ACS Athens Ethos, Fall 2018 by ACS Athens

ETHOS â&#x20AC;˘ FALL 2018

Our Mission: ACS Athens is a student-centered international school, embracing American educational philosophy, principles and values. Through excellence in teaching and diverse educational experiences, ACS Athens challenges all students to realize their unique potential: academically, intellectually, socially and ethically - to thrive as responsible global citizens.

Main Number: +30 210 6393200 Reception Desk: Ext. 206, 233 Office of the President: Ext. 201 Office of Enrollment Management, Communications & Technology: Ext. 263 Admissions: Ext. 263, 251 Finance: Ext.202, 207 Business Procurement: Ext. 207 Human Resources: Ext. 204,256 Cashier: Ext. 208 Bookstore: Ext. 214 Transportation: Ext. 239 Health Office: Ext. 217 Cafeteria: Ext. 236 Academy: Ext. 222 Academy Citizenship: Ext. 404 Middle School: Ext. 261 Middle School Citizenship: Ext. 267 Elementary School: Ext. 229 Student Affairs: Ext. 226 IB/AP Programs: Ext. 247, 248 Academy/MS Library: Ext. 219, 220 ES Library: Ext. 293 Athletics: Ext. 327, 401 Institute for Innovation and Creativity: Ext. 402 Diagnostic & Testing Center Ext. 335 Optimal Learning Support Program: Ext. 237, 265 Theater: Ext. 331, 302 Security: Ext. 240 Security (After Hours): +30 210 6393555

Ethos is an annual publication of ACS Athens showcasing the life and activity of the Institution. Publisher: ACS Athens Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director: Leda Tsoukia Co-Editors: Peggy Pelonis John Papadakis Production team: Frances Tottas Melina Vassiliadis Dafni Anesti Copy editing: Valerie Alexopoulos Contributors: ACS Athens Faculty, Staff, Students, Parents and Alumni Concept and Publication design: Leda Tsoukia Copyright ÂŠ2018-2019 All rights reserved. No part of this magazine (text or images) may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher

ACS Athens (American Community Schools) 129 Ag.Paraskevis Street, GR 15234 Halandri Athens, Greece E: acs@acs.gr

W: acsathens.gr

T: +30 210 6393200

F: +30 210 6390051

ETHOS • FALL 2018

The 10th Grade Truman Trial; when history doesn’t get

Letter from the Editor by Leda Tsoukia

Q&A with the President Design Thinking in Kindergarten

by Eleftheria Ferentinos

Avanti (Coding) Maestro! by Peggy Apostolou and Maria Avgerinou

3 6

old and work becomes play!

by David Nelson

IB Visual Arts 2018 Exhibition

by Sophia Soseilos

Mentor Program; precious creative moments

by Sophia Soseilos

ACS Athens Science Festival 2018

Mentor Program; asteroid Bennu – A Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Object

by Melina Vassiliadis

by Liana Tsigaridi

Teachers Sharing Learning Designs;

Principal for a Day by Francesca Kouroupos

My trip to Russia

Students MoodleMooting Away

by Maria Avgerinou

by Nefeli MacDonald

ECIS InspirED Facilitating Action!

Middle School Graduation, Class of 2022

by Sevasti Koniossis

by Rebecca L. Meyer

2018 NESA Conference

ACS Athens Middle School UN Day 2017 by Christina Bakoyannis and Sevasti Koniossis

by Dora Andrikopoulos

NESA Spring Educators Conference

The “Youth to Youth” Educational Experience and

by Christina Bakoyannis Sevasti Koniossis and Rebecca Meyer

Social Integration Programs

The Reach of ACS Athens Professional Development

by Julia Tokatlidou

celebrating with NESA’s 50th Anniversary

A heartfelt welcome to the «Youth to Youth»

by David Nelson

students

Destination Çukurova University (Turkey):

by Peggy Pelonis

The Visual Literacy Index Meets

The Algorithm of Hope

the Art Department

by Anna Angelidou

by Maria Avgerinou

Differentiation:

The Theory and the Research

My experience and its implementation in a “Youth to

Letter from the editor

Youth” Classroom

by Maria Avgerinou

by Laura Kollintzas

Mindfulness in Physical Education

EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Christos

by Efthymia Karatopouzi

Stylianides, visits “Youth-to Youth” program

Snapshot:A Look into a 2nd Grade Design Time Project

by Dafni Anesti

Service Leaders Club Highlights. Challenging Perceptions and Redefining Potential by Sevasti Koniossis

Kinonos (Κοινωνός): A Club that has opened hearts and minds to education outside of school

100 101

by Tabitha Newton

103

Gathering Student Feedback: ES OLP Classroom through the Students’ Eyes

105

by Zoe Karatza

From Galaxies to ACS Athens Blending Research

CONT by Odysseas Digbassanis

The Kinοnos (Κοινωνός) Club

Experiences with the ACS Athens Innovative

by Antonios Karampelas

by Lydia Pinirou

ACS Athens receives the prestigious

“Regional Peace through Sport - Initiative of the Year” Award

by Annie Constantinides

Wired for Learning

by Peggy Pelonis

ing a Greek Language Course in a Multicultural Environment

by Maria Anna Sidiropoulou

110

Learners Leading Learning in an Inquiry-Led Foreign

The Role of Ethics in 21st Century Organizations

spACS; educators learning together with students

by Antonios Karampelas

spACS: A journey to space

Exploring the Use of Theater Performance in\ Teach-

Language Classroom

by John Papadakis

Dr. David Gleason visits ACS Athens

107

by Janet Karvouniaris

GDPR; know your personal data rights

Initiatives

by Paraskevi Papatzanakis

by Christina J. Rocha

by Jenny E. Grigoropoulos

115

119

Letter from the editor Theory and practice by Leda Tsoukia, Editor in Chief, ACS Athens Creative/Art Coordinator

CS Athens, recognized as one of the finest K-12 institutions in the world, does not rest on its laurels. Our school continues to seek excellence and pursue new accomplishments. Educators and staff continue to raise the bar, and this is evident in all aspects of the school. Academic papers and various collaborations with great institutions are increasing in frequency. While our students continue to enjoy a challenging, yet caring academic environment, our teachers and staff constantly improve upon their work. Ethos Magazine has always been the printed showcase of this wonderful and innovative activity that is being done at our school. We take great pride to the knowledge shared in these pages by all the teachers who publish academic papers based on their research under the Accreditation and the Action Research Project. We have a responsibility to match the pace of the school! This issue of Ethos magazine has two parts: It integrates the two approaches that basically makes our school what it is today: Practitioner’s Approach: Reflect on the everyday practices Research Academic Approach: Theory and reflection on academic approaches to education The first section is dedicated to presenting applications of the global Morfosis Model Theory, in articles

and photos, showcasing the wonderful life at ACS Athens. Same as all the previous years in Ethos. The second section, visually distinct from the first, is more of a scholarly journal: Research articles and academic papers, including bibliography, puts forward an academic approach. This will allow our wider audience a glimpse into the research conducted here at ACS Athens. By creating a magazine that integrates these two aspects of the school’s personality, gives us a chance to mirror the maturing we see in the academic environment and explain the motivation it gives us to work more, give more and learn more. ■■

Q&A with the President, Dr. Stefanos Gialamas

The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youth to Youthâ&#x20AC;? Educational Experience and Social Integration Programs

53 ACS Athens receives prestigious Award

57 GDPR; know your personal data rights

spACS; educators learning together with students

Mentor Program

82 Conferencing

100 The Theory and the Research

ETHOS â&#x20AC;¢ FALL 2018

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As a result of this deep belief, in 2005, after accepting the reality, and the challenges the institution faced, we committed to defining and then developing a plan to “transform” ACS Athens to a K-12 institution of the future. To accomplish this, we had to seek for guidance, support and mentoring from leaders around the world in universities, businesses and civic organizations. We had to analyze in depth, the challenges, and the opportunities as well as the trends that globalization brings in every society.

Social awareness Social engagement Social commitment Q&A with the President, Dr. Stefanos Gialamas

: Quality is not in the numbers, but numbers, definitely reflect quality! ACS Athens is proud to celebrate its 1,000th student registration milestone for the 2018-19 academic year, for the first time since the early nineties. After a steady enrollment growth for the past 14 years, the number 1000 seems a monumental milestone especially in times of social and financial crisis. Where do you contribute this growth over the past decade? A: I would undoubtedly say that the foundation of the success of ACS Athens is the progressive, wellthought-out, functioning partnership between the leadership, the governance, faculty, staff, parents, and students. It takes time, love, effort, but, most importantly, principles and values to shape the character of a child, along with the understanding of the demands of a future global society. In other words, we need to prepare young people to navigate their life-ship in a turbulent sea of the future.

Also, our Board of Trustees, thinking creatively and progressively, developed a state of the art governance and leadership structure, not only to allow creativity and leadership agility but to be pioneers among K-12 international educational institutions. The establishing of a Board of Trustees structure, similar to what USA universities, has prompted the cohesive, productive and successful partnership between the leadership of ACS Athens (President) and the governance (Board of Trustees). The Board of Trustees embraces all voices of the ACS Athens community (parents, alumni, and significant members of our global community). Therefore, the 18 members of the Board of Trustees are coming from different entities, i.e., parents, US Embassy, alumni, the United States or worldwide and also opinion and society leaders. Q: ACS Athens offers a holistic, meaningful and harmonious educational experience where the student is at the core of the institution. Is academic excellence the only goal? What are the principals and values you wish to offer the students as a guide in fulfilling their goals? A: A few years ago, we established the Vision of “empowering individuals to transform the world as architects of their own learning”, with the additional elements of guidance by ethos, inspired over the years, students, faculty, professionals, support staff, and administration strive for “Aristeia”, as the Ancient Greeks defined it: “excellence guided by ethos and by the service to humanity”. With this in mind, slowly, carefully, with respect and sincerity, we developed our own educational paradigm gMp (global Morfosis paradigm). This paradigm consists of three interconnected, interrelated, inseparable components: ◉◉ Morfosis Educational Philosophy ◉◉ i²Flex Teaching Methodology ◉◉ Aristeia Leadership

We define Morfosis as “the intellectual, ethical, spiritual and social development of the human character” based on the work by the late Panagiotis Gialamas (1972), an educator for more than 35 years. Therefore, we are providing a meaningful, relevant, and harmonious educational experience to our students with a commitment to serving humanity. It is equally important for our students to develop all the necessary and sufficient skills and qualities to continue their education in their “best fit” university in the world, but also to develop a strong ethical reservoir enriched by their principles and values. We need tomorrow’s leaders to be guided by ethical discipline and not only care about their personal or family or even community well-being but to care about the “less privileged” human beings regardless of where they live. Q:How do you engage the students in changing their mentality from serving their selves to serve the community? A: Serving humanity has a different meaning at the Elementary School level, Middle School level, and Academy level. ◉◉ In the Elementary School: students are committed to “social awareness”: students become aware of challenges around us, including animals, environment, and the entire world. ◉◉ In the Middle School: students are committed to “social engagement”: students begin to put interest into practice by first becoming aware and becoming interested in a social condition; continuing to develop an interest towards improving a social situation; figuring out ways and planning to engage in bettering a condition and thus taking responsibility for part of the solution. ◉◉ In the Academy: students are committed to “social commitment,” committing to and actively participating in the betterment of a situation or the improvement of a person’s life. This way of thinking and behaving becomes a way of life for individuals as they develop a positive mindset towards improving as many aspects of society as possible. The Morfosis Educational Philosophy requires us to recruit, sustain, develop and professionally cultivate appropriate faculty, staff, and administrative leaders. These individuals need to embrace the vision, principles, and values of the institution. It is the most crucial resource for our academic institution. These educators were empowered and supported by the ACS Athens leadership to become innovators, risk-takers, researchers, but most important the example of an ethical member of humanity so our students could have the BEST examples to learn from them. The Aristeia leadership which is based on a “collective partnership approach” between faculty, professionals, staff and students, supports and fosters an envi-

ronment for creativity, productive thinking, plethora of learning avenues, but most importantly the commitment to depart from every local bias or constraint and adopt global approach in finding new solutions to existing or future challenges. Also, there are commonly accepted principles and values and a commitment always to make effective decisions. To do this, we must follow the C4 rule. We must be composed, coherent, calm, and concentrated before we engage in any decision or attempt to resolve a conflict. Q: What are the initiatives that the school has taken over the last year that clearly shows how the students embrace the vision, principles, and values of the institution? A: We firmly believe that it is never too early for children to think, learn and act like scientists. Therefore, students in the Elementary School learn science in a

fully equipped science lab similar to what the Middle School and Academy students are utilizing. Creative writing at the Elementary level, including fiction writing, is another manifestation. In the Middle School and Academy students run with their council the “Incubator of Creative Ideas and Innovation.” They are responsible for all the functions of the incubator with the guidance and mentoring of an administrator and inspiration for an “Advising Council” of scientists, entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, and innovators of significant individuals from around the world. One of the most authentic initiatives that began with Middle School students and now involves Academy students is the Youth to Youth Program. It is an educational and social integration initiative focusing on unaccompanied refugee children. ACS Athens students with the supervision of administrators and the mentoring of faculty and professionals are becoming essential elements in educating and integrating these children in ACS Athens, and the Athens community in general. Students were part of the curriculum design, delivery methodology and also are instructors or assistants. The best manifestation of Morfosis is that ACS Athens students are preparing themselves not only to attend the “best fit” universities in the world, but they are also exhibiting a high caliber of ethical behavior, which is necessary to make the world a better place to live, and in particular for the less fortunate people. We believe and follow the words of Xenophon (400BC) with a twist, to say, inspire students to “perform beyond expectations.” Q: What is the ultimate goal for the educational experience of the students? What do these changes set in motion for the future of the school? To define ACS Athens’ future pathway, we need to study the past of ACS Athens, illuminating the present, while we all prepare for the future. Therefore, ACS Athens will continue fostering an environment supporting: ◉◉ A meaningful, relevant, and holistic educational experience to our students. This experience will always be interconnected with the students’ interests, talents, desires and dreams. Students must be authors of their life journey. ◉◉ The best faculty and professionals who are thinkers, innovators, decision-makers, life-long learners who are committed to continuous learning for the benefits of their students. ◉◉ Leadership at all levels with quality and integrity – being the best examples for students, faculty, professionals, and staff.

◉◉ The leading K-12 international academic institution pioneering new pathways in teaching and learning, utilizing authentic curriculum and delivery methodology and most important, recruiting and training the best faculty in the world (researchers, with the highest credentials, best examples for our students, not being afraid to implement new ideas in teaching and learning. ◉◉ Leadership guided by ethos serving humanity. Student enrollment, college placement, academic results, and world recognition, such as being the only international K-12 school accredited by MSA, which accredits more than 2,500 international K-12 schools around the world with the most sophisticated accreditation protocol “Sustaining Excellence” are ONLY manifestations that are “empowering individuals to transform the world as architects of their own learning with ethical behavior is the MAIN REASON. Q: What is your vision for the future? A: My vision for the next decade is to empower every student of ACS Athens to develop and embrace the following three dimensions: Interpersonal: Inspiring him/her and also others to strive for excellence and to reach for their maximum potential, guiding and motivating exceptional performance, being the example and instilling confidence in advance for success. Standards: Establishing his/her standards for ethical conduct, being the example for meeting these standards, being laureates for the truth and the beautiful and modeling integrity and ethos as the ancient Greeks define it. Serving Humanity: Including the entire spectrum from social awareness, social engagement, and social commitment. To accomplish the above, the Institutional Leader must be courageous and be optimistic. Be brave to induce implementation of significant change and eventually institutional metamorphosis and be confident that everything is possible, which is the highest trait that anyone can have if they want to create and innovate. ■■

ETHOS • FALL 2018

orating and making decisions on how they should go about making their creation more sturdy, or more real like, what they need to add and what the next step should be.

Elementary adventures Design Thinking in Kindergarten by Eleftheria Ferentinos, Elementary School Teacher

hen you walk in a Kindergarten classroom what do you see? What is the one thing that leaves an impression on you? Students’ creations. Their beautiful, colorful, out of the ordinary creations. Why do we focus so much on creativity in Kindergarten? What do students get out of their own creations during Free Exploration (play time)? It’s that students learn. As Robert Fulghum (1986) states in his book All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, in Kindergarten through Design Thinking (play time) you learn to share, to play fair, to put things where you found them, to clean up your own mess, to not take things that don’t belong to you, to say sorry when you hurt somebody. You learn to live a balanced life - learn some, and think some, and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day a little bit. You learn to be aware of wonder, to think of the how and why and to remember the biggest word of all: LOOK. As a Kindergarten teacher that is the word, next to my name, that I hear the most every day. “Ms. Eleftheria, look what we made”, “Ms. Eleftheria, look what I wrote”, “Ms. Eleftheria, look what we built”. If you walk in one of our Kindergarten classrooms during Free Exploration (Design Time) you will see students building castles, cities, boats, roads, and bridges out of blocks or Legos. They are creating maps, universes, and 3D airplanes out of paper. They are making books, creating the covers and writing the titles. They are working alone or in groups, collab-

In Kindergarten, Design Thinking also extends in our classroom art projects. Our projects stem from our Science and Social Studies Units, or from a book we read in class. One of our Social Studies Units is “Neighborhoods”. Once we have introduced and discussed what a neighborhood is, and students have learned the various buildings and places you can find in a neighborhood, and the similarities and differences of a city and country neighborhood; we start making our classroom neighborhood map, which will eventually lead to our 3D classroom neighborhood. This process requires a certain amount of steps before the end product. First, we make a list of everything we can find in a neighborhood. Buildings, parks, people, animals. Then students choose the building they wish to make. They draw their building with a pencil and then they paint it. The next day, once the paint has dried, students go back and add details to their buildings. Students love to add details and if they are not sure of what, for example, a hospital looks like we google it and they see all the details they need to have. Once all the buildings are done, students help us put the buildings in our neighborhood. They share their opinion of where the school should be, where we need to add a road or even a park. We design the roads together and they make their own trees. They add cars, traffic lights, animals everything a real neighborhood might have. Students are inquiring, reflecting, researching and finally, they are learning. We then move on to our 3D neighborhood. At this point, parents and families get involved, they are asked to bring in recyclable materials, cereal boxes, milk cartons, tissue paper boxes and of course we get everything we ask for, and then some. After collecting all the recyclable materials the fun begins! We start with small groups of students 3-4 at a time. The building that they earlier, now they need to make it in a 3D structure. Students choose the boxes they want to use for their building and they decide how they want the boxes to be connected so it represents what they have visualized their building to look like. So they are the architects of their building. In the next step, the students paint their buildings. The following day students add the details, windows, and doors. At this point, we start recording their comments as they discover what they need to add to their building. For example, “Ms. Donna, I am making a bank I need to have money euros and dollars”, “Ms. Eleftheria, I am making a fire station, it needs to be red and I need to have a ladder”, “Ms. Donna, I am making a police station I need a jail for the bad guys”, “I want to make an ice cream for my ice cream shop”. Then the buildings are placed in the neighborhood. Students once again are the main designers of our city neighborhood. Students discuss, disagree and finally come to an agreement of where everything that may be found in a busy city neighborhood should be situated. With this design process students are learning,

ETHOS • FALL 2018

Eirini and Sylvia choosing their building

Raed coloring his building

through creativity, collaboration, through mistakes, and they are truly becoming architects of their own learning. Talking this school year about growth mindset, in the Elementary School, and how we apply or can apply it, to our classroom environment, this process of design, builds exactly that kind of mindset for students. It helps them believe in their abilities, trust themselves, learn through their mistakes and put in the extra effort to reach the final product. As a Kindergarten teacher at ACS Athens I have to say something I repeatedly have said: that I am very proud of our Early Childhood Department and of the reality that the whole school is leaning towards the Early Childhood philosophy, evident from the Incubator, to the conceptual and constructive approach to teaching. ■■

Myrsini coloring and adding details to her building

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Neighbourhoodsâ&#x20AC;? Unit in, Social Studies, Kindergarten

Figure 1. New Vision for Education (World Forum, 2016)

Avanti (Coding) Maestro! by Peggy Apostolou, Elementary School Music Teacher and Dr. Maria Avgerinou, Director, Educational Technology and eLearning

A. Introduction The Coding Maestros project was presented in May 2018 as part of the annual ACS Athens Literacy Festival. Under the guidance of the Elementary School Music teacher and the Director of Educational Technology, 17 ACS Athens students representing grades 1 through 8, led two well-attended and enthusiastically received sessions. The goal was to demonstrate a continuum of learner-centered, authentic educational activities, from basic to more advanced that were founded on an innovative blend of student-performed music and coding with the support of an augmented reality software, as well as live instrumental and dance performances. B. First things First: From Literacy to Literacies Owing to the fact that the learner (future employee and citizen) of the 21st century is required to possess a carefully redefined array of character qualities, competencies and skills, the pathways that may lead the development of such learner, and most importantly the very concept of literacy itself has necessitated a complete reform (Figure 1).

As a result, in this century Literacy has been transformed into multi-literacy, an umbrella term that includes different types of literacies from foundational and scientific, to civic and ICT/coding. All of these literacies, despite being familiar or new, are not only interrelated but also perfectly aligned with the fabric of the learner profile that contemporary education systems across the globe, aim to create. Yet, education philosophers, researchers and practitioners have not reached a consensus as to which among the aforementioned literacies are more important; they have even advanced literacy sets that may differ in their focus and associated domains. For the theoretical framework of the Coding Maestros project, we specifically selected an educational Blogger’s (Pietila, 2017) view of the top 10 literacies in education today. These were put forward and explained as follows: Digital Literacy: These days, digital illiteracy is nearly as debilitating as traditional illiteracy. Digital devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops have permeated every corner of our lives from work to school to personal relationships, and part of a well-rounded education includes being able to use these devices to achieve a variety of goals. Media Literacy: Media creation and consumption is changing at a rapid pace. Someone who is “media literate” can adapt to new communication formats – whether that’s instant messaging, push notifications, wikis, online communities, blogs, or vlogs – and knows how to choose the most effective medium for communication in any given situation. Visual Literacy: We take in more visual information than ever. The ability to comprehend – and to create – videos, photos, infographics, and other visuals has become essential for daily life and career success. Data Literacy: With the right tools and training, it’s easier than ever for students, parents, teachers, school leaders, and school partners to make informed decisions. Whether this looks like a student taking charge of her own growth or a teacher pinpointing specific skills his students need to enhance, data literacy could lead to a sea change in education.

ETHOS • FALL 2018

Game Literacy: It won’t be difficult to convince students of the merits of this unconventional new literacy. Online video games have been linked to above average scores in math, reading, and science, and some schools use games like Minecraft and SimCity to help kids develop fine motor skills, better navigation abilities, and problem-solving strategies. Gamification is on the rise, and students with this fluency will level up faster. Health & Financial Literacy: No two literacies go hand-in-hand quite like these two. A strong financial position makes it easier to make healthy choices, and good health makes it possible to do the hard work necessary for financial stability. When it comes to health and financial literacy, simple rules of thumb (“spend less than you earn”) and just-in-time learning (a financial aid workshop for high school seniors) have a big impact.

Ms. Apostolou while introducing the session

Civic & Ethical Literacy: Civic and ethical literacy make up our second twosome. Civic literacy means understanding your rights and responsibilities as a citizen and being aware of opportunities & pathways for involvement. Ethical literacy gets at the subtleties – what do you do when core values conflict? These literacies empower people to participate and initiate change. News Literacy: A little skepticism goes a long way. We learn the difference between fact and fiction at a young age, but in the digital world, it’s hard even for adults to be confident about what to believe. Rich news literacy learning experiences should be available to students throughout K-12, helping them learn not only how to find and read the news, but also how to think about it and evaluate it.

Odysseas and Yahya performing Basic Coding via Osmo

Coding & Computational Literacy: Few literacies are more hotly debated than coding literacy. No, not every kid will grow up to become a computer programmer, but each can benefit from learning to think about how a computer could help solve a problem – like how to unearth fire hydrants more efficiently after a snowfall (hint: write an app!). The ability to dream up a solution is just as valuable as the ability to code it. Foundational Literacy: This is literacy as you might traditionally understand it: reading, writing, and meaning-making. No matter how far we stretch the definition of literacy, these foundational skills – particularly those gained in the early years – are still the building blocks upon which other skills can develop. C. Music and Coding As the name suggests, The Coding Maestros project emerged from, and reflected an integration of the musical and computational/coding literacy. After all, the notion of multi-literacy is not new to musicians since the number of literacies practiced and involved for the performance/creation of a piece of music are multiple, and require a fine equilibrium and handling of all actions involved.

Dimitris, Evan and Dimitris performing the 12-bar Blues with Ms. Apostolou

But, how did the project start, and, most importantly why? From the Educational Technology perspective, Dr. Avgerinou had noticed that all popular technology-based games (including programming/coding) were heavily focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Yet, her own philosophy and resolution coupled with the school’s vision, was to bring the Art component (STEAM) into these games and associated

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activities, thus helping students and parents familiarize themselves with ways in which technology could be applied in the arts and humanities, open windows of possibility, and instigate informed exploration into interdisciplinary territories. Upon evaluating existing educational technology software and apps, award winning Osmo’s Coding Jam became the tool to help us blend coding education with music through iPads (Wiggers, 2017). This augmented reality software is based on the intersection between the physical and the digital world, as recommended -among others- by MIT’s media research group (2018). MIT’s researchers have strongly emphasized how important physical, tangible elements are in children’s learning- especially when introduced to a challenging and complex process such as programming. And so, even if a pedagogically appropriate tool had been identified for the coding with music endeavor, still careful instructional design and planning had to occur. After all: “Certainly, the use of computers to expand our abilities and realize our dreams--or even to create brand new abilities and dreams--is the more forward-thinking, productive, and desirable direction for technology in music. Creative endeavor, just like scientific endeavor, requires careful consideration of what goals are to be pursued” (Dobrian, 1988). From the Music end, Ms. Apostolou’s teaching philosophy has always translated into endeavors toward finding ways to make transferring of knowledge fun, relevant, and meaningful. She has embraced Barate et al.’s (2015) statement that: “In the digital era, new technologies and computer-based approaches can influence music learning and teaching processes. (…) Many researchers, experts and music teachers feel a pressing need to provide new ways of thinking about the application of music and technology in schools. It is necessary to explore teaching strategies and approaches able to stimulate different forms of musical experience, meaningful engagement, creativity, teacher -learner interactions, and so on”. When Ms. Apostolou was introduced to music with coding, and in particular to the relevant software for children, she was concerned that using those programs without possessing at least foundational understanding of music, learners would most certainly be lead to falsely believe that they have become successful and knowledgeable composers. This is particularly problematic for young children, who are often impressed by the visual anime and fast delivery results that game technologies of the 21st century offer. She fully believes that understanding of the basic ingredients of music, and experience of performance are necessary in order to achieve satisfactory musical results. In effect, performance skills and knowledge of musical norms, not only can enable coders to deliver what they intend to express in terms of sounds and their combinations, but can also help them attempt to input fine functions for the necessary delivery of various musical styles.

After much research into coding and analysis of teaching norms, Ms. Apostolou concluded with a teaching model of integration, and introduced coding as a medium for transferring knowledge and for deeper understanding of music within the 21st century education framework. Like in Barate et al.’s project involving primary school students, she found great educational merit into applying current pedagogical thinking and research coding and music into her music teaching “through a playful approach to music composition, … designed to encourage the computational way of thinking” (Barate et al., 2015, 4). In our efforts to identify a shared vocabulary and a common ground to launch the project successfully, it became apparent to both of us that we use codes in our every day life. In language, the littlest code is represented through letters and words. In every day music and in music making, it is all the elements, devices, notes, performance-related specifics, etc. As a visual metaphor, to a musician, a code is like the ingredients of a food to a chef. The more one understands the ingredients –e.g. how each ingredient tastes or soundsthe more one can apply them with more success and awareness of their fine combination with other ingredients. Existing research on the cusp of coding and music has offered a few interesting leads, as well as a solid rationale in support of blending these areas. Interestingly enough, ”musicality seems to be a powerful predictor of coding success” (Hughes, 2017). Furthermore, current research spans from identifying the best music for coders to concentrate while coding, to lending support to the fact that many professional musicians nowadays easily follow a coding career precisely because they already possess the following essential skills: Attention to detail Sequencing Matching the right things together Collaboration but also ability to work independently without much supervision Good timing Synchronization Self-Discipline and Patience Focus Creativity Visual abilities (both Spatial and Temporal) Yet, let us side with Hughes (2017) when he observes that: “These are just some of the parallels between musicians and coding. In fact, there are myriad of ways

in which being proficient on an instrument is a great pathway to learning how to program. And, the ability to code in today’s information economy is a ticket to some great career opportunities”. On the other hand, becoming a computer programmer or computer scientist should not be the only reason why we teach coding. As Resnick (Merrill, 2017) beautifully puts it: “Very few people grow up to be professional writers, but we teach everyone to write because it’s a way of communicating with others—of organizing your thoughts and expressing your ideas. I think the reasons for learning to code are the same as the reasons for learning to write. When we learn to write, we are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas. And when we learn to code, we are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas in new ways, in a new medium”.

Alexandros and Adrianos practicing violin for our session

On a similar vein and while looking at coding and music composition, Brantingham (2016) suggested that one can learn a new language (composition or programming), “by understanding the basic elements of the language, and then applying that understanding to the process of modeling great compositions. This process is: Experiencing the music (listening and playing) Reflecting on the music (copying by hand and analyzing) Creating abstract conceptualizations (pulling ideas from them, and giving them names)

Q&A following the presentation

Experimenting with those concepts (composing new music based on what you learned) And to conclude, through both our individual research paths, and our professional synergy and shared explorations, we came to agree that coding should be viewed as an effective teaching tool for literacy. We subsequently went on to concur that coding should not be available exclusively to STEM curricula (toward the development of requisite skills), but also to Arts and Humanities curricula in support of a truly integrated way of learning. Let us not forget that our students no matter what they study, they are somehow connected to technology, both as consumers and as creators. Therefore, positive online presence (Buchanan, 2018) and digital citizenship, that is knowing how to behave responsibly as a “pro-sumer” (Toffler, 1980) of technology is a skill of paramount importance that needs to be developed through a variety of learning experiences, including interdisciplinary projects such as The Coding Maestros. D. The Coding Maestros in Action! “Music is a strong motivator — and a powerful learning tool. One study found that students who listened to their favorite songs wrote twice as much while doing so as those who didn’t” (Wiggers, 2017).

Ms. Apostolou while introducing the session

Students initially showed a strong interest in the project for different reasons. Some were into coding, and into learning a new software. Some were dancers who became rather intrigued by the notion of reproducing the smallest music element via their body movements. Some were music instrument performers who had never reproduced a digitally created sound, or improvised on the basis of that sound. It took a few, short yet full of “a-ha moments” meetings to let the students explore, unpack, and get inspired by the blend of coding with music (and dance). During the Literacy Festival sessions, some of our students were responsible for live coding (basic, and progressively more advanced) utilizing Osmo. Another group was in charge of a range of movements that represented simple codes all the way to more complex moves reflecting equally complex sounds, accompanied by live instrumental performances. And a third group participated with more advanced live music coding demonstrated through the 12-bar blues, playing guitars and piano. For this last part, we had been inspired by Sorensen’s concept of “creative computing” (2014) whereby the presenter engages in live-coding the generative algorithms that will be producing the music that the audience will be listening too. When all presentations were completed, we asked our students to share their reflections on their participation in the project. They all agreed that not only it was fun, but that they also had developed a deeper understanding of the fusion of the two areas. As a closure to our text, here are a few of their comments: “I really liked this project because no one had ever before composed music for me to dance!” “I liked figuring out how to code music in collaboration with others”. “This was so much fun! I loved playing all this music with my friends”. “I never thought I could code with music!”.

References Advancing K12/Pietila, N. (2017). The top 10 literacies in education today. Available at https://www.skyward.com/discover/blog/skyward-blogs/skyward-executive-blog/march-2017/ the-top-10-literacies-in-education-today#graphic Barate, E., Ludovico, L.A., Mangione, G.R., & Rosa, A. (2015). Playing music, playing with music: A proposal for music coding in primary school. International Conference e-Learning. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED562460.pdf Brantingham, J. (2016, January 18). Learning to code vs. learning music composition. Available at https://www.artofcomposing.com/ learning-to-code-vs-learning-music-composition Buchanan, R. (2018, January 15). How to help children build a positive presence online. Available at https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/why-children-shouldbe-taught-to-build-a-positive-online-presence Dobrian, C. (1988). Music programming: An introductory essay. Available at http://music.arts.uci.edu/dobrian/CD.MusicProgramming.htm Hughes, A. (2017, December 6). Composing code: Why musicians make great software developers. Available at https://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-hughes/composing-code-why-musici_b_10714288.html Merrill, S. (2017, December 7). The future of coding in schools. Available at https://www.edutopia.org/article/future-coding-schools?utm_source=Edutopia+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2208814e26-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_013118_enews_3assumptions&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f72e8cc8c4-2208814e26-79028327 MIT- Media (2018). Available at https://www.media.mit.edu/groups/tangible-media/overview/ O’Leary, J. (n.d.). Music && coding. Available at https://jaredoleary.com/music-coding/ Sorensen, A. (2014). OSCON Keynote: The concert programmer. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY1FSsUV-8c Toffler, A. (1980). The third wave: The classic study of tomorrow. New York, NY: Bantam. Wiggers, K. (2017, May 11). Osmo’s Coding Jam uses music to teach kids how to code. Available at https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/osmo-coding-jam/ World Forum/Soffel J. (2016, March). What are the 21st-century skills every student needs? Available at https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/21st-century-skills-future-jobs-students/?utm_content=bufferde1fb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer&mc_cid=a42948b734&mc_eid=7d368a1438

“I love music and I thought coding would be hard. It turns out that coding is fun and makes me better understand how music works! ■■

Opposite Page: Ms. Sana Kassem with her students presenting the Green City project at the “Athens Science Festival 2018” in Technopolis City.

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ACS Athens Science Festival 2018 by Melina Vassiliadis, Communications Officer

n April 25th, all fourth grade students participated in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Athens Science Festival 2018â&#x20AC;? at the Technopolis City with their Green City project. This is the first time the ACS takes part in this science festival, but more importantly, our fourth grade students were the only elementary school students presenting amongst a group of much older students. Our students have designed and built a Green City. In their green city, houses use solar energy and wind energy. The machines also work on alternative and renewable forms of energy such as solar, wind water and biofuels. The Garbage is collected by a pneumatic crane, sent to pneumatic press by a robotic garbage truck and then recycled. For Public transport a hover train is used by the citizens of the green city. For entertainment our students played the banana piano, had a show of electromagnetic dancers and challenged the visitors with the paper tube marble tracts. According to the parents, teachers, festival organizers and all the visitors of their tables, the display of the Green City and the presentation of our students were the highlight of the festival.

