C. School content: Reorientation, restructuring, reconstruction and expansion of the school curriculum
The creation of the Unified Twelve-year Basic School has to undergo the radical change of its content, starting from its orientation. The whole of the curriculum as well as each separate course must be oriented towards the objective of the new school, to contribute to the social cultivation of a stable and creative personality. This presupposes the overall restructuring, the radical reconstruction and substantial expansion of the school curriculum.
While searching for school’s content from the point of view of Basic Education, we insist on opposing the “modern educational” tendency, which asks from school to “catch up” with every new development, using the pretext of scientific and technological changes. Such a perception led to the practice of the mere increase of textbooks content or the addition of new courses. This does not only worsen the problems of teaching time available and school curriculum, but mainly stagnates the whole content of the traditional General Education courses, thus sustaining the anachronism of the main content and its fragmentation.
We believe that school curriculum must focus on the main goal of Basic Education, which is the formation of personality. And thus it ought to maintain the basic essence of All-Round Education and to renew it, generally readapting (when necessary) its content. So, for example, environmental edification could be included in the courses of biology, geography, aesthetics and physical education; sexual and health edification could be included in biology and physical education courses. Fundamental issues for the comprehension of contemporary world and man’s position in it would jointly be studied, through the interdependence of courses, and thus free of impartiality, overlaps and exaggerations. For example, by modernizing the physics course, the student would realize that current knowledge of physics does not cancel the laws of classical physics (applications of physics in technology, medicine, agriculture etc. for the biggest part depend on it, after all), but only shows their limits of their power and their application. The young person’s optimism for future scientific potential and the belief in human logic’s power would thus be increased.
The school curriculum is also in need of such a restructuring that will free it from overlaps, existing from course to course and from grade to grade, and which constitute not only an unnecessary waste of creative powers, but also a restraining factor for the young person’s creativity. The problem does not only lie in the continuity of each subject’s teaching from class to class; it is about achieving synthesis in the edification of the various scientific branches and courses so that each course focuses on those elements which creatively contribute to personality formation, through its particular operation and according to the course of development of the child and the adolescent. So, on the one hand, the contribution of each course to the quality of the curriculum as a whole is increased and the necessity is created for teachers of all specialties to cooperate. On the other hand, each separate course is improved, because it is exactly its special contribution to the formation of the young person’s personality that is being stressed. This should be the criterion by which to choose the content of the course and methodology and to determine the main function of each course, so that the curriculum forms a unified whole. School courses should cease to function autonomously, each “minding its own business”, providing fragmented knowledge which – in its majority – is of secondary importance, or even useless, for the purposes of basic education.
The school curriculum is also in the need of real reconstruction that will impose the scientific determination of the syllabus. This practically means two things: First, the school has to get rid of doctrines, ideas which are not the object of scientific education, such as the course of religion. The abolition and replacement of this particular course with the informing about the science of religion in the framework of the edification of the history of culture, – to the direction of the division between state and church and the freedom of conscience – is a historically utterly mature demand, solved in many countries as early as the 18th century. Second, the curriculum ought to include those ideas that find expression in modern life.
The content of all courses today follows the notion “knowledge for knowledge’s shake”, which is mainly expressed by fragmentation and formalism. In this way, the knowledge provided does not meet the needs actual of reality, does not reflect the essence of phenomena. Thus, young people learn to remain to the surface, in their quest of truth for the real world, so that in the future they are kept away – as workers or scientists – from the substantial issues of society, economy and ideology. What is necessary is for the curriculum to assume internal unity and, instead of confusion and relativism, to focus on that basic knowledge and the basic methods which are necessary in order that young people build a scientific perception of the world, a scientific Biotheory (theory of life).
Finally, the curriculum needs expansion not only of subject but of duration as well. Today, the expansion of the curriculum is attempted, yet in terms of expanding the hours of school function, with no improvements concerning to the quality of school, which remains the same or even worse. This “famous all-day’ school is in fact time of keeping and guarding children within the school building – often having to pay for that. The curriculum is indeed in the need of expansion in terms of both subject and duration. This, however, presupposes dealing with restrictions imposed on education and lack of personnel, always in the frame of the reinforcement of free and state education. And most importantly, time expansion in the school curriculum has certain limits and must be in accordance with the restructuring and reconstruction of its content. The curriculum can include a range of activities, which today are included in external to the curriculum activities and are complementary, while they should constitute an element of the educational process itself (athletic and cultural activities, foreign languages etc.). Thus, modern school “throws” creative and collective activities out of the school curriculum and into various selective programs, while the intensification of high school duties is a literally exhausting procedure that does not allow any activity beyond the preparation for exams and individualistic competition. In the school curriculum, aesthetic and physical education are listed among the very last of its interests, as separate and second-rate courses. Yet, the curriculum ought to serve the social, emotional and moral cultivation of the personality and the harmonious development of young people; intellectual and aesthetic education, as well as physical education contribute to that.
C.1. The cognitive content
School must set the necessary scientific bases in order for all the young persons to acquire general scientific perception of the natural and social reality and, based on that, to build their ideological position, to realize their position within the world and life itself.
Nowadays, all courses are defined by fragmentation and formalism. In this way, the knowledge provided by contemporary school does not correspond to the actual reality and thus is completely deprived of totality, whether it is with regard to classical tradition or even to new scientific discoveries. Idealism is predominant. The edification of the natural and social sciences is treated as a totally diversified cognitive process, as if the search for general laws and rules, the verification of objective truth through observation and practical application, could possibly be limited solely to the natural phenomena. The edification of the positive sciences is isolated from ideology, while at the same time the social sciences are transformed into obvious bourgeois propaganda in the form the so-call “indisputable ideals” (the “European civilization” of the EU, the market economy and “socialism with a humane face”, “social solidarity” and concession instead of class struggle).
If school were not tortured by the ideological partiality of the ruling class, it would be in a position to offer the basic knowledge for young people to scientifically approach the world and their lives. It would infuse students, through each and every course, with the conscience that it is possible to acquire knowledge of the world as a total. It would infuse students with the general examination of the world in its unity, and eventually its materiality. The unity of the curriculum and the spiral development of the syllabus in cycles, according to the course of development of the child and the adolescent would follow the very dialectical course of knowledge itself, from the lively examination to the abstract intellect and, from that, to action.
So, instead of a school focusing on the accumulation and classification of scientific knowledge and, as a result, on its fragmented and selective assimilation, there would be one focusing its attention to the elements necessary for the young person to gradually form a personality capable of critical thinking and social action.
