher of non-language subjects through a foreign language
• A school teacher retraining as a foreign language teacher
• A primary or pre-primary teacher who is (or will be) required to teach foreign languages
• A member of school education staff participating in a Comenius Partnership and requesting training in a Partnership language
• A school teacher requesting training in a less widely taught and less usedlanguage

NB: structured training courses will normally have a minimum duration of 5 full working days; other training may be shorter.

The training for which grants are awarded may relate to the candidate’s professional activities in any aspect of school education. This may have to do with:

• Practical teaching skills, techniques and methodologies
• The content and delivery of school education
• The management of school education
• The system/policy level of school education

Grants are awarded for participation in training which is suitable for achieving the applicant’s stated in-service training objectives and which complies with the necessary quality criteria (e.g. appropriate to general Comenius objectives, European dimension and added value compared to training in the applicant’s home country). An on-line database of training activities is available to help applicants identify training which is eligible for funding under this action and which best meets their training needs: http://ec.europa.eu/education/trainingdatabase/