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Ms. Kassem wrote: “When I received the program from the organizers and saw that the projects presented were by high school students, universities and research centers, I got worried. I felt that I am taking our little ones to the land of giants. Little did I know that our students were all the little “Jackies” and “Jacks”* who will be equal to the giants in their knowledge, creativity and intelligence. It was phenomenal to observe “Giants” kneeling down to hear the presentation of the little ones but raising up again very high in awe and respect to the knowledge presented to them. Our students presented their projects with confidence, eloquence and extreme kindness. It was very rewarding to hear them explaining their projects using the correct terminology and scientific concepts with such ease and flow. “This is a machine (referring to a crane) that converts solar energy using a photovoltaic cell to electricity and kinetic energy.” “My machine uses wind energy and a wind generator to generate electricity”. “My machine uses a pneumatic system to compress air and then the potential energy is used to drive the crane and the elevator.” “I built a water turbine that generates electricity from water behind a dam. Water has lots of potential energy to generate electricity by turning the turbine of the hydroelectric power plant”. “My car produces zero transmission because it is a hydrogen car that uses electrolysis and reverse electrolysis to move the engine of the car.” “In our city all of our houses use solar energy, or chemical energy from potatoes, to power the houses with electricity. We collect garbage with robotic cranes, sort them and compress them, then send them off to recycling. Our public transport is an electromagnetic hover train”. “We play music with a banana piano, causing the dancers that have electromagnetic forces to spin endlessly. You can even try to make one yourselves! (Handing in a copper wire to visitors)”. The paper tube marble ramps attracted lots of attention because it turned into a challenging game for the visitors. When I started the program at the elementary school, my goal was to encourage our students not only to be the best scientists but also the best citizens they can be. This is how I realized that I am reaching my goal: Next to our station was a table for computer engineers with very impressive robots. One female scientist made robotic hands to play the piano. She told us that this could replace a piano teacher. When she visited our table she saw a similar, but much simpler mechanical and robotic gripping hands. But when she

Ms. Sophia Moros, Elementary School Principal and ACS Athens students at the Athens Science Festival

heard our students’ purpose for these hands, she was speechless. Our students had made these hands to help those who have lost their hands in an accident. On this day, I remembered the quote of Antoine de Saint-Exupery “If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” I realized on that day that my actual role towards our children is simply to teach them to “long for the immensity of the sea”, and nothing more. *Adventures of Jack in the Land of the Giants ■■

Middle School adventures Principal for a Day by Francesca Kouroupos, Middle School Student

t was a rainy Thursday morning, and it had finally come. The day I was going to be Middle School Principal for the Day. My heart was beating fast. I walked into the bright office ready to sign my confidentiality form. There I noticed on the brown desk my busy schedule for the day filled with speeches and meetings. It was going to start with a morning assembly in the Theater addressing the entire Middle School. I could feel butterflies in my stomach and my heart beating even faster. I anxiously walked into the crowded Theater. The smiles on student’s faces slowly relieved the stress. As I walked up towards the stage I heard people cheering for me. When I announced all the upcoming events, it was a comfort to realize everyone was excited.

Back in the office students came in for information and dilemmas. Teachers entered to ask questions and advice. I had to make quick decisions and find various solutions. I was proud of my ideas including playing music on the public announcement during passing time. When I walked into the hallway, I saw people dancing and singing along which was satisfying because I knew I was creating a happier atmosphere. The time arrived when I had a meeting with the Principal of the High School. I walked in his office feeling

very nervous. Mr. Vandarakis talked about the opportunities he gives to students and how he is proud of starting this new tradition at ACS Athens with having a Principal for the Day. That is when I realized how difficult it is to be a Principal. You must consider all the students, as well as the faculty and staff to decide the best outcome for the whole school. As the day came to an end, I had a surprise for the Middle School: I had booked the karaoke machine in the cafeteria for the last thirty minutes of the day. As I called everyone downstairs, I made my way to where we were gathering and saw everyone laughing and looking forward to singing. We all sang along and danced, bonding as a community with faculty and staff joining with us. Being Principal is definitely a demanding role. It takes practice and patience. I was delighted to get the opportunity to experience this position. It is important, and we have to appreciate the hard work involved. ■■

My trip to Russia by Nefeli MacDonald,Middle School Student

reetings to all, reporting from Russia!

Last April I was chosen to go to Russia to represent Greece as a student reporter for the well-known “Mondiale” (International Soccer Cup) as part of the Football for Friendship (F4F) 2018, where children share and support the basic human values promoted under this program. F4F is the annual International Children’s Social program implemented by Gazprom Company - official partner of FIFA and the World Cup Russia 2018. The goal of the program is to involve the younger generation, throughout the world, in promoting the most important human values among their peers friendship, equality, peace and respect for different cultures and nationalities.

The selection process for this role involved finding a 12 year old Greek citizen who could speak and write both Greek and English fluently. A candidate list of over 60 students Greece-wide was drawn up, which included myself and two other students from ACS Athens. After several interviews and review of my submission of a written profile and essay, I received the amazing news that I was selected! Also chosen was a 12 year old boy who was to represent

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Greece as a soccer player. We were to be the children ambassadors for Greece! I was so excited that I would be going to Russia for 8 days that I couldn’t sleep! The next couple of weeks we had many meetings with the head of the Greek football team, AEK, to get ready for the trip. On June 8th, along with our adult escorts from the program, we arrived in Russia and found ourselves among children our age from 211 countries and regions that joined the Football for Friendship this year. Upon arrival, we were all immediately placed into groups/teams. My team was called the “kipunji team”, (each team was named after an endangered animal). My teammates came from all over the world (including Cuba, Norway, Bolivia, Cameroon, Russia). Over the course of the next 3 days, we travelled to the “camp” where we were to spend time getting to know each other and play different games together. All of us young journalists had to cover the activities of the young football players and the events of F4F 2018 as they took place during the overall implementation of the program. We also had to write articles about all sorts of things, like the local traditions from our home countries, etc. Of all the youth journalists, three would be voted top writers and would have their articles pub-

lished in the local Russian newspaper. Fortunately, my articles were selected 2 out of 3 times! The following two days were the most stressful for the youth soccer players as they had to prepare for their big game. We, the journalists, also had preparations. We created different cheers and dressed up and painted our faces to show our support. (One of our cheers was, “If you like to play football be kipunji with the ball!). We were voted the most supportive and loud team! Sadly, our team lost right away but they tried their best. The day before we left, I was chosen to be in a photoshoot that took place in the famous red square of Russia. In the evening, a final celebratory banquet and award ceremony was held. The highlight was when the President of Russia, the President of the FIFA football organization, and the famous old goalie of real Madrid (Kaseya) all delivered inspirational speeches to our international youth camp participants. Meeting these various high profile people was an amazing experience! In conclusion, this was one of the best trips of my life and I am very lucky to have been given the chance to participate. I met many new people and made a lot of new, and truly international friends. My thanks go to ACS Athens, the Mondiale organization and to my parents for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity. ■■

ACS Athens is the proud new publisher of the prestigious and widely known International Schools Journal. Current editor Dr. Caroline Ellwood will be in charge of an editorial team from ACS Athens and external consulting editors. Formerly published by John Catt Educational, the International Schools Journal started in 1981 and has published articles of interest to the International Education community, from the academic practice to the administrative

operation of schools. A new era begins: a top international school publishes the top journal of the field. Note: Until Dec.1st 2018 prospective articles for the April 2019 issue can still be sent to the Editor Dr. Caroline Ellwood, using the email: Cellwood@johncatt.com After that, please use: ellwoodc@acs.gr

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Many awards were presented to students including: ◉◉ Principal’s Award- presented by Principal Meyer to students that can always be relied on to do the right thing and consistently display the institution’s theme of: “Be Ready. Be Respectful. Be Responsible.” The recipients of this year’s principal’s awards were: Ellie Michaelidis & Thanasis Sitinas. ◉◉ The Counselor’s Award- presented by Mr. Stelios Kalogridakis, awarded to a student that is an exceptional role model for all students during the school year. Zicheng Zhang received this honor. ◉◉ U.S. President’s Awards- Given to students that received a 3.5 or above in their first semester grades and had recommendations from both school counselor and a faculty member.

Middle School Graduation; Class of 2022 by Rebecca L. Meyer, Middle School Principal

lass of 2022 “I don’t want to let them go!” Rebecca L. Meyer

95 students graduated from ACS Athens Middle School on Friday, June 15, 2018. Anna Balaska and Asimina Kyriakousi sang & Dimitris Chlympatsos and Ali Yarici played guitar during the two musical performances of OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” and The Carpenters “We’ve Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters. Ms. Amy Carlon, U.S. Counselor for Political Affairs, served as commencement speaker and is the mother of graduating 8th grader, Brett. Ms. Carlon spoke about preparing tomorrow’s leaders with ethos. She provided examples of how we “live in a global, interconnected world” and that the “concept of global citizenship is within our grasp.” 2017 Warren Shepherd Award, Miss Stella Argentopoulos awarded the 2018 Warren Shepherd Award Recipient to Miss Francesca Kouroupos. Each year the Warren Shepherd award is given to an ACS Middle School student who displays the characteristics most similar to Warren Shepherd, a former ACS Athens Middle School student who died of a rare disease. He had been an outstanding student and made many contributions to the school, known for always lending stability to any group he joined and being helpful to all students.

◉◉ Service Awards- students that modeled consistency in serving others throughout their middle school career and have shown that they are on their way to being future leaders as good global citizens. Miss Francesca Kouroupos who served as the graduating Class of 2022’s Student Council President called the roll. The Middle School Class of 2018, graduating Class of 2022 wasdescribed by Ms. Meyer as having a “willingness to accept new peers” and was applauded as “simply an amazing class to be leaders of the middle school building.” Departmental Awards Art- Ioannis Kolovos Music - Maximilian Konstantinos Makarigakis Language Arts - Daphne Stamou ESL - Yirui Wang EFL- Binwei Yu Foreign Language Arabic- Reine Yousef Chinese- Zicheng Zhang German- Maria Kourtaki Greek – Ioannis Kolovos Greek Language ArtsIris Selmpesi Spanish- George Vetter Mathematics - Iris Selmpesi Physical EducationFrancesca Kouroupos Science - Maria Bizaki Social Studies - Arianna Panteliadi Technology - Daphne Stamou i2 Flex Health - Ariadni Koropouli

Christina Bakoyannis and Sevi Koniossis urging students to develop their own service with a focus on the UN Goals by developing SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely) Action Plans

ACS Athens Middle School United Nations Day 2017: “Global Goals, Local Leaders” Transforming a Commemorative Event to a Service Learning Experience by Christina Bakoyiannis and Sevasti Koniossis, Middle School Faculty

eading the Way

On October 24th, Middle School teachers and students commemorated United Nations Day by engaging in educational learning experiences centered around the theme “Global Goals, Local Leaders”. The day began with an introduction in the theater of the work of the day centered around the topic of leadership and action. The aim was to enable students to be become leaders of their own service using the UN Sustainable Goals, 17 in total, as the means to explore and develop action plans around local issues. Preparation for that day began earlier through a survey sent to students asking them whether they had ever spent time helping people, the environment, or their com-

munity without getting paid. More than 80% of the Middle Schoolers responded “yes” to this question, of which more than 80% replied that they enjoyed the experience. Students went further in describing their experience. Students were then asked to share some of these experiences on UN Day to others, in order to model similar experiences and provide the reasoning and ways one can achieve this. Community service ideas such as the Service Leaders Club, beach clean ups, soup kitchens, taking care of younger children, and even small acts of kindness were shared. Collaborative Exploration Students, within their advisories, were assigned to global goals and researched about local problems that pertained to their assigned goal throughout the academic year. Students became architects of their own service by formulating action plans that empowered the Middle School to engage with and meet the needs of their community. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that address issues such as environment, poverty and equity served as a template by which students gained breadth and depth of both local and global issues. These goals allowed students to create their own service learning opportunities by focusing on one specific goal and better understanding how it relates to their local community. This was an endeavor that was only made possible through the shared vision of ethos throughout ACS Athens, administration’s support, teachers serving as integral components of advisory time which provided the time for the learning component, reflective writing and discussions, and planning time that empowered students to become architects of their own service. Developing the Experience Following UN Day, throughout the 2017-2018 academic year, students through their advisories developed action plans around one (of the 17) UN Day Sustainable Development Goals with a theme related to either environment (6th grade), poverty (7th grade), or equity (8th grade). Our vision, was to integrate service learning within the curriculum by addressing one service based need focus per year (6th grade: environmental concerns, 7th grade: poverty, 8th grade: equity). We wanted to enable students to fully understand the purpose of their service contribution by educating the students regarding the social/political/economic causes of the service need so that they

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Middle School UN Day 2017 Moodle shell hosting resources around the UN Day Sustainable Development Goals with local connections

Action Plan Template created for the ACS Athens Middle School UN Day 2017 and worked on throughout advisory time

would be motivated by empathy and humility and not paternalism. Students were empowered to take a leadership role in their service and create meaningful opportunities to engage with service recipients in a non-superficial and non-stereotypical way. Ultimately, our vision was to inspire students to be life-long service providers and ethical global citizens. Throughout the year, students spent time in their advisories learning about their assigned global problem, and researching more about how these global issues are also evident in our local community and our nation. Then, students led and guided by their advisors communicated with local organizations that provide service related to the issue assigned. It was really important for us that students would fully understand the factors that create the disadvantages that create opportunities for service. What could happen otherwise is that students might develop a patronizing attitude towards the people or environment they are serving (such as refugees or homeless people) and engage with the service recipient in a superficial manner rather than one of empathy and compassion. Furthermore, a lack of preparation in terms of understanding the causes/context of the need for service, and lack of genuine reflection may lead students to emphasize and focus on their own experience as opposed to the service recipientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s benefit (i.e. the environment or a group of people). Students need to feel convinced that the need they are meeting is real and important, that their service is meaningful, and opportunities should be created for outreaches that allow students to genuinely engage with service recipient, whether that is the environment or people (students repeatedly express the desire to do and not just talk about doing!). Students were given a specific timeline to submit their action plans. These action plans needed to be specific, attainable, and time bound. We reviewed all action plans and proposed suggestions for fine-tuning the action plans. Then, we had a special advisory assigned to students presenting their action plans so

6th Grade Students developing their action plans in their advisory for the UN Goal 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy

8th Grade students developing teamwork to work on their Action Plan around Goal 3 on Good Health and Well-being

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Students reflect on everyday opportunities for serving others on UN Day

that one would be chosen per grade for a service opportunity that would either encompass direct or indirect service. This was a real learning experience for us as well as the advisors. It can be really hard to relinquish control of the creation of the service opportunities. We realized that students struggled with the planning process, especially in terms of creating realistic and time bound service engagements. They also needed more guidance in regards to the (persistent) communication and planning with organizations. As advisors, we decided that we had committed to students becoming architects of their own service and we would not intervene to convert students’ work into teachers’ work. Highlights of the Work Highlights from the Middle School action plans included that of Ms. Rontogiannis’ advisory which was assigned to the global goal of Quality Education. They connected with an organization called the Habibi Center which provides face-to-face, as well as online learning for refugee children. Ms. Rontogiannis’ advisory communicated with the teachers there and is in the process of creating lesson plan materials related to science for the children who are served by the Habibi Center. They may continue plans next year. Ms. Koniossis’ advisory, which was assigned to the global goal of Responsible Consumption and Production, and Ms. Andrikopoulos’ advisory, assigned to Zero Hunger, focused on contacting organizations related to the prevention of food waste and, as a result, preventing malnutrition in Athens. They collaborated with an organization called the Greek Food Bank and a speaker came to speak to the students about this issue on a local level and how their organization helps. The Middle School held a Rice-Drive to donate to the Greek Food Bank for the purpose of distribution to orphanages, elderly homes, and other institutions that meet the needs of people in greatest need. In total, 235 kg of rice was collected through the advisories!

6th Grade Students collaboratively developing their Action Plans for UN Day Goal 15 Life on Land

Final thoughts The work this year sparked continuum for next year. There were many other action plans that may be further pursued next year and can provide the groundwork for opportunities to be developed next academic year. The richness of these plans and the effort put into them showed that students had various facets at addressing local issues, whether it was by building awareness, reaching out to others, or even designing solutions. Students began a communication process with the local community, and specifically the recipient, and learnt through this process what this entails. This aspect is something we would like to further develop in the coming years. Students should also be open to receiving feedback from the service recipient so as to allow them opportunities to be architects of their own service, and to better understand how to provide service that is meaningful (not only to the service provider but the recipient as well). It is in this way that students will be empowered to be engaged with service throughout their life, and therefore acquire a lifelong transformation towards servant leadership. ■■

Ms. Akrivou, always spreading school spirit, facilitating discussion during the planning process of the Action Plans around Goal 3 on Good Health and Well-being 6th Grade Students, in their advisory, drafting the Action Plan for UN Goal 14 on Life Below Water

Ann Pruess, 6th grade, displaying the Action Plan for UN Goal 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy that her advisory created

6th Grade Students in their advisory reading about UN Day Goal 15 on Life on Land

6th Grade Students feeling content after researching and drafting an Action Plan for UN Goal 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy

Social awareness The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youth to Youthâ&#x20AC;? Educational Experience and Social Integration Programs by Julia Tokatlidou, Director, Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration Programs, Academy Vice Principal, Director, AP&IB Diploma Programs

n the beginning of 2015 Greece, among other European Countries, was in the middle of a humanitarian crisis due to population displacement as a result of civil wars in countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of people left their homes trying to seek a better life in other places in the world. Greece because of its geopolitical position, its proximity to these countries and to central Europe accepted a great number of the refugee population. The Greek islands close to the coast of Turkey were flooded with adults and children who survived their dangerous voyage of the Aegean Sea. Greece was considered to most of the refugees their gateway to Central Europe which was the final destination of their journey. Unfortunately, when the borders to Central Europe closed many had to move to the mainland cities of Greece, among them a large number of unaccompanied children who current-

ly live in camps or shelters of various organizations. While some of them are waiting for their refugee status to be confirmed by the Greek state or for family unification with relatives living in Central Europe, integrating and educating these children is one of the main challenges that need to be addressed by authorities, organizations and the community at large. ACS Athens is the only k-12 private school in Greece and in Europe which assumed the leadership in establishing a comprehensive educational and social integration program to support the unaccompanied refugee minors. ACS Athens students, faculty and staff volunteers designed and implemented since 2016 the Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration Programs with the following vision: Fostering meaningful educational experiences and promoting social integration addressing the educational and social needs of unaccompanied minors in Athens through a student to student partnership learning model The Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration Programs which now include the Full-time Youth to Youth program and the Part-time Youth to Youth Programs are programs aiming to provide meaningful educational experiences as well as to promote social integration addressing the educational and social needs of unaccompanied minors in Athens through a student to student partnership learning model. In addition to the above aims the programs were designed to further educate ACS Athens students in developing as life-long learners, caring individuals and responsible global citizens. History of the Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration Programs Winter 2016: The first phase of the programs involved Middle school students and Faculty, under the leadership of Mr. Steve Medeiros and Dr. Peggy Pelonis, engaging in a quest to define Home and to raise awareness about the refugee crisis during the UN day celebrations. Middle school students and the entire ACS Athens community was mobilized there on to visit refugee camps in Chios Island and Piraeus, raise awareness, to provide support and assistance to the refugees by donating food and clothing which defined the Discovery phase.

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Youth to Youth Program: Fall 2017

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Visit to Danaos Shipping Company Headquarters

Summer 2016: Following the Discovery phase, ACS Athens in collaboration with Metadrasis, a nongovernmental organization, 15 unaccompanied minors were identified and were invited to participate in the 2016 ACS Athens- Summer Camp program. Aiming to promote social inclusion, ACS Athens students, faculty and staff were fully engaged in supporting the visiting students to feel part of the community and to participate in all activities.

Fall 2016: Four (4) of the fifteen (15) students who attended the ACS Athens-Summer Camp program, were selected to receive full-time scholarships by ACS Athens directly and become full time ACS Athens students during the 2016-17 academic year. This marks the beginning of the Inclusion phase. These 4 students were guided to choose their best fit academic program and were supported socially by ACS Athens students, counselors, faculty and, administrators. Concurrently, in the Fall of 2016, ACS Athens started a new collaboration with the HOME Project Organization, a unifying initiative set up to address the needs of refugees and refugee children in particular who have arrived in Greece alone. ACS Athens students accompanied by Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, a few administrators and Faculty visited the homes under the care of the organization in order to meet the unaccompanied minors and to identify their educational and social needs. This was the inception phase of the Youth to Youth Program. Winter 2017: The third phase of our Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration Programs begins with the creation of the Part-Time-Youth-to-Youth program in collaboration with the HOME Project organization. A 9- week program designed to run on Saturdays from 10 am to 3:30 pm administered by ACS Athens student, faculty and staff volunteers, offering English and Greek Language courses, Art, Drama and Athletic activities to 18 male unaccompanied minors.

The selection and admission process engaged various ACS Athens parents in the medical profession in order to identify possible needs for medical support. The support of the program by ACS Athens faculty and students was phenomenal. More than 60 students and faculty worked every Saturday voluntarily and succeeded in creating an exemplar collaborative learning community for all. Fall 2017: The successful outcomes of the first cycle of the Part-Time Youth to Youth Program shared by word of mouth to other unaccompanied minors living in the same home increased the demand for the program which, in the second cycle served 28 students from the HOME Project. This phase was marked by a clear emphasis on advancing their education and planning future academic and professional paths. In an effort to increase the number of face-to-face contact with these students, the ‘Panagiotis Gialamas Learning Incubator’ space was build in the basement in the house these students through a donation by Dr. Stefanos Gialamas in the name of his father. The Learning incubator space provided a fully equipped room supported with the necessary technological infrastructure that would allow our ACS Athens Faculty and students to have online class meeting with the HOME Project students. This phase was also marked by an increased awareness of the outcomes of the Part-Time Youth to Youth program in the ACS Athens community at large as well as among organizations and individuals working to support those affected with the current refugee crisis. The program was observed by many outside professionals as well as journalists from Scotland who inquired about our teaching methodology and our social integration approach. The culminating event of this cycle was the visit to DANAOS Shipping Company, generously hosted by an ACS Athens parent and Board member, which set the beginning of our Career Day and the inception of the

Business to Youth program. Seeking to provide vocational skills and job opportunities for those students approaching adulthood, Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, Ms. Julia Tokatlidou and Ms. Sophia Kouvelaki convened with a small group of ACS Athens parents and two external business owners in effort to determine the vocational skills required for employment in various industries with emphasis on the tourism industry. This was the inception of the next phase, the Part-Time Business to Youth Program. Winter 2018: The fourth phase of our programs was marked by expansion both in student numbers and variety in curriculum. 42 students from the HOME Project participated either in the Youth to Youth strand and the Business to Youth Career strand of the program (B2Y) introduced in this phase aiming to build skills specific to the workforce. ACS Athens students and faculty continued to work voluntarily every Saturday with paramount enthusiasm and commitment. The feedback from all professionals, personnel and administrators from the HOME Project regarding social inclusion, wellness and positive life choices noted a remarkable transformation in the participants of the Youth to Youth and Business to Youth programs. This cycle ended with a Career Day at Hellenica Cosmetics SA, organized and delivered by Mr. Athanasios Frangogiannis-Matsas, ACS Athens graduate, class of 2017. Success was realized in this phase. Four of our Youth to Youth and Business to Youth students, with the assistance of the HOME Project Organization, found employment in the Hotel industry. It is with pride that we report that these students are still successfully employed and some are promoted further providing evidence of the value of the vocational skills, professional etiquette, social skills and behaviors developed through these programs. Sustainability and growth opportunities of both programs are also realized in this phased. Through the

Youth to Youth Program: Spring 2018

HOME Project Organization, two international organizations with extensive philanthropic contributions, the IKEA Foundation and the Shapiro foundation, visited ACS Athens during the April, 2018 Spring Break, in order to learn more about our Youth to Youth Educational and Social Inclusion Programs. ACS Athens students, parents, faculty, administrators together with the students and professionals from the HOME Project Organization presented the aims, philosophy and the outcomes of the programs to each organization. Both presentations were successful in conveying the significance of our programs to promote education and social inclusion for the unaccompanied minors and gained the financial support of both organizations. This marks the programs’ Sustainability and Growth phase. Specifically, ◉◉ The Part-Time Youth to Youth and Business to Youth programs will continue to run in the 201819 academic year with the financial support of the IKEA Foundation. ◉◉ The comprehensive benefits of the Part-Time Program with the Y2Y and B2Y strands inspired Mr. Edward Shapiro by sponsoring the full-time Y2Y educational and social inclusion program, a unique private-sector educational program world-wide. The full time program offers the full range of the 9th grade ACS Athens curriculum to the full-time Y2Y students using the teaching model successfully applied in the part-time program. While English, Greek language, Social Studies, Applied Science and Math classes will be tailored to the needs of the Y2Y students, all electives will be inclusive with the rest of the ACS Athens student body. Summer 2018: The selection and admissions process to the full-time Youth to Youth programs begins late June, 2018 and is completed on July 15, 2018. A team of ACS Athens professionals from the Testing center, the Optimal Learning Program, counselors, faculty,

administrators and an external medical doctor, led by Ms. Christiana Perakis, Director of the Testing Center, engaged in a thorough process of assessments, evaluations and personal interviews in order to select the 18 students who best fit our ACS Athens student profile and the aims of our Youth to Youth Educational and Social Inclusion programs.

The details of the programs:

The Full-time Youth to Youth program receives worldwide acknowledgement in the media as well as the local TV news. Our president, Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, shares our vision and invites other schools to engage in similar programs.

The Part-Time Y2Y and B2Y programs and the full-time Youth to Youth Program, are Holistic and Meaningful for the unaccompanied minors aiming to address four areas of needs: Academic Learning through languages, arts, and computers classes; Skill Development through professional etiquette development activities and oral presentations; Wellness through athletics, sports, dance and drama classes; and Social Integration through youth to youth teaching, public events and celebrations as well as inclusion in social media. It is meaningful because of its need-based curriculum, differentiated learning outcomes and the choice of learning and skills relevant to the local and international labor market.

Fall 2018: In order to prepare the Youth to Youth students for this new academic and social challenge, this phase began with a Student Orientation Day focusing on the academic and citizenship expectations, attendance processes, bell schedule, participation in club and athletic activities. A handbook with Youth to Youth student agreements was created with the input of the students. September 6, 2018, a big day for 18 young unaccompanied minors. They are full-time students in a dream school for them and for many other students in Greece and the world. A big day for the three collaborating organizations, the Shapiro Foundation, the HOME Project Organization and ACS Athens that started with an inclusive assembly honored by the presence of Mrs. Barbara Shapiro, Mr. Ed Shapiro, Mrs. Maureen Alma Sigliano, HOME project Board member, Ms. Sophia Kouvelaki, Director of the HOME Project Organization, Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, president of ACS Athens, Dr. Peggy Pelonis, Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, ACS Athens faculty and staff and psychologists and other professionals from the HOME Project. Education, Social Equality, Hope and Collaboration was celebrated by all three parties. The details of the full-time Youth to Youth program were fully explained to all and the students continued their first day with their regular academic schedule designed for two cohorts. A process of gradual inclusion to regular ACS Athens courses, based on progress and further assessments is in place and will be completed by the end of September. Currently, one Youth to Youth student is enrolled in 6 regular ACS Athens courses, and another two students are enrolled in 3 while 2 more students are currently assessed for placement in Biology 9 and Algebra 1 courses. Three of the students have gained a place in the Soccer and Cross Country ACS Athens teams. Further, a 3-hour training session for the HOME Project professional team responsible for the students takes place during the first school week. A plan for monthly debriefing and feedback sessions between the HOME Project professional team and the ACS Athens Director of the Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration Programs is in place in order to further support the outcomes of the programs.

With the founding belief that all children have the right to food, health care, education, and opportunities to work and dream for their future the programs were developed with emphasis on the values of love, respect, equality, courage and hope.

The design of the program focused on providing to the unaccompanied minors an environment where students felt that they are connected and belong, that they are important and are cared for, that their wants and needs count and are addressed, that they are empowered and have courage to grow academically and socially.1 The teaching methodology combines the expertise of ACS Athens faculty, called program instructors, with the support of ACS Athens student volunteers, who take on the role of teaching assistants. Throughout the program, ACS faculties serve mostly as facilitators with ACS Athens students working one to one with Home Project students to deliver the designed activities. The inclusion of ACS Athens students of similar age to refugee students enhances academic and social learning. In addition, it provides opportunities for friendships between ACS Athens and the Home Project students, thus assisting the latter to adjust to the local culture, to develop trust and faith in people, helping them to aspire to go forward and design a life path. The Part-Time Y2Y and the B2Y Career programs deliver a need-based curriculum designed, by ACS Athens faculty, around the academic skill level and goals of each individual student. The curriculum includes academic learning (English and Greek languages, art, computer), skill development (professional etiquette, oral presentation), wellness (athletics, sports, drama, dance), and social integration (student-to-student teaching, public events, celebrations, social media). The development of relevant skills for work as well as social learning goals of collaboration, discipline, focus, resiliency, trust, a renewed hope for relationships, and tolerance for diversity of perspectives are the essential learning aims of the curriculum and the teaching methodology. The Part-Time B2Y program expands to 10- Saturdays in order to include a career day, designed in collaboration with local businesses aiming to familiarize students with the job require-

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Visit to Hellenica Cosmetics SA

ments of different organizations. The benefits of the program also extent to ACS Athens student volunteers, who are developed as learners, caring individuals, and responsible global citizens via the teaching assistant role they undertake through the program. Further, the positive feedback from student volunteers and parents has made this program a sustainable community program and a lifelong educational experience for all involved. The HOME Project Organization and the professionals involved in the care of the unaccompanied minors is an important factor in the development of the program. In addition to their continuous presence every Saturday, there exists full alignment of the programsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; educational and social goals with the processes and practices as well with the socio-emotional support mechanisms in place in each of the homes run by the HOME Project. The continuous communication between ACS Athens and HOME Project professionals regarding the wellbeing and growth of the students is vital in ensuring the success of the intended outcomes of the programs. Scale: To-date, the Part-Time Youth to Youth Program with its two strands has completed three cycles (Spring 2017, Fall 2017, and Spring 2018) for the Y2Y and the Business to Youth Career program 1 cycle (Spring 2018). The program can be expanded horizontally,

within the school, by offerings of more sections. In the fall of 2018, the part-time programs will run on Saturdays and will serve approximately 40-45 students; 2 sections Y2Y and 1 section B2Y. This academic year the full-time Y2Y program expands vertically by to the 18 recipients of the Shapiro Foundation scholarships two sections of specially designed Grade 9 American curriculum courses. The successful completion of the 9th grade courses will offer to these students a certification of basic education. Those who would like to continue to High School will have the ability to do so. The Y2Y Educational and Social Integration Programs can be expanded horizontally across schools. The programs can be easily replicated. ACS Athens is eager and willing to share know-how and guidance to other secondary international schools who seek to establish a similar program. It is our wish, perhaps a dream, to see the Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration Program replicated across Europe. Impact: In its first three program cycles, the Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration program with its two strands has served a total of 96 refugee students and has seen the participation of 124 ACS Athens volunteer students, and 60 faculty and staff. In the first three iterations of the program, the Youth to Youth program has gained a reputation among or-

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ganizations involved in the refugee crisis in Greece, who have seen firsthand the impact of the program on the youth involved. The impact on the unaccompanied minors is evident with the job placement of four Part-time Y2Y and B2Y students, now above the age of 18, in the Tourism industry since May 2018. The ability to design a future academic path, to desire the acquisition of educational qualifications and to think optimistically about the future is probably the most meaningful impact of the Y2Y Educational and Social Integration. Almost all of the programs’ students applied for a position of the 18 Full-time -Y2Y- program scholarships offered by the Shapiro Foundation. This confirms the feeling of trust, hope and courage expressed frequently in their written and oral reflections. This positive life outlook was transferred to the homes of the children where the HOME Project professionals, fully aligned with the educational philosophy of the Y2Y Educational and Social Integration programs, also support, encourage and motivate the students to strive for academic, professional and social success. By word of mouth the program has gained reputation and ACS Athens has been approached by multiple prospective partners with a request to expand the program to include more students from different NGOs. It is however, our wish that more educational institutions at the local or international level engage in the development of similar programs in order to serve as many accompanied minors as possible. This is a hope for social equality in action which can lead to safe, effective and happy living communities for all. Those familiar with Adler’s Individual Psychology theory will recognize here the 4 Cs (Connected, Count, Capable, Courage).This program can be viewed as another observation confirming Adler’s Individual Psychology Theory. ■■

A heartfelt welcome to the “Youth to Youth” students by Dr. Peggy Pelonis, Dean of Academics and Student Affairs

ood Morning, Let me welcome you to ACS Athens!

The other day I walked into a room with all of you there… Ms. Tokatlidou was explaining different things about the school. It was your first day and you were all listening very carefully, absorbing it all. What struck me –an image that is etched deep in my mind and that I can’t forget- was the look I saw in your eyes.

18 pair of eyes so incredibly and precisely focused! As a psychologist I can’t help but interpret things somewhat –but I noticed this amazing energy in the room… you, your supervisors from the HOME project, Ms. T and everyone else in there –well, it was almost as if you were all one thing – eager, maybe a bit nervous about what to expect – but so intensely focused that at that very moment nothing else existed. Everything else around you -around us – was just noise. You know, many people have written about the idea of focus – in order to achieve our goals – but at that moment, I saw it. If felt it in you!

When people come together with intense desire and focus towards a common goal there is only one possible outcome and that is success. We can only imagine the obstacles you faced along the way on your journey to where you are today. I wish we had the power to change that - We don’t. The world is not always a friendly and safe place. The world will never be perfect. But, along with the bad there is also a lot of good in the world. People like Ms. Kouvelaki and everyone at the HOME project who opened their minds and hearts to you. People like Dr. Gialamas and Ms. Tokatlidou who opened the ACS Athens arms to you and certainly people like Mr. and Ms. Shapiro and their very generous donation who made this day possible and days like this to come. All of these people - all of us - believe in the power of education – knowledge - that can eliminate ignorance and prejudice - education that shapes good citizens of the world. The kind of citizens that will go out and change circumstances so that children like you will never have to go through bad things again. And while the world will never be perfect – our goal is to contribute to developing good citizens- who will tip the balance so that the good prevails. But… Make no mistake that we are learning just as much from you. You are manifestations of courage, resilience and dignity. And, while, these may be English words that perhaps you may not yet know the meaning of – you will soon. We, however, know their meaning – and we see them in our faces and in your eyes. Welcome to a world where education is a tool, a journey, a pathway, to better places. I wish you much success and I look forward to traveling on this journey with you. ■■

“What does Amal hope for”, I asked Almaz. “Amal wants to be a doctor. She is an excellent student, but she hasn’t been able to go to school in more than a year. Amal’s greatest hope, now that she feels safe, is to go back to school”. Hanan had just begun studying English at Aleppo University when the war started. She was a sturdy young woman that gave off an air of intelligence and steadfast sensibility. I asked her who her favorite author was and she replied without an instant of hesitation: “Shakespeare of course”. Hanan and Almaz were one of the many Syrian refugees I interviewed on behalf of an NGO for the purpose of documentation of all Syrian refugee arrivals on Chios and Samos for the UNHCR.

The Algorithm of Hope by Anna Angelidou, Administrative Assistant to the Dean of Academics and Student Affairs

“H

ere’s a rough guide to the modern world: More efficiency, less humanity. Technology is principally at the service of productivity. Acts of irrational grace are not its thing. They have no algorithm. – Roger Cohen for the New York Times. Thousands of refugees risk their lives every day in search of a better life in the west. Greece is one of their first landing points and according to the UNHCR, in 2015, an estimated 1 million refugees landed on Greek shores. With northern European borders closing to refugees, Greece suddenly went from being a transit country to a host country. Today, some 60,000 refugees have remained in Greece with long-term aspirations of staying. We Still Have Hope

“Amal is a good girl”, Almaz tells me looking tenderly at her daughter, her eyes two glowing chestnuts. “Amal means hope in English”, she tells me in her soft but steady voice. “We have lost many things”, she says, “but hope we still have”.