The main elements of school’s cognitive content are:
The objective of teaching the courses of language and of Mathematics is, in connection with the rest of the courses, to help the young person understand human reason and to teach that person to think dialectically. Their contribution to that is practical and significant, since students learn to gain control over the tools of intellect, through the sufficient acquisition of their native language and of the international language of science (as Mathematics is called). Today, we limit the use of such tools at simply an elementary communicative level, while in senior high school, edification is utterly disconnected from reality, thus in danger of being trapped in verbalism and scholasticism.
The issue of language is the first that has been set. The acquisition of language, which is a means of communication with the environment, should begin with oral speech and then proceed to written discourse. The child learns to use the language, written and oral, as a means of socialization, as a means of gaining knowledge of the world and its history. Here, the study of literature, history and art is of crucial importance. But, gradually, the comprehension of language as a tool of thought and conscious action upon the environment should be grasped. This way the ability for independent and creative thinking will unfold. Unfortunately, in contemporary Greek education tradition, courses are deprived of a creative content (a very characteristic example is the tuition of the live modern greek language through ancient greek).
Especially in the upper grades, language teaching must attempt to fully develop communicative ability and, most important, the abilities of thought. The acquisition of language, here, is the prerequisite for proper language study. The primary objective of teaching is the conscious use and power of language as a tool not of passive reflection but also of action upon the environment.
Thus, particular attention must be paid on the analysis of texts. The texts should function as written “example of mature writing”, not as archetypes, but as stimulae for the development of critical attitude. The text has a historical and social content; it has been written for some reason. Besides, we will not be limited to the courses of literature. Language is not merely restricted to literature; it is neither a mere communicative need. It is also theoretical and practical science, basic philosophical research, and applied science that we could call technology. It is the language of each and every science, reaching thus far beyond the language of literature. So, a philologist tuition, which covers language forms, should broaden the language course in upper grades; from that point on, teaching of representative texts of each field in language activity should follow. We must note and solve the problem of the fragmentation of knowledge. The teaching of the representative sample (or extract) is necessary as is the study of the text in question as a whole in order to complete the study.
A problem connected to the native language is the teaching of the tuition of the foreign language and literature. The compulsory knowledge and certification of, at least, one foreign language, and the option to learn a second one after a certain age, in a state education system, is something more than a necessary qualification. When it is not limited within a practical-communicative level; when it is efficiently treated as a tool of direct communication and creative contact with foreign cultures, then it is really valuable for the cultivation and the internationalist conscience of the young person. What is happening today is another story, defined by the rules of “working mobility” and imperialist subculture.
As far as Mathematics is concerned, first the student learns how to calculate, to form an opinion and compare. Then we move on to teach him/her to perceive mathematical notions and relations of every form and category, expressing, in an abstract way, the relations existing among the phenomena of our material world. We teach him/her to be able to solve problems, be it in concrete or abstract conditions, to be able to classify things, notions and conditions. We should now add some aspects that do not cancel, but expand the argument.
Mathematics is thought to be difficult and frightens students, who fail in that course to a far greater extent, compared to other courses and sciences. The difficulty does not lie on Mathematics itself, but on the way modern school abuses this science; the same also applies to language, which students fail to learn. The problems that the Mathematician faces are very important, in our opinion.
Although Mathematics is the language of the positive sciences, it is being taught autonomously of the natural sciences. Its formation into an autonomous logic system, which is developed on an autonomous learning domain, is of course of great educational value, but demands an increased ability for abstraction, reversibility of thought and figurative power; this ability and power although existent, according to experimental research, it is not generally cultivated in every one to the level necessary for the function of this science. All that should be examined in relation to the generally poor function of school and the class inequities a child faces at school; we should also mention the total lack of special pedagogic preparation of teachers of Mathematics, resulting in the equalizing function of teaching and the indifference towards the individual diversification concerning students’ development.
What we should like to note here is that mathematical education cannot be cut off from life. Mathematics, as cognitive field within school, can succeed when related with the natural sciences; they can inspire and develop motives for their promotion and success. That was achieved in the past with the development of arithmetic; it was connected to the activities of bourgeois commercial transactions thus giving the opportunity for the field to function more successfully. Therefore, Mathematics should be consolidated and gratified through its current applications and its gratification in the society. The necessary supervisory teaching equipment must be used: geometric instruments, the various mathematical models in graphs, PCs and various applications, which are not restricted in class tuition. A part of the practical experience should be transferred in different places, where knowledge is tied to life and the relation between Mathematics and human needs becomes clear.
Abstraction might deprive us of familiar, every day notions, but it, together with schematization, codification and classification give us opportunities of a more accurate approach towards things and a better understanding of reality. Here of course the danger of mathematical extremities is existent, which has already harmed education and created tendencies of repulsion to the children. However, Mathematics not only co-functions with the natural sciences, but it is also the tool for scientific research and the expression of scientific thought. This does not, of course, mean that mathematic thought and science can develop without having each own deterministic course. Mathematical studies should not exclusively aim at quantitative acquisition of mathematics. We think that education ought to cultivate, rather than inform. So courses should include more substantial propositions for the application rather than the assimilation of the syllabus. Such an application is the PC, which is not something autonomous. Even in tuition, the historical sources for mathematical theories should be mentioned, so that young people gain knowledge of their development; so that they re-experience its slow course, they revive the long lasting endeavors, failures and progress made through the years and which finally led to present day conquests.
Finally, let us note that the tuition of the language and of Mathematics, through the special knowledge and practice of the tools of the intellect, also promotes the general inspection of knowledge, of the modes and laws of human logic, i.e. it is connected with the philosophical Theory of Knowledge and with Logic.
It is certain that a competent student of the Greek school possesses general knowledge of the natural world. This knowledge is a result of the activity which takes place at school from the early years, as well as of other channels of information like books, different kinds of publications and the electronic media, of the general environment and so on. What this unsystematic and occasionally accumulated knowledge lacks, however, is systematic constitution. This knowledge is not organized and has no point of reference so as to form the basis of a philosophically formed perception of life.
Systematic conception and understanding of the application of basic knowledge of nature, which concerns broad aspects of social life, as well as the general ability for natural thinking and activity, mostly for observation and experimentation, ought to be the aims of school instruction.
