Open educational resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are either in the public domain or published on an open licence which permits various forms of redistribution, reuse and repurposing. Many organisations and higher education institutions around the world are using such resources, and anecdotally many believe this is…

The changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have compelled schools to transform their pedagogies, with two seemingly contrasting trends emerging: the growing digitalisation of schools and the increased recognition of outdoor education. Our study, based on the experience of a European project, addressed the following questions: What digital…

The sustainability challenges facing humankind make necessary the convergence of Science Education (SE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Science learning and ESD requires the adoption of student-centred transformative teaching methods that promote values and critical thinking. This article explores the role of citizen science (CS)…

The article illustrates the potential of engaged arts-based pedagogies in higher education with respect to integration interventions for young refugees in Europe. It discusses the conception and implementation of the collaborative initiative "Find Refuge in Art", which was part of the research Project PRESS at the Hellenic Open…

This study examines the transformative potential of Freinet networks in Greece through the principles of commoning and critical action learning. Freinet networks, grassroots communities of educators, prioritize democratic, horizontal structures and participatory learning to challenge conventional hierarchical norms in education. Based on focus…

Changing initial teacher education and lifelong learning experiences has become a real challenge for education as we strive to cultivate 21st-century skills in our students to ready them to become new cosmopolitan learners and knowledge professionals. The concepts inherent to transformative education and reflexive pedagogies, even though they are…

In this study, pre-primary teachers' views about professionalism and professional development in state nursery schools in Greece were investigated using a survey. This investigation of teachers' responses regarding specific issues of professionalism and professional development revealed that the majority of the teachers in the sample valued the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to gain meaningful insights in the learning background, experiences and potential of Muslim minority women in Western Thrace. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative data were obtained through 12 semi-structured interviews, which underwent a three-level qualitative analysis, following the "grounded…

In the contemporary international field of education and particularly in Science Education, there is a tendency of limiting the teacher to the role of a passive recipient of knowledge produced in research, followed by the transfer of that knowledge to the classroom. Meanwhile, the dominant tendencies on forming constructivist frameworks, where…

This paper uses the biographical method to investigate the contribution of the refugee experience in the process of transformation in young Afghan asylum seekers in Greece. It examines the participants' extremely adverse socio-political background in their country of origin; the marginalization that existed in the long-term intermediate refugee…

Refugee education has been an important challenge for the Greek educational system and for the teaching community. New supporting structures (i.e., Reception Facilities for Refugee Education [RFRE]), operating after the end of the regular school day, have been created to enable newcomers living in Refugee Accommodation Centers to learn (mainly)…

In this small scale study in higher education, a good educational practice on the teaching of Bioethics based on transformative learning and accomplished by debates is presented. The research was carried out in June 2016 at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece and it includes the assessment of…

Background: The conceptions that children develop about environmental issues are likely to form the basis of how they comprehend such issues, influence their behaviour towards the environment and, ultimately, determine the way they address these issues. Being aware of children's ways of thinking about the environment is, therefore, of paramount…

This article addresses an application performed in tertiary education--a department of pedagogical and educational sciences--of a contemporary method, Transformative Learning through Aesthetic Experience. The method is based on the use of art and aims to reinforce and promote the development of critical thinking within educational settings.…

This article attempts to examine the views of European adult educators toward transformative learning (TL) theory. First, I explore the relevant attitudes of my colleagues in Greece, which appear to be quite positive. Then, through a literature review, I assume that the scholars in other European countries have a limited interest and a quite…