I thought of Amal and Hanan especially on September 6th, as I was greeting 18 refugee children from the Youth to Youth and Home Project at the American Community Schools of Athens as they were about to embark on a new journey in their lives. 18 refugee children, mostly unaccompanied minors who left their war-torn countries alone in search of safety, will now have something most of us take for granted; a chance. The couple who, together with the Home Project and the Youth to Youth Project, helped in making this possible by funding 18 scholarships for the children was also present at school that day. Ed and Barbara Shapiro, founders of the Shapiro Foundation, flew in from Boston, Massachusetts, for the sole purpose of wishing each and every scholarship recipient a good school year. I had the opportunity to interview Ed and Barbara Shapiro, following the student assembly, together with Sophia Kouvelaki of the Home Project and Dr. Gialamas, President of ACS Athens. View the interview in its entirety by scanning the QR: The primary focus of the Shapiro Foundation has always been on children in need and education. A concentrated effort is made to search for worthy partners around the world that can offer relief to vulnerable population groups in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. After the influx of over a million refugees to Greece, and with the sudden closing of Europe’s northern borders, the Shapiro Foundation realized that the country would need significant assistance in dealing with the refugee crisis since, almost overnight, Greece went from being a transit country to a host country for 60,000 refugees. Together with Sophia Kouvelaki at the Home Project and the Youth to Youth Project, spearheaded by Julia Tokatlidou, Director of AP & IB Programs at ACS Athens, the Shapiro Foundation found worthy partners to serve a noble cause.

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Julia Tokatlidou, Director of the Youth to Youth Program, welcomes the 18 children, recipients of Scholarships, funded by the Shapiro Foundation in collaboration with the Home Project

An Investment in Humanity “Our goal is that with the proper support these refugees could become productive members of society, both from the humanitarian perspective for their sake, but also to create opportunities in the host communities, which is critically important in the work that we do globally, to create win-win opportunities”, says Ed Shapiro. When asked how they would like to see this project with ACS evolve in the future, Barbara Shapiro had this to say: “It’s amazing what ACS has done in opening their community, school, and hearts to these students who really haven’t been given an equal opportunity for education in life. To see the project at ACS is truly inspiring. To be able to see it evolve would really be a gift for everybody”. “There’s currently a very worrying trend globally that the world is becoming less welcoming. But, if we can create a model that can demonstrate that this is, in fact, an investment and not a burden and to show other parts of the world, that with the proper support, education being critical here, there will be a long-term opportunity for countries to welcome refugees and to look at them as a net contributors to their own economies and societies. This will be the ultimate benefit”, Mr. Shapiro added.

High return investment models and win-win situations, this is the new algorithm of hope. You saw it on each and every face at the student assembly that day. You heard it in the 18 voices that thanked their benefactors for considering them an investment. You felt it in your heart the moment your mind compared where and what these children came from, to where they may be going after today. And to quote from the welcome speech given by Dr. Peggy Pelonis, Dean of Academic and Student Affairs at ACS Athens, Greece: “All of these people here believe in the power of education, in knowledge that can eliminate ignorance and prejudice, in education that shapes good citizens of the world. The kind of citizens that will go out and change circumstances so that children like you will never have to go through bad things again. And while the world will never be perfect – our goal is to contribute to developing good citizens who will tip the balance so that the good prevails”. Amal means hope in Arabic, and I am happy to say that the algorithm of hope is alive and well here. ■■

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Ed and Barbara Shapiro welcome the 18 students

Dr. Peggy Pelonis, Dean of Academics and Student Affairs

Dr. Stefanos Gialamas welcomes the 18 students

learn the content), product (how they will demonstrate their learning), and learning environment (the way the classroom works). In the boys English Youth-to-Youth classroom, all four forms of differentiation were necessary in order to achieve purposeful learning. This was in part due to the combination of a mixed ability group (beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels), students with very different experiences, background, knowledge, interests, and learning styles, as well as the unique nature of the youthto-youth classroom, which entailed students being responsible to instruct and deliver material to other students.

Differentiation: My experience and its implementation in a “Youth to Youth” Classroom by Laura Kollinztas, Elementary School Teacher

hen 15-20 unaccompanied minors from the Home Project entered my English classroom on a sunny Saturday morning along with just as many ACS Athens student volunteers, if we’re being honest, I did not know where to start or how to be the teacher they needed. My classroom was diverse in many ways. The most obvious diversity was age and nationality. My students ranged from 13 to 18 years old and came from countries such as Afghanistan, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Syria. Furthering that, after listening to and assessing the boys, I could see the diversity in skills, learning styles, and personal goals. A differentiated teaching approach seemed the best approach to implement in order to successfully address the needs of this mixed group. Differentiated instruction may refer to teaching to accommodate the different ways that students learn (Tomlinson & Allan, 2000), and using varied rates of instruction along with varied degrees of complexity (Tomlinson, 2014). According to Tomlinson (Tomlinson, 2000), teachers can differentiate at least four classroom elements, these being content (what the student needs to learn), process (the way they will

As an Elementary School teacher, I was familiar with differentiated teaching and I have taught to different learning styles. Teaching older students made me nervous because it is out of my comfort zone and I was not sure how to help them. Through this experience I was able to really dive into true differentiated teaching and was able to implement the four forms previously mentioned. The unaccompanied minors came to learn English in my classroom but they do not realize how much I learned from them as well. With the intention of differentiating curriculum and setting personalized learning goals, I followed 4 steps; assessing English language levels, understanding student learning outcomes, acquainting myself with my student’s personalities and interests, and having taken all the above into consideration, designing a differentiated curriculum. Step 1 – Assessing English Level My first priority was to identify each student’s English proficiency level. This entailed briefly assessing their oral language, receptive, reading, and writing skills, which enabled me to group students into three main groups: beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels. This allowed for the tasks to be tailored for each student’s level and ensured that they were appropriately challenged. Step 2 – Understanding Individual Learning Outcomes Once I got to know my students’ educational levels, my next step was to find out more about them personally. I asked them what they hoped to gain from our class at the end of our time together. It was evident to me, that their life goals would greatly affect what they considered significant in learning and worth focusing their efforts on. If I was to be true in meeting their learning needs, I had to design a curriculum based on their life priorities. Why?, you may wonder. A few students dreamed about going to school again and making it to university. Other students were leaving the country in a few weeks to meet with relatives, making survival English their main concern. Some students could barely communicate in neither Greek nor English, hence making it difficult to inte-

grate and navigate in the community. Their purpose behind learning English, and specifically the skills that were necessary to achieve their goals, were diverse. Consequently, differentiated curriculum based on English proficiency level was equally important with differentiating based on individual learning outcomes. Together we set their learning goals and the next step was discover the most beneficial way to achieve those goals. Step 3 – Acquainting Myself with My Students’ Personalities and Interests With the purpose of giving my students choice in their learning, so as to both empower them and increase engagement, I took into consideration students’ interests. I did this by asking students about their hobbies, the job they would like to pursue, their favorite subject in school, and their family backgrounds. This sharing completed the puzzle, providing me with enough information to develop differentiated curriculum and allowed me to begin crafting lesson plans. Step 4 - Developing Personalized and Differentiated Curriculum (the content, process, and final product) The time finally came to sit down to design the curriculum, ensuring that activities were personalized for each student. Planning and designing the activities were done through a reflective, ongoing process. I gathered anecdotal records during class time regarding student engagement, effectiveness, and if activities were meaningful to students. Based on my observations, I continuously scaffolded learning and tailored activities for the following week; a continuous cycle. Active planning was essential at this stage. Taking into account students’ English proficiency levels, learning needs, and incorporating their interests, the activities greatly varied but the instruction still needed to be effective for the learner. Weekly activities included phonics and reading skills, elements of writing, and survival English (i.e. directions and transportation vocabulary). The learning context was driven by students’ interests. For example, students that were interested in athletics read about or reflected on their favorite sports (soccer, running, marathons, etc.). Another student interested in science worked on developing his reading and comprehension skills while learning about famous inventors. A student, eager to discuss his ordeal and the war in Syria, advanced his writing skills while writing his story in a personal narrative. As the above took place, I felt it necessary to scan resources for concepts that might make the boys feel uncomfortable; topics such as parents, whom many had lost, texts describing the “Hallmark Family”, as well as cultural and religious ideas. The idea of censoring material in this manner was an eye opening experience as it can remind you of what we take for granted sometimes. When all was said and done, it was time to implement the activities. This is where the ACS Athens volunteers really shined.

Implementation (Differentiating the Learning Environment) My role as a teacher was to guide and facilitate the learning process. I like to think of the teacher’s role in this program as the “to” part of the “Youth-to-Youth” title. In my English classroom, this entailed first developing an individualized curriculum, as previously mentioned, and secondly, handing it to our ACS Athens student volunteers for its implementation. One or two students from the Home Project were paired with one student volunteer. I was able to better acquaint myself with our ACS Athens volunteers after the first few Saturdays, which made it easier to successfully pair students. Pairing was determined by personality, common interests, or gender (some boys were uncomfortable working with female volunteers). As a facilitator, I distributed the material to each group and had a short discussion with the volunteer students regarding the activities’ goal and purpose. I circulated the classroom assuring that learning was taking place, and observed if the activities were actually meaningful and engaging. This also gave me the chance to see the students’ progress, which I would use in planning. At most, I only had to intervene when clarifications were necessary or to offer a recommendation. During the first lessons our “student teachers” needed to be trained to refrain from providing the unaccompanied minor students with quick answers when they felt challenged. This was especially true when teaching phonics, specifically when beginner students found decoding challenging. The volunteers quickly agreed that by allowing that awkward silence/thinking time to take place, they were in essence empowering their fellow scholars by letting them take ownership of their own learning, which in turn helped build perseverance. “Ms. come see, he is reading! Is it ok if I record my voice reading the book on his cell phone so that he can practice at home as well?” These are the words of an ACS Athens student after having taught phonics to a Home Project student for two consecutive Saturdays. I frequently witnessed this sense of responsibility and how seriously they took on their roles as teachers. In this instance, it was inspiring to see that not only did he teach the personalized curriculum at hand but took further initiative for his fellow student’s learning by thinking of ways that he could learn and practice the skill best. If you walked around the classroom, you would observe our volunteers using hand gestures, highlighting, making notes, using their phones for visuals, and asking me for additional resources. They were empowered and evolved through this program. It was a great opportunity as an elementary school teacher to see in practice what the ACS Athens high school student’s graduate profile encompasses. I worked

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with students who genuinely cared, thought deeply and critically, took initiative by making decisions, and communicated effectively. These actions were amplified when the student volunteers used their own knowledge, experiences, and imagination to make the lesson more interesting. It was incredible to catch a glimpse of how resourceful they were when giving examples and explaining concepts creatively. Overall Outcomes During this teaching experience my goal as an English teacher and pedagogue was to contribute by giving these kids a chance to set higher expectations for themselves and their future. You could see the gratitude in their eyes, and the sense of empowerment that came from learning a new skill. They were thirsty to take in the new knowledge and apply it. One of my student’s wrote a personal narrative on his life journey and experience at ACS Athens. This is a quote from his work: “It has been a joyful experience for me and my friends. In the classes, there were students from ACS Athens who came to help each one of us with the class that we had. The school is about teamwork and that is something very important to me!” While all the above was taking place, learning was occurring in all directions and at so many different levels. As for me, it was made clear that differentiated learning is not only applicable but is necessary in the classroom environment for complete success. Based on what I witnessed, I am confident that this teaching methodology would work excellently in grade crossovers, where collaborative teaching occurs between students of different grade levels. This would allow students to take more ownership of their learning and engage students on a personal level. Above all, I once again realized the power of education and the difference it can make in the world. During this eye opening and life changing experience, lifelong learning and the transformation of lives took place for all parties involved. ■■ References Ascd. “Chapter 1. What Is a Differentiated Classroom?” Manipulated Kids: Teens Tell How Ads Influence Them - Educational Leadership, www.ascd.org/publications/books/108029/chapters/What-Is-a-Differentiated-Classroom¢.aspx. “Graduate Profile.” ACS Athens, www.acs.gr/graduate-profile/. “Home.” Home, www.homeproject.org/. Tomlinson, and Carol Ann. “Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest.” Center for Civic Innovation, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Tel: 212-599-7000; Fax: 212-599-3494; Web Site: Http://Www.manhattan-Institute.org, 31 July 2000, eric. ed.gov/?id=ED443572.

the HOME Project Organization. Mr. Stylianides explained the reason for his visit: “I wanted to come here to see this extraordinary project.” In relation to the importance of education the Commissioner explained: “We have a new policy because of these education emergencies. Our top priority is to prevent children from staying out of school more than 3 months.” Regarding the next steps needed he highlighted: “The other big challenge is to find ways to connect this project to the national curriculum. Above all is to give hope and prospect. But you have to materialize this process in order to give hope and prospect. “

EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Christos Stylianides, visits “Youth-to Youth” program by Dafni Anesti, Communications Officer

n Saturday, November 3rd, 2018, Christos Stylianides, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, visited the ACS Athens campus to observe the classrooms of the Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) Programs and met with the unaccompanied refugee minors. Commissioner Stylianides had the opportunity to visit the classrooms with the newcomers and experience first-hand how their orientation day was carried out. The Commissioner was briefed on the details of this initiative and its impact to the lives of the young refugees by the ACS Athens President, Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, the Counselor for Political Affairs of the Embassy of the United States of America in Athens, Ms. Amy C. Carlon, the Executive Director of THE HOME Project Organization, Ms. Sofia Kouvelaki, and by the Director of the Youth-to-Youth Educational and Social Integration Programs, Ms. Julia Tokatlidou. Furthermore, Mr. Stylianides had a conversation with the ACS Athens faculty, student volunteers and Y2Y students from

The President of ACS Athens, Dr. Stefanos Gialamas highlighted the importance of synergies for the realization of such initiatives: “This is the ideal situation for a three-way partnership: It’s THE HOME Project which provides family. Then, the Shapiro foundation has provided the funds for full time scholarships, and another key element is the support of the U.S. Embassy. Also, from today, the HOME Project Organization will provide funding through its own sponsors for the part time programs.” As a representative from the American Embassy, Amy C. Carlon addressing the unaccompanied minor refugees students congratulated them on their efforts to adjust in a new place and culture and stated: “As you know, there are a lot of American embassy children here in the school. This is really an important experience for them as well. One of the basic tenets of the school is Ethos, and this indeed shows how the school does that: it tries to build humanitarian citizens. And I’m so glad that all of you could be a part of that. Congratulations and do your best!” The Director of Youth to Youth Educational and Social Integration Programs and Academy Vice Principal, Director, Ms. Julia Tokatlidou commented on the progress of the students: “You can see the growth of the students who have been with us through the parttime Y2Y program. It’s tremendous. They came to the full time program and adjusted fully with no problem at all. Because the model is so inclusive and holistic, they developed skills right away and so fast. And we are very confident that we are going to have tremendous results for them.” Ms. Julia Tokatlidou also invited other educational institutions to follow this example: “This is a program developed from the heart of ACS Athens students and caring professionals of high caliber from ACS Athens and THE HOME Project organization. It reflects our goal to serve humanity and to educate students holistically. It has benefited not only the lives of the recipients, the refugee minors, but more so the lives of the givers, our ACS Athens students. We wish that all private international institutions around the world can follow this paradigm of developing, caring and integrating refugee minors. Together, we can offer equal educational opportunities for all children”. ■■

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About Y2Y: ◉◉ 124 ACS Athens volunteer students ◉◉ 60 faculty and staff volunteers ◉◉ 96 teenage refugees since 2016

◉◉ 18 full-time scholarships by the Shapiro Foundation ◉◉ 45 new participants for part-time Y2Y and B2Y for the academic year 2018-2019

Snapshots from Commissioner Stylianidis’ visit to ACS Athens

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sist refugee minors. On Activity Kick Off Day last September, I had a massive number of sixth graders wanting to join the Service Leaders Club. In total, there were more than forty signatures. This is the youngest group that I had advised in terms of community service outreaches and I was a bit apprehensive about what we would be able to accomplish given their very young age. Most students were just 11 years old! I admit that I did not take their zeal seriously, and was very surprised by their continuous attendance to our club meetings. In total, I had 34 committed 6th graders and one 7th grader. Early on in the year, I asked students to write written reflections on why they had chosen to become Service Leaders. Many students wrote about the importance of giving to people in need as a way of being grateful for the privileges they had. Others wrote about the sheer joy that comes from doing something good. One student’s answer, however, pierced my heart. She shared about how kids are often underestimated, yet they have so much to offer.

Service Leaders Club Highlights Challenging Perceptions and Redefining Potential by Sevasti Koniossis, Middle School Faculty

eing an advisor this year for the Service Leaders Club has taught me a great deal about the unique potential that children have and the responsibility educators have to guide them into fulfilling that potential. All of the traits we want to see evident in adults must be cultivated in childhood. When teaching a child or an adolescent about serving others, volunteering, and showing empathy, patience is required on the mentor’s part. This is a skill that takes time and patience to be fruitful. It is easy to want to take over for the sake of time and efficiency, but it is of great importance that we patiently allow the children to cultivate their own skills in service as we guide them.

“‘Oh they’re just little kids! They can’t do anything!’ All children hear that discouraging sentence at least once in their life. But that’s not true. Think about the refugee crisis. Kids see things from a different point of view than adults. Adults see the economic difficulties and all the official matters, but children! Children see only the bare necessities. They see what needs to be done, and then they say: ‘Let’s do something about it!’ They don’t always fully understand the exact economic and official problems, but they have a big heart. And isn’t that what matters?” - Anna Pruess, 6th grade I was surprised at how in tune students were with adults’ perception of them. It was as if they wanted to prove themselves worthy and capable of doing what they loved doing: serving others! I have never been more moved by a group of children as I have been this year. Learning and Community Building The first two months of meetings were mainly focused on building a community among ourselves, and learning more about the plight of refugee minors in Europe and, even more specifically, in Greece. We looked at statistics, read reflections, and viewed portions of documentaries. We compared the reception of refugee children at schools in Greece which lovingly embraced them, and other schools which shut the school gates tight and fearfully looked out at the children as if they were an enemy. These learning experiences helped the Service Leaders to not only better grasp the social, economic, and political reasons for which these children became refugees, but to also make a decision about how they would like to be remembered in history: hostile, indifferent, or lovingly courageous.

The Service Leaders Club is a Middle School initiative inspired by the educational principles of Aristotle who stated that, “educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” As a group, we engage in learning experiences that empower students to become architects of their own service. Several opportunities for service, both direct and indirect, are set in motion throughout the year. The focus since 2016, due to local and national need, has been to as- Throughout the year we had several expert guest speakers from organizations visit the Service Lead-

Children open up presents at the Good Samaritan Social and Medical Center

ers Club to share about the work that they are doing. These speakers included Ms. Violetta from the Good Samaritan Social and Medical Center, Ms. Kouvelaki from the Home Project, Ms. Phaedra and Ms. Elina from Faros, and Ms. Gianneskis from IKEA. Despite the complexity of the issues involved, the young students responded with deeply insightful and sophisticated reflections on the challenges and injustice faced by refugee children in Greece, as well as the various ways that a society could join efforts to support the most underprivileged. Students were provoked to think deeply about the ways that fear and racism could be defeated through love, and were ultimately inspired to act with empathy on behalf of children in need whose value is equal to their own. During our longer meetings in which we had guest speakers, we also had sit-down meals together. These ranged from pizza treats, pot-luck, and even special IKEA hot dogs and candy as treats from our guest speakers! These times of fellowship really helped create bonds between us and foster a sense of community with a common vision. Holiday Shoeboxes and Gift Distribution During the previous academic year (2016-2017), the Service Leaders Club had raised money through the Christmas Bazaar to purchase gifts for a small shelter housing around 20 unaccompanied refugee minors. The Service Leaders this past year (2017-2018) were greatly inspired by this endeavor. When they saw the

childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s faces receiving the presents, they very much wanted to try something similar again (there is something absolutely enchanting about a child opening up a brand new gift!). At around the same time, we began communicating with representatives from the Good Samaritan Social and Medical Center. A representative named Ms. Violetta came and shared about this ministry. The Good Samaritan Social and Medical Center serves refugee women by providing them with access to doctors and medicine, use of washing machines, hot meals, as well lessons in English. They provide children with a meaningful education in English, as well as access to pediatricians, needed medicines and nutrition, and vaccinations. Every year during the Christmas holiday, the people who serve there show their love by distributing gifts to these children (who would otherwise not receive a gift during this or any other season). Ms. Violetta explained to us that this year the Center did not have a sponsor for these presents and their budget was very tight! The Service Leaders saw an amazing opportunity unfold and sought to pursue it! The real challenge, however, lay in the fact that there were about 150 children attending the holiday party at the Good Samaritan Social and Medical Center where gifts are given to the children. The previous year our earnings at the Holiday Bazaar were sufficient because we only had to purchase about 20 presents for the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shelter. My predominantly sixth grade group did not see

this as an obstacle, however, and insisted that we could do it by simply involving the whole school. Personally, I was a bit concerned of falling short of our goal and failing this event. At the Christmas Bazaar, the Service Leaders Club was able to raise over 400€ selling what they contributed. These goods ranged from slime (a product in shockingly high demand!), handmade soap, to individually wrapped desserts. Their faces beamed when I told them that they had raised more money than in years past. This money was used to purchase 40 presents. We needed 110 more! We reached out to the entire school, as well as within the advisories in the Middle School, to provide a shoebox size present consisting of brand new items. These needed to be around the same cost in order to be fair. The presents also had to be wrapped and categorized by gender and age in order to best match the children’s interests. We had a goal of raising 150 presents and ultimately raised over 180 brand new gifts for children! The students’ earnings at the Christmas Bazaar, as well as the support we received from the overall ACS Athens community, not only helped refugee children receive presents that would make them feel special and welcomed, but empowered a group of sixth graders to believe that they were capable of changing the world! The Good Samaritan’s holiday party happened to fall on the first day of winter break. We were told that only seven Service Leaders would be able to attend to engage with the children there and distribute the gifts. Despite the fact that students would have to wake up early and arrive to school on their first day of vacation (when they could be enjoying their well deserved rest), all spots were quickly filled up and several students were extremely disappointed that they would miss it. Ms. Antoniadou and Ms. Grigoropoulou, who are always extremely supportive of our efforts, joined us. At the Good Samaritan holiday party, ACS Athens teachers and students played games with the children, gave out food, and distributed the holiday presents. The children, some of which are living in camps and others at government sponsored housing, were absolutely delighted when their wrapped presents were given to them. Our strict instructions of not unwrapping presents at the center were disregarded as their little hands pried the wrapping off to find out what awaited them. It was such a blessing to see their faces overflowing with joy!

Service Leaders Club, and my son Kostas, at the Holiday Bazaar

Service Leaders packing rice for distribution to refugee families at the Donations Warehouse at the old Ellinikon Airport

Service Leaders pack feminine care products to be distributed to refugee women at the old Ellinikon Airport

Elderly Home Visit The visits to the elderly home are an inspirational initiative by the Student Affairs office. Advisories in the Middle School take turns throughout the year to spend a few hours with elderly people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s at an elderly home in our local community of Chalandri. This ensures that people at the elderly home have students visiting weekly. It is an absolute blessing to witness the simple interac-

Ms. Gerolimatou doing hard labor at the old Ellinikon Airport

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Service Leaders packing clothing for distribution based on size, gender, and season appropriateness

Themis Soukakou explaining the Service Leaders Club at the elderly home

Pavlos, Christos, and Corina make sure there is one kilogram of rice per bag

Ms. Koniossis and the Service Leaders Club playing games with children at the Good Samaritan Social and Medical Center

Service Leaders Club group photo with representatives from “Refugees Welcome Greece”

Handing out healthy snacks to children at the Good Samaritan Social and Medical Center

Ios and Elena contribute presents during the shoebox holiday drive

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tions between the children and the elderly folk there. Simple activities such as drawing, playing backgammon, and simply chatting liven up the entire room and smiles are apparent everywhere! Ms. Meyer asked the Service Leaders Club whether we would like a visit dedicated to our club and we gladly accepted! The morning in which we gathered for the bus I realized that we were far too many students visiting the elderly home. There were normally 10-15 students visiting, and that day there were over 30. The space at the elderly home is small and we would completely overcrowd the people! When we walked into the elderly home, I did very little instructing. The students all found a task to do. Some split up and went into the area where people were working out, others went to the space where occupational therapy was taking place, and others remained in the main area and chatted and interacted with the people there. I was really amazed at how persistent some of the students were in engaging the people with conversation! Just when I thought that the old men and women would be angered, they smiled and retold a special memory! Other students clustered around tables and drew colorful pictures, and others even pursued interacting with some elderly people who were more distant and appearing lonely. The Service Leaders instinctively served this often overlooked community of elderly people and showed their genuine respect for a group of people whose memory, but not value, is fading! Organizing Donations for Distribution to Refugee Families During the spring semester, we talked a lot about how to make service meaningful and better understand where there is a need for service. We were in contact with an organization called Refugees Welcome GR who explained that they had a great deal of needed items for refugees donated from people all over Greece and the world, but did not have enough workers to sort through them. We went on a field trip and were ready to serve in any capacity we were requested to. The students were divided into three groups. One group was assigned to sorting through and packing donated clothing based on size, gender, and season. The second group was assigned to packaging feminine care products for distribution. The third group was assigned to packing rice in Ziploc-type bags to be given out to families. About an hour into the sorting and packaging, a woman affiliated with the organization walked in and seemed very upset to see a large group of children doing the work that was normally conducted by adults. She began to loudly express her frustration that this was not children’s work and that they would mess it

all up. A few of our students were really troubled by her statements. One of my sixth grade male students pursued a conversation with her which started with, “Is there a problem?” At first I was horrified because I certainly did not want to provoke a confrontation and I wanted my students to always show respect. The students, however, were adamant about having this conversation and did so with unexpected kindness and sophistication. Their approach was able to amazingly soften the woman’s overall demeanor. They politely and patiently showed her how they were doing the work and that they were trying really hard. The students worked nearly non-stop for four hours and completed their assignments. Aside from the clothing which was organized, and the feminine hygiene products packaged, more than half a ton of rice was packaged for distribution to refugee families! Closing Thoughts The incident at the donations warehouse at the Elliniko Airport reminded me my own interaction with my sons. When I assign them chores at home, I am often so tempted to take over because they are not completing them as well or as fast as I could. Ultimately, however, I am most often persuaded to patiently guide my little boys because I want them to learn the skills of working hard and being responsible. I am sure that adults could have probably packed more rice that day at the donations warehouse, folded the clothes neater, and spent less time giggling. But if our goal is to create a generation of citizens that serve others then we must instill these values in people when they are still young. This will mean that we will need to honor children’s abilities and limitations, as well as be humble enough to realize that there is a great deal to learn from a child’s faith and big heart! ■■

I have found the Kinοnos Club to be a driving factor in promoting a holistic approach to learning, off of the stage. The club, like very few, works both in and out of school, reaching out to the community that our school aims to serve. The main purpose of the club is to raise awareness about the terrible epidemic of homelessness in our ancient city. The main goal of the club is to help, as much as possible, in aiding the ongoing efforts to combat that homelessness. Both the purpose and the goal of the club break the ‘campus bubble’. As all too often in places of great responsibility and purpose, such as Westminster or Washington, the people that work there to serve others often end up in a “bubble”. In our closed campus I feel that, unwillingly, we end up in a bubble. We are closed off in our campus, and while we can have all the knowledge we want, taking that knowledge and ethos beyond the yellow gates is a difficult endeavour.

Kinonos (Κοινωνός): A Club that has opened hearts and minds to education outside of school by Odysseas Digbassanis, Academy School Student

ounded in the autumn of 2017, Kinοnos is a club that aims to help and raise awareness for the issue of homelessness in our city and community. August 14, 2018 Schools are places of learning, growth, and confliction. They are the stage that we evolve on as young citizens. In that sense learning is more of an art than a science. However, for a successful and long running performance, the actors must put in most of the work behind the scenes. The work that is put in behind the stage makes that evolution evermore holistic and worthwhile. Perhaps what the Koinwnos club has taught us the most about our community and humanity is that if there is a problem, there will be support for a solution even when at first the prospects seem dim.

In the pursuit of a holistic understanding of what it truly means to be educated, one must consider others a priority above themselves. Whereas we dwell within the comfort of our resplendent Academy all throughout the year, other members of our Athenian community suffer unduly. The crisis following the 2008 stock market panic led to waves of mass unemployment, foreclosures, and unrealistic financial targets for everyday people. Many of these people live lives of discontent and loneliness while still retaining their pre-crisis spirit and mind. We find our fellow citizens on the steps outside of Parliament, both figuratively and literally. I certainly could not stand to watch this injustice go by without at least a flicker of the candlelight of thought. As such I was pleased to be invited as the leader of the Organising Committee at Kinonos. The idea of helping homeless people that me and Lydia Pinirou had in the summer of 2017 evolved into the largest, in membership, club at ACS Athens.

With more than 70 members, we strive to help the homeless in Athens in any way that we can. The responsibility has befallen on me to plan fundraising events, make announcements, and publicise our efforts of kindness and charity. Through that, I have seen that although not everyone in our club and community goes to the interactions with the homeless on Thursday nights, there is interest. My interest in this issue has deep roots. For six years, before I moved to Athens, I lived in New York. There, the issue of homelessness is one of such gravity, that it is not only a humanitarian issue, but also a key political issue for the mayor’s race. I would take public transportation quite often and saw for myself how rampant the issue was, and the need for a solution. In every corner of nearly every subway car there was a homeless man in his tattered rags and all his earthly belonging tucked tightly under the bench seats. They would lie there, make the car their own mobile home. In the winters, Pennsylvania Station would be the shelter that homeless people needed. Homeless seemed to camouflage into the well-known grimy atmosphere of Pennsylvania Station and people would pass them without a moment’s notice. I am myself guilty of this charge, as over time I was numbed by the density of the homeless issue. That station is home to one of my most vivid memories surrounding the issue of homelessness. I was a member and student of the International Center of Photography in Manhattan (ICP) and I was taking a class on black and white film photography. Having chosen to take photographs with my Hasselblad, which is quite a hefty instrument shooting medium format film. It has a characteristic ‘chomp’ when it takes a photograph, and looking down through the top viewfinder the world is in a mirrored state; left is right and up is down. As such, one Saturday morning in the winter of 2016 as I was heading to the ICP, still in Pennsylvania station, ascending marble steps, I hear an angry man yell behind me as I ascend, “get up you lazy bastard”. I turn, looking down at the scene from the steps, Hasselblad in one hand, ‘chomp’, and then the second, ‘chomp’, and then the decisive moment, as Henri Cartier-Bresson would say, vanished. A station police officer, in this scene was waking a homeless man who slept next to a trash can. He was sleeping right outside of the NJ Track terminal and this was before rush hour. The officer had extended his baton and used it to ring the death knell of peaceful rest for the homeless man. His baton struck first the marble wall behind the homeless man and then the man himself. I was both lucky and unlucky to capture this moment on film, as it will live forever in my memory as a reminder of how cruel people can be to each other. The unfortunate thing is that the issue of homelessness can all too easily be left in the shadows; all one needs to do is put on the blinders and keep going. An important aspect of my time at the Kinwnos Club was going out and promoting the club outside of the school. Two events allowed me and other organising leaders to do so in a passionate and open manner. In

the early spring of 2018 we were invited by the THINK Global School, while they visited our ancient city, to speak to them about our club. Through this I had the chance to really think about what the point of our club is. Perhaps, above all, spreading the message is more important than our actions as a group. I said that ‘we are not the solution, we are but a small part that plays a big role.’ That encapsulated my thinking as a whole in one sentence. We should, of course, focus on helping the homeless, but another major part is inspiring others who can to do so as well. Irrespective of the bounds of our school, any other school or group of individuals can make efforts like ours. A common act of humanity is not an act of immense charity. Also, chatting with other international peers from the THINK Global School, who have lived in far flung corners of the world furthered my perspective on the global issue of homelessness. Peers from Asian and South American countries outlined that there too, homelessness prevails as the spectre of every society. Another event that gave us the opportunity to spread our message was speaking to Dr. Pelonis’ graduate psychology class at the University of Athens. Speaking to adults for the first time on the issue in a public manner was one that all of the participants found fulfilling. Overall it was a pleasant evening that allowed me to further our message by saying that the homeless, though often and unfortunately drug addicts and violent, do deserve a helping hand and above all the preservation of their dignity. The potential that this club provides for educating ourselves both outside and inside our school has been tremendous. It is to that end that a massive debt of gratitude is owed to the teachers who have helped us through the year, Dr Pelonis and Ms Pittas, have been by our side from the beginning. Without them, our efforts could not have reached such ends as they have today. Still, as young people, our messages of goodwill and action may not have been as credible without the backing and constant support that we have received. Kinοnos has taught me, and I am sure everybody else involved, that education and understanding is not limited to the bounds of the school, but only by our own will to take it out of those bounds. Overall, Kinonos has provided me and all others involved with a way to spread an important message, to help people in need, and learn about ourselves through a constant stream of questions about the nature of human relationships and kindness. It is with this quote by St. Francis of Assisi that I believe should resonate in the heart of Koinwnos after I graduate: “where there is hatred, let me show love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.” ■■

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The Kinοnos (Κοινωνός) Club by Lydia Pinirou, Academy School Student

“W

e do not say that a man who takes no interest in public affairs is a man who minds his own business. We say he has no business being here at all” Pericles In the fall of 2017 a new club was founded at ACS Athens: KINΟNOS (ΚΟΙΝΩΝΟΣ) derived from the Greek word “Κοινωνία” which means “Community”. “KINΟNOS” (ΚΟΙΝΩΝΟΣ) refers to the community of people that come together with a common cause. It connotes the importance of participation in community affairs; that we must all participate in order to have a healthy, thriving community. On a larger scale “Κinonos” denotes that we are all part of the society with many differences and commonalities, the main commonality being that we are all human beings. My peers joined “Kinonos” Club, believing in and contributing to its purpose. We wanted to know more about the ‘homeless’ people in Athens. We wanted to get to know them in order to understand their challenges and know their stories. We wanted to interact with them so that they could become real human beings rather than faceless problems on the streets of Athens. We were not the first to want to help the ‘homeless’. Other organizations distributed food and clothes to them daily. We joined one such organization and

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made it a point to go to down town Athens to help with the distributions. We fundraised and created our own food and clothes drives. Most importantly however, we interacted with the people on the streets, having conversations, telling jokes, greeting one another once we became familiar and friendly. Did we provide a little sense of dignity by looking them in the eyes and spending some time with them? Perhaps. They seem to tell us we did. For us, it was a life changing experience however. My desire to create this ‘club’ came about from the notion that ‘belonging’, ‘community feeling’ and ‘social interest’ are necessary elements in order for people to be participating members of a community. I was discouraged at first as I was told that my goals were not tangible and such interactions could prove dangerous. “Perhaps, they are right”, I thought, “Perhaps it will fail”. I decided to pursue it however, knowing that failure could be just around the corner, because of a deep desire to understand this population better. According to the United Nations survey in 2005, 100 million people are homeless worldwide. In Greece, the government estimates about 20,000 without homes. I wondered how many people knew about this social condition and weather others would be interested. I invited Dr. Tony Rombos, Neurologist/Psychiatrist to speak to the Academy student body about his experience with the homeless as he worked with Doctors without Borders. As a result, more than seventy (70) students joined the cause. Still, many of the adults in my life cautioned me of the dangers. Ms. Pittas agreed however, to be the club’s advisor and with her help, in order to manage the students involved, we divided them into committees: fundraising, food drives, clothes drives, raising awareness. She was and continues to be a great source of encouragement. There was still the question of ‘interacting’ however. With Ms. Papaioannou’s help in Student Life, we joined an organization that goes to the streets of Athens voluntarily weeknights from 10:00 pm to 3:00am. I decided to go down with my parent to see for myself. Other students joined me on the streets, with their parents, taking turns on Thursday nights and eventually many faculty members and administrators came as well. As part of our efforts to raise awareness we were invited to speak with students from Think Global School, who joined our efforts on the streets during their stay in Athens. Furthermore, a second invitation was extended to us from a group of post graduate psychology students. These were adults, intrigued by our story and by our determination to contribute to this cause. Some said that we managed to eliminate the fear they felt toward the ‘homeless’ because if “you, young people could interact and help, we would certainly contribute”. Most of the students, teachers and parents that joined the street work, came with hesitation and a bit of fear. I know I felt it also. Yet, in the days that passed, we came to see the humane part of all that were there. We got a close look at a social problem

that needs a solution. I don’t pretend to have the answer to this social problem. What I know is that I and many of those involved expressed that this was a life changing experience for us. The people on the street expressed gratitude that we met them on an equal level and communicated respect. Sometimes, they told us, the conversations are more important than food and clothes. Our goal, as a club, is to continue to raise awareness, and while our voluntary participation is important particularly for the interaction; most important is the awareness that our understanding of this social condition close up is a small step towards potential solutions. The challenge however, will also be, to elicit community participation from the said population. Heartfelt thanks to all those who participated, have taken on a lead role and continue to work hard for this cause. A message for the “Kinonos” group that presented to the Post Graduate Psychology Course in Athens. You are a true inspiration by leading with such a commitment and devotion, a genuine self giving initiative Christiana ,Marketing Manager Post Graduate Psychology student Solidarity is the strongest weapon. You got it. Looking forward to meeting with you in Athens. Ilias T. Shipping Manager Post Graduate Psychology student Congratulations. I feel happy and full of recognition for the deep feeling of humane contact you offered us by sharing the vision of a new world of love and caring for homeless people. Anastastsia M. English Teacher Post Graduate Psychology student It is significant for young people to be teachers to the elders…. Congratulations. F.N. Flight Attendant Post Graduate Psychology student It’s so inspirational what you do! Follow your dreams! You act as inspiration for me and as a “Κinonos” (Kοινωνός) for hope, humanity, creation. Mike A. Business Manager Post Graduate Psychology student. ■■