Science was the means which enabled man – through observation, examination, and classification of events and phenomena, with the utilization of the cause and effect principle – to penetrate the various aspects of the natural world, to discover its unity despite its multiplicity, to reveal the laws governing motion and man’s relation to it. Science, therefore, constitutes the enormous leap that removed mankind from the stage of mere coincidence to gradually lead it to the realization of the necessity and to the exploitation of this necessity to the benefit of the whole society.
Although present-day knowledge of nature is of the kind that allows us to view the world as being unified, which results from it being material, dominant neo-positivist assumptions – officially taught in philosophy courses at school – deny the ability of philosophical and scientific inspection of the world, thus obstructing human creativity and human struggle for knowledge of the world, for actually improving the natural and social environment.
The courses relevant to the Natural Sciences (Natural History, Physics, and Chemistry) are crucial in the procedure of school education. Graduating from school, students should be able to comprehend the following parameters:
What has been previously pointed out, means, on the one hand, knowledge and comprehension of the fact that mankind constitutes an integral part of nature – living and acting as its unit – is in a ceaseless communication with nature. Nature’s function which provokes human reaction, expresses the interaction of the domains but it also expresses itself through the development of the technical and intellectual civilization – a development whose fundamental expression is economy, as the basis of social life. On the other hand, knowledge and comprehension of the fact that humans can, by studying the Natural Sciences, – through “simultaneous displacement” (and not mechanistic transmission) – develop techniques which will enable them to confront social problems and, eventually, change the world.
Human beings are social beings. Social Sciences are those sciences which examine human beings within society. With regard to school, generally, there is a social dimension in the instruction of all subjects.
The objective of school should, among other things, be to enable students to comprehend the sense of social evolution, the historical formation of social institutions, and the exact social content of civilization. It is of utmost importance for humans to comprehend that they become the conscious subject of history and civilization, when they are adequately equipped with the laws of history; that the discovery of these laws does not eliminate the human factor. On the contrary, it creates a fertile ground for man to develop consistent activity, so as not to be dependent on fate and on the ruling classes of each time. However, that cannot be achieved through abstract tuition, but mainly through the knowledge of specific state of affairs, through experiencing the advances of Greek and world civilizations, examined in their evolution; it can be achieved through students’ actual attempt to see themselves as part of the society.
The class orientation of school, regarding social sciences, is of course undisguised. For this reason, when they call themselves “humanistic”, we ought to examine their content. Bourgeois intelligentsia and power pretend to care for humanism and constantly bombard us with declarations of the “humanistic ideal” they, supposedly, defend. Yet, this is counterfeit humanism. This is because genuine humanism cannot go hand in hand with man-by-man exploitation, with racism and discriminations of all kinds, with imperialist wars, overt or covert ones, no matter how well they disguise them under the mask of “humanitarian aid”. This humanism is incapable of concealing its bareness, unemployment, the wretchedness of everyday life, malnourishment, illiteracy, commercialization of sexual interaction and drug dealing, which constitute direct evidence of society pathogen. Being faced with all these, some people hypocritically turn a deaf ear, while others just overlook them due to a sluggish way of life and intellect, erosion of conscience, since individualism flourishes in them, despite knowing that a specific system lies behind all these. There are also those who constrain humanism within the limits of Classical Writings of either Greece of other countries. They seem to be living in a world of their own, in a museum of embalmed ideas. They have embellished the ancient writers and culture as well as the classics world – wide. They conceal the fact that there is life in society, that it is in motion, and that it is within society that the guiding force of the course of things should be sought. There is no such thing as a perfect state and society. The value of each society is relative, since social phenomena can only be assessed with reference to the era they are taking place in, and they are not of the same value for everybody.
The core of counterfeit humanism is the fact that human beings are viewed abstractly, as well as the invocation to individuals’ rights, which is the pretext for the development of the freedom of the most powerful people, who are free to commit any crime against social basis of human beings. It is something happening these days in the former socialist countries, where the overthrowing of socialism in the name of individuals’ freedoms was the prompt for the raid of the most dreadful capitalist exploitation. The exaggerated promotion of individuality and individualism is used to cover and justify social oppression and man by man exploitation, ever since society has been divided into classes. However, man is an integral part of nature and society, and, consequently, it is crucial for him to understand his position in this world since that helps determine his individuality.
At this point it is necessary to clarify certain aspects of the instruction of social phenomena at school.
- A distance should be consciously maintained between language and the cultural phenomenon. Language is indeed the channel of expressing and processing the cultural phenomenon, it participates in its formation. It is clear, however, that these two do not coincide. Behind writings and other monuments (either pictorial or architectural), there is a particular group of people who act, according to the moral and social values, the way of life and production. We should, therefore, search for the relations between the people and the character of the society we are studying beyond the lines of writings and through things. It should be clear however, that the study of our classical philosophy in education is essential, because it is part of the cultural phenomenon, of its historicity. However, at this primary level of tuition, this kind of study should be carried out through translated texts and we do not think that is necessary to study ancient writers from the original text. (This applies, of course to the tuition of Latin to even a greater extent). Thus, we will be able to approach ancient literature more effectively, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Possible gaps to be developed by an absence of ancient greek edification can be covered by the thorough teaching of modern greek and particularly the reference to the (linguistic) roots of words. It goes without saying that civilization is something much broader than its literary realizations (such as prose, poetry, drama). It also includes the sciences, and, generally, all social activities and interactions. Moreover, it is shaped within the course of time. Therefore, educational activity cannot stem from either of the two extremes: antiquity on the one hand, and more recent times, on the other.
- The dynamic and creative study of the cultural phenomenon presupposes its sociological treatment and interpretation; that study might range from textual interpretation, to History, or even Philosophy. “Introduction to Philosophy”, “Ethics”, “Psychology”, “Logic”, refer to (in their own way) and are relevant to man’s social life and should be treated as such; they should be encountered and treated according to man’s real living conditions. There is no such thing as a “self-contained social phenomenon”, examined out of place and time. Present day History, Philosophy, and Psychology courses are compendia of the specialized scientific texts. Subjects, objects, events, and circumstances incoherently blend, seeking to occupy space in an endless row of relevant and irrelevant information (a real carnival parade). From that results the students’ justified inability to organize and thus preserve the totality of ideas imposed by school because this – supposedly – is a demand of life itself. In order for all these to become components of creative informing and a basis for creative thinking, there needs to be a connection and continuity which will render them meaningful. The fact that Historiography was born out of geographical description is not a coincidence. It was corresponding to the enormous incursion of colonial expansion and it is its own offspring. Additionally, the development of Philosophy clearly has social roots. To avoid expanding to similar modern phenomena we shall just close with the general conclusion that human society lies behind the human psychism. Even nature has a past and a future and knowledge of nature depends precisely on the quality of social life and its history. Within the school, of course, social sciences – History, Sociology, Psychology, Theory of Knowledge, Aesthetics, and generally Philosophy – will also find an expression. It is vital that all that knowledge should be presented not as a fragmented element of a textbook, but as an element essential in broadening and deepening course content. Present day education acts on a completely different direction. The fragmented inspection of the social phenomena leads in seeking the root of all problems in the sphere of individual responsibility, and in imposing limitations to searching for solutions only within the framework of the current socio – economic system. It is the starting – point for the ideological control over conscience and encourages the overt promotion of the dominant political practice in school, something attempted also by the ‘new’ textbooks.
