10 Years Skasiarchio

On Sunday 07/04/2024, two members of the Scientific Team of the Teacher Education Program represented it at the 10-year anniversary event of the Pedagogical Team "The Skasiarchio – Experimental Palpations for a Community School".

Skasiarchio was officially founded in 2014, with the creation of the blog (https://skasiarxeio.wordpress.com). However, the group's fermentation began in 2010 with the screening of the film "Skasiarchio" at Cine Philippe. In 2013 the first two events took place in Athens and Corinth. The Athens University of Economics and Business is a member of the team through the innovative collaborative action "Freinet Pedagogy in the training of trainers of the Athens University of Economics and Business". This collaboration begins in 2012, when an innovative collaboration was developed with the director Mr. Nikos Theodosiou and the camera Zizanio, for the creation of audiovisual works of students. This collaboration was a springboard for the cultivation of creativity, social sensitivity and critical thinking, as apart from education, issues such as violence, migration, diversity, etc. were approached. Officially, the collaboration with Skasiarchio began in 2016-2017, with the then president of the group, Mr. Babis Baltas, where a series of educational activities on Freinet Pedagogy take place, with emphasis on the school cooperative.

Thus, over the years, a dynamic training team of Skasiarchio was created for the Pedagogical Program of the Athens University of Economics and Business, consisting today of Babis Baltas, Stella Badikian, Maria Kantourou, Aspasia Charlampita, Maria Zacharopoulou, Katerina Paouri, Katerina Alexiadi, Panagiota Siola and Christos Katsaros.

The pedagogical team of Skasiarchio is structured in groups that have their own internal organization and their members, among many others, collect training materials depending on their subject, do research and documentation, arrange meetings and actions addressed to children, teachers and parents. All teams cooperate with the Board of Directors of Skasiarchio and with each other.

In today's workshop, the work of these groups was presented by teachers of Primary and Secondary education. Specifically, the work of the Social Pedagogy, Radio, Cinema, Translation and Subtitling Groups, the work of the Editorial Team of the insert "To Skasiarchio" in EFSYN by Mr. Babis Baltas and Mr. Haris Papadopoulos, as well as the Skasiarchio Network, which currently has 11 cities in Greece, were presented.

In addition, an excellent presentation was made by Mrs. Stella Badikian and Mrs. Anna Maria Sidiropoulou, on the philosophy of Freinet pedagogy and the work of the Skasiarchio for its promotion nationwide. The fundamental principles of Freinet pedagogy were mentioned, which crystallize in a "free school" with a dominant method of learning this natural method. In addition, all speakers highlighted the various techniques of this pedagogy, such as small books, the collaborative classroom, as well as the actions in the framework of the Social Pedagogy "Classroom-School-Community". Through this action, children get out of the school space and appropriate the space in which they live, making Historical and Literary walks. At this point it is particularly important to emphasize that the Class Council is not just a technique of Freinet pedagogy, but a prerequisite for its proper application, as mentioned by many teachers.

In closing, today's event was a culmination of the action of the Skasiarchio during these 10 years and it was indicated that Freinet pedagogy can be practically applied from Kindergarten to High School, which is a very encouraging fact.

The ideas of Freinet pedagogy can be summarized in the following quote:

“Give children the freedom to choose their work, to decide the timing and pace of this work, and everything will have changed.”