Sport and Education:

A powerful combination

for World Peace ACS Athens receives the prestigious “Regional Peace through Sport Initiative of the Year” Award by Annie Constantinides, Director of Athletics

sland of Rhodes, October 18, 2018

During an inspiring and emotional celebration by the Peace and Sport Organization on the island of Rhodes, ACS Athens was honored and recognized for organizing the “Color of Peace” event that took place on April 20, 2018. All JK-Grade 12 students participated in an event dedicated to promoting peace through sport and to highlighting the importance of education for ALL children while empathizing and actively supporting those young individuals who have lost their home because of war. “Peace and Sport” is an independent and international organization that promotes Peace through the power of Sport and it is based in Monaco, functioning under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert of Monaco. Each year, the “Regional Peace through Sport” initiative rewards a company, a foundation, an institution or an event that has demonstrated its commitment to benefit society through sport and uses its assets and experience to promote sustainable peace and social awareness. ACS Athens was among a select group of organizations/institutions from all five continents that were considered for this prestigious award and was honored to receive it. The award was accepted by Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, ACS Athens President, Ms. Annie Constantinides, Director of Athletics and Ms. Manya Louvari, Member of the ACS Athens Board of Trustees. ACS Athens participated in “Peace and Sport” initiative by creating and promoting the “White Card” campaign to promote the positive and constructive values of sport around the globe. During the “White Card” celebration on April 20, 2018, the entire ACS Athens community of more than 1000 students and faculty participated in a school-wide event sending a strong message in support of empathy and peace and against discrimination. The celebration included a soccer match with students and unattended refugee minors who live at the shelters of “The Home Project” Organization, an ACS Athens partner for the “Youthto-Youth” Program. The ACS Athens student body consists of over 65 nationalities, and it is an example of respecting and celebrating different cultures, while it fosters an environment that respects and promotes universal values and principles for humanity. Leading to the “White Card” celebration, the school organized several activities in support of the Youth-to-Youth Program, as well as educational activities throughout the different grade levels, where all students addressed the significance of peace in a troubled world and the power of sport in uniting cultures across the globe. The Youth-to-Youth Program of ACS Athens - founded in 2016 - is an educational and social integration program for unaccompanied minors aiming to address four areas of need: academic learning, skills development, wellness (through Sport and Art) and social integration. Since the inception of the program, approximately 100 unattended refugee minors

Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, President, Annie Constantinides, Director of Athletics and other members of the ACS Athens

Community recieve the prestigious “Regional Peace through Sport - Initiative of the Year” Award

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have received various types of formal education with the collaboration and volunteer involvement of ACS Athens faculty members and fellow students! In addition, 18 unaccompanied refugee minors are currently attending ACS Athens on full-time scholarships. The “Color of Peace” event, promoting sport, peace, and social inclusion, was one more manifestation of the values of both ACS Athens and the “Peace and Sport” Organization, in a collective effort to make a positive impact among individuals that are in need of a better and peaceful life. ■■

Musings Wired for Learning by Janet Karvouniaris, ret. ACS Athens Faculty

his piece first appeared in the publication of the ACS Writing Project Group in 1986. The ACS Summer Writing Project was conducted by Wendy Strachan of the Bay Area Writing Project and ACS Teacher, Steve Medeiros) For some unknown reason, I was drawn to the place that had seemed least inviting. I stubbed my toe on the uneven marble stairs and entered the anteroom, an unremarkable empty classroom. The windowless brown door was closed tightly as if to suggest that the room beyond was empty or that something of great importance was occurring inside. I had experienced a heightened sense of significance about this place before, when three years ago I had come as a (mature) student seeking computer literacy. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I remembered that today I would not have to prove my ability to match wits with an APPLE II-e, I would be observing other students at work. As I entered, retiring to an empty desk at the back, I was immediately struck by the subdued sounds—the tapping of keys, the occasional murmur of voices, the hum of the air conditioner—as if I were separated from this place and these people by a thin, transparent film. I recollected from my previous experience with floppy discs that careful treatment and climate control increase their life expectancy, concluding that the air conditioning was for the floppy discs, the contrasting open window provided fresh air for the class. Simultaneously, my nostrils were assailed by an irritating but not altogether unpleasant “high-tech” smell. But had I wanted to escape, the decorative but very sturdy iron bars on the windows would have

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prevented it. Anyway, no one, student or observer, would want to flee a place so filled with purpose. The bright sunlight pouring through the grillwork spread a geometric pattern across the neat rows of steel and plastic tables. The silence was broken by the teacher’s voice, “OK, does everyone understand UNERASE?” The students nodded affirmatively and I thought to myself, “UNERASE…what an interesting idea! I wonder what happens when something is UNERASED…” I decided to put this notion aside for later rumination. The slender, young teacher circulated around the room occasionally stopping to place a supportive hand on the shoulder of a confused student. She offered her encouragement. But each student, face-to-face with the monitor, was intent on the individual act of making sense out of this new language. This room was wired for electronic learning. Within the nondescript institutional environment existed an electrifying sense of excitement that challenged the surroundings. There was a studied sterility about the place—nothing to distract the students from the creative process in which they were engaged. Even my presence as I shifted in my chair and rose to walk to a different vantage point caused no more than a sidelong glance. Now the teacher called the group’s attention as she wrote MOVE with a blue marker on the slick whiteboard. A conventional blackboard would have clashed with the post-industrial décor. She spoke slowly, enunciating each syllable of her explanation, anxious that everyone should comprehend her instructions. She knew her students were eager to perform this new command and kept her comments brief. The atmosphere was heavy with concentration as each student sought the proper keys. “Who beeped?” The teacher turned suddenly to face the class. To her well-trained ear this beep signified error. She efficiently moved to the side of a slight blond boy but he had found his own mistake by the time she got there. “It’s OK,” he assured her, “I get it. I hit the wrong key by mistake.” She went on to check the progress of the others. I sat down next to a boy near the window and read on his monitor, “My name is Thomas and I am 13 years old.” He was expertly moving the cursor over the text, erasing and unerasing. “Hi, Thomas. Are you new at this?” I asked. “No,” he answered, “I’ve been doing this since 1979.” That’s since he was six years old, I quickly calculated! “My favorite thing is to write programs,” he continued. “So what do you hope to learn here?” I probed, thinking maybe he should be teaching the class. “I’d heard about the Bank Street Writer but I’d never done word-processing. It’s very useful and real easy,”

he concluded and returned to the keyboard. Angela, who was seated next to Thomas, offered “I think this is difficult. I like to make pictures and play games.” “Would you like to have a job where you use a computer?” “Yes, I would like that very much, but I must learn many things first.” The college student-teacher, Emily, approached me. She wanted to tell me about her class. She was proud of them. “They are all from Greek schools so they’re used to a more strict school environment. You can tell from their studious behavior.” “What’s their knowledge of English?” I wanted to know. “They all have a fair command of the language. This boy over here,” she pointed with her eyes to a stocky, fair-haired boy, “is a real whiz but we don’t have much software for the very advanced students.” She checked her watch and prepared to conclude the lesson. As an after-thought, she added, “We expect that everyone who finishes this course should be able to use BASIC commands to run simple programs.” The bell sounded and chairs scraped the tile floor as they were pushed under the desks. Blank-gray monitors stared vacuously from atop each table. But switching off the terminals simply interrupted the flow of current to the machines. It did nothing to reduce the electricity that permeated the room—the only remaining trace of the students who had occupied it only moments before. ■■

Some history: In order to understand the significance of data protection, it’s useful to know that the first Ecumenical Proclamation that touched on the subject of privacy was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, Article 12 declaring that: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”

GDPR Know your personal data rights

In 1995, protection of personal data was complemented by the idea of free movement of data, under the EU95/46 regulation. This regulation was the most complete - to date - statement as it relates to the rights of the individual against the unlawful collection, use, and sharing of personal data. Although other regulation versions attempted to create a complete framework, covering all aspects of data activity and processing, the explosion of the Internet, and especially of social media, created the need for a more comprehensive and flexible regulation that would protect the individual from the perils of the digital domain and unregulated cyberspace. What is the GDPR

by John Papadakis, Certified Data Protection Officer ACS Athens - dpo@acs.gr

n the middle of the confusion the GDPR buzzword has caused during 2018 in the European or EU based organizations and citizens, especially right before May 25th when it came into effect, it is important to understand the basic facts, and how these affect the individual and everyone processing personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation or EU 2016/679 of the European Parliament as is its legal name, is the latest attempt to regulate the use, processing, and protection of the rights of individuals within the European Union, as it relates to their personal information and how these are collected, disseminated, processed, stored and destroyed by corporations, governments, NGO’s, etc. Ref: Scan and read: EU2016/679 (English):

EU2016/679 (Greek):

The EU GDPR strengthens the entitlement and right of privacy for individuals while giving regulatory authorities greater power to take action against businesses or other entities that breach the new laws. The regulation also applies to non-EU companies that process personal data of individuals in the EU. It needs to be noted also that the international transfer of data continues to be governed under the EU GDPR rules. Fines may reach 4% of annual global revenue or €20 million, whichever is greater. What is Personal Data PROCESSING GDPR defines Data PROCESSING as: “any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.” What are the rights of a Data Subject The right to Information: The data subject must be informed on how personal information is collected and processed and the intended use. Rights must also be communicated along with how they are being protected. The right to Access: The data subjects have the right to access their personal data. This has to be enabled by technical or or-

ganizational measures by the controller of the data. The right to Rectification: The data subjects have the right to ask for the correction of the data they believe is inaccurate. The right to Erasure or the right to be Forgotten: The data subjects have the right to ask for their data to be erased, provided that this does not conflict with legitimate reasons against this right.

preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location or movements. Principles for Personal Data Processing In order to protect the rights of the data subject, GDPR defines the following principles that all processing must adhere to: Legitimate reasons for processing of Personal Data

The right to Restrict Processing:

According to GDPR, one of the following conditions must apply in order for any personal data to be processed:

The data subjects have the right to ask the controller to stop any further processing of their personal data.

◉◉ processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject participates;

The right to Portability:

◉◉ processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject;

The data subjects have the right to ask for their data to be exported in a format readable by a human and/ or a machine. The right to Object: The data subjects have the right to object to any further processing of their data, provided that this does not conflict with legitimate reasons against this right. The right against Automated Decision Making (profiling): The data subjects have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, evaluating an individual’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal

◉◉ processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person; ◉◉ processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller; ◉◉ processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.

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◉◉ the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes; Consent Since consent has been a very common practice towards compliance with GDPR, it is important to understand that consent should be requested from individuals, not legal entities. The consent document should contain short and legible terms and conditions, without any “legalese”, as the request for unambiguous consent must be given in an intelligible and easily accessible form. Explicit and positive consent is required for processing personal data in this context, nothing short of “opt in” will suffice. For example, “If we don’t hear from you we will assume you agree” is totally unacceptable under GDPR

having in mind the interest and rights of its students and its wider community. More than 30 meetings with school stakeholders have taken place, providing the necessary information for all entities to consider the rights of the individual and comprise the updated data privacy policy of the school, visible on the website. Our effort towards GDPR compliance, in collaboration with Space Hellas, includes defining our policy for data protection; we communicate the changes to all employees; we are defining our roles and identifying the personal data we process; we have established

CONSENT: It’s the last possible legalizing factor for processing Private Data, when all other conditions do not apply. Data Processing in a School A school organization, especially one like ACS Athens that hosts and educates children under the age of 16, by definition processes personal data that are considered sensitive, that requires the explicit and positive consent of a parent or a legal guardian. We can specify processing of personal data in a school if we consider what is the flow of information or data from the time of inquiry to the time of graduation, as it regards to students, but also a multitude of processing referring to its employees and the wider community. This includes actions like student enrollment, grading, and review of intellectual material, employee payroll and insurance coverage of medical issues, CCTV and other recordings of images, recording data in CRM/ERP systems, etc. Some Exceptions to the Rights of the Data Subject: According to GDPR Article 85, Proof of Consent, the rights to Erasure and Portability of data are not valid for journalistic work and artistic work. This touches upon the activities within a school environment, where students and faculty are involved in such work. Our GDPR Compliance In order for an organization such as a school to protect personal data and comply to GDPR, it must institute a permanent framework of operation where all stakeholders, parents, students, faculty and administration must have ownership of the process, know the rules and requirements, understand and support the standards for data privacy and safety and keep abreast with the latest regulations. There must be transparency towards the owners of data and provide the necessary organizational and technical measures in support of the rights of the data subjects. ACS Athens has embarked in its internal audit since the fall of 2017, a continuous review of its processes,

the lawful basis of our processing; we obtain consent where required; we are minimizing our holding of personal data and putting procedures in place for data subject access requests; we keeping required records of processing and update our contracts to be GDPR compliant; we are obtaining employee commitment to the confidentiality of personal data and we are introducing impact assessments and data protection by default while we increase our awareness on data safety, privacy and security. Data protection as a basic human right It’s vital that data protection laws are grounded on the respect for fundamental human rights. That’s because the storage and use of personal information should be at the service of people. To ensure this happens, data protection laws should take into account people’s right to a private life, which is protected by Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention. They also need to comply with more specific rules set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which protects personal data. GDPR is the latest attempt by the European Union to safeguard, codify and enforce this protection. ■■

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jects and grade levels seamless. Dr. Gleason provides detailed information in his book “At What Cost? Defending Adolescent Development”. About Dr. David Gleason

Neuro science and Education Dr. David Gleason visits ACS Athens by Dr. Peggy Pelonis, Dean of Academics and Student Affairs

aculty, administrators and specialists engaged in workshops with Dr. David Gleason, who defends adolescent development by pointing out that students are often overscheduled and hyper schooled to the detriment of their development. Dr. Gleason pointed out that the brain is continuously growing and is not fully developed by adolescence as is now evident through neuroscience. Particularly the frontal lobe, responsible for executive functions such as, time management and organization, is in process. Thus, expectations placed on students to master such skills are unrealistic and often detrimental to their mental health. Faculty engaged in vibrant conversations about the above issues and pointed out that higher education institutions have requirements that K-12 schools must prepare students for. Therefore, a dialogue is in order between K-12 schools and higher education institutions. Certainly, however, administration and faculty at ACS Athens are committed to providing safety nets that will make transition for students between sub-

Dr. David Gleason, founder of Developmental Empathy, LLC, has over 25 years of experience in professional clinical psychology. Dr. Gleason provides counseling and consulting services as well as neuropsychological assessments for students in public, independent and international schools. Dr. Gleason earned a B.A. in Psychology (1982) and an M.A. in Counseling Children & Adolescents (1987) – both from Boston College, and then a Psy.D. at William James College (1993). After several years as psychologist at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire, Dr. Gleason opened his own practice in Concord, Massachusetts and also joined Concord Academy as that school’s Consulting Psychologist. In addition, Dr. Gleason serves as Senior Neuropsychologist at Wediko Children’s Services in Boston, where he supervises pre and post-doctoral psychology interns and co-teaches an ongoing professional development seminar. Dr. Gleason has taught psychology at the secondary, undergraduate and graduate levels, and he presents workshops and seminars at schools, national conferences in the US, and at international conferences around the world. Most recently, Dr. Gleason has become a certified Critical Friends Group coach for National School Reform Faculty (NSRF). Anxiety, depression, and their dangerous manifestations-substance abuse, eating disorders, self-injury and suicide- are increasing student conditions at many competitive high schools. Paradoxically, most of these schools promote themselves as being committed to students’ holistic development in academics, athletics and the arts, and in their personal, social, and emotional growth. So why are so many students struggling? Dr. Gleason has investigated these concerns in competitive high schools throughout the United States and around the world, and has found almost complete unanimity in how educators and parents have responded to his interviews. In sum, these caring and dedicated adults fully admit to overscheduling, overworking and, at times, overwhelming their students and teenaged children. This conflict - adults wanting to educate and parent adolescents in healthy and balanced ways, but simultaneously, overscheduling, overworking and, at times, overwhelming them - is at the heart of this book. ■■

Dr. Gleason during his presentation to the Faculty

Academy spACS: Educators learning together with students by Dr. Antonios Karampelas, Faculty, Science and Technology

hen I first realized what exactly the “Blue Origin” option was all about, I knew I wanted to be part of it, I guess for exactly the same reasons ACS Athens students joined the team: The chance of conducting a scientific experiment inside a world-class Aerospace company’s rocket [1], 100 km above the surface of the Earth1, under microgravity conditions2. And since Blue Origin, the aforementioned company, is among the pioneers of reusable rockets, whose use reduces the costs of space travel, thus paving the way for the colonization of the Moon and Mars, and finally, its experimental apparatus is expected to land on Earth upon the termination of the rocket’s flight and sent back to ACS Athens!

1 Which is considered to be the highest limit of our planet’s atmosphere. For comparison, Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth, is “only” 9-km high. 2 Our experimental apparatus will practically “feel” no gravity, even though the gravitational force at this height is definitely non-negligible.

I thought it would be an excellent, rich STEAM3 learning experience for our high school students, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime one. Students could acquire strong college-level research skills before they even apply to college. At the same time, I was aware of the fact this journey would be full of challenges: Will the students stay engaged when the learning curve becomes steep? Will the program get funded? Will we succeed with the electronics aspect of our experimental design? Will the experiment run smoothly during the rocket’s flight? But risk is inherent in such research endeavors, and the possibility of unwanted situations can be reduced through efficient risk management and collaboration with experts. Soon, I found there were about 20 students attending our short weekly meetings, which later became two per week. Student-members of the team came up with 25 experiment ideas. Ιt has to be noted that this procedure has inspired one IB Biology Extended Essay, 3

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Mathematics

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During one of the first spACS meetings

It was a real pleasure watching the “spACS”4 students remaining motivated, fighting against the challenges, unveiling their talents and being driven by genuine curiosity. Some of our students can design in 3D (and are able to refine their prototype until it meets expectations), compile electronic circuits, and effectively research on topics unknown to them before in a short amount of time. two IB Physics Internal Assessments, and a 9th/10th Grade Mini-Internal Assessment. Out of the 25 ideas two of them made it to the final selection, with the investigation of the viscosity of a non-Newtonian fluid (honey) under microgravity conditions being selected. Then, the team had to deal with real issues: What exactly viscosity is, and which parameters affect its value? How can we create an automatic robotic system that will control the experimental apparatus during the flight? What resources do we need to purchase and how much do they cost?

It has also been a pleasure collaborating with ACS Athens faculty who, despite their workload, did their best to allocate time in order to organize, guide, and inspire their students in this challenging but rewarding scientific exploration. Dr. Prodromidi and Dr. Tsigaridi have consistently facilitated students along the way. Their strong research background in Biology & Astronomy and Mathematics, respectively, has turned out to be valuable for the program. Additionally, Mr. Papageorgiou has contributed toward achieving the team’s technology-related goals. 4 The name of the program, suggested by the students

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At this point, it should be emphasized that the spACS program is a learning experience both for ACS Athens students and faculty. An educator, despite her or his content-knowledge and research background, cannot be fully aware of all the aspects of a (mini) space program, where Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Management, together with the ability to design solutions using creativity and imagination, have to be combined in complex ways. Moreover, spACS faculty members have to compromise between encouraging students to build on their independent and collaborative inquiries and hard work to come up with solutions, and staying on track with deadlines posed by Blue Origin. Students on the other hand have to learn how to work together, where clear steps that lead to guaranteed success do not exist. Both students and educators have to learn new procedures like program management, and new professional tools like microcontrollers and 3D design software. To conclude, I am still as excited as initially: Students and educators are becoming more knowledgeable, skillful, and effective as time goes by, at the same time being aware of the obstacles and challenges that have to be addressed in such a real-life research investigation. We have to be ready in early 2019, and there is a lot more to learn together. Good luck!

Acknowledgements Dr. Karampelas would like to thank ACS Athens for financial and administrative facilitations, the Incubator of Students’ Creative Ideas for their sincere support (some of the Incubator students are members of the spACS team), Ms. Augoustatos for support regarding facilities and funding, Dr. Avgerinou for arranging spACS faculty’s training on electronics, and Dr. Papadopoulos (Piraeus University of Applied Sciences) for being the spACS program’s mentor. References www.blueorigin.com

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Familiarization with microcontrollers and microcomputers at the Incubator Zone

Working at the Incubator Zone

Prototyping the experimental apparatus at the Incubator Zone

Brainstorming experiment ideas

ing. The SpACS group is composed of 23 students. They are divided amongst themselves into three groups: the Research team, the Development team, and the Administration team. Faculty from the Science and Technology Department have assisted and advised students throughout the whole project, together with Dr. Papadopoulos (Piraeus University of Applied Sciences).

spACS: A journey to Space by Paraskevi Papatzanakis, Academy Student Editors: Pirgioti Maira, Dr. Karampelas, Dr. Prodromidi

uly 2nd, 2018

“Exploration is the engine that drives innovation” (Edith Widder). This year, high school students meet a new challenge and extend their knowledge and interests through their participation in the Blue Origin Program: A space experiment that triggers students’ critical thinking, problem solving, and analytical skills. Blue Origin is an American, privately-funded aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company set up by Amazon.com founder, Jeff Bezos. It is a real-world STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) experience as students will launch their own experiment to space with Blue Origin’s new Shepard Rocket. The spACS team (initially named Blue Origin team) is designing an experiment to be conducted in microgravity conditions at 100 km altitude. The experiment will test the effect of a microgravity environment on the viscosity of honey, a non-Newtonian fluid, placed in a small box of dimensions 10 cm x 10 cm x 20 cm inside the Blue Origin’s rocket and a camera and other sensors will monitor the effect of a microgravity environment on the fluid. The process has been both fascinating and demand-

The student research team has set the basis of the investigation and researched on the fundamental functions of viscosity and non-Newtonian fluids. Thorough, college-level research has been conducted, providing a better insight into the topic and narrowing it down to the essential points. The students have established the context and direction of the project. In the duration of the process they have been collaborating with their teammates following an i2Flex protocol. More specifically, they have collaborated through Google Drive and each week have been sharing their findings with the rest of the team. On top of the more than 20 spACS meetings, there have been three teleconferences with Nanoracks, the company to install our experiment on the Blue Origin rocket. In addition, the development student team has been responsible for visualizing the initial idea by incorporating the research done into a well structured experiment. Firstly, the materials and the apparatus had to be drafted. One of the hardest parts of the experiment was the creation of a procedure that would include variables and contemplate the circumstances of both a gravity and a microgravity environment. An interesting component has been the fact that students have had the freedom to work in an area of their interest. For instance, besides the Scientific Research team, the need for a development (Technology and Engineering) team has emerged, which would use the Arduino microcontroller and the Raspberry pi microcomputer and compile everything into a 10 cm x 10cm x 20 cm box. Finally, the administration team has been in charge of the flow and organization of the team. This is a multifunctional, interconnected team which has a crucial role into shaping the goals and values of the team and setting priorities. The key objective is to use all available resources effectively to meet the crucial deadlines. Analytically, the administration team works towards finding human and financial resources. Firstly, social awareness about the SpACS mission has been raised by creating a short documentary and writing an article about it. Secondly, money to fund the project has been collected through the SpACS participation in the ACS Athens Spring Fair. Most importantly, so far the school has covered all the urgent costs. Significantly, spACS is indeed one of the diverse educational experiences that ACS Athens offers which challenges all students to realize their unique potential: academically, intellectually, socially, and ethically -- to thrive as responsible global citizens. High school students from different grades have been brought together to collaborate and critically think with skepticism and inquiry. In support of that, initially students individually brainstormed of original projects to send to Blue Origin and then collaborated in a social envi-

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spACS group photo

ronment to agree on one experiment. The freedom, inspiration, and collaboration, which the Blue Origin encompasses, mark a full high school experience. On a second note, collaboration was the key to success. The greatest challenge of all was for the participants to become a team. In the end, the project did not only have an intellectual identity, but it also represented our unique identity; each one of us had shaped the product. At the same time, the project had to meet the ethics of the group and of the school community, while serving a greater purpose. Alison Gopnik stated that “successful creative adults seem to combine the wide-ranging exploration and openness we see in children with the focus and discipline we see in adults.” This has been the purpose of the spACS program; to challenge students to explore, but at the same time be responsible, ready, and respectful. ■■

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Just as trends in fashion brighten the most alluring of sidewalk cafes, the trend of gamifying learning shines light on the pedagogical traits that have helped me to engage students for decades. Classroom instruction cannot be about delivering content, rather, it must focus on creating classroom experiences that immerse students in authentic and open-ended situations based on real world problems, ones that require strong foundational knowledge, research skills, and above all the motivation to dig deeper by asking more questions.

The 10th Grade Truman Trial; when history doesn’t get old and work becomes play! by David Nelson, ACS Athens Academy Social Studies Faculty; Coordinator of Professional Development and Growth

t’s like thinking about the difference between work and play —when the distinction becomes more and more subtle, we know we’re in the right profession. When students think about school and our classes in the same way, we know that we’ve been successful as educators. All of my career I’ve sought ways to engage students in their learning, not in a leisurely sense but in an immersive one in which the school is not about work but about experiences. One of the latest trends in education is “gamification”: the process of integrating game-like features into student instruction to increase motivation and engage learners. For me, experiential learning is far from trendy and has been one of my major goals throughout my nearly thirty years of teaching Social Studies.

In the American Studies grade 10 “Combo”, we’ve created many opportunities to obtain this lofty goal, helping students to blur the distinction between school-work and play. Through classroom simulations, students become the learning, seeing the connections first hand while drawing their own relationship with the material. Simulations of the US Government, Supreme Court, or Presidential elections give international students a taste of an otherwise foreign palate, while simulations of the Henry Ford Assembly Line, the 1920s stock market crash, or of Cold War conflicts encourage students to contextualize the significance of the time period they are studying. Beyond simulations, students elucidate their learning in numerous ways: classroom debates, readers theater, poetry slams, Jenga tournaments, and Socratic Seminars, to name a few. Among these continually expanding pedagogical features of my classrooms, one of the most enduring is the 10th Grade Truman Trial. For the past seventeen years, this example of gamifying the instruction of history has helped to motivate countless students to want to learn more. With the Truman Trial, history doesn’t get old because the nature of defining the “problem” continually changes. Let me explain... each year our students place President Harry S. Truman on trial for “crimes against humanity”; however, the situation is never the same. For example by altering the date of when the trial takes place, we change the evidence that students are able to utilize as they can only use historical knowledge that existed prior to that date -- imagine examining the morality of dropping the atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II though a historical lense of 1946 vs one of 1962. As a class we are able to play with so many variables as students are exposed to new witnesses or uncover ever-expanding historical sources. The month long preparation of the two-day trial places students in the driver’s seat, as they take on the role of legal counsel and collaboratively create a unique case that will be judged by a jury of their peers. In other words, the outcome is far from pre-determined and the students largely create that outcome based on the quality of the work that they do. It’s that not so quiet sense of competition and public “performance” that ups the ante as one Combo class of students is motivated to out maneuver the other, or they are motivated to expand what had been done in previous years. For several days early in the preparation process, students become glued to the testimonies of previous years, as they view the Truman Trial

Celebration of the Truman Trial – Unity of “Communist” witnesses

Videos made available by the ACS Athens Theater and production staff on YouTube -- https://tinyurl.com/ ACS-Athens-Truman-Trial. The classroom expands as too does student motivation, as students carry their learning into the realm of i2flex in which they not only collaborate through online structures, but independently expand their knowledge and demonstrate understanding through the use of Moodle, Digication, Google Hangouts and many more. It’s in those moments when students initiate their own learning and collaboration that signals our true success. I loved hearing from a parent this year that “Dimitris’ home became the headquarters of Team Defense” as students met on numerous occasions to plan their approach. As but one example among many over the years, this illustrates how such experiences reframe learning for students, making “work” seem a lot more like play. Team Prosecution 2018

Ultimately, I know I am successful as an educator when I place students in the position to problem solve and act, using the substance of history, applying their skills of communication, and creating their approach to the problem. For me, this is experiential learning, an approach that never allows history to go stale and most definitely blurs the distinctions between work, learning, and play! A special thank you to Hercules Lianos, Marla Coklas, and Elizabeth Ktorides, Combo Literature and History teachers 2018. ■■

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tion conveys an understanding of the relationship between the artworks and the viewer. This year our IB visual Arts HL students were only six but they managed again to fill the Theatre Lobby with outstanding exhibits. All of them were not only technically excellent but also deeply thoughtful in their personal concerns. They all dealt with different issues, from anorexia to socio political matters and they all had their own distinctive style. Alexandra Demetriades’ artworks deal with anorexia. Being a ballerina herself she has seen around her the magnitude of this problem. The following text is part of her curatorial rationale:

Visual Arts 2018 Exhibition by Sophia Soseilos, IB Visual Arts Teacher

he 2018 IB Visual Arts exhibition was held between the 19th and the 29th of March at the school’s Theatre Lobby. The participants were Alexandra Demetriades, Panagiota Grivea, George Mamidakis Venetopoulos, Thania Sbarouni and Aliki Papoutsi. The opening reception took place on the 20th of March. Many came to honor their work, family, and friends of the participants as well as faculty members of the school. IB Visual Arts consists of three components; the Process Portfolio, the Comparative Study and the Exhibition. The Exhibition is an internally examined assessment task worth only 40% of the total grade but it is in a way the most important compartment since it unfolds the psyche and the major concerns or preoccupations of the students. According to the IB rubrics the Visual Art students should display technical resolution, successful communication of ideas and synthesis of form and function. Part of the students’ task is to accompany their works with exhibition texts (which state the title, medium, size and a brief outline of the original intentions of each selected artwork) as well as curatorial rationale. The explanations need to justify the selection, arrangement and exhibition of their artworks within the designated space and reflect on how the exhibi-

“Our minds distort our mirrors.” Anorexia is a camouflage, mental and physical disorder, which blinds one from seeing themselves properly. This obsessive and constant necessity to lose weight by the refusal to eat, distorts the body in thousands of different manners. This subject is very serious in our community today and especially in the dance community, which I am a part of. Cases of dancers suffering through this sickness are frequently seen due to the stereotypical “skinny” that dancers are supposed to be. Dancers struggle and strive daily for these body types as their execution of movement is mainly judged on their physiques. All this embodies the idea of perfection, something each dancer competes to achieve. This inhuman and idealistic concept alienates all other body types as well as the initial concept of dance; the freedom, true expression and release of tension. This is the actual fundamental, powerful and exhilarating form one should strive to progress in and “perfect”. Other than offering emotional balance and individual liberation, it is also a healing method. Through this exhibition I show how movement can withdraw anorexia by presenting both perspectives of dance; the struggle but also the alleviation. Panagiota Grivea’s exhibition theme is about the multiple dimensions of time. The following text is part of her curatorial rationale: The goal of this exhibition is to reveal to the viewer the multiple dimensions of time. It explores the impact that aging has on humanity, including both physical and psychological concerns. As a teenager, I constantly struggle with the feeling that there will never be enough time for everything that I want to do. Therefore, the idea of time rushing past our world, completely independent of human control, is something that I personally relate to. Hence, I have produced a body of work that reflects time the way I see it - illustrating not only society’s interaction with the reality of aging, but also its variety of approaches to the abstractness of time. George Mamidakis Venetopoulos’ artworks deal with journeys and escapism. The following text is part of his curatorial rationale: The theme of journeys and the notion of escapism pertain to most people. Travel represents passage,

Exhibition of Î&#x2018;lexandra Demetriades

From left to right: George Mamidakis Venetopoulos, Sophia Soseilos (IB Visual Art Teacher), Alexandra Demetriades, Aliki Papoutsi, Panagiota Grivea, Thania Sbarouni, Myrto Stathaki

voyage, movement, discovery, time and space. Travelling to new and exotic places of varying cultures intensifies personal experiences to environments. It is also a form of escapism and is psychological in nature. People might contemplate a journey or they might dream about it to an imaginary land. Therefore, journeys are also a form of escapism from the routine of daily life, from the rules and restrictions that societies enforce. They allow people to detach themselves from emotional stress, anxiety and the difficulties of real situations. Thania Sbarouni’s artworks are preoccupied with socio-political and economic issues. This is part of her curatorial rationale: I’m a 17-year-old Greek in a society of turmoil. Socio-political and economical issues that affect not only my country, but the whole world, have sparked my interest. Through this exhibition, I’m expressing my concern. I was inspired by the way certain human rights are robbed from us. Through my exhibition I intend to show the negative effect of today’s issues on all social groups. My exhibition concludes with a beacon of hope; a sign for a better future. This was inspired by things going on around me but also from personal experiences. We live in a world plagued with disputes, poverty, political issues, social discrimination, and war, which cause human rights to be deprived from all

Exhibition of Τhania Sbarouni

of us. Through my work, I aimed to take my viewers on a journey that would show them the occurrences around the world that they may not be aware of, and effectively indicate the effects of these occurrences on all of us. My intention is to initially shock them, but ultimately show that there is hope for the future. Myrto Stathaki’s theme is about the notions of one feeling trapped. This is part of her curatorial rationale: I am an eighteen-year-old Greek adolescent. Due to my age I often feel trapped on a personal level because of my lack of freedom and identity and educational pressures as well as living most of my life in a country in deep economic crisis. This original feeling of being trapped evolved into my feelings for my country. For almost a decade, Greece’s debt and political corruptions led to a financial breakdown and austerity measures. These policies caused an uncontrollable destabilization within the Greek society, which has dramatically affected the everyday lives of Greek citizens. My once glorious country is now filled with disillusioned young people seeing no real future. Raised to love my country, its history, and its universally admired classical culture I am left with bitterness every time international references ironically compare all these with modern Greeks. Throughout this exhibition I will show artworks that deal with both my personally trapped feelings and how I am affected by Greek society being trapped in the current situation. These will be shown in two interconnected

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Exhibition of Panagiota Grivea

George Μamidakis Venetopoulos

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Exhibition of Μyrto Stathaki