C.2. Edification of aesthetics
The edification of aesthetics is a major problem of school nowadays. This is due to the fact that, on the one hand, it is of utmost importance to the intellectual cultivation and balanced development of the young person. On the other hand, it is due to the shameful lack of such an instruction within the school, currently.
We shall commence from the general idea that the sense of what is beautiful assumes form through living in a likewise environment. On the one hand, the material living conditions of the working class (their homestead, their work environment, and their limited financial capacities) and the deliberate corruption running through modern culture, on the other, disfigure peoples’ aesthetic criteria. Furthermore, aesthetic cultivation of the working class children is extremely impoverished. Some general principles should therefore be our starting - point. Culture ought to belong to the people. We need to put a stop to big-traders, big ship owners, and big industrialists, the wealth oligarchy, forming Aesthetic Education at school, trying to control our tastes as well as our lives through their own means and programs.
The aim of Aesthetic Education at school is, through engagement with the work of art and a special artistic activity, to affect the human psychism. It is also the general influence of school in forming aesthetic criteria and the desire for creativity.
Therefore aesthetic education should not be identified with “artistic education”, it is not merely confined to the teaching of certain artistic courses but it penetrates the whole school operation and content. This, of course, does not imply limiting the already scarce artistic courses and activities of the current school; it means quite the contrary, actually. Through tuition, attending, and developing more artistic forms of expression (the theatre, dancing, singing, the cinema, photography, painting, sculpture, etc) students will harmoniously develop their abilities; they will develop their imagination and talents. The study of literature is included in this sort of activity and should be reinforced; it should find expression in more creative modes of instruction. School should teach children to recognize beauty in nature and society, bringing them in contact with the world art treasures and the rich cultural traditions of our people. At the same time, it should develop in students the desire to form their environment and their lives in a way that will cause them a feeling of delicacy. That is because aesthetics helps both the development of critical thinking and that of the emotional wisdom.
The important thing, therefore, is to make young people feel touched by true beauty, to properly assess it and, to the degree that it is possible, they themselves to become creators, artists. The live attendance of artistic performances, the promotion of school artistic creativity, the organization of and participation in contests and individual or group work performances, all contribute to the structuring of the social framework which motivates all students to develop, avoiding exaggerations. This way, aesthetics becomes a field of school’s substantial communication with the broader society.
C.3. Physical Education
Physical Education is treated within the school curriculum, as a cognitive subject while it is a very complex and significant activity, which can develop and creatively function within school. It not only cultivates certain qualities of the body, but also – when correctly practiced – it improves the health and biological condition of the individual. Since man is a creature of nature he should be treated as such. It would be an understatement, though, to call this kind of education merely ‘exercise instruction’ as it cultivates not only the qualities of the body, but those of the psyche as well, which are actually social, since it presupposes emulation and is practiced under certain rules. Therefore, the course is of vital importance, influencing the personality formation of the young person. Its aim is the health, the physical development and ability of all students, as well as the development of psychical qualities.
The adventures of this course in the Modern Greek education really constitute a “psychological drama”. It first started as “gymnastics”, reflecting the nationalistic concepts held by the then newly established Greek State, since it was a form of military training, preparation for war, which at the time was top priority for the restoration of “our national rights”. For that reason, the training of boys was the main concern. This is how military formation, arrays, and manly marches came to become dominant. After that, a rudimentary training according to “Swedish gymnastics” began, totally different from the Greek sports traditions, while the folk element was added with traditional dances etc. Gradually athletic activities are systematically organized, with the systematization of sports in historical categories, or according to each sport’s content, team or group sports are introduced. At the same time, people are becoming fond of athletics and sports manifestations. Things, however, did not proceed quite smoothly.
The course was included in the set of courses of cognitive content and, due to not holding similarity to the rest, it appeared last on the list and was actually labelled as “practical” and, consequently, of “secondary importance”. Therefore it was not included in the examinations, and consequently lost its “prestige”. (It goes without saying that we are not suggesting the introduction of written examination in Physical Education as well!). Afterwards, it was thought that no University Education was necessary, since the role of the teacher had something of the role of a sergeant major in the company (in a camp) and some gymnastic academies were quick to provide practical trainers, to teach the subject of ‘gymnastics’ and to organize parades and athletic demonstrations. It is only recently that University Departments have begun to train teachers for the course of Physical Education. Seen from this ankle, the situation has improved. It is just that, considered from another point of view, the course is ‘suppressed’ into the school curriculum which gives the impression of a disruption of the normal school procedure’s continuity, and thus the very fulfilment of the course’s own goal is blocked.
In order for the course of Physical Education to fulfil its goal, much needs to be changed. The course curriculum ought to cover the whole spectrum of physical and mental health so as to create, to the extent possible, physically and socially active and creative individuals. Its very foundation must meet the needs of such edification. The theoretical part of the course should include useful knowledge on health, proper nutrition, first aid provision, and, what’s more, teaching of the History of sports and the Olympic Games. Basic principles of the technique and the rules of the main sports should also be part the course. The practical part of Physical Education should include students’ medical examination at the beginning and end of each school year, while actual athletic performances could be planned for an afternoon schedule. In this way it would be possible for this activity to expand and develop in terms in of time content and disposition. In terms of health improvement it would help relax the physically and mentally exhausted body
While searching for school’s content from the point of view of Basic Education, we insist on opposing the “modern educational” tendency, which asks from school to “catch up” with every new development, using the pretext of scientific and technological changes. Such a perception led to the practice of the mere increase of textbooks content or the addition of new courses. This does not only worsen the problems of teaching time available and school curriculum, but mainly stagnates the whole content of the traditional General Education courses, thus sustaining the anachronism of the main content and its fragmentation.
