Critical Literacy needs teachers as transformative leaders. Reflections on teacher training for the introduction of the (new) Modern Greek language curriculum in Cyprus

Abstract

The new Curricula of Cyprus aspire to deliver a new ethos in teaching and learning that promotes the notion of ‘the humane and democratic school' and emphasises the right of every child to succeed. In this context, the new Modern Greek language curriculum in Cyprus has been moulded upon the notion of Critical Literacy (CL). CL is neither an instructional strategy nor a lesson plan. It is a philosophical belief committed to a different worldview. As such, CL requires people's acceptance. Not just students but also teachers must first learn, understand and embrace the notion before applying its principles to their practice. This can only be done through a process of transformative leadership enabling teachers to become transformative leaders themselves. Has this axiom been taken into consideration in the case of Cyprus? Do teachers in Cyprus learn about CL in a process of transformative leadership? This article will attempt to answer these questions utilising the testimonies of Sandra, a primary school teacher who attended the seminars and workshops organised for training teachers to use the new language curriculum.

Keywords:

• curriculum
• teacher training
• pedagogy
• leadership

Notes

1. Modern Greek (MG) is the official language of the republic of Cyprus and the language of instruction in all public schools. Nevertheless, MG is not the only official language. Since 1960, when Cyprus became an independent and sovereign republic, Greek and Turkish have been explicitly recognised as official languages. Consequently, both languages are used in contexts that symbolise state authority (e.g. identity cards, passports, currency, etc.). However, the existence of separate educational and administrative systems (mandated by the constitution) along with the geopolitical separation (which began as early as 1964 and was finalised with the division of the island after the Turkish invasion in 1974) have completely isolated the two communities and confined the use of Greek to the southern part of Cyprus and Turkish to the northern part of the island (Karyolemou 2001). Under these circumstances, the discussion in this paper is limited to the Greek-speaking community. Still, the language issue in the Greek-speaking community remains complicated, as the language of instruction is Modern Greek whereas the mother tongue of the students is the Greek Cypriot Dialect. Despite the differences in phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics/lexicon, dialect speakers do not have difficulties comprehending MG speakers (Pavlou and Papapavlou 2004). However, issues pertaining to the educational value and the politics behind the use of the MG or the dialect are still at large. Evidently, the discussion about the language issue in Cyprus is very broad and complex and exceeds the scope of this paper. For further information the reader can refer to Karyolemou (2001) and Pavlou and Papapavlou (2004).

2. Vernacular – retrieved October 12, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Vernacular.