Exhibition of Αliki Papoutsi

sub themes where artworks are not being separately placed according to those subthemes but mixed and unified. Aliki Papoutsi’s theme is about conflicting emotions. This is part of her curatorial rationale: My artworks revolve around the theme of conflicting emotions. The questions that I try to answer are: How does the internal self of an individual because overwhelming emotions and how can the individual handle them? How do the enigmas of the internal world torment a logical mind and make it battle against its own emotional self? Living as a teenage girl in Greece in the 21st century, I have witnessed several situations which have inspired me. My society is facing several problems collectively, which have an effect upon society’s members. I felt the need to reflect all the different cases of emotional battles that I see around me, as well as the one I face myself, and I did so by depicting the different stages in the emotional battles of individuals. The techniques used allow the viewers to interact with my artworks and to make connections with their own personal experiences. ■■

Mentor program Precious Creative Moments by Sophia Soseilos, IB Visual Arts Teacher

Mentor: Sophia Soseilos Mentee: Ruby Carlon, 6th Grade Student

he day was long and challenging. I was dealing with the seniors’ upcoming IB internal exam exhibition and their several documents; pending Extended Essays, due grades and deadlines. Our interesting conversations were still spinning in my head. The Academy art room was full of paintings piled on the sides, half finished artworks hanging on the easels, drawings pinned on the walls, brushes and paints placed at every station. The sharp smell of oil paints was prominent leaving a mystic touch that was combined with the dust of the dry clay coming from the sculpture area. And there she was a little smiley face with blonde hair and clean curious eyes. It was love at first sight! Spending some afternoon hours for The Mentor Program with Ruby, a bright creative 6th grader was a pure joy. The Mentor Program is offered by The Optimal Learning Program where in response to certain criteria, eligible students from grades three to nine are selected and placed next to teachers according to their interests. As mentors, we are responsible to design a “curriculum” that will challenge our chosen student, promote learning and foster creativity, innovation and critical thought. Our goal is for the student to de-

velop an idea or project that is creative and innovative based on his or hers interests. These projects were later on displayed in the Mentor Program Exhibition at our school’s theatre lobby, on the 24th of May, 2018. At the beginning I gave Ruby a crash course on the major art and design techniques; tonal values, color theory, positive/negative space and application of Elements of Art and Principles of Design. We also worked with design projects like the formation of a mandala, the design of zentagles, the technique of pointillism as well as with the creation of fonts with all their different attributes. It was a step by step progression of skills and techniques until we started working on the final piece. Ruby was extremely receptive and quick to master everything she was taught. After quick presentations she was dealing the rest on her own. Through the exploration of different art and design techniques she acquired the knowledge to create at the end a final project that reflected all her new abilities. Since she loved writing poems she wrote a few from which we chose the one to work on. Based on the poem she created an enlarged art piece where every word and font was separately designed. It was a precious and joyful journey with my talented young Ruby. I would have loved to see her progress the following years in our school but she will be leaving us, going back to America. We will definitely keep in touch. Mentee: Ruby Carlon , 6th grade student: “This year I was awarded the privilege to work with Ms. Soseilos, the IB art teacher. She was such an amazing mentor and teacher, may I even say friend. Working with her over the past few months has been such an honor. The Mentor Program was so much fun; I loved it, and am very happy with the outcome. I really enjoyed getting to work in the high school art room. There were so many interesting works of art that inspired me. This experience has helped me learn the process of elimination… and that you have to take it slow to get an amazing product. Ms. Soseilos is the best mentor that I could have imagined. While we worked hard on our presentation, we also had fun. That is one of my top priorities; to have fun and get work done. I will miss her and I will always remember her.” ■■

Ruby Carlon working on her project

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Asteroid Bennu – A Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Object by Dr. Liana Tsigaridi, Faculty, Mathematics, Math Studio Coordinator

Mentor: Dr. Liana Tsigaridi Mentee: Demetrios Economou

entoring is a two-way street. You get out what you put in. Steve Washington

The Mentor Program is a program offered to the students of ACS Athens in order to give them the opportunity to get involved in a project of their interest. The students – mentees, along with the guidance of their teachers – mentors work on a project from their favorite subject throughout the year. This year, I had the pleasure to participate in the Mentor Program as a mentor teacher. I had been lucky enough to be assigned as a mentor to Demetrios Economou, a truly charismatic student. Demetrios is the kind of mentee that every mentor would like to have. He is responsible, respectful and capable of reaching his goals needing nothing more than the proper guidance. Our mutual passion for Astronomy is what brought

us together and initiated this collaboration. Since the first time we met, Demetrios and I started building a constructive relationship by respecting and trusting each other. We met regularly, on a weekly basis, discussing Astronomy and planning our project. During our meetings we had plenty of fruitful conversations about Astronomy, Mathematics and Science. Demetrios always demonstrated his enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and explore the hidden mysteries of the Universe. After a brainstorming session, he announced me his desire to work on Asteroids, as it was a fascinating topic for him since his early childhood. Asteroids are small rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Most of them live in the main asteroid belt—a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids are leftovers from the formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago when a big cloud of gas and dust collapsed. They can be potentially very hazardous to the Earth. Even a small asteroid crash on the Earth could lead to the destruction of a whole city, while a middle-sized one could destroy humanity. In our project, we were trying to get an understanding of the energies involved in asteroids’ impacts on Earth. Demetrios himself started researching even more on asteroids and spending time on studying relevant papers about them, until he came up with a very interesting idea. It was after a couple of meetings that he was excited to announce me that he had read an article about the asteroid called Bennu. Demetrios

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was even more eager to conduct a research about this specific asteroid, because, according to NASA, there was a high possibility of it striking the Earth. Therefore, our study focused on the Bennu asteroid. Demetrios came up with all the details of this specific asteroid. He found out that Asteroid Bennu was an Apollo Group Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO). This object is larger than the Empire State Building and has a 1 in 2700 chance of striking the Earth on September 11, 2135, as NASA announced in March 2018. By calculating the energy that would be released in the case of an impact we found out that it would be around 300,000 more than that of the Hiroshima bomb! As we were approaching the presentation date, Demetrios had something new to impress me with every time we met. He made a simulation of the asteroid’s impact on Earth totally on his own. He moreover, created two posters and a brochure for the exhibition that took place on May 24 in the Atrium of ACS Athens. He made his presentation even more interesting by creating QR codes as links to our resources. Together we worked on the mathematical component of the project, as well as the astronomical one. Demetrios achieved an outstanding performance at the day of the presentation, driven by his passion and enthusiasm for Astronomy. The highlight of our meetings was our visit to the Research Center of Astronomy and Applied Mathematics Academy of Athens. There, Demetrios and I had the opportunity to meet with some of the most distinct Astrophysicists in Greece. Demetrios was very excited about this visit, as he had the chance to discuss with them, present his work and ask further questions on how to become an Astronomer. This project has been a wonderful journey through Astronomy and Mathematics. For me as a teacher, the Mentor Program was a unique professional experience! Through this program, I had the opportunity to help my mentee realize his inner passion and learn more things about his favorite field. Hopefully, I have assisted Demetrios to pursue his dreams in the future, and this is invaluable for a teacher. I strongly believe that effective mentoring can help both the mentor and the mentee to grow as learners. The outcome of this relationship could definitely have a tremendous impact on their future endeavors! By Demetrios Economou On March 23rd, 2018, NASA announced that a Near Earth Object (NEO), called asteroid Bennu, has a 1 in 2700 chance of striking in the year 2135. During the time of the announcement, I was researching topics for the mentor program. I always wondered what kind of math you need to find out those numbers, the probability of the impact, exact date of striking the Earth, so when I heard of this, I immediately chose to do the project on that asteroid. It was so exciting to find out the details concerning the asteroid and applying mathematics to find out the impact scale, under the supervision of Dr. Tsigaridi, who is an astrophysicist. During this project, I visited several places such as the

National Observatory of Athens, the Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics of Academy of Athens, and The Pnyx. My visit to The Pnyx was very impressive. In this Ancient Greek observatory, the famous ancient astronomer Meton of Athens first observed an equinox. This discovery helped him to create the Metonic Cycle which was used in the Antikythera mechanism, an Ancient Greek analogue computer used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses. Pnyx is also a UNESCO astronomical heritage site. I was very lucky to visit the Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics of Academy of Athens and was honored to meet the astronomers who were so kind to allow me to interview them. Dr. Panos Patsis is the Director of the Research Institute and is one of the most well-known experts on galaxies, while Dr. Christos Efthymiopoulos is a Director Researcher that even has an asteroid named after him. I was thrilled to meet them because ever since I was little, I always wanted to become an astronomer and wondered what this profession would look like. Dr. Patsis told me to continue studying higher mathematics and also learn programming. This way I will be able to become an astronomer one day. Luckily, Dr. Efthymiopoulos invited me to a project this summer to create a code integrating the orbit of an asteroid, maybe Bennu, considering all the effects from other major celestial bodies and other scientific effects mentioned below. During the mentor program I learned a lot of things, such as how to calculate the power of an asteroid impact, as well as enriching my vocabulary on Astronomy. Before starting the project under the supervision of Dr. Tsigaridi, I thought calculating the probability of an asteroid impacting Earth wasn’t that hard. I thought that all you needed was the mass, volume, density, speed, and orbit. However, I was proven wrong because I realized that more things were needed. I had a huge list of things to consider, such as the perihelion, aphelion, eccentricity, mean motion, MOID, Yarkovsky effect, TJupiter, etc. In addition, I even had to consider the other close flybys, such as the 2060 flyby. Apart from the things I learned about astronomy, I also improved my skills with computer graphics; I learned to make 3D animations through YouTube. In addition, I would like to mention that I learned many interesting things such as very funny ways to stop asteroids, like the “paint it white” method, or the job of a “Planetary Defense Officer” (what a cool name for a job!), which I hope to become one someday!

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Conferencing Teachers Sharing Learning Designs; Students MoodleMooting Away by Dr. Maria D. Avgerinou, Director Educational Technology & eLearning

ACS Athens’ Scholarly Presence at International Educational Technology Conferences A. #ICODL 2017

n November 2017, five ACS Athens MS and Academy Faculty and the Director of Educational Technology and eLearning presented with great success at the 9th International Conference in Open and Distance Learning (ICODL) which coincided with the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Hellenic Open University (EAP). The conference took place at the new premises of the Hellenic Open University in the center of Athens, Greece, and its theme was Learning Design in Open and Distance Learning. The panel presentation of ACS Athens focused on the scholarship of teaching (Boyer, 1990; Kern et al., 2015) as it is encouraged, supported, and practiced at ACS Athens. Boyer defines the term as the systematic reflection on the design, implementation and outcomes of teaching in a form that can be publicly reviewed, critiqued, evaluated and built upon by peers. It is interesting to note that this practice has been implemented mainly in higher education institutions.

To our knowledge, at ACS Athens we have broken new ground considering that our educators introduced the scholarship of teaching at the K-12 international school level (Avgerinou, 2016), when they first engaged in Action Research in their own classrooms, and then shared their research project outcomes with the wider public, through both their presentations at the ACS Colloquium in the Spring of 2016, and their contributions to the book “Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning Through the i2Flex Classroom Model”, edited by Dr. Avgerinou and Dr. Gialamas (2016). For the ICODL2017 session, the panelists discussed how their researching their own i2Flex(blended) classrooms had not only shaped, but also optimized the learning experiences of their students. They also elaborated on how their teaching practices were transformed as a result, and what aspects of their

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professional journeys empowered them to share their experiences with the larger community within, but also beyond the ecosystem of ACS Athens through professional development meetings, and academic publications.

Among the audience were two keynote speakers of the ICODL conference: Prof. Alan Tait (Open University, UK) and Prof. Susanne Radtke (Ulm University, Germany) who were very complimentary of the ACS Athens presentation. Prof. Tait, in particular, was impressed that we have adopted and practiced Boyer’s Framework for the scholarship of teaching in the K12. In addition, he strongly encouraged the panel to publish their work so that it can become a model for others to emulate both in Higher Education, and in the K12.

B. #MoodleMoot Greece 2017 ACS Athens had a strong presence at the first MoodleMoot Greece Conference which was held December 1st and 2nd, 2017, at the Athens University of Applied Sciences (ΤΕΙ of Athens). MoodleMoot conferences take place around the world and are dedicated to users, developers and administrators of Moodle, the open-source course management system used by many educational institutions, including ACS Athens. The main goals of the Greece MoodleMoot event was to identify and discuss how educational experiences facilitated by Moodle can empower educators to improve education in Greece and globally, and also to share key open projects that the Moodle community can get involved in. Two successful presentations were delivered by ACS Athens Faculty and Staff members for the conference track that concentrated on “Best Practices in K-12”. Dr. Maria Avgerinou presented a session titled “The Ecology and Evolution of Moodle in the K12: The case of ACS Athens” (2017) with input in the Q&A part from Ms. Mary Manos, IT Coordinator. The presentation was based on ACS Athens’ learner-centered i2Flex/ blended instructional methodology. Grounded on social constructivism, and reflecting a more inclusive

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conceptualization of the K-12 blended learning landscape, i2Flex denotes instructional blends with the purpose of independent, inquiry-based learning; and, is defined by a dynamic, thus constantly evolving interaction among such elements as time, pace, place, and mode within a flexible learning design framework (Avgerinou & Gialamas, 2016). Moodle is the learning platform that facilitates and promotes i2Flex-based learning experiences school-wide. During that presentation, Dr. Avgerinou introduced the i2Flex methodology and subsequently shared and discussed the instructional design criteria and frameworks that underpin the design and development of the ACS Athens Basic Template on Moodle. Specific reference was made to the Quality Matters (Quality Matters, 2016) course design standards and K12 rubric, the TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), and the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework (Garrison, et al., 2000). The selected features and general educational affordances of Moodle were showcased through a variety of ACS Athens courses from teaching K5, Algebra 2 Trig, and i2Flex Greek, to delivering a New Faculty Orientation Program. Teacher, student and administrator feedback was shared, and finally recommendations were advanced for further improvement of the Moodle platform as a vehicle of teaching and learning. The second session of ACS Athens under the title “Optimizing K12 Blended Teaching with Moodle: Perspectives of International Educators at ACS Athens”, was delivered by Ms. Christina Bakoyiannis, Dr. Antonis Karampelas, and Ms. Marianna Sidiropoulou (2017). Their group presentation began with an introduction of the i2Flex methodology, and then proceeded to showcase learning interventions from Science, Physics, and Greek Language Arts (Grades 6-12) as these were especially designed to be implemented through Moodle. Educators discussed how Moodle’s tools and activities could align with all three Community of Inquiry (CoI in Garrison, et al., 2000) presences (teaching, social, and cognitive); that is, how they can facilitate, foster and potentially expand such skills, and processes as feedback (including data analytics), differentiation in the classroom, communication, flexibility, assessment, reflection and metacognition, promotion of personalized, multi-modal learning experiences, etc. Data on student and faculty satisfaction with their overall i2Flex experiences was shared, while teaching recommendations and best practices were also advanced. More specifically, Ms. Bakoyiannis shared examples of her blended teaching Middle and High School Science (Grades 6 and 11), with specific focus on Environmental Science. She elaborated on how these examples connected with the Community of Inquiry Framework (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008), and presented especially selected Moodle features to powerfully illustrate how these have become the vehicles of the three CoI presences (teaching, cognitive, and social). Dr. Karampelas’ presentation concentrated on the learning design and delivery of his Grade 10 Phys-

ics class (with particular reference to Mechanics) through the i2Flex(blended) methodology. He did a remarkable job discussing the logistics of a multi-modal learning design, and revealing behind that type of design, the components of i2Flex, that is, independent, inquiry-based, flexible face-to-face learning with the meaningful support of educational media and technology (Avgerinou & Gialamas, 2016). The session concluded with Ms. Sidiropoulou’s compelling presentation of Greek Language Arts in Grades 6 through 8, with examples from her Byzantine History class (Grade 8). She too explained how she utilized the CoI framework in her instructional designs, and went on to demonstrate specific Moodle affordances that facilitate, foster, and support the teaching, cognitive, and social presences in her i2Flex class. In order to achieve a more holistic approach in representing the use of Moodle for teaching and learning at ACS Athens, four ACS Athens students, from the Elementary, Middle and High School, had volunteered

to participate in the Q&A sessions that followed both of the aforementioned presentations. Our students shared feedback regarding how they experience Moodle from their individual perspectives, and also offered specific recommendations toward the improvement of the platform for teaching and learning purposes. On the first day of the event, Prof. Demetrios Sampson, Curtain University Australia and University of Piraeus, Greece, introduced the ACS Athens faculty and staff members attending the plenary sessions to Mr. Martin Dougiamas, CEO and Founder of Moodle, where they had the opportunity to discuss future collaborations with him. On the second day, Mr. Dougiamas attended the ACS Athens presentations and engaged actively with the students during the Q&A sessions. He was particularly impressed with our students’ focused and very detailed feedback regarding Moodle’s educational affordances and future potentials! ■■ References Andrikopoulos, D., Arnold, H., Avgerinou, M.D., Grigoropoulos, J.E., Katsiyianni, M., & Prodromidi, E. (2017, December). Teacher as scholar: How engaging in action research shapes learning designs and transforms teaching practices. Panel Presentation at the 10th Annual ICODL conference, Open University of Greece, Athens, Greece. Avgerinou, M.D., & Gialamas, S.P. (Eds.). (2016). Revolutionizing K-12 blended learning through the i2Flex classroom model. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Avgerinou, M.D., & Manos, M. (2017, December). The ecology and evolution of Moodle in the K12: The case of ACS Athens. Paper Presentation at the MoodleMoot Conference, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece. Bakoyannis, C., Karampelas, A., & Sidiropoulou, M. (2017, December). Optimizing K12 Blended Teaching with Moodle: Perspectives of International Educators at ACS Athens. Paper Presentation at the MoodleMoot Conference, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece. Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, N.J.: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2008). Blended learning in Higher Education framework, principles, and guidelines. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education 2(2–3). 87–105. Kern, B., Mettetal, G., Dixson, M. D., & Morgan, R. K. (2015). The role of SoTL in the academy: Upon the 25th anniversary of Boyer’s scholarship reconsidered. Journal of the Scholarship for Teaching and Learning, 15(3), 1-14. Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108, 1017-1054. Quality Matters (2016). Rubric for K12.

ECIS InspirED Facilitating Action! by Sevasti Koniossis, Middle School Faculty, UN Day Co-Advisor and Advisor to the Service Leaders Club

he ECIS InspirED Conference, held in Vienna this past November, truly allowed for the space and time to convert inspiration to action. The conference consisted of workshops with a variety of themes that were related to issues ranging from classroom instruction, students’ socio-emotional wellness, to the overall school community. Each workshop had a facilitator who guided the participants in better understanding the issue at hand, and scaffolded the process by which the participants worked towards a comprehensive and attainable action plan. This was the first InspirED conference and it was an overall unique experience for both facilitators and workshop participants. Unlike most conferences, which are centered around speakers and experts, the facilitator’s role was not to impose any specific plan but to inspire and provide the structure and guidance needed for the educator to create an action plan that would be a best fit for their own students and educational institution. Sevi Koniossis, Middle School teacher; Rebecca L. Meyer, Middle School Principal; Dr. Peggy Pelonis, Student Affairs Dean; Chris Perakis, Learning Enhancement Programs Director; and Julia Tokatlidou, Academy Vice Principal & Director of AP & IB Diploma Programs represented ACS Athens in facilitating workshops that were directly related to their expertise and interests.

How do we encourage students to feel responsible for and engaged with their community? Facilitator: Sevi Koniossis What can we do to support Mother Tongue maintenance and development across our school community? Facilitator: Rebecca Meyer What would a community that truly supports and celebrates individuality look like? Facilitator: Peggy Pelonis What would it look like if we became a more inclusive school? Facilitator: Chris Perakis How do we move to Project-Based Learning (PBL) without disrupting the entire timetable? Facilitator: Julia Tokatlidou

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A Facilitator’s Reflection

By: Chris Perakis, Director, Learning Enhancement Programs What would it look like if we became a more inclusive school? Having the role of the facilitator and not the speaker at the InspirEd conference gave me the opportunity to listen more to the needs of the different schools, while guiding them to find their own answers as to how to proceed with their dilemmas. Thirty two participants came together from various schools, disciplines, roles, grade levels, representing their school as individuals. Others came as a TEAM to explore and ponder on this idea for their department/school. The ultimate goal was to explore what inclusive schools meant for them and their schools and work on action plans to make things happen after their return from the conference! This is a difficult task when perceptions of inclusion are so different among people, schools, cultures, but not for this dynamic group of educators who came ready to make a positive difference in their schools to benefit their students! Having two and a half days together gave us the time to get to know each other. This enabled us therefore, to ask for assistance when needed, be open about the issues were faced on a daily basis, and most importantly the ways in which we go about making this mind shift and making things happen. Everyone was a good listener who gave constructive criticism; there were no right or wrong answers because the goal was to find what was the best fit for their own schools! I was simultaneously a learner in using the It’slearning online platform (like the moodle we use at school) as well as the i2flex model to continue engaging all participants for the next few months with research, exchanging of useful ideas, processes, articles for inclusion, discuss learning support, parallel support, and our own way we have the shadow teachers to assist students in need on a one-to-one basis. Many “a-ha” moments with new discoveries and a safe environment to share and learn from each other were established. The collegiality came on surface as we even went a step beyond with continuing our collaboration. We promised that we would help each other ensure that the action plans came to fruition! I was very happy to be invited to the International School of Luxembourg to work with their learning support team and see what else could they do to support the different learning needs the students have. Sometimes we have all the answers but we need an “outsider” to come and verify that we are on the right track. The conversations continue even seven months later. Another collaboration happened last month, when two schools visited ACS Athens to see our support

services face-to-face, especially our Optimal Learning Program, Our Educational & Diagnostic Testing Center, as well as the role of the shadow teachers in school. The two colleagues from the International School of Vienna left to go back in order to start putting some of our processes in place at their school. Once again, the exchange of information, the questions asked, and what the other schools have, validate the well established programs we have in place at ACS Athens to support our students, depending on their individual differences. A couple of comments from the participants who attended the InspirEd session on Inclusion include: Thank you so much for facilitating our POP group during the recent ECIS conference. My colleagues and I were impressed with how you managed the diverse group of learners and enjoyed the resulting professional conversations. It was great connecting with other schools in similar situations and we look forward to continuing our journey together. Thanks again for an amazing workshop. Our team found it valuable and we are prepared with an action plan that will we carry out. Would it be possible to send me an electronic version of the ILP, Accommodations plan, and Shadow Teacher Handbook? Thanks again!

A Facilitator’s Reflection

By: Sevasti Koniossis, Middle School Faculty, UN Day Co-Advisor, and Advisor to the Service Leaders Club How do we encourage students to feel responsible for and engaged with their community? My workshop at the ECIS ((Educational Collaborative for International Schools) InspirED Conference consisted of educators that represented schools from Lithuania, England, and Tanzania. I brought in my own experiences from Greece. The schools generally had a very diverse perception of community service as it pertained to a school. The workshop got off to a great start after we engaged in some questions that revealed our beliefs about education. We set the groundwork for the workshop by personally reflecting on, and later discussing, what community service looks like, our own experiences with community service, and challenging ourselves by asking how our beliefs can match our actions. This was, after all, not a theoretical conference, but one of improving practices, and ultimately creating action plans to be implemented. Attendees got the chance to really identify their “needs” in regards to encouraging students to feel responsible for and engaged with their communities. Through affinity mapping, participating educators were able to see the general overlapping categories amongst themselves in the shared, though somewhat diverse, vision. This exposed the common obstacles or problems that emerge when creating community

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service engagements with students. To convert from theory to practice, participants were asked to choose the obstacle they felt most reflected their own situation and develop the next steps to overcoming it, incorporating a timeline to get this accomplished, resources needed, deciding who is responsible for each component and the remaining who/what/where/ when questions. We used Civic Service Through Schools: An International Perspective as a mentor text to guide us into seeing what success really looks like around the world. Reading about a variety of community service and service learning engagements that had genuine purpose was a source of inspiration, interpretation, and application. The article further addressed the theoretical backbone to these service learning opportunities, and proposed strategies to create meaningful opportunities that take into account the unique school profile, culture, and as well as community at hand. Through our in-depth discussion and analysis, we applied what we read to the obstacles we identified and developed solutions. Reading well compounded research gave participants the right language to articulate what they have always felt was true regarding community service and service learning. The difference between community service and service learning was made clear, and all decided that the latter was superior because it perceives service to others as a moral obligation and connects to students’ education. The second day of the conference began with the establishments of the essential agreements and checkin dates for the action plan’s implementation. Participants focused on the actual action planning, having slept on the problem and solutions brainstormed the day before. Participants were guided to create action plans that were specific, realistic and attainable, results oriented, relevant, and time-bound. Intermittently, during individual planning, participants had some one-to-one time with me to review their action plan and provide suggestions or ideas to move it forward. Some of the key factors that I specifically addressed were: focusing on a need within their school’s local and national community, establishing collaborative partnerships with organizations already on the field, and distinguishing between direct and indirect service opportunities. Time was set apart to listen to each other’s action plans and identify key takeaways, thoughts, as well as provide ideas and suggestions clothed in “I wonder” statements (if CLC comes to mind, you are right! Critical Friends Group strategies were used throughout this workshop! Thank you Dave Nelson for being a great mentor in all of this!). All participants proposed creative, ideal, but also realistic action plans that were beneficial to both students and the community. A librarian from Tanzania aimed to create community service experiences in which girls in Tanzania would experience short-term random acts of kindness that would allow them to reflect on the joy one receives from helping others, in order to lead into a long-term service learning opportunity that would help underprivileged Tanzania girls

Participants assessing key obstacles to effective school-related community service in Ms. Koniossis’ workshop

receive an education. A community service coordinator from a school in England, though it had already set infrastructure for service learning, purposed to incorporate meaningful connections to the people they are already serving, as well as allow for reflection and evaluation by the service recipient(s). Teachers from Lithuania wanted to give voice to difficult issues that no one wants to talk about regarding mental health, and decided to expand their efforts off of their campus in order to serve their community. These action plans relinquished control to students to allow them to be a part of the implementation of the action plan. Participating educators pledged that they would not create service opportunities that promoted a patronizing attitude towards the service recipients, but would allow the service to be evaluated by those we are serving. All of us acknowledged that relationships matter between teachers, students, and service recipients. I am extremely thankful to ECIS and ACS Athens for letting me part of such an inspiring experience! â&#x2013; â&#x2013;

Ms. Perakis and Ms. Meyer in Vienna, InspirED Workshops, Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS) Conference, Fall 2017

2018 NESA Conference by Dora Andrikopoulos, Faculty of Mathematics Mathematics Coordinator JK-12

ne of this year’s highlights was the 2018 Educators NESA Conference in March.

The flexible nature of the i2Flex methodology has continued to inspire me to dig deeper into my Action Research on conceptual understanding and look for ways not only to engage my students in mathematics through content and curriculum, but also to empower them and give them the skills and knowledge to pursue their interests and their passions. In the course of my research, I came across Project-Based Learning and that opened the door wide open to a whole new world of diverse experiences and challenges. I decided to share the processes involved in Project-Based Learning and to showcase the work of the students with the presence of the students and their parents at the 2018 Educators NESA Conference. The title of the presentation “Setting Learning on Fire through Project-Based Learning” An Overview of the Presentation Project-Based Learning involves all of what is supported by the i2Flex Methodology and more: Research, Inquiry, Exploration, Experimentation, Creativity, Analysis, Evaluation and Reflection. It gives students the opportunity to work with their passions and more so to believe in their passions. The processes are based on:

NCTM PRINCIPLES-TO-ACTIONS Addressing Aspect 1 8 MATHEMATICS TEACHING PRACTICES The curriculum presented to students is in alignment with the COMMON CORE STANDARDS THE PROCESS ◉◉ Goal Setting Teaching Practice 1 Clear goals were established to focus learning. Students need a structured set of guidelines to help them focus on their desired achievement. ◉◉ Designing the Assessment Rubric Teaching Practice 2 Meaningful discussions were facilitated. We spoke about what does a good project look like? What criteria should be included in the rubric? What should the achievement level descriptors state? The student’s goal was to design a rubric that would assess their project accurately. Students were assisted through this activity as it is a complex task. They were then presented with a simplified version of the rubric that is used in the IB Internal Assessments. There were many similarities between the two versions, and we finally agreed to use the one that is used for the IB Internal Assessments. ◉◉ Planning and Designing the Model Teaching Practice 3 Students were thinking about what tools and materials they would need to create their projects, what data they would need to generate, what resources to use, and so on. Students implemented tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving. ◉◉ Creating the Model Teaching Practice 4 Whilst working on their creations, students were simultaneously completing a working template. They were creating and solving their own problems based on each mathematical concept that was chosen to be addressed, while always refer-

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ring to their models. Students were using and making connections among mathematical representations. ◉◉ Flexibility Teaching Practice 5 This flexible model supported students individually and collectively with opportunities to engage productively in learning mathematics. Students had the freedom to work in any area of the school they felt appropriate to complete their project. They were empowered and in charge of their work. They were the architects of their own learning. This also gave me space to work with individuals who needed assistance with creating relevant and meaningful problems and writing out correct and accurate mathematical procedures.

My Students came to share their work at the NESA

◉◉ Peer Evaluations Teaching Practice 6 The Peer Evaluations session gave students the opportunity to pose purposeful questions and to advance their reasoning. They rotated from project to project, sharing their work and giving each other constructive feedback on small posters. Students then spent time reflecting on their feedback and thinking of ways to improve their work and take it to the next level successfully. ◉◉ Self-Assessment Teaching Practice 7 Students spent another session engaged in analyzing and evaluating their own work. They assessed their projects using the rubric and then answered questions on their findings and conclusions. They wrote about the limitations they faced, the level of difficulty of their created problems, and the accuracy of their measurements and information. They were building procedural fluency from their conceptual understanding.

Students showcasing their work

◉◉ Final Product-Presentation Teaching Practice 8 The final stage was the project presentations, also used as a summative assessment. The level of sophistication of the projects gave sufficient evidence of student thinking and how well the mathematical concepts had been understood. It enabled me to assess individual progress and to determine if and how instruction needed to be differentiated.

Maria Kourtaki, presenting her project

The next phase of the presentation was the Gallery Walk. Participants were invited to walk from project to project and make comments on small posters using post-its. They were asked to comment on their observations and thoughts; concerns or questions and make suggestions. Students were proud to share with the audience one or two comments that impressed them and felt would have really helped them reach their final goal.

Alexander Eliades and Daphne Stamou

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Self Reflection-Transformation I spent a few minutes sharing my transformation as a teacher and scholar throughout these incredible experiences. “I have become more specific when assigning tasks. I allow more time for activities, designing, creating, peer collaboration self-assessment and evaluation. I do my best to individualize learning and to differentiate my instruction. I take risks. I trust the process more by empowering my students. I have become more patient and a better listener-inspired by Eleanor Duckworth who has said” “The more I’m interested in what the students are thinking, the more interested they are in their thinking” We conclude through our experiences that Project-Based Learning ◉◉ Is an effective means of developing mindsets and math practices ◉◉ Strengthens problem solving and critical thinking skills ◉◉ Enhances conceptual understanding in Mathematics ◉◉ Cultivates diverse experiences ◉◉ Helps individualize learning ◉◉ Guides differentiated instruction ◉◉ Makes learning meaningful Towards the end, participants were asked to share their answers to five Reflection questions. ◉◉ Can we assess conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, problem solving and critical thinking skills accurately through Project-Based Learning? ◉◉ How valuable might student involvement be in generating an assessment rubric and reflection questions? ◉◉ In what ways can we as educators utilize student-designed projects to individualize learning and to differentiate our instruction? ◉◉ Do you implement similar or different processes? ◉◉ Other comments /suggestions Short videos of the presentation https://drive.google.com/…/13QSWQ3vlreGSLticIIRiLnhFi…/view… https://drive.google.com/…/1HZ5Mj9i7Y61Ywo5bZ2Feo7KSu…/view… ■■

John Papadopoulos, fine tuning his presentation

character at an early age. We demonstrated the use of advisories as a tool for transforming community service into service learning. Presenters’ Reflections: The presentation at the NESA Spring Educators Conference on the ACS Athens Middle School collaborative effort was grounded on the principle of ethos. Ethos is a guiding principle that is founded on character development and can characterize our communities when it is integrated and portrayed by our individual and collection actions. It is thus with the involvement of the learning community which includes administrators, teachers, and students, who collaboratively reach out to the broader community in which they live and have a firm belief in the development of empathy, that this experience can be developed. “Ethos Education Through Collaborative Leadership” focused on that community building through a presentation of the ACS Athens Middle School case study.

NESA Spring Educators Conference 2018 by Christina Bakoyannis, Sevasti Koniossis, Middle School Faculty and Rebecca Meyer, Middle School Principal

Ethos Education through Collaborative Leadership: An ACS Athens Middle School Case Study

articipants in our workshop gained insight into the ways in which ethos education founded on service, can enrich students and educators with character development, global citizenship, compassionate leadership skills, as well as forge meaningful bonds with the local community. Specific strategies, including the use of the Moodle online platform, that can make service learning an integral part of a school curriculum and values were demonstrated. Everyone who attended witnessed the ways in which a shared vision and passion for service among teachers and administrators can inspire students and empower, as well as unite, an entire school community! Christina Bakoyiannis, Sevi Koniossis, and Rebecca Meyer provided a service learning model based on the work of the ACS Athens Middle School in order to propose strategies and skills that could be applied to other schools. We specifically focused on U.N. Day and the rich integration of content learning as related to service, the visits to the elderly home as a means of connecting a school to the local community, and the Service Leaders Club as a model for engaging students in service and opportunities to develop empathy and

Christina Bakoyannis, Middle School Faculty: The projects developed through the elderly home visits, the Service Leaders Club, and all the Action Plans developed around the UN Sustainable Development Goals brought about a result that was unique to ACS Athens. The common thread that bridged all this work together, given the time available through advisory, was the link between service and the learning process and hence the link between the student and the community. Through this process of exploration and questioning, students were guided to ask themselves these questions: What is the issue? So what? Why is this issue? And now what? What can we do? Students explored issues and created action plans, specifically around the UN Sustainable Development Goals, that led to many creative ideas that incorporated a sense of care for people and their environment. It is only when we take our students through such processes that they can become “architects of their own service”. I consider it a privilege to observe and guide students through learning opportunities which they embark on with genuine and sincere attempts to contribute to issues that surround them. On the other hand, it is another privilege to be able to work collaboratively with colleagues towards that goal. Sevasti Koniossis, Middle School Faculty: My colleagues and I shared about the Middle School’s committed service trips to the elderly home in our local community, UN Day activities that lay the groundwork for service learning, and the Service Leaders Club which provides opportunities for students to participate in outreaches and volunteer in various ways. The participants were moved by our efforts and the students’ genuine hearts of empathy and compassion. Sharing our service learning model at the NESA conference, however, was not just about reflecting on best practices. There are many educators and administrators throughout the world who have under-

stood the significance that character development plays and want to engage students with the needs of their community, as well as develop service learning. Because each school is very unique, these type of programs need to be created with the specific school in mind. The type of service created must reflect the needs of the specific community in which the school is located in, as well as engage the strengths of the specific student and teacher body. We demonstrated the tools by which we tie service together at the ACS Athens Middle School in order to provide a cohesive and meaningful service learning model. A special focus was given to the use of advisory time to allow students to develop their own plans for service, provide time for reflective writing, and incorporate the necessary background learning so that students understand the purpose of the service. The use of the Moodle online platform as an overall component of our i2flex methodology was also a critical component of our presentation. Sharing at NESA with Ms. Bakoyiannis and Ms. Meyer helped me better understand the significance of collaboration in providing the infrastructure and implementation of a well developed program. This is a learning and a growing experience for us all, but the support we provide each other empowers us to overcome obstacles and make progress. It is a team effort! Rebecca Meyer, Middle School Principal:

Ms. Bakoyannis, Ms. Meyer, and Ms. Koniossis co-presenting an ACS Athens Middle School Case Study titled “Ethos Education through Collaborative Leadership” at the NESA Spring Educators Conference in Athens, March 2018.