We believe that school curriculum must focus on the main goal of Basic Education, which is the formation of personality. And thus it ought to maintain the basic essence of All-Round Education and to renew it, generally readapting (when necessary) its content. So, for example, environmental edification could be included in the courses of biology, geography, aesthetics and physical education; sexual and health edification could be included in biology and physical education courses. Fundamental issues for the comprehension of contemporary world and man’s position in it would jointly be studied, through the interdependence of courses, and thus free of impartiality, overlaps and exaggerations. For example, by modernizing the physics course, the student would realize that current knowledge of physics does not cancel the laws of classical physics (applications of physics in technology, medicine, agriculture etc. for the biggest part depend on it, after all), but only shows their limits of their power and their application. The young person’s optimism for future scientific potential and the belief in human logic’s power would thus be increased.
The school curriculum is also in need of such a restructuring that will free it from overlaps, existing from course to course and from grade to grade, and which constitute not only an unnecessary waste of creative powers, but also a restraining factor for the young person’s creativity. The problem does not only lie in the continuity of each subject’s teaching from class to class; it is about achieving synthesis in the edification of the various scientific branches and courses so that each course focuses on those elements which creatively contribute to personality formation, through its particular operation and according to the course of development of the child and the adolescent. So, on the one hand, the contribution of each course to the quality of the curriculum as a whole is increased and the necessity is created for teachers of all specialties to cooperate. On the other hand, each separate course is improved, because it is exactly its special contribution to the formation of the young person’s personality that is being stressed. This should be the criterion by which to choose the content of the course and methodology and to determine the main function of each course, so that the curriculum forms a unified whole. School courses should cease to function autonomously, each “minding its own business”, providing fragmented knowledge which – in its majority – is of secondary importance, or even useless, for the purposes of basic education.
The school curriculum is also in the need of real reconstruction that will impose the scientific determination of the syllabus. This practically means two things: First, the school has to get rid of doctrines, ideas which are not the object of scientific education, such as the course of religion. The abolition and replacement of this particular course with the informing about the science of religion in the framework of the edification of the history of culture, – to the direction of the division between state and church and the freedom of conscience – is a historically utterly mature demand, solved in many countries as early as the 18th century. Second, the curriculum ought to include those ideas that find expression in modern life.
The content of all courses today follows the notion “knowledge for knowledge’s shake”, which is mainly expressed by fragmentation and formalism. In this way, the knowledge provided does not meet the needs actual of reality, does not reflect the essence of phenomena. Thus, young people learn to remain to the surface, in their quest of truth for the real world, so that in the future they are kept away – as workers or scientists – from the substantial issues of society, economy and ideology. What is necessary is for the curriculum to assume internal unity and, instead of confusion and relativism, to focus on that basic knowledge and the basic methods which are necessary in order that young people build a scientific perception of the world, a scientific Biotheory (theory of life).
Finally, the curriculum needs expansion not only of subject but of duration as well. Today, the expansion of the curriculum is attempted, yet in terms of expanding the hours of school function, with no improvements concerning to the quality of school, which remains the same or even worse. This “famous all-day’ school is in fact time of keeping and guarding children within the school building – often having to pay for that. The curriculum is indeed in the need of expansion in terms of both subject and duration. This, however, presupposes dealing with restrictions imposed on education and lack of personnel, always in the frame of the reinforcement of free and state education. And most importantly, time expansion in the school curriculum has certain limits and must be in accordance with the restructuring and reconstruction of its content. The curriculum can include a range of activities, which today are included in external to the curriculum activities and are complementary, while they should constitute an element of the educational process itself (athletic and cultural activities, foreign languages etc.). Thus, modern school “throws” creative and collective activities out of the school curriculum and into various selective programs, while the intensification of high school duties is a literally exhausting procedure that does not allow any activity beyond the preparation for exams and individualistic competition. In the school curriculum, aesthetic and physical education are listed among the very last of its interests, as separate and second-rate courses. Yet, the curriculum ought to serve the social, emotional and moral cultivation of the personality and the harmonious development of young people; intellectual and aesthetic education, as well as physical education contribute to that.
C.1. The cognitive content
School must set the necessary scientific bases in order for all the young persons to acquire general scientific perception of the natural and social reality and, based on that, to build their ideological position, to realize their position within the world and life itself.
Nowadays, all courses are defined by fragmentation and formalism. In this way, the knowledge provided by contemporary school does not correspond to the actual reality and thus is completely deprived of totality, whether it is with regard to classical tradition or even to new scientific discoveries. Idealism is predominant. The edification of the natural and social sciences is treated as a totally diversified cognitive process, as if the search for general laws and rules, the verification of objective truth through observation and practical application, could possibly be limited solely to the natural phenomena. The edification of the positive sciences is isolated from ideology, while at the same time the social sciences are transformed into obvious bourgeois propaganda in the form the so-call “indisputable ideals” (the “European civilization” of the EU, the market economy and “socialism with a humane face”, “social solidarity” and concession instead of class struggle).
If school were not tortured by the ideological partiality of the ruling class, it would be in a position to offer the basic knowledge for young people to scientifically approach the world and their lives. It would infuse students, through each and every course, with the conscience that it is possible to acquire knowledge of the world as a total. It would infuse students with the general examination of the world in its unity, and eventually its materiality. The unity of the curriculum and the spiral development of the syllabus in cycles, according to the course of development of the child and the adolescent would follow the very dialectical course of knowledge itself, from the lively examination to the abstract intellect and, from that, to action.
So, instead of a school focusing on the accumulation and classification of scientific knowledge and, as a result, on its fragmented and selective assimilation, there would be one focusing its attention to the elements necessary for the young person to gradually form a personality capable of critical thinking and social action.
The main elements of school’s cognitive content are:
a) Correct and comprehensive knowledge of the language; also of the modes and methods of mathematical thinking.
b) Knowledge of nature, i.e. of the natural phenomena we encounter in life, and their resulting depiction as natural laws.
c) Knowledge of society and civilization, i.e. knowledge of mankind history, through the specific phenomena of the social life and their transference within the laws of social evolution.
- LANGUAGE AND MATHEMATICS
The objective of teaching the courses of language and of Mathematics is, in connection with the rest of the courses, to help the young person understand human reason and to teach that person to think dialectically. Their contribution to that is practical and significant, since students learn to gain control over the tools of intellect, through the sufficient acquisition of their native language and of the international language of science (as Mathematics is called). Today, we limit the use of such tools at simply an elementary communicative level, while in senior high school, edification is utterly disconnected from reality, thus in danger of being trapped in verbalism and scholasticism.
