Homeland-Diaspora Relations in Flux: Greece and Greeks abroad at times of Crisis

Presenting paper

Teaching Modern Greek within the community framework in France from 1971 to 2017. Social, cultural, economic interactions and future perspectives: from the Marseilles case to a general overview.

Greek education in Marseilles has been provided, supervised and aided financially by the Hellenic Union of Marseilles from 1945 to 1971, when the first Greek state seconded teachers arrive in the city and consequently the first official filing system of school records is set. On the one hand, this study examines these school records, which reflect the socioeconomic evolution of a significant part of the Marseilles' Greek diaspora. The last 46 years of Greek instruction, from 1971 up to 2017, are divided into three time frames featuring their own distinct characteristics relative to the different diaspora waves present in Marseilles, to the Greek Ministry of Education policy, and to the teaching means applied. The first period coincides with the Greek state’s political will to transfer the Greek educational system to the diaspora and to students mainly issuing from the second diaspora generation. The second period coincides with a decrease in the number of students registered, a change of their origin and an increase in the number of seconded teachers. The third period coincides with the financial crisis and its impact on Greek instruction in France: The Greek Consulate in Marseilles closes down, grants are stopped and the number of seconded teachers is drastically reduced. The “New Diaspora” arrives in the city to get involved with Greek-language education operating in the community framework. On the other hand, this study aims to show the numerous interactions initiated among local Greek Communities, the church, Greek diplomatic and educational authorities and secondary teachers throughout the first two examined periods. It aims to depict as well interactions among the “crisis” newcomers and “old” diaspora representatives. Finally, this study examines the organisation of the educational Greek structures currently functioning in France similar to the one in Marseilles, while an effort is made to show the extent of actual Greek education effectiveness and to give some guidelines as to how it could be developed or / and improved.

Author bio

Mousikoudis Ioanna. After having completed her undergraduate studies at the Ralleios teacher training College of Piraeus and at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in the Faculty of history and archaeology, Ioanna Mousikoudis continued further graduate studies at the University of Montpellier, where she obtained an MA (D.E.A.) in Neohellenic Studies. In 2008, she successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, entitled “The evolution of Greek education in Thrace from 1856 to 1908: financial antagonisms and national benefits”. She’s currently lecturing at the University of Aix-Marseille, Modern Greek section. She also teaches Modern Greek courses at Thiers College in Marseilles. She focuses her postdoctoral research on the transmission and continuity of “Greekness” through the different Greek migratory waves settled in Marseilles, as well as on the evolution of Greek education in the area.

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Homeland-Diaspora Relations in Flux

Teaching Modern Greek within the community framework in France from 1971 to 2017. Social, cultural, economic interactions and future perspectives: from the Marseilles case to a general overview.

Author bio

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