Being able to present with Middle School faculty members Ms. Bakoyannis and Ms. Koniossis was a rewarding experience. Many of the professional development and educational conference opportunities that I have attended are only presented by either a teacher, administrator, or educational consultant. I believe it was powerful to model that successful service learning and leadership within a school environment has to be collaborative in nature. When students see that all elements are interconnected I believe that is when true learning outside the walls of the school building can take place. ■■ MS teachers and administrators collaborate through their presentation on the ACS Athens Middle School Case Study centered on service learning at the NESA Spring Educators Conference in Athens, March 2018

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ACS Athens educators gather for a group shot an the end of the NESA Spring Educators Conference in Athens, MarchApril 2018

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Athens inclusive learning paradigm for unaccompanied refugee minors; Maria Avgerinou, Ph.D. and Julia Tokatilidou offered their experience in creating the New Faculty Orientation Program at ACS Athens – a successful blend of the physical and digital through a unique faculty on-boarding platform.

Even more notable was to see the faces of ACS Athens students who joined in the opening day’s extended keynote and “World Café” protocol to engage the over 450 participants in dialogue around innovations, opportunities and transformational learning, featuring a panel of specialists: Dr. David Gleason, Consulting Psychologist and author of At What Cost; Eequbal Hassim, Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education; and Donna Orem, President of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). The context of the morning was set with a short movie, featuring NESA graduates, now in their twenties, reflecting on their educational experiences in NESA school, our very own Gaith Kalai, ACS class of 2011 alum, graced the viewers with his insights. That same day and in person, nine of our ACS Athens students confidently engaged with educators and administrators from the conference to share their reactions, thoughts, and ideas for education and development of the future. It was especially exciting to hear comments from several educators with reactions such as, “Wow, that’s a great addition to the process, students have never been involved at this level before.” A special thank you to the real stars: Mehin Abbasova, Marianthi Bitsikas , Odysseas Digbassanis, Artemis Mitropoulou, Dimitris Pantazis, Lydia Piniros , Marina Polios, Maria Anna Sampson, and Elizabeth Thornton.

ACS Athens was recognized as a Gold Member Sponsor for harnessing the technological strengths of its campus to provide support for the specialist speakers in their sessions throughout the six day event. Within two of the break-out sessions ACS Athens faculty and administrators shared two innovative initiatives: Julia Tokatilidou and Angela Chamosfakidis impressed the region with the Youth to Youth Initiative – an ACS

Finally, ACS Athens was able to not only draw from the vast wealth of speakers and networking of the conference with our own attendees, but also benefit from collaborating with some of its specialists. As a follow-up to the conference, Dr. David Gleason spent the day with faculty and administrators on our campus to share several of his findings from his latest book At What Cost, in which he outlines a compelling case of the changing nature of education around the world. Presenting to the ACS Athens faculty, Dr. Gleason outlined the rise of “hyper schooling” and situations in which “anxiety, disillusionment and depression emerge, sometimes with devastating outcomes, as conflicts between ever-increasing school expectations and students’ developmental capacities persist.” Building from Dr. Gleason’s message, the ACS com-

The Reach of ACS Athens Professional Development celebrating with NESA’s 50th Anniversary by David Nelson, Coordinator of Professional Development and Growth at ACS Athens and serving member of NESA’s Professional Development and Growth Committee

CS Athens engages in professional development and growth with colleagues from around the world, constantly sharing ideas to improve practice. This year, one of our school’s most valuable resources of collaboration, the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA), celebrates its 50th Year of bringing international schools together. Led by Executive Director Madeleine Hewitt, NESA brought its Fall Leadership Conference to Athens this October to celebrate its golden anniversary and ACS Athens was there in full support to share in the professional development.

munity will engage in ongoing professional development to discover even more ways to provide developmentally appropriate support for all of our students. ACS Athens is truly making an impact on education, not only within the walls of our school and local area, but also regionally and globally. We want to thank the leaders of NESA for staying true to their mission of helping to “create dynamic, collaborative professional relationships that transcend current barriers and boundaries in order to maximize student learning in member schools” especially as we at ACS Athens hold true to our vision to “challenge all students to realize their unique potential: academically, intellectually, socially, and ethically –to thrive as responsible global citizens and architects of their own learning.” A special thank you to the following for helping to make this year’s NESA such a success: Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, ACS Athens Presdient; Dr. Peggy Pelonis, Dean of Academic and Student Affairs; Jim Koulyras, AV Specialist; Mary Manos, IT Specialist; and Evi Evloyias, Wider Circle representative to NESA. ■■

ented, left-brained school which has systematically promoted linear, logical, recall-based thinking, has failed to address the full potential of such important skills as creative thinking and problem solving. Thus, educators have to face the demand for VL training more rigorously than in the past. They have to start taking systematic steps towards the direction of introducing the life-skill of VL to their teaching” (p. 32).

Destination Çukurova University (Turkey): The Visual Literacy Index Meets the Art Department by Dr. Maria D. Avgerinou, Director, Educational Technology & eLearning

The world is currently on the threshold of a new status quo—the hegemony of the image. Avgerinou (2009)

lmost two decades ago, Dr. Avgerinou, the Editor-in-Chief or the Journal of Visual Literacy, a theorist and a prominent researcher in the field, strongly advocated the need for Visual Literacy (VL) training. It was becoming more than evident that since VL skills were not innate, educators had to be specifically trained in order to understand, but also to communicate through visuals, as well as to think and learn via, and with them (Avgerinou, 2001). She argued that “some years ago, VL skills were considered as students’ future needs. Today, that future is our present: The communication and information revolution has brought about a rather imperialistic in nature, visual culture. Those “future” needs are already here, undoubtedly imperative; moreover, they cannot be fulfilled solely on what the verbal-oriented, left- brained schooling and society has to offer (Pink, 2006). For instance, it is more than obvious that the way the mind is conditioned to think in the verbal-ori-

After all, she continued, “VL has been identified as the essential literacy by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. With the development of Web 2.0, it is particularly important that VL be brought into new teaching methods via teacher training (Begotray, 2002); but also that schools focus on helping students acquire the skills necessary to navigate, evaluate, and communicate with visual information. Jakes (2007) reminds us that students will create content, including visual content, with or without schools. Successful schools will take advantage of this interest and the technological mastery of today’s student, and will seek methodologies and opportunities for incorporating VL instruction into the everyday curriculum” (ibid). In response to the 21st Century framework, many schools and universities around the world have now embraced and further acted upon the call for VL training and its underlying rationale. With that in mind, earlier in 2018, Dr. Maria Avgerinou was invited to deliver both a keynote presentation and a full day workshop on the critical topic of VL and its assessment, at the “Research in Art” Symposium, organized by the Fine Art Education Department, Çukurova University, in Adana, Turkey (April 11-14). Titled “The VL Index: A 20-year Research Journey”, Dr. Avgerinou’s session was delivered in English (with live translation in Turkish), and was well attended by graduate students, professors and researchers whose work and research focus on the confluence of art with visual literacy. The session began with a detailed presentation of Dr. Avgerinou’s continuing research engagement with the assessment of the Visual Literacy skills through multiple applications of her Visual Literacy (VL) Index (Avgerinou, 2007; Avgerinou & Ericson, 1996), that is, the only research-based instrument that has been designed to assess the VL skills. The presentation then moved on to sharing and discussing results generated from several international research studies (Japan, US, Indonesia, Germany, Brazil, Turkey, etc.) that have utilized the VL Index as the framework for their own assessments. The session concluded with the administration of the VL Index for interested participants. Through the ensuing discussion it was apparent that the Index was well received, and its impact on, and implications for potential research projects of the Department were especially highlighted. As a result, a Turkish version of the VL Index was offered to be developed by the Art Department professor Dr. Nimet Keser and her assistants, within 2018. Indeed, translation and pilot testing are currently underway. Godspeed and …. Teşekkür ederim!

ETHOS • FALL 2018 References Avgerinou, M.D. (2009). Re-viewing visual literacy in the “bain-d’-images” era. TechTrends, 53(2), 28-34. Avgerinou, M.D. (2007). Towards a visual literacy index. Journal of Visual Literacy, 27(1), 29-46. Avgerinou, M. (2001). Towards A visual literacy index. In R.E. Griffin, V.S. Williams, & L. Jung (Eds.) Exploring the visual future: Art design, science & technology (pp. 17-26). Loretto, PA: IVLA. Avgerinou, M., & Ericson, J. (1996). Debes’ Hierarchy: A Springboard for Assessing Visual Literacy Skills? In T. Velders (Ed.) Proceedings of the 4th International Research Symposium on visual/verbal literacy (pp. 23-26). Deventer, Holland. Dr. Avgerinou with Profs. Keser and Viviente

From the Keynote Speaker Recognition ceremony

Visual Literacy TestTaking in Action

TheTheory &theResearch ETHOS • FALL 2018 • THE THEORY AND THE RESEARCH

Academic Articles from ACS Athens Community of Learners Letter from the editor

By Dr. Maria Avgerinou Lead Researcher Director, Educational Technology & eLearning

ery similarly to what is the case in Higher Education, yet rather remarkably for a K12 institution, at ACS Athens we do not separate teaching from researching. Our faculty considers both endeavors as equally important. In fact, they even go a step further so as to conduct research in their own classrooms, and then share outcomes and best practices with the wider community through a variety of venues and platforms. In other words, ACS Athens faculty act as scholars, and their scholarship of teaching (Boyer, 1990) is put in action when their work is “public, open to critical appraisal, and in a form that other members of the scholarly community can use” (Price, 2016). Examples of their published or unpublished work (Avgerinou & Gialamas, 2015a; Avgerinou, 2016) may include conducting peer reviews for academic journals, publishing articles, chapters, creative works, and/or books; serving as education consultants in the industry, or as leaders in professional associations; giving professional development presentations inside or outside the school; developing and publishing a new teaching/assessment method; mentoring students; substantially revising courses; etc. In this section, we are proud and honored to put forward a selection of research-based work that has been authored by ACS Athens faculty representing all three schools. Topics range from Mindfulness in Physical Education (E. Karatopouzi), and Design Thinking (T. Newton) in the Elementary Classrooms, to the Importance of

Student Feedback in OLP settings (Z. Karatza), the Educational Use of Theater Performance in Greek Language Arts (M. Sidiropoulou), the Significance of Inquiry-Based Instruction in Foreign Language (C. Rocha), and, last but not least, to the Role of Ethics in 21st Century Organizations (J.E. Grigoropoulos). Each of these articles is a true manifestation of the school’s commitment to offering the best fit educator to its student population. After all, if we strive for our student graduates to have developed such qualities as being knowledgeable, inquirers, risk-takers, thinkers, reflective, open-minded, and communicators (ACS Athens Website), then shouldn’t our faculty mirror and model those qualities? Enjoy reading!

References ACS Athens Website (2018). The portrait of an ACS Athens graduate. Available at http://www.acs.gr/graduate-profile/ Avgerinou, M.D. (2016). Colloquium 2016 snapshots of i2Flex: Teacher/Author talks. Ethos, 28-29. Avgerinou, M.D., & Gialamas, S. (2015a, Winter). Innovation in education-Creating new knowledge from the i2Flex classroom: ACS Athens educators at the 2015 international conference in open and distance learning. Ethos, 44-47. Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Price, C. (2016, June 2nd). Faculty Scholarship. Boyer’s series: Identifying scholarship in action. Research Center: University of Phoenix. Available at https://research.phoenix. edu/blog/boyer’s-series-identifying-scholarship-action

Mindfulness in Physical Education

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Efthimia Karatopouzi, Physical Education Teacher, Elementary School

ummary People everywhere are suffering from mental and emotional stress, physical pain, disease and the suffering seems to begin at younger and younger ages. Depression has been occurring at progressively younger ages since the early part of the twentieth century and today it is a problem of epidemic proportions. Mindfulness is not a magic state of mind. It is a natural human ability to inhabit one’s body, mind, soul and experience with openness and receptivity. It allows one to see beyond her or his fear, anger, and desire for things to be different. Mindfulness practice is the practice of clear-seeing. It is about rubbing off the dirt from one’s glasses of the way of seeing things so we can see the world as it actually is. Learning to be mindful of one’s thoughts is a key to My professional approach focuses on developing Mindfulness in Physical Education (PE) classes. For almost a year now I have been running a pilot program called MBS (Mind-Body-Soul) with my Elementary School classes. The purpose of the program is to motivate, inspire and engage children in physical activity in a mindful way. In this article, I present the program, and share its preliminary results. Key words: Physical education, fundamental movements, Breathing exercise –health-motivation-Themed storytelling, playing. Introduction In a world full of distraction and focused on materialism, children are brought up in their everyday life through computers, TV, digital devices, when at the same time they should be learning first from the adults (parents, teachers) how to get their inside world stronger and keep it healthy, how to build up self esteem, confidence and empathy, how to exercise and engage their body in movement. As a teacher –educator I feel responsible about all this. I feel that through my position I need to do something different when teaching students. This is why I have decided to implement Mindfulness in the classroom. Mindfulness is the opposite of mindlessness. It means waking up out of autopilot and ‘taking the steering wheel’ of our attention again. We practice mindfulness by maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and the surrounding environment. Mindfulness also involves non-judgment, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings with the attitude of an impartial witness — without believing them or taking them personally (https://mrsmindfulness.com/). Mindfulness in the PE Classes Physical education is a very exciting job and has a lot of different ways it can be taught. Nevertheless, when everyone works together to promote physical literacy and the development of fundamental movement skills, we can ensure that every child can build the confidence and competence they need to be successful in life.

Research shows different activities have quite specific mental effects which can actually grow the brain. So, imagine what can happen in a year of mindfulness motivation, motor skills and exercise; how would students from early childhood and up to 12th grade develop their Mind –Body –Soul (MBS) (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The MBS Program

The key method to teach MBS in a mindful way is Imagination, Breathing Themed Role-playing, Biofeedback, music, and rhythm. “Mindfulness knows the impermanent nature of each breath. It knows any and all thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and impulses as they arise in and around and outside each and any breath. For mindfulness is the knowing quality of awareness, the core property of mind itself” (Kabat-Zinn, 2005, p. 7). Furthermore, stories are how we come to know, understand and communicate what we experience and what we believe is possible. Stories can, and do, change the world. Teachers can, and do, change the world, a child’s world, a student’s world, the world of the classroom and the school (Rocco, 2013). A few months ago, I decided to implement an MBS Pilot program in my Elementary PE classes. Through implementing this program, I am not seeking students’ perfect movements, but I am trying to make children think before and after the exercise, I am trying to make the children improve themselves mindfully. My main cause is to make children understand from a young age that taking part in group and in team playing is a healthy, fun, mindful approach to have a good time with their friends and classmates. Mindfulness in PE Classes: The MBS Program Mindful Mind- Body-Soul (MBS) program is a Mindful Pilot Program that I run with my Elementary School classes. The program provides self-esteem through themed creativity relaxation techniques such as breathing together in class in a shape of a sun, meditation in a imagination form (e.g. imagining when breathing some action images), mindful listening through guided imagination. The MBS pilot program is designed in a way to show the love and respect for every child, individually and in groups. The aim of

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this program is to develop an attitude towards being active physically and at the same time build within the kids the mindful way as a way of life. The MBS program contains the following fundamental movements: ◉◉ ◉◉ ◉◉ ◉◉

Working mindful exercises in a circle. Mindful in free exploration. Role-themed, mindful storytelling fundamental movement. Music –Rhythm, mindful motor skills.

All directions and their associated movements are clear so that they children are supported toward understanding why and how we do what we do. The goal here is to keep a happy, mindful class where the students respond to whatever is happening with respect for their peers.

The MBS program has a positive impact not only on students’ healthy living but also on their academic skills, because the students experience getting multiple types of information in a very short amount of time, which helps their brain growth. It is recommended that this program needs to be started from the low Elementary grades and go through 12th grade as a new way of growing the seed of mindfulness in students. The most important preliminary result of this pilot program after 8 months of practice, is that the program is particularly welcome, and well observed by the teachers and most important by the children. Children have got in a state of exercising in a mindful way, learning how to breath, think and imagine. This comes in support of our original hypothesis that mindfulness in physical activity has a great impact in children’s life’s as it balances their three very important elements: Mind, Body, and Soul.

Bibliography Alderman, B. L., Olson, R. L., Brush, C. J., & Shors, T.J. (2016). MAP training: combining meditation and aerobic exercise reduces depression and rumination while enhancing synchronized brain activity. Translational Psychiatry, 6, e276, 1-9. Davidson, R.J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D., Santorelli, S.F., Urbanowski, F., Harrington, A., Bonus, K., Sheridan, J.F. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 564-570.

Devcich, D. A., Rix, G., Bernay, R., & Graham, E. (2017). Effec tiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Program on School Children’s Self-Reported Well-Being: A Pilot Study Comparing Effects With An Emotional Literacy Pro gram. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 33(4), 309-330. Holt,

R. W., & Cottone, R. (2014). Mindfulness: An over view for human service professionals. Journal of Human Services, 34, 52-69.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005). Coming to our senses. New York: Hyperion.

Mallach, A. (2017, December 12). The neuroscience of exercise, mindfulness and the brain.Available online at: http://pimediaonline.co.uk/science-tech/the neuroscience-of-exercise-mindfulness-and-the-brain/ What is mindfulness (and what does it mean to you?) (n.d.). https://mrsmindfulness.com/what-is-mindfulness/

Rechtschaffen, D. (2016). The mindful education workbook. New York, London: Norton. Rechtschaffen, D. (2014). The way of mindful education. New York, London: Norton.

Rix, G., & Rix, N. (2018). Impact Evaluation: Pause, Breathe, Smile school-based mindfulness programme: professional development for Canterbury teachers and classroom implementation. Available online at https://mindfulnesse ducation.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PBS-in-Canter bury-FINAL-report-2017.docx.pdf

Tomporowski, P.D., McCullick, B., Pendleton, D.M., & Pesce, M. (2015). Exercise and children’s cognition: The role of exercise char acteristics and a place for metacognition. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 4(1), 47-55.

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Snapshot: A Look into a 2 Grade Design Time Project

Tabitha Newton, Faculty, Elementary School

urricane Maria came, fierce as she was, and devastated the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. She wiped away their power grids, their houses, their belongings, and left the people to rebuild their world. As someone who has witnessed and experienced dozens of hurricanes, I empathized with them. I wanted to help and fortunately for me the answer appeared one day on my desk. Design thinking has many uses and benefits, and for my purpose, showed me a way to achieve my goal. But what does the term mean? Why was it the answer I had been looking for? According to Harvard’s Teaching and Learning Lab (2018) “Design thinking is a mindset and approach to learning, collaboration, and problem solving. In practice, the design process is a structured framework for identifying challenges, gathering information, generating potential solutions, refining ideas, and testing solutions.” In many ways, this process makes students and participants engineers of their own learning. To a great stroke of luck, a Design Thinking (or Design Time, as we call it at ACS Athens) handbook was delivered in person to my room. The handbook had been created by ACS’ own Dr. Maria Avgerinou and Ms. Leda Tsoukia based on a previous design time project called Hug-A-Paw: a wonderful endeavor meant to raise awareness and money for animal shelters in the region of Attica. This project too was student-led and showed how the process can create unique solutions for a problem.

Following the D School of Stanford’s guidelines (2010), there are five steps (Figure 1) in the design thinking process; the first of which is Empathy. It is the attachment piece. The part that makes what you are doing worth doing in the first place. Before I could begin the process I needed to involve my second graders and this meant allowing them to decide if we wanted to take on the challenge.

Figure 1. D School’s Five Phases of the Design Process (2010).

In my classroom, design time is on Friday afternoons and is a democratic process. I act as a facilitator and a mediator, but my ideas and wishes do not, and should not, alter the process. This led to my class having an impromptu lesson on hurricanes and Puerto Rico. After the lesson, the class was allowed to vote on whether we could help them or if we should find a new challenge. The consensus was one sided: we would help. Empathize We now had a challenge: it was time to empathize. “It (empathy) is your effort to understand the way they do things and why, their physical and emotional needs, how they think about world, and what is meaningful to them” (D School of Stanford, 2010). In order to fully empathize, we had to see from another’s point of view. This involved looking at torn apart Puerto Rico and imaging ourselves there.

Defining Stage In groups, students developed a list of ways we could help Puerto Rico based on what they needed. This list included clothes, books, school supplies, food, etc. We then came together as a whole to make a master list. My role here was simple. I wrote what was asked of me by students and then when needed, I explained pointed out difficulties and realities of what they were asking. For instance, if we collected furniture to send to Puerto Rico, we would need a place to keep it, a way to get it there, and someone to get the pieces of furniture to people. This section of the process is the defining stage. This is where we define how we are going to meet our challenge. Ideate After several rounds of votes and discussions, we decided our best option was to send money to Puerto Rico. Money can be used in various ways and support various needs. This lead us into the ideate stage. “Ideation is your chance to combine the understanding you have of the problem space and people you are designing for with your imagination to generate solution concepts.” (D School of Stanford, 2010). For this part, students read research on successful fundraising ideas in groups. Again, we made a list of each group’s choice and voted on which strategy we wanted to use. It was a clear cut decision. We were going to tape teachers to a wall. Prototype Stage Thus began the proptype stage; the longest of our stages. It was in this stage that students created a to do list for themselves. As always, we started off in small groups, chosen by the students, and then compiled a master list together. In order to achieve our goals, we separated the ‘to do’ list into four sections based on similarities. The students then placed themselves in

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their final groups.

The final groups chose one of our to do list sections and completed all of the items. This was a long process as it required justification, voting, discussions, and creating examples. As an example, one group created flyers to hang in the school. Each member of that group created an example. The team then voted on which flyer or two flyers they thought would be best for our tape the teacher to the wall fundraiser. They would then redo the chosen poster to enhance it and then present it to our whole class for approval.

While this took the longest time to complete, it is also the time when students developed closer relationships and learned how to disagree politely. This is the time where students produced their own creations and proudly showed them with an explanation for their thought process. “Design thinking forces students to keep their minds open, to try out lots of ideas early in the process before they let their egos or emotions get too invested in just one.” (Lahey, 2017). There was ownership of their work and each student brought a new perspective.

Testing Stage The final stage of our process was hands down the most fun. Our test was also our fundraiser. Usually we would do a test to see if our solution would work or if we needed to tweak something before final presentation. We didn’t have that luxury. Before the event began, students chose jobs and roles to fill during the event. They explained how they wanted the event to go and I assisted minimally in building their vision. So the morning of our event, we cut tape, made name tags, and prepared for our big moment. It was a success. “The Test mode is when you solicit feedback, about the prototypes you have created, from your users and have another opportunity to gain empathy for the people you are designing for” (D School of Stanford, 2010). We did not raise the 1,500.00 Euros goal the students had set for themselves but we were able to appreciate our hard work. They were proud of the close to 1,000 Euros they had raised. Our feedback was positive, and so were the comments on their clever design project. It allowed them to meet their challenge and they were able to send money to a charity they had chosen to support the work in Puerto Rico. Conclusion Design thinking prompts students to think differently to find solutions for a problem that is not their own. The process that goes along with this problem solving allows students to build confidence, relationships, and learn practical skills that are applicable in other situations thus promoting transferability of learning. It also supports and matches part of ACS’s mission statement which is for students to be responsible global citizens. (ACS Athens, 2018).

As a teacher, it also allowed me to sit back and really see how much my students could do on their own. Students were also able to see that despite our distance from Puerto Rico, we could still send aid to help rebuild Maria’s destruction. This project has also supported several standards in our curriculum in Math, Reading, Social Studies, and Science which was our main component. Design Thinking is a process I would happily repeat in my classroom as it allowed for growth through trial and error without students feeling pressured. It inspires collaboration and creativity through the 5-step process which allowed me to become a facilitator rather than just the teacher. This unique interdisciplinary strategy shows students’ learning can be done in ways that are off beat and intriguing ensuring that everyone is the process grows.

References American Community School of Athens (2018). Retrieved August 20th, 2018 from http://www.acs.gr/mission-statement/ D School of Stanford. (2010). An Introduction to Design Thinking: Process Guide. Retrieved June 24, 2018, from https://dschool-old.stanford. edu/sandbox/groups/designresources/wiki/36873/ attachments/74b3d/ModeGuideBOOTCAMP2010L. pdf?sessionID=573efa71aea5050334 1224491c862e32f5edc0a9 Design Thinking in Education. (2018). Retrieved June 24, 2018, from https://tll.gse.harvard.edu/design-thinking Lahey, J. (2017, January 04). How Design Thinking Became a Buzzword at School. Retrieved June 24, 2018, from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/ archive/2017/01/how-design-thinking became-a-buzzword-at-school/512150/

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Gathering Student Feedback: ES OLP Classroom through the Students’ Eyes Zoe Karatza, Elementary School OLP assistant

ntroduction This paper discusses the importance of collecting student feedback and its potential effects on teaching and learning effectiveness. Student feedback can influence our teaching in terms of lesson planning, demonstrating and communicating content knowledge, as well as evaluating. The feedback from our students can keep our awareness keen enabling us to make the appropriate adjustments to meet their needs. For this research, students’ comments were examined. Those students, who attended OLP class, gave us an accurate perception of our teaching since they experienced first-hand how we taught. It is true that sometimes we may do something without realizing it and students may make us notice it so that we can keep doing it. They may also inform us about what they liked and didn’t, what they thought was useful and what wasn’t. Student feedback may therefore promote learning since we can adjust our teaching based upon what students say.

Student Feedback The quality of the education provided by a school depends primarily on the quality of teachers since no matter how well an educational program is designed, its effectiveness is determined by the effectiveness of the people who implement and support it (MacBeath, 2001; Stenhouse, 1975; Stronge, 1993). There are many well-known sources of information about the quality of teaching such as the self-reflection and the peer observation. One more valuable source is the student feedback. Since students benefit from teachers’ feedback, have you ever thought that feedback from students would be beneficial for teachers too? The reliability of this kind of source of information is also supported by many research projects (MET Project, 2012; Wilkerson, Manatt, Rogers & Maughanm, 2000). Students are the center of the classroom and they are considered eligible to evaluate the teaching of their teachers because (Joshua et al., 2006): 1. From their position they observe the interaction between the teacher and themselves on a daily basis, 2. Students know when they learn, 3. They know when they are motivated to learn, 4. Teacher recognition by the students motivates and supports good teaching practices, 5. Students can provide important information for their teacher feedback. Student feedback is a valuable source of information that can evaluate and improve teaching effectiveness, thus providing a variety of benefits. First of all, by gaining a deeper insight into the ways through students learn and respond to teaching practices, teachers can improve their own teaching effectiveness. This is also related to the perception gap. Sometimes teachers, due to their focus on their students’ progress, might forget to think about their own performance. So, by combining the information from their self-reflection with the student data, teachers can highlight possible blind-spots, improving their effectiveness.

In turn, another result of the teaching effectiveness is the improvement of the student outcomes. This is because teachers give students the opportunity -through student feedback- to express their opinion increasing their voice and engaging them. Additionally, this engagement is also increased when teachers reconstruct and redesign their strategies and ways of teaching based on student feedback. Moreover, a better understanding on students’ experiences, styles, profiles and interests can lead to improve teachers’ relationship with their students, and this in turn can result in improving classroom management. For that reason, teachers need to be open- minded when they gather feedback for their students because it is important for them to make an effort and seek to understand the “why” behind the comments. The most important thing, therefore, is that student feedback should be perceived and used by teachers as a source of inspiration and encouragement, helping them to reflect on methods, strategies and teaching practices. Learning can be improved by improving teaching and changes can be made if there is the desire to apply the information gathered. About the Optimal Learning Program of ACS Athens The Optimal Learning Program (OLP) offers students with learning differences an opportunity to fully participate, contribute and excel in the classroom. The OLP classroom is a support service for students who require the attainment of academic skills so as to improve their performance in the educational setting. Small group classroom instruction and cooperative learning activities are incorporated within the student’s curriculum to complement various learning abilities. Collection and analysis of student feedback Elementary Students (N = 11), who received OLP services and came in OLP class 3 times weekly, participated in the research during their final trimester of the 2017–2018 academic year. The majority of the students attended 4th and 5th grade, while the rest of the students 3rd, 2nd and 1st grade. Students were asked to answer anonymously three open questions: 1. How did you feel during the school year when it was time for you to come in OLP? 2. What were your favorite and least favorite things we did? 3. Do you think that teachers in OLP helped you? How? Regarding the first question and students’ feelings when they came in OLP class, all the students expressed positive emotions, using especially the adjectives: “happy”, “great” and “comfortable”. More specifically, they mentioned that “I felt great because I am more relaxed and get a lot of help with my work and the teachers are very nice”- 4th grader, “I felt happy because you helped me a lot by explaining me what I had to do” - 2nd grader, “I felt happy because we did a lot of activities and I felt better here than in class”- 1st grader, “I felt great when I came because we played games”. All the above support that OLP class creates a positive and safe environment which engages individual students and

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thus is conducive to learning.. Regarding the second question about the favorite and least favorite things we did during the school year, the majority of the students talked about the activities which include reading games as well as the Starboard. Others mentioned the writing process because they can express themselves, when we provided visual stimuli such as pictures and videos as well as when we shared with them “learning tricks with writing and math”. Additionally many students referred to activities that require fine motor manipulation of a tactile stimulation object such as the two way teaching clock and coin value money. The fact that the students did not mention any least favorite activities confirms the fact that in OLP classroom we take into consideration the students’ different profiles and interests to plan our teaching. Regarding the third question about if the students think that the OLP teachers helped them, all the of them replied positively, having mentioned that “they (OLP teachers) were all the time with us and always made learning fun”, “they helped me in my spelling, my science knowledge and math by giving me ideas and examples, “(OLP class) was helpful because we were alone and there was no so much noise as there was in class”, “they helped me in reading by reading many interesting books”, “they helped me improving my writing”. Conclusion To conclude, students’ feedback is an effective tool that can have a large impact on teachers’ teaching and help improve learning process. Teachers can receive feedback from their students not only by getting written feedback (such as forms, anonymous notes or online surveys) but also by peer observation or keeping a teaching journal. The more information teachers gather about our teaching the more we can make informed changes that will be beneficial both to our students and to us. Feedback from students may include suggestions for improvement in a given area, comments on how successful we were in communicating the learning with students, if the learning has been differentiated for each student and if we have met their success criteria. In this way, student feedback can heighten instructional effectiveness and thereby improve the quality of education. The key process is how the teacher will assess the value of the feedback, reflect on it and decide what to do. Bibliography Joshua, Μ. Τ., Joshua, Α.Τ , Bassey, Β. Α. & Akubuiro, Ι. Μ. (2006). Attitude of Nigerian secondary school teachers to peer evaluation of teachers. Teacher Development, 10(3), 331-341. Macbeath, J. and Mortimore, P. (eds) (2001). Improving school effectiveness. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Stenhouse, L. (1975). An introduction to curriculum research and development. London: Heinemann.

Stronge, J. H., & Tucker, D. P. (2003). Handbook on Teacher Evalua tion. Assessing and Improving Performance. NY: Eye On Education Inc. MET Project. (2012). Asking students about teaching: Student perception surveys and their implementation. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.metproject.org/ downloads/Asking_Students_Practitioner_Brief_PDF Wilkerson, D. J., Manatt, R. P., Rogers, M. A., & Maughan, R. (2000). Validation of student, principal, and self-ratings in 360 feedback for teacher evaluation. Journal of per sonnel evaluation in education, 14(2), 179-192.

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From Galaxies to ACS Athens Blending Research Experiences with the ACS Athens Innovative Initiatives Dr. Antonios Karampelas, Faculty, Science and Technology

ntroduction Obtaining a PhD in Astrophysics, researching on Extragalactic Astrophysics, Data Mining, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, and being involved in the European Space Agency’s Gaia Mission (University of Athens - NKUA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Archive investigations (Observatory of Athens - IAASARS), I have contributed to more than 40 publications (indicatively [1-5]) that have been cited over 1,600 times. I have also presented scientific work in conferences, been a students’ laboratory supervisor at NKUA, a visiting scientist to Astronomy Institutes (Granada 2006, Paris 2008 & 2009), a referee of scientific articles, an assistant supervisor of B.Sc. Physics students’ dissertations (NKUA), and a co-writer of research proposals for funding.

Research begins I obtained a B.Sc. in Physics from NKUA in 2004, with a specialty in Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Mechanics. My dissertation was on “Astronomy in the Byzantium”, which was my first research work. Then, I obtained an M.Sc. in Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Mechanics from the same Institution in 2007. During that time, my interests were shifted from theoretical to observational Astrophysics, more specifically, Extragalactic Astrophysics where I explored questions like: Has the NGC 6822 galaxy undergone a collision with a smaller galaxy? Did a close encounter between the Magellanic Clouds trigger star formation in both?1. Star formation activity set the context of my research, programming, and my first publications in scientific journals and presentations in conferences, either as the first author or as a contributor, always in collaborative articles. My M.Sc. Thesis was on “Stellar Populations, Large Scale Structures, and Star Forming Regions of the NGC 6822 galaxy”, where I studied the spatial locations of stars of various ages to “go back in time” a few million years and identify star formation events in the NGC 6822 galaxy, linked with a possible interaction with another galaxy. The Gaia Mission Next, I obtained a Ph.D. in Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Mechanics again from NKUA, with my Thesis being “Statistical Analysis and Optimization of Synthetic Galaxy Spectra Libraries. Applica1 NGC 6822, the small (SMC) and the Large (LMC) Magellanic Clouds are neighboring galaxies to our own Milky Way Galaxy.

tion to the European Space Agency’s Gaia Mission”. The beginning of my Ph.D. studies was a turning point for my research career, since I became a member of the Greek team of scientists involved with the Gaia Space Mission, which I continued being involved in during my post-doc research. Gaia is a European Space Agency’s (ESA) satellite that is currently located 1,500,000 km from the Earth mapping our Galaxy [6]. Its main goal is to observe a billion stars2 of our Milky Way Galaxy and create a 3D map of our Galaxy with many thousands of those stars. This data is mostly spectra3, which researchers can use to identify the presence of specific chemical elements on the stars’ atmospheres in order to classify and parameterize these stellar objects. Because Gaia carries two very powerful telescopes, it is possible for many other types of astrophysical objects to be observed, like stars in neighboring galaxies, distant galaxies far away from our own, exoplanets (footnote: planets orbiting around other stars like the Earth does around the Sun), solar system bodies like asteroids that are potentially hazardous for life on Earth, etc. Out of the aforementioned research areas, our team was in charge of creating an intelligent algorithm to automatically classify (e.g. assign elliptical or spiral type) or parameterize (e.g. estimate the distance) the distant galaxies the Gaia satellite is going to observe. For this purpose, and since Gaia’s cameras are unique and had not been used before for observations, meaning we did not know in advance how exactly a galaxy spectra would actually look like, we had to create artificial galaxy spectra as realistically as possible. Then, we could test our algorithms of those near “realistic” spectra. My task was to investigate the huge datasets containing the artificial data and to find non-realistic spectra to exclude from the datasets to be delivered to the Gaia Consortium [7, 8], a task that is impossible to be completed by investigating each spectrum by eye, because of the dataset’s size. Getting involved with the Gaia Space Mission was a valuable experience for me, since I was involved in a very important and impactful mission for Astronomical studies. I also had to work within a team and collaborate with many other scientists across Europe to prepare and deliver specific scientific products (data, 2 for the first time in history, with this huge number still corresponding to only 1% of Milky Way stars. 3 looking like the graphical output of a cardiograph

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methodologies, algorithms, documentation) under strict deadlines. Additionally, I had the chance to implement Data Mining4 and Machine Learning5 methods in Big Data (both provide ways to achieve Artificial Intelligence). Data science became part of my daily research practice and a major interest of mine since. The Gaia Consortium released observational data to the public for the first time in 2016 (first data release [9]), with the second data release taking place in 2018 [10]. These releases were accompanied by many collaborative scientific papers of the entire Gaia collaboration of more than 400 scientists that have already been cited by numerous other researchers.