The issue of language is the first that has been set. The acquisition of language, which is a means of communication with the environment, should begin with oral speech and then proceed to written discourse. The child learns to use the language, written and oral, as a means of socialization, as a means of gaining knowledge of the world and its history. Here, the study of literature, history and art is of crucial importance. But, gradually, the comprehension of language as a tool of thought and conscious action upon the environment should be grasped. This way the ability for independent and creative thinking will unfold. Unfortunately, in contemporary Greek education tradition, courses are deprived of a creative content (a very characteristic example is the tuition of the live modern greek language through ancient greek).
Especially in the upper grades, language teaching must attempt to fully develop communicative ability and, most important, the abilities of thought. The acquisition of language, here, is the prerequisite for proper language study. The primary objective of teaching is the conscious use and power of language as a tool not of passive reflection but also of action upon the environment.
Thus, particular attention must be paid on the analysis of texts. The texts should function as written “example of mature writing”, not as archetypes, but as stimulae for the development of critical attitude. The text has a historical and social content; it has been written for some reason. Besides, we will not be limited to the courses of literature. Language is not merely restricted to literature; it is neither a mere communicative need. It is also theoretical and practical science, basic philosophical research, and applied science that we could call technology. It is the language of each and every science, reaching thus far beyond the language of literature. So, a philologist tuition, which covers language forms, should broaden the language course in upper grades; from that point on, teaching of representative texts of each field in language activity should follow. We must note and solve the problem of the fragmentation of knowledge. The teaching of the representative sample (or extract) is necessary as is the study of the text in question as a whole in order to complete the study.
A problem connected to the native language is the teaching of the tuition of the foreign language and literature. The compulsory knowledge and certification of, at least, one foreign language, and the option to learn a second one after a certain age, in a state education system, is something more than a necessary qualification. When it is not limited within a practical-communicative level; when it is efficiently treated as a tool of direct communication and creative contact with foreign cultures, then it is really valuable for the cultivation and the internationalist conscience of the young person. What is happening today is another story, defined by the rules of “working mobility” and imperialist subculture.
As far as Mathematics is concerned, first the student learns how to calculate, to form an opinion and compare. Then we move on to teach him/her to perceive mathematical notions and relations of every form and category, expressing, in an abstract way, the relations existing among the phenomena of our material world. We teach him/her to be able to solve problems, be it in concrete or abstract conditions, to be able to classify things, notions and conditions. We should now add some aspects that do not cancel, but expand the argument.
Mathematics is thought to be difficult and frightens students, who fail in that course to a far greater extent, compared to other courses and sciences. The difficulty does not lie on Mathematics itself, but on the way modern school abuses this science; the same also applies to language, which students fail to learn. The problems that the Mathematician faces are very important, in our opinion.
Although Mathematics is the language of the positive sciences, it is being taught autonomously of the natural sciences. Its formation into an autonomous logic system, which is developed on an autonomous learning domain, is of course of great educational value, but demands an increased ability for abstraction, reversibility of thought and figurative power; this ability and power although existent, according to experimental research, it is not generally cultivated in every one to the level necessary for the function of this science. All that should be examined in relation to the generally poor function of school and the class inequities a child faces at school; we should also mention the total lack of special pedagogic preparation of teachers of Mathematics, resulting in the equalizing function of teaching and the indifference towards the individual diversification concerning students’ development.
What we should like to note here is that mathematical education cannot be cut off from life. Mathematics, as cognitive field within school, can succeed when related with the natural sciences; they can inspire and develop motives for their promotion and success. That was achieved in the past with the development of arithmetic; it was connected to the activities of bourgeois commercial transactions thus giving the opportunity for the field to function more successfully. Therefore, Mathematics should be consolidated and gratified through its current applications and its gratification in the society. The necessary supervisory teaching equipment must be used: geometric instruments, the various mathematical models in graphs, PCs and various applications, which are not restricted in class tuition. A part of the practical experience should be transferred in different places, where knowledge is tied to life and the relation between Mathematics and human needs becomes clear.
Abstraction might deprive us of familiar, every day notions, but it, together with schematization, codification and classification give us opportunities of a more accurate approach towards things and a better understanding of reality. Here of course the danger of mathematical extremities is existent, which has already harmed education and created tendencies of repulsion to the children. However, Mathematics not only co-functions with the natural sciences, but it is also the tool for scientific research and the expression of scientific thought. This does not, of course, mean that mathematic thought and science can develop without having each own deterministic course. Mathematical studies should not exclusively aim at quantitative acquisition of mathematics. We think that education ought to cultivate, rather than inform. So courses should include more substantial propositions for the application rather than the assimilation of the syllabus. Such an application is the PC, which is not something autonomous. Even in tuition, the historical sources for mathematical theories should be mentioned, so that young people gain knowledge of their development; so that they re-experience its slow course, they revive the long lasting endeavors, failures and progress made through the years and which finally led to present day conquests.
Finally, let us note that the tuition of the language and of Mathematics, through the special knowledge and practice of the tools of the intellect, also promotes the general inspection of knowledge, of the modes and laws of human logic, i.e. it is connected with the philosophical Theory of Knowledge and with Logic.
- KNOWLEDGE OF NATURE
It is certain that a competent student of the Greek school possesses general knowledge of the natural world. This knowledge is a result of the activity which takes place at school from the early years, as well as of other channels of information like books, different kinds of publications and the electronic media, of the general environment and so on. What this unsystematic and occasionally accumulated knowledge lacks, however, is systematic constitution. This knowledge is not organized and has no point of reference so as to form the basis of a philosophically formed perception of life.
Systematic conception and understanding of the application of basic knowledge of nature, which concerns broad aspects of social life, as well as the general ability for natural thinking and activity, mostly for observation and experimentation, ought to be the aims of school instruction.
Science was the means which enabled man – through observation, examination, and classification of events and phenomena, with the utilization of the cause and effect principle – to penetrate the various aspects of the natural world, to discover its unity despite its multiplicity, to reveal the laws governing motion and man’s relation to it. Science, therefore, constitutes the enormous leap that removed mankind from the stage of mere coincidence to gradually lead it to the realization of the necessity and to the exploitation of this necessity to the benefit of the whole society.
