Long-term increase in climatic dryness in the East-Mediterranean as evidenced for the island of Samos

The Eastern Mediterranean region is among the regions which were predicted to become drier under IPCC climate scenarios. Here, we document a gradual reduction of rainfall and tree growth and the loss of rural springs during the last decades of the twentieth century. Years with severe drought are associated with very low tree growth (dendrochronology) and dry falling of springs as evidenced by interviews with local stakeholders. The paper discusses the consequences of accelerating drought on natural vegetation and agriculture and points at the interaction with fire dynamics and economy, both likely to enhance the drought effec

RELATION BETWEEN SELF-CONCEPT - SELF-ESTEEM OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES AND PARTICIPATION IN BULLYING

The object of this research is: (i) to explore the differentiation of levels of self-concept and self-esteem among high school students with learning difficulties (experimental group) and their classmates without learning difficulties (control group); (ii) to check as well as the predictability of the correlation between self-esteem and self-concept of high school students with or without learning difficulties with the frequency of their participation in Bullying as victimisers, victims and observers. The results of the survey confirmed the following: i) statistically significant differences between the groups of students with and without learning difficulties for the subscales that explain the general school capacity (t (148) = 2.17, p = .031), the athletic ability (t (147) = -2.11, p = .027) and the ability in language courses (t (147) = 2.54, p = .012), ii) statistically significant differences in gender and general school capacity (t (79) = -2.97, p = .004) between the two groups, iii) a moderate correlation of academic self-concept with physical self-concept (r = .557, p = .000), with social self-concept (r = .542, p =.000) and with emotional self-concept (r = .557, p =.000) was found for students with learning difficulties.  Article visualizations

DISTANCE EDUCATION IN THE PANDEMIC ERA: THE VIEWS OF GREEK GENERAL AND SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION REGARDING READINESS, CHALLENGES AND THE POST-COVID EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES

The present study, via the use of a questionnaire, examined the views of 138 Greek teachers, of general and special education, on the readiness for distance education, the challenges they face during the courses, and the measures to be taken in education in case of a next crisis such as Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Educators’ views on the measures to be taken by educational institutions in order to be ready to provide distance education in the post-COVID era were also examined. The analysis of results showed that Special Education teachers appeared to be more ready for distance education; indeed, their field of employment itself, namely teaching, their years of service, the age and the level of studies were found to have a statistically significant influence on their answers. The greater challenge that both groups of teachers faced were the difficulties in communicating with their students. It became apparent also the great need for training teachers in issues related to distance education as well as the protection of their personal data of their students.   Article visualizations

SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN GREECE

The aim of the present study was to examine the attitudes of Greek school teachers on the inclusion of students with special educational needs as well as the factors that may influence their attitudes (positive or negative). The sample of the survey consists of 120 (48 male and 72 female teachers) school teachers (Kindergarten and primary schools) from rural and urban areas of Northwest Greece. Research data was selected using the Greek version of ATIE scale, developed by Wilczenski (1992; 1995) and standardized in Greek by Tsakiridou & Polyzopoulou (2014). The results of the survey showed that school teachers generally are in favor of including students with SENs, although their perceptions differ significantly based on some demographic factors.  Article visualizations

SCHOOL BULLYING IN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, PREVENTION AND COPING STRATEGIES

School bullying is a significant problem affecting high school students. This article provides an overview of the causes and consequences of bullying, as well as prevention and coping strategies. The literature review includes a discussion of different types of bullying (Bradshaw, Waasdorp, & Johnson, 2015), individual, family, peer, and school-related factors that contribute to bullying (Espelage & Swearer, 2010; Olweus, 2013), and the physical and psychological harm that results from bullying (Bradshaw et al., 2015). The article concludes with a discussion of different interventions to prevent and cope with bullying, including whole-school approaches, targeted interventions, and peer support programs (Bradshaw et al., 2015; Espelage & Swearer, 2010).  Article visualizations

ANXIETY DISORDERS AND THE FREQUENCY OF NEGATIVE THOUGHTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT SPECIAL LEARNING DISABILITIES

Special Learning Disabilities (SLD) are often accompanied by negative thoughts of self-assessment, deficits in social interactions and psycho-emotional problems as well, which hinder the development and the smooth integration of children diagnosed with SLD into their environment. This research attempts to investigate the association of negative self-assessment thoughts and anxiety disorders with Special Learning Disabilities in a sample of sixty Greek-speaking children in 4th, 5th and 6th grades with and without SLD, including their parents. The tools used for this purpose are the Children’s Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS), and the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS-CH) self-report questionnaire, which assess anxiety disorders. Parents were asked to answer the corresponding Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parents Edition (SCAS-P) symptom-monitoring questionnaire. According to the results compared to their normal development peers, children with SLD had a higher incidence of negative thoughts, which is more likely to lead to symptoms of anxiety disorders; their parents in fact were able to perceive the severity or frequency of these symptoms in their children. In addition, the frequency of negative thoughts and symptoms related to anxiety disorders seemed to be influenced by the student’s condition (with or without SLD), but not by gender and age.   Article visualizations

VICTIMIZATION OF STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES OR ADHD (ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER)

The primary research objective of this research has been to investigate the relationship between the victimization of high school students and the existence of learning difficulties and ADHD. 700 students participated (with and without ADHD) who attended Gymnasiums of Western Thessaloniki in which integration departments operated. Participants anonymously completed a questionnaire on bullying. The results we quote here refer to the second part of the questionnaire that is completed only by those students who were victimized. According to the research activity so far, it was expected and finally confirmed that the variable existence of learning difficulties / ADHD is a predictor of the participation of these students in bullying incidents and even with the role of the victim [each increase in the percentage by one point (i.e. by 1 [each increase in the percentage by one point (i.e. by 1%) of the factor of learning disabilities and of the dep with a diagnosis the average value of the variable of a person falling victim to bullying increases by 1.21 points (p<0.001)].  Article visualizations

CASE STUDY: A PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION PROGRAM IN CHILDREN WITH DEAFBLINDNESS

The aim of the research is to create an intervention program that will combine the use of alternative and adapted methods of information collection to establish the communicative and cognitive profile of a deaf-blind student. The student who participated in this particular case study is a 11 years old girl who attends a special school in Greece. The results of the research were encouraging and highlighted the importance of creating similar programs in Greece for deaf-blind students. More specifically, they showed that the student can now orient herself spatially and temporally in relation to her daily educational program at school and, moreover, she had now built a better image of the body parts and their function.  Article visualizations

ATTITUDES OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES TOWARDS INCLUSION

The present research focused on investigating the attitudes of parents of children with disabilities regarding their children’s educational inclusion in general education. Also, the effect of certain demographic characteristics of the participants on their attitudes was investigated. 125 parents of children with disabilities attending primary education participated in this research, residing in Western Greece. The collection of research data was carried out using the questionnaire "Attitude Toward Inclusion/Mainstreaming Scale" (Leyser & Kirk, 2004-translated by Kokaridas et al., 2008). The statistical analysis of the data was done using the statistical package SPSS, version 26.0. A statistically significant relationship emerged between the variables parents’ attitudes, gender and parents' educational level. From the results of the research, emerged that the participants showed above-average positive attitudes regarding inclusion and that the mothers of children with disabilities had more positive attitudes towards inclusion, compared to the fathers. It also emerged that participants with a higher educational level were more positive towards the inclusion of their children with disabilities. The findings of this research are expected to contribute to the effective implementation and achievement of the concept of inclusive education.  Article visualizations