The Hubble Space Telescope Being already an ACS Athens educator and occasionally contributing to the Greek Gaia Mission team’s tasks, I joined an international research team based on the Observatory of Athens to continue my post-doc research. The focus of the program was to create an algorithm to automatically identify rare variable stars (that have a fluctuating brightness) among thousands of “regular” stars in the Andromeda and other galaxies registered inside the vast databases of the Hubble Space Telescope [11] Archive [12]. Among the program’s outcomes were several publications. I personally had the chance to implement Data Mining and Machine Learning skills obtained during the preparation of the Gaia Mission to a scientific field new to me (stellar variability), which made me realize how important data and information literacy, computational thinking, and transfer skills are for somebody to become a flexible professional in a data-based society. Moreover, I had the chance to experience how effective project management is to the successful completion of a “big” program, and see that the tendency nowadays is for a program’s principal investigator to hire somebody that will specifically work on the management aspects of the program. Finally, I also had the chance to interact with a company that was the producer of the final algorithmic product. This is already the norm in important programs, for the academia to join forces with the private sector toward achieving better results faster. I had already understood the need for project management and teaming up with the industry during the Gaia preparation.

In such a learning environment, the aforementioned research skills acquired during my academic career turned out to be relevant and useful. Designing and implementing Physics and Chemistry experiments and i2flex Physics courses, supervising Physics 1 & 2 projects6 and Physics IB Extended Essays and Internal Assessments, as well as numerous 10th grade personal projects (mostly space-related), and running the Elementary School Robotics workshop, were excellent opportunities for me to foster to my students, data and information literacy, statistical approaches on evaluating experimental results, science communication techniques, and working respectfully within international teams. But it was designing the new Academy STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) course and leading the challenging spACS program that required most, if not all skills obtained in academia.

The STEAM course for 9th and 10th graders aims to enhance students’ data literacy and computational thinking through data-based investigations, simulations and modeling, electronics and robotics, and design projects. The goal for the lessons is that they integrate all STEAM constituents, where research skills are valuable. A STEAM Lab Summer Scholar’s Academy course has already been offered by the ACS Athens Institute for Innovation and Creativity.

The spACS program is an exciting and challenging exploration, where a team of ACS Athens students and faculty are designing and developing a scientific experiment to be conducted under microgravity conditions at 100 kilometers altitude, inside a Blue Origin’s rocket [17]. The program requires skills well beyond science, math, and technology: Students must research the experiment’s objective (study the viscosity of honey in microgravity conditions) using real scientific papers, use electronics to prototype, test, and refine the experiment through engineering thinking, work effectively within groups, prepare funding proposals, and contribute to the program’s management. I consider this program to be a high school version of the preparation of the Gaia Mission, and I would find it very challenging to manage such an initiative if lacking a scientific research background.

Research Skills To summarize the research skills [13, 14] and literacies obtained or enhanced during my academic learning experience, I would list the following: data and information literacy, computational thinking, innovation & problem solving, statistics, science communication, critical reviewing and academic integrity, networking and team working, project management, research funding and evaluation, and transfer skills. Back on Earth, I was sharing my professional life between research and education, often wondering: How can research skills fit in ACS Athens and enlighten my teaching practice?

What is Next? The fourth industrial revolution [18, 19] has already begun: Technological breakthroughs in, among others, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, Quantum Computing, Autonomous Vehicles, Virtual and Augmented Reality, will change the way we live and work. According to the “Next Era of Human-Machine Partnerships” report [20, 21]: “An estimated 85 percent of jobs in 2030 haven’t been invented yet. The pace of change will be so rapid that people will learn “in-themoment” using new technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality. The ability to gain new knowledge will be more valuable than the knowledge itself”.

4 pattern discovery in large datasets 5 computers “learn” from data

6 including the innovative ”Soundscapes” project, where students investigated how sounds sound like on other planets and what this could mean for reality perception, and presented their exploration at the 2018 ACS Athens Literacy Festival, in the Media Studio.

ACS Athens: A Research and Innovation Focused School ACS Athens is a school that fosters innovation and research: The i2flex methodology [15] requires inquiry-based learning· The Incubator of Students’ Creative Ideas [16] is a student-run initiative that facilitates project-based learning by supporting students’ creative and innovative ideas. Students conduct research in grade-level personal projects, as well as under individual courses. International Baccalaureate students conduct original research under their Extended Essays and Internal Assessments. Stockrooms are well equipped and continuously enriched to support the laboratory investigations of students. Educators conduct Action Research.

For students to get prepared to drive their own learning and become leaders and innovators in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, research skills are essential. Making sense of data and extracting information out of huge data sets, thinking critically and analytically, and collaborating to solve society’s problems, can be nurtured by encouraging and guiding students to conduct real-life research. Educators with a research background must contribute toward those ends.

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Acknowledgements Dr. Karampelas would like to acknowledge M. Kontiza, D. Hatzidimitriou, E. Theodosiou (University of Athens - NKUA), E. Kontizas, I.Bellas-Velidis, A. Bonanos, A. Dapergolas (Observatory of Athens - IAASARS), J. Vilchez (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia - IAA), and Brigitte Rocca-Volmerange (Institut dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Astrophysique de Paris - IAP) for the inspiration. References 1. Optimization of synthetic galaxy spectra. Application to ESAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gaia mission, Karampelas et al. 2012, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 538A, 38K

2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Star complexes and stellar populations in NGC 6822. Comparison with the Magellanic Clouds, Karampelas et al. 2009, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 497, 703K

Comparative performance of selected variability detection techniques in photometric time series data, Sokolovsky et al. 2017, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 464, 274S Gaia Data Release 1. Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties, Gaia Collaboration 2016, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 595A, 2G

The Gaia mission, Gaia Collaboration 2016, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 595A, 1G http://sci.esa.int/gaia/

https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium https://www.gaia.ac.uk/mission/gaia-dpac

https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dr1

10. https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dr2 11. http://hubblesite.org/ 12. https://hla.stsci.edu/

13. https://stfc.ukri.org/skills/impact-of-ourskills/postgraduate-training-and-skills/ requirements-for-research-students/ 14. https://careercenter.umich.edu/article/ phd-transferable-skills 15. https://www.isquaredflex.gr/

16. http://www.acs.gr/storage/learning-commons/incubator/ index.html 17. https://www.blueorigin.com/

18. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourthindustrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/ 19. https://www.weforum.org/ centre-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution

20. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/realizing-2030dell-technologies-research-explores-the-next-era-ofhuman-machine-partnerships-300486894.html 21. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/07/14/85-ofjobs-that-will-exist-in-2030-haven-t-been-invented-yetd_a_23030098/?guccounter=1

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Exploring the Use of Theater Performance in Teaching a Greek Language Course in a Multicultural Environment Maria Anna Sidiropoulou, Faculty, Greek Language and Literature

ntroduction For those of us in the teaching trenches it is evident that the improvement of educational thinking for future citizens has influenced the goals of the syllabus by bringing forward the value and reinforcement of critical thinking and writing by the students. If approaches to the learning process tend to suggest methods and practices to educational institutions in order to achieve this goal, there is a universal admission that hurts the educators’ valiant efforts to achieve it. There exists still a significant middle school student population which, although exposed to quality content texts, is deprived of their critical reading. The discussion among educators is concerned with finding promising and supportive practices for this weakness, so that they can on the one hand, deal with it effectively by reinforcing the critical thinking process of the students, and on the other by watching students performing on a higher level of thinking tasks. In this effort, educators move away from monolithic methods and dare to be flexible in making good use of various techniques and resources in order to support different types of learners. Systematic exposure of students to the reading and critical evaluation of texts can be anything but unobstructed, even for an international educational institution such as ACS Athens that, through several years’ experience in research and self-evaluation, suggests innovative practices in education. Our students read novels in foreign languages, are exposed to articles from international news agencies, analyze literary characters through a philologist’s approach and present their personal thinking process through projects. But is school life as idyllic as it sounds on a level of cognitive goals? Are we self-confident enough to be proud that we have prepared school life to a point that we can involve our students in an enthusiastic reading of the texts? What goes on with adolescents who struggle every day in our classrooms and seem to be unable or indifferent to read even 15-25 pages of a novel a week, written in their native language, at that? How well do they understand, use, consider and commit to the written texts that are being processed?

As a follow-up to the practice for the use of Art in the teaching of the Greek Language Arts (LA) Grade 7 Course, this particular suggestion concerns the use of another form of Art, the theater. It was prompted by the question whether by watching the play “Alexander the Great” by Nikos Kazantzakis at Athens’ “Hellenic Cosmos”, produced by the Foundation of the Hellenic World, the 12 year-old students of the Greek LA 7 Course would subconsciously be supported to get more involved in the critical ap-

proach of the work that is being systematically analyzed in class. Recognizing beforehand that the students were reserving their enthusiasm in getting involved in class discussion and laconic in expressing their thoughts on analyzing the characters in the story, it was one more challenge for the educator to find the vehicle that would “unlock” their emotional response, so that their participation would be enthusiastic. If that would be achieved, critical analysis of the novel would be under way in steadier steps, especially when the students would have reached the important chapters that required lengthier commentary.

The role of teen literature in student literacy Literature has been introduced to the syllabi with the initial purpose to challenge and develop the students’ ideas and experiences, in support of their shaping as future citizens. Watching the characters move in the story’s time and space, simultaneously constituting a miniature model of an adult society, can excite the student-reader’s aesthetic emotion. The experiences acquired through the characters’ sufferings, the ideas communicated through analysis of their ethos and intellect (Aristotle as cited in Moraitou, 2008), bring pleasure and entertainment, without forgetting the enrichment of the emotional spectrum through cultivation of the imagination. And if through analysis of characters in the novel, models of behavior found in the students’ everyday life can be recognized, it is the critical approach that places them before the recognition of human powers, problems and sufferings and their creative management. In the case at hand, a critical approach and analysis of the “Alexander the Great” work of literature leads the student to moral conclusions through cooperative learning. By completing the independent reader stage (Cochrane, Scalena & Buchanan as cited in Christofideli, 2016), they are fully literate, that is, able to judge and use the written word effectively by producing texts and using the knowledge acquired in school, to apply it in everyday life. Besides, the concept of literacy is a higher goal in education and PISA assessment defines reading literacy as:

understanding, using, reflecting and engaging with written texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s knowledge and potential, and to participate in society. A definition which goes beyond the traditional notion of decoding information and literally interpreting what is written…encompasses the range of situations in which people read and the variety of ways in which readers approach and use texts from the functional and finite, such as finding a particular piece of practical information, to the deep and

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far-reaching, such as understanding other ways of doing, thinking and being. (OECD, 2016a as cited in PISA, 2015 Results Excellence and Equity in Education Vol. 1) The multi-dimensional concepts of literacy are found in the international school environment where we work. Aside from the skills of reading and writing, students are familiarized with understanding and producing multimodal texts through projects. However, the question that arises is, in what way we motivate students not just to respond to text analysis in the classroom, but also to be involved in the love of reading. Although notional disambiguation without great divergence are assigned to the latter, we choose to refer to them as reading by choice, without the burden of homework obligations (Krashen, 2004 as cited in Tsaggari, 2017), related to a positive attitude towards literature. The broader social and school environment can reinforce love of reading. The efficacy of book clubs and students’ creative work for motivating love of reading are known. Watching theater performances is helpful toward this perspective.

Art and school Aside from reinforcing knowledge and empowering culture, Art assists the student in developing a positive attitude towards school. Bibliographically it was Dewey who first advocated its use in school, because it activates the imagination and contributes to quality learning (Dewey, 1938). “Art in education nurtures thoughtful reflection which is essential for transformation” (Goldblatt, 2006, p. 24). With the support of Art, the student practices critical thinking and transforms mental habits (Mezirow, 2003), while their post-cognitive ability is cultivated (Efland 2002, 133171, as cited in Ntoulia, 2012). Vygotsky also dealt with Art in a “speech-centric and linguistic way, focusing on literature and theater and associating it with its important role in speech development” (Smagorinsky, 2011, p.246). It offers the necessary stimuli for cognitive functions “to develop: cognitive flexibility, unification of knowledge, imaginative thinking and perception of the aesthetic value of art” (Efland, 2002, in Malafantis & Karela, 2012, p. 372). Using Art and the OPTIC Approach in the Greek LA 7 Course has yielded positive results and offers quality learning. The value of Art, as well as a multitude of its symbols and aspects that reinforce synergy between multiple types of intelligence, are confirmed in the book titled “Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple types of intelligence” by H. Gardner (1983).

Value of theater-drama in education and language learning Theater for children was introduced in Greece by Kouretzis (Kouretzis, 2009) in two different forms, “a presentation by the children themselves and one addressed to children but produced by adults” (Tzoulafi, 2017 p.11). The educational and pedagogical value of theater had already been established by eminent specialists (Bolton 1984 ;Freire, 1997; Way, 1967 as cited in Blatner, 1995). In the syllabus for educational studies of the Cyprus Ministry of Education (http://www.moec.gov.cy/dde/programs/ eniaiooloimero/pdf/analytika programmata/), it is noted among other things, that theater helps “in the representation of life, supports students’ critical thinking and at the same time supports them realize their individual and social identity” (Tzoulafi, 2017, p.17). Aside from this, a theatrical performance presents the play that is performed as a social experience through a communicative process, and by making use of different aesthetic codes (speech uttered by the actors, staging, soundtrack, costumes, lighting, audiovisual effects), it conveys pedagogical and educational messages to the students. Therefore, communicative skills are reinforced. The original or adapted text is the starting point for a bi-directional communication between the play and the audience (O’Toole & Haseman in Provatidou, 2015). Since there has already been an analysis of the play and the characters in class, the stage functions as a field for critical thinking and for reviewing assessments. The young viewer has formed an image of the characters; the play or the characters that are dealt with (Heathcote, 1990;

Sayers, 2013) have been approached for interpretation in collaboration with the educator and the students, but also through the flow of the theatrical performance, their original assessments can be reviewed. The educational value of theater and drama culminates in the reproduction of cultural memory.

The dynamic of drama in language acquisition is noted in practices of language teaching (Lin, 2008). The learning process is generally facilitated when “emotional circumstances” are at the optimum level, a term introduced in bibliography by Krashen (1982) in the Monitor Model and the “Affective Filter Hypothesis” (Ronke, 2004, p. 48) and one of them is the students’ low level of anxiety. The entertaining contribution of the theater tends to protect the students’ psyche from stressful experiences. One of the methods for teaching foreign languages, the so-called Suggestive-Accelerative Learning and Teaching (SALT) reinforces the pleasant and positive learning environment. This particular method is based on the conviction of its creator, Lozanov (1978), that during the learning process “both hemispheres of the brain must be used”, but also that subconscious sources of learning must be unlocked “in order for a remarkable range of vocabulary to be maintained” (Ronke, 2004, p. 69). Τhe functions of the brain’s hemispheres are displayed as follows (Ronke, 2004, p. 75):

This last goal applies in the cross-cultural environment at our school. It suggests learning in an atmosphere free from stressful stimuli; an atmosphere for which we use relaxation, a lightly illuminated environment with baroque music playing and comfortable seats (Ronke, 2004). The result is that the student is involved in an activity of low to non-existent emotional charge, in which entertainment rids them off the feeling of arduous intellectual work which is common in a traditional classroom.

The element of surprise that emerges from the story fascinates the student, whether s/he is watching a play unknown to him/ her, or one that has been adapted. The adaption may diverge significantly from the original, but this possibility is still educational and entertaining for the student. The method is based on two principles: ‘infantilization’ which aims to bring students back to the kind of learning capacity that they had in their childhood, and ‘pseudopassivity’, which refers to a “relaxed physical state of heightened mental activity and concentration” (Chastain 1988, p. 104 as cited in Ronke, 2004 p. 69). By equally activating both hemispheres, the left side, which is responsible for logical, abstract thinking, but also the right side, which processes the affective elements (as used in music, movement, and sound), help students understand and internalize the language with lasting effect (Ronke, 2004 p. 70).

Lastly, the performance would reinforce theatrical awareness to students, since it is a goal of aesthetic education. By watching a performance we put students in the viewer’s place, in order to teach them how to watch and evaluate a performance. Taking into consideration the structural dimensions of a theatrical experience, as they have been researched by Eversmann (2004) and are mentioned in the Diagram (Figure 1, as cited in Boernen, Jost &

ETHOS • FALL 2018 • THE THEORY AND THE RESEARCH

Wiemann, 2010, p. 174), we can cross-reference which ones meet our students and actually work in a supportive way, satisfying them as viewers.

The perceptual dimension involves the spectator’s experience coming out of the stage, while the cognitive dimension engages the mental and intellectual interactions with the performance. The emotional responses to the characters on stage and to the content of the play as well as the interaction between the actors add importance to the spectator’s response. Thus, there was an additional target how to elicit the above from the students. Making use of the theatrical performance of “Alexander the Great” The novel “Alexander the Great” by N. Kazantzakis is part of the syllabus for the Greek LA 7 Course and is supported by the OPTIC Approach and observation of works of Art since the last school year. However, on the educator’s mind the consideration kept emerging, that a novel with a historical content, although it touches on the students’ interests, shows a low level of response by their part. The reasons for this concern were obvious and have mostly to do with the transition from Elementary to Middle School, being exposed to a voluminous novel, according to the students’ comments, the need for the enrichment of the students’ ideas and expression, time management, so that the pacing of the individualized study of the play can be found. We did the following interventions in order to cover the aforementioned. We needed to organize the lesson and the literary analysis more effectively: we made use of Moodle’s digital dictionary in which students entered words every week, words that we systematically mentioned in class. Our expectations were high because the novel’s main character, Alexander the Great, is a historical personality which attracts both students and adults’ interest. However, students’ response to a novel about Alexander the Great was rather tentative and too relaxed. Moreover, the class had a larger number of students supported with Optimal Learning Program (OLP) accommodations than it did last year, and given that the whole of the students was unfamiliar with literary analysis, the level of difficulty in text comprehension was high. Considerations were systematically recycling the educator’s thoughts until the theatrical performance of the same name came up in the Foundation of the Hellenic World and Hellenic Cosmos. The performance in question also happened to have been suggested by the Writing Studio Coordinator through the discussion that took place when the question of how students could be supported in literary analysis and their involvement in Radio Theater Project was discussed, in which a text adaptation by the students and the addition of sound effects is used, as if it was the rendition of a text for a radio show.

In order to avoid the possibility of being disappointed by that choice that would seem futile, we chose to watch the performance, since we have covered the analysis of key chapters of the novel, being a little over halfway into the story. It wasn’t possible to watch the performance during the days when Middle School students visited the Hellenic Cosmos, however the adaptation of

the text by the production and the actors’ performances gave the atmosphere a humorous feel. The performance in question was attended by the students of Greek LA 8 Course as well, who as a result of a Language Arts Course were familiar with the novel and the cooperation they had with the same teacher the previous year, with the exception of a very few new students. Therefore, it was interesting not just for LA 7 students, but it was also connected with LA 8 students, who according to the syllabus, were taught the Subject: Cinema and Theater.

However, relevant to the aforementioned was the question of whether the students’ visit to a theatrical performance would contribute to a generally positive response towards the theatre, so that it could inspire them to attend more performances. Positive feelings towards one of the characters in the play, e.g. Alexander the Great, are an important factor for the evaluation of the performance (Sauter, 2014; Sauter, Kalvik & Isaksson, 1986) and indeed, among the four dimensions in the full evaluation by audiences of a theatrical performance, that is, cognitive, perceptive, emotional and communicative, the emotional and the communicative are confirmed to be the most important factors advocating for this. To go on a similar course as the one the aforementioned suggest, we organized a cycle of activities. For the collection of our data, we used a combination of tools: systematic observation of the students, the results of the empirical qualitative and quantitative research concerning the theatrical experience by Boerner, Jobst & Wiemann (2011) and, at last, the audience response to a theatrical performance by Boerner and Jobst (2013). Working Sheets1 were handed to the students in class after the conclusion of the performance with selected questions touching upon the dimensions of performance evaluation. Afterwards, according to the visitors’ satisfaction model at the theater2 and the goals for the literature class and the project, additional questions promoting the dialogue were asked3. Tentative Conclusions and Discussion A summary of the above steps led to the following conclusions: One of our priorities was to enrich the content of emerging ideas, but also to support students to express themselves accurately. Since word poverty was justified and expected, given that systematic exposure of the students to the Greek language in an international environment is limited to the particular class, the digital tool of Moodle Glossary would reinforce their expressive proficiency. The students at the first stage introduced the new words that were used in class and in the literary analysis of the novel, but they were asked to move on to the active knowledge of the vocabulary by producing sentences using these words. The success of this endeavor had already been tested the previous year, when the students collectively created 110-120 digital dictionary pages. This year three sessions, two of Greek LA 7 with a total of 33 students and one session of Greek LA 8 with 10 students produced 109, 122 and 114 pages of new vocabulary. It was encouraging to see that the new vocabulary was being reprocessed during the oral analysis of the text and in very few cases was there a need to explain it to the students, since they were already familiar with it. It was also encouraging that the new vocabulary was being used in the production of written texts by the students. Time management was organized by appointing a specific day for Literature class, that is, every Monday. Since it was preceded by the weekend, students were able to manage their time more effectively. Moreover, students were involved in discussion, led by purposeful questions about the psychology, values and mentality of the heroes, the results of their choices and behaviors, as they emerged from the literary text. There were cases where, although the majority of the students studied the text, they did not take 1 2 3

Appendix 1 p. 15 Appendix 2 p. 15 Appendix 3 p. 16

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notes. We dealt with this weakness by stricter assessment of the Approaches to Learning (ATL), although we needed to keep in mind that striving for good grades was the driving force that kept the students consistent in the Be Ready Policy of the school.

The adapted text of the performance was the subject of critical dialogue. First, it surprised the students by deviating from the original one, and we found out that it was something that belonged in the category of items that have to do with student satisfaction. The majority of the students commented in a humorous mood on these deviations, but through discussion a question emerged: since the play was about an historical figure, they would wish it to be as faithful as possible to the original, which had been analyzed for months in class and they did not want to watch the main character being presented more as a child than as a leader. Of course, the fact that the theatrical performance took place on the day when primary school students were the majority in the audience, was a comfort to the middle school students. Secondly, the students justified their evaluation in the Worksheets using arguments and truthful answers and having produced organized written text. All the Worksheets were filled in; however, some were superficially answered. Questions 1-3 and 6 of the Worksheets contained the answers with the most critical content and the most imaginative creation that of creating new episodes. Thirdly, we asked the students to express their opinion using full arguments on how they interpreted the actors’ body language and intonation, while attention was paid to contextual skills. Keeping in mind the hemispheres’ brain function as pertaining to language acquisition we found that right-brain teaching approaches develop stronger communicative competence: a result also confirmed by Baur, who stressed that “if the goal in language teaching is to raise the communicative competence, the teaching method needs to stimulate functions from the right side of the brain” (Ronke, 2004 p. 76).

As to the question of whether the theatrical performance has increased the students’ response to the literary text analysis, we made two observations. First, the students’ interest was more increased in girls than in boys, as they participated more in analyzing the characters through discussion in class. The male students who had already been responsibly involved in this activity, went on with the same commitment, but they produced a fuller and enriched text by using arguments and new vocabulary. The students supported by OLP accommodations showed increased interest for three weeks or so and eventually returned to the same level of response they used to keep. This is where the part of gender in aesthetic response comes in, which can be examined in a different attempt. Nevertheless, we examined the students’ willingness to attend theatrical performances and there was enthusiasm at the possibility of this happening regularly. We might be able to reinforce theatrical consciousness and love for this form of Art through deeper intervention as an educational institution. Secondly, the point where we saw the positive effect of the performance meeting the students’ response, was in the production of oral and written texts through a series of assignments which were completed with the Key Writing Assessment of the second semester. As isolated readers, the students were involved in critical reflection and literacy and they connected the leader with his weaknesses and positive qualities to their daily life. We ended up asking the students to write in the form of an essay the Alexander the Great’s reflections a few hours before he became ill with a high fever and died. The statistical results showed 14 students achieving grades around A and 18 students around B. The style of the reflections, the vocabulary, the mistakes and the achievements of the young leader that the students pointed out, are concentrated not only around the episodes of the critical text analysis, but also around what they had retained from watching the performance (e.g. the taming of Bucephalus, the intense argument with King Philip II, the death of the leader’s close friends at

his own initiative, e.t.c.).

With the completion of this experience, the teacher’s point of view is that Theater should be used as an alternative tool to attract students’ response to a Language Course, create stronger bonds between the team of peers and the teacher, and improve students’ engagement to Novel analysis. Of course, it is quite impossible to have the chance watching theater productions of all Novels that are under literary analysis at our educational institution. Nevertheless, it is a beginning line to predict how we can make best use of theater in combination with the Writing Studio department and the Radio Theater Projects followed by teachers.

References Blatner, A. (1995). Drama in education as mental hygiene: A child psychiatrist’s perspective. Youth Theatre Journal, 9 (1), 92-96. Boerner, S., & Jobst, J. (2013). Enjoying Theater: The role of Vis itors’ response to the Performance. Phycology of Aes thetics, Creativity and the Arts, 7 (4), 391-408. Boerner, S., Jobst, J., & Wiemann, M. (2010). Exploring the theatrical experience: Results from an empirical investigation. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 4: 173–180. Retrieved from: Sage Journals/ 04/21/2018 Bolton, G. M. (1984). Drama as education: An argument for placing drama at the center of the curriculum. Addison-Wesley Longman Ltd. Christofidelli, S. (2016). Children’s Literature and Literacy at the Pre-school Age, Panhellenic Convention on Educational Sciences, 2015 (2), 1555-1566. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Collier. Dewey J., (1980), Art as experience. USA: The Penguine Group (1st publ.1934) Doulia, A. (2012). Creative learning through Art: A teaching lesson plan in History. Minutes of the Greek Institute for Ap plied Pedagogy and Education (ΕΛΛ.Ι.Ε.Π.ΕΚ.), 6th Pan hellenic Convention. Efland A. (2002), The arts, human development and education. Berkeley: McCutchan. Eversmann, P. (2004). The experience of the theatrical event. In V.A. Cremona, P. Eversmann, H. van Maanen, W. Sauter, & J.Tulloch (Eds), Theatrical events: Borders, dynamics, frames, 139-174, Amsterdam: Rodopi. Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed (revised). New York: Continuum. Gardner H. (1983). Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books Gardner H. (1990), Art Education and Human Development. Los Angeles: The Getty Center for Education in the Arts. Goldblatt, P. F. (2006). How John Dewey’s theories underpin art and art education. Education and culture, 22 (1), 17-34. Heathcote, D. (1990). The fight for drama–The fight for education. The Journal for Drama in Education, 28 (1), 1-42. Kouretzis, L. (2009) Think with your Senses, Feel with your Mind (theatrical play in the development of emotional intelli gence and creativity). Contemporary Education: Educational Matters Quarterly, (158), 49-58. Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon. Lin, G. H. C. (2008). Pedagogies Proving Krashen’s Theory of Affective Filter. Online Submission. Lozanov, G. (1978). Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy. New York: Gordon & Breach. Malafantis, K & Karela, G. (2012). For a qualitative Education: Arts in Education and the meaning of differentiality through Art. In Trilianos, A. Koutroumanos, G. & Alexo poulos, N. (Eds), Panhellenic Conference with Interna tional participants. The quality in Education: Trends

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and Perspectives,1st -13th May 2012 (pp. 371-381). National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Primary Education Department. Retrieved from: https: www.ac ademia.edu/7305232/ Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58-63. Moraitou, D. (2008). Plato and Aristotle’s Views on the Psychologi cal Effect of the Spectacle, under the Light of Modern Psy chological Theories (Doctoral Dissertation, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA). School of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology, Psychology Sector. OECD (2016a). “PISA 2015 reading framework”, in PISA 2015 As sessment and Analytical Framework: Science, Reading, Mathematic and Financial Literacy, OECD Publishing, Paris, pp. 47-61, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264255425-en. Papoulia-Tzelepi, P. (2002). Emergence of Literacy, Research and Practice. Athens: Kastaniotis PISA 2015 Results Excellence and Equity in Education, (1). Provatidou, A. (2015) Contribution of Theatrical Education in the Development of Inter-cultural Skill. Ronke, A. (2004). Wozu all das Theater?: Drama and theater as a method for foreign language teaching and learning in higher education in the United States (Doctoral disserta tion, Technischen Universität Berlin). Sayers, R. (2013). Mantle of the expert: The legacy of Dorothy Heathcote (Doctoral dissertation, University of Leicester). Sidiropoulou, M. (2017). Applying the Aesthetic Experience in Teaching a Greek LA Literature and Language Course in a multicultural environment. Ethos, 12 (1). Smagorinsky, P. (2011). Vygotsky’s stage theory: The psychology of art and the actor under the direc tion of perezhivanie. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 18(4), 319-341. Sauter, W. (2014). The theatrical event: Dynamics of performance and perception. Iowa State University Press. Sauter, W. I. L. M. A. R., Kalvik, A., & Isaksson, C. U. R. T. (1986). Das Publikum-Verständnis und Erlebnis von Theater The audience-Understanding and expe aufführungen. rience of theater performances. In H. Schoenmakers (Ed.), Performance theory—Advances in reception and audi ence research, 83-110 Tsagari, A. (2017). Love of Reading and Language Literacy of Stu dents in Greece. Patras: EAP Tzoulafi, D. (2017) Theater and Education. Children’s and Teen’s Theater in the City of Ioannina. Patras: EAP.

Appendices 1. Questions on Working Sheet to reflect on the play GREEK LA 7

GREEK LA 8

Which part of the play I liked most and why? A part of the original text that was changed was… and I found useful on not because... Watching the play, the picture of Alexander the Great was confirmed or not because... The sound effects and the music investment were significant because... The narrative techniques that I have detected were...

If I felt like writing an episode of my own to add it into the play, what would that be and why?

2. Model of visitors’ satisfaction to the theater. Nine determinants of visitors’ satisfaction with their subjective experience in theater (Boerner & Jobst, 2013∙ Boerner et al, 2011): 1. the topic of the play 2. the stage direction 3. the ensemble 4. the principal performer 5. stage design (costumes, requisites and lighting) 6. music 7. the service quality 8. visitors’ emotional response 9. visitors’ identification with the principal performer

as. cit. in Boerner & Jobst (2013), p.39

3. Supportive questions to in class discussion after the performance: ◉◉ From my point of view, the play was good, very good, bad because… (General Evaluation) ◉◉ I had no/ high etc. expectations from the play (Visitors’ expectations) ◉◉ Before the play I was in good, sad, irritated etc. mood (Visitors’ mood) ◉◉ I liked the play a lot, not at all, etc. because… (Artistic Quality of the Play) ◉◉ I found the topic of the play boring, interesting etc. … because… (Artistic Quality of the Play) ◉◉ I found that the play had contemporary connections (Play’s topicality) ◉◉ The direction was interesting, boring etc. because… (Stage direction) ◉◉ The single elements of the production (actors, stage design etc.) fit together very well because … (Fit within the production) ◉◉ From my point of view, the director deviated from the original, because… (Faithfulness to the original text) ◉◉ Overall, the actors performed well etc. because…(Acting) ◉◉ I was impressed by the costumes, the scenery a lot, not at all, very much etc. because … (Stage Setting) ◉◉ There were unusual elements in the production (Novelty) ◉◉ The play touched me because … (Associations to own life) ◉◉ I could understand the characters because … (Empathy) ◉◉ Probably, I will think of the play again (Thought- provoking impulse) ◉◉ Probably I will recommend this play (Stimulation to communication) ◉◉ Found it interesting to observe other peers’ reactions to the events onstage (Perceived behavior) ◉◉ I think some reacted inappropriately to the evens on the stage (Perceived behavior) ◉◉ It was a good decision to attend the play today (Overall satisfaction of the theater visit)

ETHOS • FALL 2018 • THE THEORY AND THE RESEARCH

Learners Leading Learning in an Inquiry-Led Foreign Language Classroom Christina J. Rocha, Faculty, Spanish Language

“W

hat we want to see is the child in pursuit of curiosity, not curiosity in pursuit of the child” George Bernard Shaw

Introduction Students graduating from Middle School, High School or even university, seem to be less than proficient at the speaking level even after receiving several years of foreign language (FL) instruction. A vast majority of curricular programs remain grammar-driven, failing to engage learners in cognitively stimulating tasks and to connect with them through real world experiences, thus encouraging them to use the target language beyond the classroom. The movement towards globalized classrooms and student centered learning across core curriculum, has helped students in becoming more engaged and active in their learning, as they learn by doing, by both acting as receivers and facilitators of their own learning through inquiry. Until recently however, this engagement in learning has been limited to core subjects like Math and Science, as foreign language learning is not considered a core subject, therefore not an important requirement in educational systems across the United States. This is why Cammarata, Tedick and Osborn (2016) advocate that foreign language education must “reconsider and broaden its goals so as to better motivate language learners and so that it may participate fully in learners’ overall intellectual development” (p. 10). Amid student diversity, embracing backgrounds of different ideas is a unifying theme teachers need to support as educators in international educational settings. Classroom teachers are in a battle not only for their students’ undivided attention, but also to restore the joy and passion for learning through curiosity and creative thought. Teachers seemingly need to motivate --and even dare-- students to be confused and perplexed to evoke real questions (inquiry), subsequently through this process, teachers have more information in shaping robust and informed methods of blended instruction. This paper will investigate and report on some of the possibilities, challenges, and resources associated with Content Based Learning (CBL) combined with Inquiry Based Instruction and Learning (IBI, IBL). Identifying CBL and IBL Defined as “an approach to instruction in which students are taught academic content in a language they are still learning” (Lightbrown, 2013, p. 116), content-based instruction (CBI) has been a trend in recent years among educators. However, this can be somewhat problematic when making an effort to incorporate cognitively stimulating curricula since the integration of meaningful content into the FL curriculum isn’t enough to ensure that the learners’ experience will be meaningful, cognitively engaging and motivating. Inquiry can de defined as “an official effort to collect and examine information about something, or the act of asking questions in order to gather or collect information” (Inquiry, n.d.). This inquiry-based approach to learning is based on

constructivist theories that can be traced back to the progressive educational philosophies of John Dewey and Jean Jacques Rousseau, and “emphasize the learner’s contribution to meaning and learning through both individual and social activity” (Bruning, Schraw, & Ronning, 1999, p. 215). Indeed, Dewey, characterized the intellectual tools of inquiry as the means by which humans make experience educative (as cited in Johnson 2006). While there isn’t necessarily a manual to constructivism per se, there are suggestions and methods that promote student construction of knowledge, especially those that emphasize non-rote tasks and active, engaged student participation in the learning process. According to Cammarata (2016) the objective of CBL and IBI is to cultivate ways of “helping learners engage willingly with content in meaningful and cognitively challenging ways; they will need to nurture learners’ desire to want to know more, ask questions, explore, and inquire within and beyond the FL classroom walls” (p. 123). Any and all interesting themes and accompanying topics can be neutralized if the tasks and activities asked of the students to complete in order to manipulate the content and language are not compelling. CBL and IBI in the Foreign Language Classroom? Are They Compatible? As the goal for any foreign language (FL) classroom (CR) is to develop concurrently the cognitive and linguistic abilities, thus, inquiry should be considered the primary focus of any FL program. Undeniably, by teaching students how to use and manipulate language in cognitively authentic ways, they learn to express their thoughts, perform various everyday functions such as engaging in discovery activities to explore and deepen their understanding of their surrounding world as well as their place and role within it—and become better meaning makers (Meyer, 2015). In doing so, students create connections with the content they are learning, making it relevant to their real world. F.L. teacher Nancy Hagstrom (2013) illustrates this through her school’s rendition of Expeditionary Learning (EL) at Casco Bay High School in Portland, Maine. This is otherwise known as the three R’s framework, that is, Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships. Hagstrom (2016) goes on to explain how this framework works: Rigor is the use of language and the focus on having students inquire into how they can make sense of the target language; relevance is content that is either immediately relevant to students or compelling enough to become relevant; relationships is about trust that is built within the class that allows students to engage with one another (p. 252). Of course students also engage with the teacher in the target language. Fostering a culture of trust is an essential component in any classroom, but particularly significant in an IBL environment as trust is what allows students to take risks, make mistakes, ask questions leading to real learning and thus feel like they own, and are a part of their learning experience. Hagstrom further discuss-

ETHOS • FALL 2018 • THE THEORY AND THE RESEARCH

es how safety, IBI and FL learning are interconnected:

For many students, learning a language is a highly risky task. They are routinely presented with content that is difficult and specific, and they are often asked to reproduce grammatical perfection with limited focus on how the grammar that they are learning is applicable to their use of the language in a future context. Thus, what I try to accomplish in my classes is marriage between the teaching and learning of important skills I know will stimulate students’ intellectual curiosity and motivate them (ex: use content related to the arts or history as well as tasks targeting higher order thinking skills such as evaluating, critiquing, and more) and the teaching of foundational linguistic knowledge (vocabulary, grammar, syntax) that I know will enhance students’ ability to communicate their thoughts, ideas and questions in a comprehensible way for authentic purposes. Authentic purpose here means that learners will engage in activities whose ultimate goals will be meaningful to them, that is lead them to learn something new, think deeper about a topic of interest, tackle questions they personally have about life in general and those of others/and/or solve real problems, to name a few (p. 251) .