Although present-day knowledge of nature is of the kind that allows us to view the world as being unified, which results from it being material, dominant neo-positivist assumptions – officially taught in philosophy courses at school – deny the ability of philosophical and scientific inspection of the world, thus obstructing human creativity and human struggle for knowledge of the world, for actually improving the natural and social environment.
The courses relevant to the Natural Sciences (Natural History, Physics, and Chemistry) are crucial in the procedure of school education. Graduating from school, students should be able to comprehend the following parameters:
- The structure of matter
- The alterations this structure undergoes, id est., the ways in which matter is “organized”, the alterations of this organization and their results.
- The ways in which matter is “expressed”, i.e. motion in the philosophical – dialectical sense of alteration and evolution.
- The forms of motion of matter. There is no such thing as motionless matter. This is basic knowledge, which is true, not only with regard to Natural Sciences.
- Inertia, yet another basic aspect of matter.
- Energy and its various forms.
- The interactions and the domains.
- The ways in which humans “exploit” nature to benefit mankind; the applications of the Natural Sciences in production.
- The environment. And, finally,
- The philosophy underlying knowledge.
What has been previously pointed out, means, on the one hand, knowledge and comprehension of the fact that mankind constitutes an integral part of nature – living and acting as its unit – is in a ceaseless communication with nature. Nature’s function which provokes human reaction, expresses the interaction of the domains but it also expresses itself through the development of the technical and intellectual civilization – a development whose fundamental expression is economy, as the basis of social life. On the other hand, knowledge and comprehension of the fact that humans can, by studying the Natural Sciences, – through “simultaneous displacement” (and not mechanistic transmission) – develop techniques which will enable them to confront social problems and, eventually, change the world.
- KNOWLEDGE OF THE SOCIETY
Human beings are social beings. Social Sciences are those sciences which examine human beings within society. With regard to school, generally, there is a social dimension in the instruction of all subjects.
The objective of school should, among other things, be to enable students to comprehend the sense of social evolution, the historical formation of social institutions, and the exact social content of civilization. It is of utmost importance for humans to comprehend that they become the conscious subject of history and civilization, when they are adequately equipped with the laws of history; that the discovery of these laws does not eliminate the human factor. On the contrary, it creates a fertile ground for man to develop consistent activity, so as not to be dependent on fate and on the ruling classes of each time. However, that cannot be achieved through abstract tuition, but mainly through the knowledge of specific state of affairs, through experiencing the advances of Greek and world civilizations, examined in their evolution; it can be achieved through students’ actual attempt to see themselves as part of the society.
The class orientation of school, regarding social sciences, is of course undisguised. For this reason, when they call themselves “humanistic”, we ought to examine their content. Bourgeois intelligentsia and power pretend to care for humanism and constantly bombard us with declarations of the “humanistic ideal” they, supposedly, defend. Yet, this is counterfeit humanism. This is because genuine humanism cannot go hand in hand with man-by-man exploitation, with racism and discriminations of all kinds, with imperialist wars, overt or covert ones, no matter how well they disguise them under the mask of “humanitarian aid”. This humanism is incapable of concealing its bareness, unemployment, the wretchedness of everyday life, malnourishment, illiteracy, commercialization of sexual interaction and drug dealing, which constitute direct evidence of society pathogen. Being faced with all these, some people hypocritically turn a deaf ear, while others just overlook them due to a sluggish way of life and intellect, erosion of conscience, since individualism flourishes in them, despite knowing that a specific system lies behind all these. There are also those who constrain humanism within the limits of Classical Writings of either Greece of other countries. They seem to be living in a world of their own, in a museum of embalmed ideas. They have embellished the ancient writers and culture as well as the classics world – wide. They conceal the fact that there is life in society, that it is in motion, and that it is within society that the guiding force of the course of things should be sought. There is no such thing as a perfect state and society. The value of each society is relative, since social phenomena can only be assessed with reference to the era they are taking place in, and they are not of the same value for everybody.
The core of counterfeit humanism is the fact that human beings are viewed abstractly, as well as the invocation to individuals’ rights, which is the pretext for the development of the freedom of the most powerful people, who are free to commit any crime against social basis of human beings. It is something happening these days in the former socialist countries, where the overthrowing of socialism in the name of individuals’ freedoms was the prompt for the raid of the most dreadful capitalist exploitation. The exaggerated promotion of individuality and individualism is used to cover and justify social oppression and man by man exploitation, ever since society has been divided into classes. However, man is an integral part of nature and society, and, consequently, it is crucial for him to understand his position in this world since that helps determine his individuality.
At this point it is necessary to clarify certain aspects of the instruction of social phenomena at school.
- A distance should be consciously maintained between language and the cultural phenomenon. Language is indeed the channel of expressing and processing the cultural phenomenon, it participates in its formation. It is clear, however, that these two do not coincide. Behind writings and other monuments (either pictorial or architectural), there is a particular group of people who act, according to the moral and social values, the way of life and production. We should, therefore, search for the relations between the people and the character of the society we are studying beyond the lines of writings and through things. It should be clear however, that the study of our classical philosophy in education is essential, because it is part of the cultural phenomenon, of its historicity. However, at this primary level of tuition, this kind of study should be carried out through translated texts and we do not think that is necessary to study ancient writers from the original text. (This applies, of course to the tuition of Latin to even a greater extent). Thus, we will be able to approach ancient literature more effectively, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Possible gaps to be developed by an absence of ancient greek edification can be covered by the thorough teaching of modern greek and particularly the reference to the (linguistic) roots of words. It goes without saying that civilization is something much broader than its literary realizations (such as prose, poetry, drama). It also includes the sciences, and, generally, all social activities and interactions. Moreover, it is shaped within the course of time. Therefore, educational activity cannot stem from either of the two extremes: antiquity on the one hand, and more recent times, on the other.
