All the articles this week focused on Greek’s Education System. I am really looking forward to visiting schools in Greece during this trip so I was excited to learn more facts about the schooling system. It’s very interesting to compare and contrast the US education system with the Greek system.

Right away looking at the structure of their education system, it was surprising to see that “senior high school” was not compulsory. I couldn’t imagine only being required to go to school until junior high, or the age of 15. To me, that seems very young. This is different from US culture because the “norm” is to continue to go to school and get a degree in order to be “successful”. The schedule also seemed shorter in Greece. I know in other international countries school schedules are also shorter so that makes me think about why the US is longer.

Looking at the report on the Greek education system, I learned how public funding was dramatically cut because of the economic crisis in Greece. As a future educator wanting to work in public schools, this public spending is important. I am really interested to learn more about this in Greece and see first-hand how it has affected the quality of schools and overall education system. As the economics in Greece increase, this article talks about how to improve this education system. “Building on international best practices, reforms should consider more autonomy for schools and school principals, a solid accountability framework, and a culture based on evaluation” (OECD). This statement connects to the US education system. Schools focus on autonomy as well as a strong focus on evaluation. After student teaching this semester and seeing how teachers are evaluated I’m interested to see how this is done in Greece!