The IBL approach considers learners as explorers. And this approach aligns well with the modern socio-cultural theoretical (SCT) view of language and language teaching (Gee, 1990). According to SCT, the primary function of language is not just to communicate information, as language is “not just a muscle needing to be trained so it can do some heavy communicating weight lifting…It is also a device to think and feel with, as well as a device with which to signal and negotiate social identity” (Gee, 1990, p. 78). Language is a tool used everyday to interact and connect with others, be it in an oral or written format. It is a tool that is used to reflect and dream in, to discuss with, debate about, wonder and ask questions so as to learn about new material and therefore grow as individuals. Legendre (as cited in Cammarata, 2016) furthers this claim: (… learning a language means learning to be closer to others…it means equipping oneself with intellectual tools for confronting the real and the unknown, as well as personal enrichment through a knowledge of other cultures and other views of the world. Learning also means combating the ignorance that lies at the root of intolerance and racism (p. 11).

For example -- Cammarata maintains that “it is essential that non-linguistic content and related tasks follow an inquiry-driven approach in language and learning if the mission of language learning is to be successful” (2016, p. 124).

Aside from satisfying one’s curiosity to ask questions about culture and linguistic history, being aware of the language enough to ask questions relating to its vocabulary, or idiomatic expressions lends a strong hand in understanding the culture of the people studied in the target language. Having a curious mindset is not a pre-requisite. By teaching students how to ask and work with questions, students become more curious and engaged in their learning environment. The American Council of the teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), in accordance with the National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, has developed goals and standards of which American educational institutions follow. One of these goals is to “incorporate the systemized study of culture into foreign language classes, because knowledge of the cultural contexts in which languages are spoken is essential to achieving true mastery of a foreign language” (Yonkers, 2006, p. 31). Understanding

one’s own culture within a global context is another advantage to studying a new language the culture(s) where it is spoken. Thus it can be rightfully deduced that the combination of knowledge about foreign cultures and the ability to engage in comparisons and contrasts with one’s own is what will help learners acquire global perspectives and intercultural awareness. A Few Essentials for Educators Typically for educators, there are four basic rules to teaching: ◉◉ Curiosity comes first: the questions can be windows to great instruction, but not the other way around. Student questions are the seeds to real learning. ◉◉ Embrace the mess: educators are well aware and know that learning can be ugly- trial and error can still be an informal part of instruction, and sometimes the ugliest parts can result in the best learning that builds a whole from those same pieces. ◉◉ Establishing a culture of trust within the FL walls allows students to engage with one another and the teacher in the target language, making mistakes and learning by asking questions along the way. ◉◉ Practice reflection: What goes on in that classroom is important, deserves care, but also revision. As reflection happens, it promotes wonder statements, and thus curiosity; “I wonder if I had done it this way, how would it look?”

Questioning itself has raised much wonder. Questions “are the engines of intellect- cerebral machines that convert curiosity into controlled inquiry” (Berger, 2014, p. 15). If questions are ‘engines’, then how does imagination relate to creativity? Imagination, according to Alexander (as cited in Craig and Deretchin, 2010) is “the engine that ignites the thinking and creative thought and creativity as the locomotive that pulls the imaginative wagons and turns them into finished and elaborated products” (p. 27). When referring to imagination and its role in education, Egan and Nadaner (1988) claim that “stimulating the imagination is not an alternative educational activity to be argued for in competition with other claims; it is a pre-requisite to making any educational activity” (p. 212). Challenges to Building an Inquiry-led FL CR Training students on how to ask questions in instructional units based on inquiry, will require learners to be exposed to and use a more advanced and academically formal linguistic inventory. Such units also require learners to implement and utilize a wide array of advanced academic literacy skills, that is, those needed to question, critique, argue, debate, synthesize information, evaluate, and so on (be it orally or in writing). The ultimate goal then in the FL classroom is to use inquiry in the target language. According to Cammarata (2016), Educators who wish to embrace and develop a cognitively stimulating FL program that will foster a classroom environment encouraging and motivating learners to engage in a constructivist educational experience, must think like a content, language and literacy teacher all at the same time (p. 128).

While FL teachers are trained to teach content, and basic literacy skills, they are not necessarily trained in how to teach students to use academic language of inquiry. This means that the words and grammar linked to the content being manipulated in class and reproduced (language of reading, writing and speaking) does not showcase teacher training on how to teach advanced literacy skills that are connected to higher-order thinking skills as displayed by Bloom (1956), as these topics are often not covered in K-12 FL teacher education programs, nor is it a common theme among professional development opportunities available to FL teachers. Thus, it is not surprising that many teachers seldom (if ever) consider the instructional aspect to be an important component to focus on during the curriculum development process.

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However, as an IBL FL approach becomes more the norm in core subjects, and students become more fluent using this ‘wonder’ language, this will help them to become more proficient in their use of academic language, thought process etc. As a result, when new IBL units are presented in their FL CR, students will already have an idea of how to navigate. Learning a language is like building blocks- and learning to use the right words to formulate questions, is just another block.

That being said, FL teachers interested in using an IBL approach in their classrooms need not be depend upon other disciplines in order for their teachers to introduce this way of thinking. For those educators willing to revisit and broaden their instructional agenda to include more meaningful content and tasks that may arouse learners’ curiosities and desire to explore further, more focused professional development opportunities is necessary so FL teachers are enabled to adopt such practices in their CR. This will ensure that teachers will also sharpen their abilities on teaching students to develop more advanced literary skills, providing a success and personal growth for both teacher and student. Recommendations to Support IBL in the FL CR As mentioned above, programs and training need to be more readily available for teachers to learn and adapt these methods for use in building an inquiry led FL classroom that is focused on content. However, even before embarking on new training, a simple reflection and revision of practices for instructional vocabulary and expressions used already in the CR by the teacher is helpful, thus modeling for the students inquisitive and just language, which in turn raises their awareness for new possibilities. For example, to convey the message to students that their questions are important and thus equally honored as their answers thereby leading their own learning, educators can: ◉◉ equally acknowledge and honor all students’ questions ◉◉ avoid placing value statements on questions (ex: that’s a great question) in order to create a no judgment zone, opening the door for more opportunities to learn. For example, rather than by saying “we should..,” rephrase using “how might we…”, and “what if…”

A list of ready and available strategies and resources for educators to use freely follows below: ◉◉ The Question Formulation Technique (QFT)- is a simple yet powerful strategy developed by The Right Question Institute (www.rightquestion.org) that educators around the world use to teach students how to formulate, work with, and use their own questions, thus guiding their own learning. QFT also teaches participants how to rephrase their statements into questions, both closed and open-ended. ◉◉ Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an approach to learning that emphasizes student inquiry and student-driven learning. There are wonderful resources on PBL in such sites as www. teachthought.com, www.P21.org, and at the Buck institute for Education (www.bie.org). ◉◉ Primary source materials from the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov) and the Inquiry Design Model (www.c3teachers.org) from C3 Teachers are instrumental for launching student driven learning. ◉◉ WebQuests are inquiry based tasks where some or all of the information learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet. ◉◉ Wonderopolis (www.wonderopolis.org) offers multi-disciplinary resources and content to support students’ critical thinking and curiosity. ◉◉ Geniushour ( www.geniushourguide.org) provides plenty of materials and resources to facilitate a genius hour in your classroom. ◉◉ Visibile Thinking (www.visiblethinkingpz.org) is a research-based approach from Project Zero (www.pz.harvar.

edu) that promotes student thinking and curiosity. ◉◉ Recap (www.letsrecap.com) is an innovative digital platform that teachers can use to facilitate a question-led conversation (in any language).

It should be noted that for these resources to be considered applicable in a FL CR, teachers should first design their lesson plan/ unit using these techniques and then tailor them to fit their target language content and their CR needs. It is also important to mention that time, most scarce for teachers, is likely the most important factor in order for any educator that is already teaching full time, with any amount of preparations for different classes, to be able to follow up on special needs students and parents through emails, parent-teacher conferences, grading, extra duties, report card comments, etc. For educators to be able to even consider spending their working time on researching new methods to adapt into their classroom, the school administration needs to be supportive of such time- either through time constructive professional development (PD) practice on campus, or by allowing attendance and financial support for the teacher to attend different PD continuing education opportunities for colleagues off campus, at educational conferences and the like.

Conclusion For CBI to become a reality with IBL in FL classrooms, curricular reforms are necessary to foster the development of FL programs that can simultaneously stimulate learners’ curiosity and also their ability to think critically within the context of learning a foreign language. Adapting an educational model similar to the EL framework, thereby reinforcing the three R’s, as well as using resources such as the QFT approach, offers tremendous potential when it comes to building and sustaining a safe, and intellectually stimulating FL classroom environment conducive to language learning and connection. In our modern era where many questions can easily be ‘Googled’, by teaching students the art of questioning through innovative methods of inquiry, students can lead their own learning to formulate a different kind of search: one that can better prepare them for their academic studies, future careers and citizenship needs within a globalized world, individually challenging and increasingly important, figuring out what matters in terms of language, where opportunities lie (how to use them more effectively in order to get the intended result), and the process and tools necessary to get there successfully.

References Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question. Bloomsbury, NY: Bloomsbury Press. Bloom, B.S. (1956). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guidessub-pages/ blooms-taxonomy/ Bruning, R.H., Schraw, G.J., & Ronning, R.R. (1999). Cognitive psy chology and instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Cammarata, L. (2016). Foreign language education and the development of inquiry-driven language programs. In L. Cammarata (Ed.), Content-based foreign language teaching, (pp. 123-143) New York, NY: Routledge. Cammarata, L., Tedick, D., & Osborn,T. (2016). Content-based instruction and curricular reforms: Issues and goals. In L. Cammarata (Ed.), Content based foreign language teaching, (pp. 1-21). New York, NY: Routledge. Craig, C., & Deretchin, L. (Eds.). (2010). Cultivating curious and creative minds. Maryland, USA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Chicago, IL: Henry Regnery. Egan, K, and Nadaner,D.(Eds). (1988) Imagination and Education. Teachers College Press: New York. Facilitating Student Curiosity: Strategies and Resources. (2018). Education WeekBlog Retrieved from: http://blogs. edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2018/01/facili

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tating_student_curiosity_strategies_and_resources.html Gee, J. (1990). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideologies in discourses. London, UK: The Falmer Press. Hagstrom, N. (2016). A look at CBI in Action: An explorative journey into the arts and history in the foreign language classroom. In L. Cammarata (Ed.), Content based foreign language teaching, (pp. 250-264). New York, NY:Routledge. Inquiry. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster. com/dictionary/inquiry Johnson, K. E. (2006). The sociocultural turn and its challenges for second language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 235-257. Legendre, J. (1998). Explanatory memorandum to report on linguistic diversification. Retrieved from http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref- ViewHTML.asp?FileID=8611&lang=EN Lightbrown, P. (2014). Focus on content-based language teaching. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Meyer, O. (2013-2015). Literacies through content and language integrated learning: Effective learning across subjects and languages. Retrieved from http://www.ecml.at/ F7/tabid/967/Default.aspx. Yonkers, N.Y. (2006). National standards in foreign language education project. Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century,3, Washington, DC: Allen Press. Bibliography Altsaedter, L.L., & Jones, B. (2009). Motivating studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; foreign language and culture acquisition through web-based in quiry. Foreign Language Annals, 42(4), 640-657.

Hulme, E., Green, D., & Ladd, K. (2013). Fostering student engage ment by cultivating curiosity. New Directions for Student Services. Kashdan, T.B., Rose, P., & Finchman, F.D. (2004) Curiosity and exploration: facilitating positive subjective experiences and personal growth opportunities. Journal of Personality Assessment, 82(3), 291-305. Lindfors, J. (1982). Exploring in and through language. In M. Clarke & J. Handscombe (Eds.), On TESOL â&#x20AC;&#x2122;82: Pacific perspectives on language learning and teaching. Washington, DC: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Luke, C. (2006). Fostering learner autonomy in a technology enhanced, inquiry-based foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals 39, 71-86. Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J.S. (2000). Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 68-81.

ETHOS • FALL 2018 • THE THEORY AND THE RESEARCH

The Role of Ethics in 21 Century Organizations

Jenny E. Grigoropoulos, Faculty, ESL

ntroduction Business ethics is a highly discussed and debated subject in today’s corporate and business world (Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005). In practice, it is the application of ethical values and morals to everyday business processes, behavior, and policies. Ethics is a practice that applies to everyone employed in the organization, regardless of position, level of responsibility, and range of responsibilities (Paliwal, 2006). As Peter F. Drucker (1981) states ethics is non-negotiable, there is one ethics. There are morality rules and ethical behavior code that applies to all people alike. Ethical behavior and undertakings relate to actions, which are characterized by “honesty, integrity, morality and good management practices” (Paliwal, 2006, p. 4), while earning profits for the business organization.

There are certain parameters, which influence the extensive level and degree to which ethics has been analyzed by scholars and researchers in recent years, such as globalization, technology, intangible assets, talent management (Frynas & Melahi, 2011; Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Writght, 2014; Paliwal, 2006, Picciano, 2011). Furthermore, there are factors, which inhibit ethical intentions and behavior such as increasing competition; pressure for profits and return on investment; political corruption; values and morals not considered important by younger generations; the expectancy of fast money and profits; and disregard for social responsibility, honesty, and integrity (Brimmer 2007; Paliwal, 2006).

Meanwhile, organizations that are inclined in performing according to ethical standards, morals and values, have recognized the importance and significance that ethical procedures and policies are communicated and practiced throughout the entire organization, while at the same time becoming a priority for the administration of the organization (Brimmer, 2007). These standards must be modeled and practiced while having the commitment of the administration of the organization. Moreover, there must have been established a formal code of ethics outlining the policies, regulations, and expectations for all stakeholders. The code of ethics must be thoroughly communicated throughout the organization in formal an informal ways (written and oral communication) while making sure that there is provision for guidance and support in cases of dilemmas or insecurities. The organization ought to provide a thorough training program to prepare the employees for the policies, practices, and expectations in order to increase employee “ethical awareness” and to “define criteria for ethical decision-making within the organization” (Paliwal, 2006, p. 19). Additionally, when designing ethical programs, it is necessary to assign the leading role for the ethical implementation throughout the organization to an ethics officer who will be undertaking the role of a guide towards ethical decision-making and practices. Moreover, the ethics officer will be encouraging accountability and ownership towards the ethical program throughout the organization. The ethics officer ought to design response and enforcement methodologies through the provision of rewards. At last, investigations and provision of consequences in cases of behaviors, which are in non-accordance to the ethical program, must be reinforced by the ethics officer, while evaluating the program when the need

arises for reevaluation and redesigning of sections of the program (Paliwal, 2006).

Values are “what we choose as worthwhile or believe to have merit in a general or broad sense. Issues of right or wrong are related to one’s values. So, values represent a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence. Values are deep-seated ideas and feelings that manifest themselves as behavior or conduct these values. The true reflection of one’s values is his/her action” (Paliwal, 2006, p. 23). Values are unwavering and enduring. They represent the foundations of a person’s character. Moreover, they are the abstract version of what people believe to be right. They guide what actions are proper and meaningful for individuals to pursue. Also, values have intensity which explains how important they are. When an individual experiences his/her values becoming internal, they also become part of his/her character. Moreover, his/her actions become impulsive and constant and intuitive (Hannah, Schaubroeck, & Peng, 2016).The family, the school and the educational systems he/she attends, recreational activities he/she attends, religion, society and community residing in, form values. From the analysis of values and ethics above, their significance cannot be overstated. Meanwhile, the implementation of ethical practices and programs in the corporate environment can be challenging. All functions must be included in the design process and policies must be applicable to all employees, with respect to people being hired, fired, as well as respect for and employee privacy Furthermore, besides the responsibilities that the organization has towards its employees, it is of utmost importance that the employees support their organization, are trustworthy and loyal. In addition to the employees and the administration, there are internal and external stakeholders who affect and are affected by the organization; thus, they must be considered regarding their interests and welfares when designing the ethics program’s policies, and practices (Paliwal, 2006).

Leadership is responsible for practices such as creating the foundations for the resourceful and ethical performance of the business. It is one of the most powerful and important aspects of human activities in organizations. Companies invest tremendous amounts of funds on training effective leaders given that the long term survival as well as growth of organizations starts with ethical leadership. It is common knowledge that integrating ethics into organizations needs true leaders promoting the organization’s ethical mission, vision, goals, and objectives The ethical leaders ought to continuously assess their follower’s needs and expectations, motivate them and direct them, in an effort to reach and materialize the shared mission and vision (Brimmer, 2007). Ethical leaders are the key to communicate organization’s values and beliefs. To take the organizations on excellence path, a blend of strategy and culture is required which effective leadership can achieve. Strategic thinking and cultural building can be built up by leader’s moral principles and integrity. Leadership makes real difference between

ETHOS • FALL 2018 • THE THEORY AND THE RESEARCH

success and failure.” (Hoch, Bommer, Dulebohn, H., & Wu, 2018)

Why is the principle of ethics necessary and significant? The importance of the principle of ethical behavior had not been “apparent” until recent years that individuals and organizations have been researching to find ways that ethical behavior can be integrated in corporate practices. Internal and external stakeholders have been pressuring organizations to support ethical practices within and throughout their organizations in order for the latter to be promoting procedures and practices aiming towards common good and benefit (Child, 2015; Trevino, Weaver, & Reynolds, 2006). Ethics and the notion of ethical behavior and value systems in the organizational setting have become an organizational precedence in the 21stcentury. Ethos was first discussed in the ancient Greek philosophic circles, where it was a principle characterizing the virtuous and moral beliefs, attitudes, and acts (Sulmasy, 2013). Ethics are “neither a luxury nor an option. Business ethics is a set of principles that guides business practices to reflect a concern for society as a whole while pursuing profits” (Brimmer, 2007, p. 12). Ethics as a practice does not merely affect the organizational decision-making but consequently the organizational culture overall. “To achieve this ideal, there must be an alignment process that integrates business ethics with mission, vision, strategies and goals” (Brimmer, 2007, p. 3). Ethical principles have bedrock on social values; thus the alignment will be relevant to relationships while interpersonal anticipations are defined. The outcome, which is an ethical organization, is the utmost gratifying one. Internal and external relationships are built and enhanced. Therefore, all parties involved directly or indirectly are “treated well consistently and an ethical culture emerges. A great opportunity awaits organizations alert to the potential of ethical” practices integrated in the everyday business operations (Brimmer, 2007, p. 3). These notions place Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the very essence of leadership and management providing for the welfare of employees, while ensuring that all stakeholders benefit from the corporate practices (Child, 2015). What happens when ethics is not implemented Designing and implementing ethical programs in today’s corporate and business world can be challenging, especially given the degree of corruption in society and loose values and principles governing the intentions and actions of people regardless of position and responsibilities. Furthermore, the extensive number of scandals and lawsuits surfaced has prompted some multi-level and multi-discipline research (Ferrell, 2016). There has been research providing insight about what promotes and dictates unethical behaviors, such as personal backgrounds and character traits, tendencies to act upon hidden agendas, low level of job satisfaction, demographics and gender. These tendencies govern the decision-making process; the younger and the less educated the individual is, the higher the likelihood to make wrong or poor choices (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Unethical practices focus on the egoistic personality characteristics, promoting “an everyone for himself” atmosphere. Furthermore, research has proven that there are cases in which unethical choices, behaviors and actions are the products and outcomes of deliberate and “impulsive automatic pathways” thus showing that they cannot be anticipated and therefore premeditated for” (Kish-Gephart, Harrison, & Treviño, 2010, p. 21).

On the contrary, when the organizational environment supports its employees and guides them to be attentive towards the welfare of all stakeholders, whether internal or external, all parties involved benefit. Employees and administration, together, work towards common goals and objectives, being guided by the shared mission and vision. Additionally, community is appreciative of the caring climate encouraged by the organization, as well as the intentions and supporting actions demonstrated the organizations by being

loyal customers therefore improving organizational performance, and therefore, success and longevity (Kish-Gephart, Harrison, & Treviño, 2010). When leadership faces moral and ethical dilemmas It is often the case that administrations face situations, which are not clearly ethical or unethical. People are used to state that an issue faced is either right or wrong. However, as “a slogan on an ethics poster for Boeing states, ‘between right and wrong is a troublesome gray area” (Leadership: Facing Moral and Ethical Dilemmas, 2017, p. 2). Situations such as loss of trust, growing inequality, avoidance to work for the impersonal environment of a corporation, put strain on the day-to-day operations of an organization (Child, 2015).

Leaders are the most influential body in any institution greatly impacting the organizational culture, promoting principles and values in accordance to the objectives, mission and vision shared with employees (Senge, 2006). Although there are circumstances that leaders fine as challenging to make meaningful and purposeful decisions for the common good, there are guidelines that can be followed as long as their intention is to perform and carry out activities and processes towards the common and collective benefit. Leaders have the moral obligation to create an environment in their organizations where employees experience security, integrity and trust. When employees feel safe and appreciated they accomplish to their potential. This is a contagious and works in a ripple effect connecting the entire organization in a process that goes beyond materialistic compensations. The objective is to engage all stakeholders to operate in such a way that they accomplish “stated goals and do so in a manner that is consistent with the higher values of the organizational community” (Leadership: Facing Moral and Ethical Dilemmas, 2017, p. 3).

Making ethical decisions Regarding ethics, the literature and research conducted by scholars at mentioned above is extensive. However, there is also extensive debate on whether ethical behavior is innate or can be learned. Although goodwill, values, and principles are cultured and nurtured, there are processes and guidelines with clearly designed steps aligned with the organization’s responsibilities and commitments, which can guide institutions through the decision-making process. Furthermore, there are theories and approaches that can “guide ethical decision-making” (Making Ethical Decisions, 2017, para.13). The theories include the utilitarian approach, the rights approach, the common good approach, and the virtue approach. The utilitarian approach dictates that when there is an overlap of ethical actions that can be undertaken, the primary choice should be the one that will be the most beneficial and least harmful to the greatest number of individuals involved. The rights approach evaluates the level and degree of rights that the parties involved have over a decision and who has the most influential right over the others. The community good approach advocates that the community and its benefits should be directed towards the community in its entirety. The virtue approach targets towards the virtues and “desirable qualities” of the individual undertaking the action and how he/she can reach his/her maximum potential. It is important for scholars, researchers, and professionals evaluating and contemplating on these approaches to take into account that each one has its strengths and weaknesses. In the evaluation process, one must consider the fact that not everyone will agree on what is harmful and what is a beneficial; people from different places and backgrounds share different principles, rights and values; it is not necessary that everyone will agree on the same set of common goods and benefits. Therefore, it is necessary and important that when evaluating the most applicable approach to take into account

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the circumstances and the situation applicable to (Making Ethical Decisions, 2017).

Implementing an ethical culture in the organization through ethical leadership development What types of culture promote ethics “We need leaders who lead with purpose, values, and integrity; leaders who build enduring organizations, motivate their employees to provide superior customer service, and create long-term value for shareholders” (Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p. 316). Given the turbulent times that the business and corporate world faces in the 21st century, it is important thatthe loss of trust in leadership is restored, while the “organization’s values of justice fairness, and equity” are deeply integrated, while confidence, pride, trust, hope and optimism are enhanced (Leadership: Facing Moral and Ethical Dilemmas, 2017, p. 3). The most important business responsibility of the corporate world is to create, install, and nurture business cultures, which are based on values and principles. This can be accomplished by taking into account four essential elements. First, leadership must instill “shared core values, such as honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, and compassion” (Brimmer, 2007, p. 4) which must be the ones driving decision-making within the organization. Second, the organization ought to have a common and shared language that all employees understand and feel comfortable to discuss even sensitive or challenging issues. This language is the language of ethics, which must be deeply integrated in the organization’s infrastructure. Third, leadership commitment for the efficient, effective, and purposeful delivery of the ethical program, while rewarding the individuals who abide by the ethical policies, makes the program stronger while the ethical culture is deeply installed. Fourth, facing up to the challenges that may surface, in confidence that procedures and policies are carried out to satisfy the common benefit of the stakeholders and the organization, while neither leadership nor employees feel intimidated or stressed by the challenge or options available for decision- making to be achieved (Brimmer, 2007). Modeling Ethical Behaviors Start with Leadership Leaders have the intrinsic responsibility to promote ethical behaviors by demonstrating them. Some of the core characteristics of leadership as mentioned earlier, are integrity, moral behavior, honesty, trustworthiness, consistency, “courage in adversity, and wholeness” while ethical leadership is defined as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making” (Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005, p.120).

Leaders who set the groundwork for ethical organizations promote employee engagement, while making balanced decisions on fair grounds. Employees adjust to the path set by the administration gaining confidence, pride, self-esteem and self-worth, while they model such behaviors to their colleagues, other members of the organization and community, promoting satisfaction, loyalty to the organization, and acknowledgement, towards the leadership and its behavior. Meanwhile, negative or unethical behaviors are either belittled or vanish promoting value systems that are enriched with ethics and moral principles (Avey, Palanski, & Walumbwa, 2010; Piccolo, Greenbaum, Den Hartog, & Folger, 2010). Ethical leaders empower their followers by power sharing and increase their accountability. Employees are involved in the daily tasks necessary for the fulfillment of the mission and vision of the organization, which are shared across the organization. Leaders in successful companies witness the effect that spreading accountability and discipline by modeling them has on the employees. The latter are encouraged to be effective and trustworthy, while eliminating inefficient behaviors. Once the culture of accountability is embedded in the organization and becomes an irreplaceable part of everyday

work and performance, the whole organization in alignment with the objectives set and the goals aimed at (Rogers & Meehan, 2007).

Thus, the ethical leader should act as the role model, scaffolding behaviors designing behaviors while the process and mentality becomes embedded in the corporate DNA. Although it is most efficient to begin the organization implanting accountability throughout all levels and disciplines, it can be a function or element integrated after the initiation of the institution. Ethical behaviors enhanced by accountability need to be enriched with trust and purpose in order to build on performance. If these elements are absent even great ideas cannot be executed as successful as their potential was. (Chassin, Loeb, Schmaltz,& Wachter, 2010). Linking Ethical Leadership to Employee Performance As stated above, Piccolo et al. (2010) discovered through their research that ethical leadership increases “task significance” which in return improves performance (Piccolo, Greenbaum, Den Hartog, & Folger, 2010).It promotes performance as well as, the potential of employees; in other words using their talents it improves personal and organizational performance. Engaging in ethical leadership the administration can make significant difference to the organization’s current and future outcomes by achieving high performance and success (Ashton & Morton, 2005). Ethical leadership promotes the transparency of the organization’s business philosophy and the communication of company’s practices, principles, and values (Effron, 2017).The continual purposeful interactions between management and employees are important in the promotion of ethical tactics, while aiming to increase engagement. (Mougalian, 2016).The promotion of organizational culture, targets to increase engagement leading to productivity, innovation, performance, profitability, and thus customer satisfaction guiding the institutions towards organizational success(Ashton & Morton, 2005). Ethical Leadership Gains Grounds outside the Corporate Walls The role of the ethical leader is not constrained within the territories of an organization. More and more businesses and corporations undertake social responsibilities promoting values and principles to the community and society, as a whole. As nations have a declining capacity to regulate business practices, private companies undertake the role of regulation and policy implementation. Furthermore, globalization as well as social changes and challenges, have given the organization of the 21st century an additional role: a political role. The increasing speed of global changes, technology, and the rise of significance of the business in the political and social context, increases the necessity of ethical leadership (Scherer& Palazzo, 2011).

These changes presuppose that a culture of integrity and respect has been cultivated in the organizations promoting ethical procedures and policies towards the increased need for corporate responsibility. Globalization and mass immigration of populations includes movement of people to new lands. In order for them to feel safe while useful and productive, they must be respected and empowered to engage in professional activities. Given these changes, ethical leaders are called upon to design activities and training procedures to embrace these people and incorporate them in their organizations. Meanwhile, their idiosyncrasies must be taken into account when policies and practices are designed. However, administrations should be “getting the best out of people” instead of “getting the most out of them” (Child, 2015, p. 187).

Conclusion This document is an attempt to connect research studies and scholarly articles to recognize and identify the role of ethics in contemporary business organizations. The outcome of this study is that ethics is “a priority” (Brimmer, 2007, p. 2). While leaders have numerous external factors, which present opportunities and

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threats, such as keeping up with the technology advancements, globalization’s outcomes, threats of the competition, they also have to keep up with internal tasks and practices such as the alignment of mission, vision with the organizational culture, the strategies designed and the goals pursued for their own organization. Although the role of a leader is a complex and multifaceted one, he/shemust also integrate ethical practices (Brimmer, 2007; Leadership: Facing Moral and Ethical Dilemmas, 2017). People around the globe seem to be losing trust in business and politics. The increased publicized corruption and the continuous downfall of principles and values have given rise to the urgent need for ethics to be integrated in corporate practice. Meanwhile, ethics deals with the development of corporate character where individuals employed and communities in which the organizations function, may flourish (Avey, Wernsing, & Palanski, 2012). More and more business organizations identify this need and institutionalize ethical values. Through this process, all stakeholders benefit. Employees have the sense of pride and belonging because they are satisfied to be working for an ethical organization, the community is positive because an ethical organization is one that provides to its community, and the organization because satisfied and motivated employees are efficient and productive while a gratified and fulfilled community is comprised of loyal consumers (Brimmer, 2007). “The powerful economic, political social and cultural forces at play” lead individuals and organizations to “weigh their alternatives and make choices in light of personal values and goals, but also with consideration to organizational and professional success” (Leadership: Facing Moral and Ethical Dilemmas, 2017, p. 3). Meanwhile, it is important to observe the culture and social environment in the community, and align them with the corporate culture. This will provide information, which is not readily available or accessible that may guide the organization on how to design strategic plans incorporating ethical policies and procedures (Bolser, 2012). Furthermore, it is significant for organizations to devote time and energy in the development of leaders with ethos, integrity, honesty in order for tomorrow’s corporate world to be less corrupt and more compassionate and ethical. Organizations able to “survive and compete in the ever-changing marketplace will be those that have proactively and strategically prepared themselves for future challenges through effective leadership development programs, practices, and systems” (Leskiw, & Singh, 2007, p. 460).

References Ashton, C., & Morton, L. (2005). Managing talent for competi tive advantage: Taking a systemic approach to talent management. Strategic HR Review, 4(5), 28-31. Avey, J. B., Palanski, M. E., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2011). When leader ship goes unnoticed: The moderating role of follower self-esteem on the relationship between ethical lead ership and follower behavior. Journal of Business Eth ics, 98(4), 573-582. Avey, J. B., Wernsing, T. S., & Palanski, M. E. (2012). Exploring the process of ethical leadership: The mediating role of employee voice and psychological ownership. Journal of Business Ethics, 107(1), 21-34. Avolio, B.J. & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley & Sons. Bolser, K. D. (2012). Developing values and ethics-preparing leaders: A social and cultural texture analysis of Titus Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership, 4(1), 1-3. 63-69. Brimmer, S. E. (2007). The role of ethics in 21st century organizations. Leadership advance online, issue XI. Brown, M. E., Trevino, L.K., & Harrison, D.A. (2005). Ethical

Leadership: A Social Learning Perspective for Construct Development and Testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.97, 117-134. Chassin, M. R., Loeb, J. M., Schmaltz, S. P., & Wachter, R. M. (2010). Accountability measures—using measurement to promote quality improvement. Child, J. (2015). Organization: Contemporary principles and practice (2nd ed.). West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley Drucker, P. F. (1981). What is business ethics?. The Public Interest, (63), 18. Effron, M. (2017). The 5 Talent Management Trends for 2017[PDF]. The Talent Strategy Group. Ferrell, O. C. (2016). A framework for understanding organizational ethics. In Business ethics: New challenges for business schools and corporate leaders (pp. 15-29). Routledge. Frynas, J. & Mellahi, K. (2015). Global strategic management (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Hannah, S. T., Schaubroeck, J. M., & Peng, A. C. (2016). Transforming followers’ value internalization and role self-efficacy: Dual processes promoting performance and peer norm-enforcement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(2), 252. Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and servant leadership explain variance above and beyond transformational leadership? A meta-analysis. Journal of Management, 44(2), 501-529. Kish-Gephart, J. J., Harrison, D. A., & Treviño, L. K. (2010). Bad apples, bad cases, and bad barrels: meta-analytic evidence about sources of unethical decisions at work. Leadership: Facing Moral and Ethical Dilemmas. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2017, from http://www.exe-coach.com/ leadership-facing-moral-and-ethical-dilemmas.htm Leskiw, S. L., & Singh, P. (2007). Leadership development: Learning from best practices. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 28(5), 444-464. Making Ethical Decisions. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2017, from https://sailordotorg/gitub.io/text_human relations/s09-02-making-ethical-decisions.html Mougalian, L. (2016, December 27). The Top 4 Talent Management Trends You Should Watch For in 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2017, from https://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/the top-4-talent-management-trends-you-should-watch- for-in-2016/ Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2014). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Paliwal, M. (2006). Business ethics. New Age International. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.acg. idm.oclc.org Picciano, A. G. (2011). Educational leadership and planning for technology(5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Piccolo, R. F., Greenbaum, R., Hartog, D. N. D., & Folger, R. (2010). The relationship between ethical leadership and core job characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(2‐3), 259-278. Rogers, P., & Meehan, P. (2007). Building a winning culture. Business Strategy Series, 8(4), 254-261. Scherer, A. G., & Palazzo, G. (2011). The new political role of business in a globalized world: A review of a new perspective on CSR and its implications for the firm, governance, and democracy. Journal of management studies, 48(4), 899-931. Senge, P. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization (Rev. and updated. ed.). New York, NY: Doubleday/Currency Sulmasy, D. P. (2013). Ethos, mythos, and thanatos: spirituality and ethics at the end of life. Journal of pain and symptom management, 46(3), 447-451.

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