- The dynamic and creative study of the cultural phenomenon presupposes its sociological treatment and interpretation; that study might range from textual interpretation, to History, or even Philosophy. “Introduction to Philosophy”, “Ethics”, “Psychology”, “Logic”, refer to (in their own way) and are relevant to man’s social life and should be treated as such; they should be encountered and treated according to man’s real living conditions. There is no such thing as a “self-contained social phenomenon”, examined out of place and time. Present day History, Philosophy, and Psychology courses are compendia of the specialized scientific texts. Subjects, objects, events, and circumstances incoherently blend, seeking to occupy space in an endless row of relevant and irrelevant information (a real carnival parade). From that results the students’ justified inability to organize and thus preserve the totality of ideas imposed by school because this – supposedly – is a demand of life itself. In order for all these to become components of creative informing and a basis for creative thinking, there needs to be a connection and continuity which will render them meaningful. The fact that Historiography was born out of geographical description is not a coincidence. It was corresponding to the enormous incursion of colonial expansion and it is its own offspring. Additionally, the development of Philosophy clearly has social roots. To avoid expanding to similar modern phenomena we shall just close with the general conclusion that human society lies behind the human psychism. Even nature has a past and a future and knowledge of nature depends precisely on the quality of social life and its history. Within the school, of course, social sciences – History, Sociology, Psychology, Theory of Knowledge, Aesthetics, and generally Philosophy – will also find an expression. It is vital that all that knowledge should be presented not as a fragmented element of a textbook, but as an element essential in broadening and deepening course content. Present day education acts on a completely different direction. The fragmented inspection of the social phenomena leads in seeking the root of all problems in the sphere of individual responsibility, and in imposing limitations to searching for solutions only within the framework of the current socio – economic system. It is the starting – point for the ideological control over conscience and encourages the overt promotion of the dominant political practice in school, something attempted also by the ‘new’ textbooks.
C.2. Edification of aesthetics
The edification of aesthetics is a major problem of school nowadays. This is due to the fact that, on the one hand, it is of utmost importance to the intellectual cultivation and balanced development of the young person. On the other hand, it is due to the shameful lack of such an instruction within the school, currently.
We shall commence from the general idea that the sense of what is beautiful assumes form through living in a likewise environment. On the one hand, the material living conditions of the working class (their homestead, their work environment, and their limited financial capacities) and the deliberate corruption running through modern culture, on the other, disfigure peoples’ aesthetic criteria. Furthermore, aesthetic cultivation of the working class children is extremely impoverished. Some general principles should therefore be our starting - point. Culture ought to belong to the people. We need to put a stop to big-traders, big ship owners, and big industrialists, the wealth oligarchy, forming Aesthetic Education at school, trying to control our tastes as well as our lives through their own means and programs.
The aim of Aesthetic Education at school is, through engagement with the work of art and a special artistic activity, to affect the human psychism. It is also the general influence of school in forming aesthetic criteria and the desire for creativity.
Therefore aesthetic education should not be identified with “artistic education”, it is not merely confined to the teaching of certain artistic courses but it penetrates the whole school operation and content. This, of course, does not imply limiting the already scarce artistic courses and activities of the current school; it means quite the contrary, actually. Through tuition, attending, and developing more artistic forms of expression (the theatre, dancing, singing, the cinema, photography, painting, sculpture, etc) students will harmoniously develop their abilities; they will develop their imagination and talents. The study of literature is included in this sort of activity and should be reinforced; it should find expression in more creative modes of instruction. School should teach children to recognize beauty in nature and society, bringing them in contact with the world art treasures and the rich cultural traditions of our people. At the same time, it should develop in students the desire to form their environment and their lives in a way that will cause them a feeling of delicacy. That is because aesthetics helps both the development of critical thinking and that of the emotional wisdom.
The important thing, therefore, is to make young people feel touched by true beauty, to properly assess it and, to the degree that it is possible, they themselves to become creators, artists. The live attendance of artistic performances, the promotion of school artistic creativity, the organization of and participation in contests and individual or group work performances, all contribute to the structuring of the social framework which motivates all students to develop, avoiding exaggerations. This way, aesthetics becomes a field of school’s substantial communication with the broader society.
C.3. Physical Education
Physical Education is treated within the school curriculum, as a cognitive subject while it is a very complex and significant activity, which can develop and creatively function within school. It not only cultivates certain qualities of the body, but also – when correctly practiced – it improves the health and biological condition of the individual. Since man is a creature of nature he should be treated as such. It would be an understatement, though, to call this kind of education merely ‘exercise instruction’ as it cultivates not only the qualities of the body, but those of the psyche as well, which are actually social, since it presupposes emulation and is practiced under certain rules. Therefore, the course is of vital importance, influencing the personality formation of the young person. Its aim is the health, the physical development and ability of all students, as well as the development of psychical qualities.
The adventures of this course in the Modern Greek education really constitute a “psychological drama”. It first started as “gymnastics”, reflecting the nationalistic concepts held by the then newly established Greek State, since it was a form of military training, preparation for war, which at the time was top priority for the restoration of “our national rights”. For that reason, the training of boys was the main concern. This is how military formation, arrays, and manly marches came to become dominant. After that, a rudimentary training according to “Swedish gymnastics” began, totally different from the Greek sports traditions, while the folk element was added with traditional dances etc. Gradually athletic activities are systematically organized, with the systematization of sports in historical categories, or according to each sport’s content, team or group sports are introduced. At the same time, people are becoming fond of athletics and sports manifestations. Things, however, did not proceed quite smoothly.
The course was included in the set of courses of cognitive content and, due to not holding similarity to the rest, it appeared last on the list and was actually labelled as “practical” and, consequently, of “secondary importance”. Therefore it was not included in the examinations, and consequently lost its “prestige”. (It goes without saying that we are not suggesting the introduction of written examination in Physical Education as well!). Afterwards, it was thought that no University Education was necessary, since the role of the teacher had something of the role of a sergeant major in the company (in a camp) and some gymnastic academies were quick to provide practical trainers, to teach the subject of ‘gymnastics’ and to organize parades and athletic demonstrations. It is only recently that University Departments have begun to train teachers for the course of Physical Education. Seen from this ankle, the situation has improved. It is just that, considered from another point of view, the course is ‘suppressed’ into the school curriculum which gives the impression of a disruption of the normal school procedure’s continuity, and thus the very fulfilment of the course’s own goal is blocked.
In order for the course of Physical Education to fulfil its goal, much needs to be changed. The course curriculum ought to cover the whole spectrum of physical and mental health so as to create, to the extent possible, physically and socially active and creative individuals. Its very foundation must meet the needs of such edification. The theoretical part of the course should include useful knowledge on health, proper nutrition, first aid provision, and, what’s more, teaching of the History of sports and the Olympic Games. Basic principles of the technique and the rules of the main sports should also be part the course. The practical part of Physical Education should include students’ medical examination at the beginning and end of each school year, while actual athletic performances could be planned for an afternoon schedule. In this way it would be possible for this activity to expand and develop in terms in of time content and disposition. In terms of health improvement it would help relax the physically and mentally exhausted body
e-mail:cpg@int.kke.gr