Parents, Schools and Financial Crisis in Contemporary Greece

Abstract

The purpose of this grounded theory study is to draw on the experiences and views of primary school board members of Parents and Guardians Associations of Thessaloniki’s and to explore the ways they deal with issues occurred after financial crisis in Greece began. Three research questions related to the aims of our study were posed: First, what are the research participants’ incentives for becoming board members of Association of Parents & Guardians? Second, how these institutions work under current circumstances and what are the ultimate goals? Third, what are the attitudes and practices of the individuals who took part in our research towards issues of social justice in education? Data were collected through twenty semi-structured interviews and analyzed through Grounded Theory design. As our data suggests, board members of Associations of Parents & Guardians regard social justice issues as important; they appear to be active in taking steps and implementing measures aimed at empowering students in need; they allocate financial resources to low-income pupils and have deep faith of equity in education.