Compensatory Education and the Greek Institution of Inclusion Classes: A Symbolic Interactionism Approach

Abstract

This paper approaches the institution of inclusion classes (IC) in the Greek educational system through the lens of symbolic interaction theory. It aims to examine how Greek primary-school teachers construct, negotiate, and interpret the meanings of inclusion classes (ICs) as an institution of compensatory education, and how these meaning-making processes shape perceptions of IC effectiveness. A focus group was conducted with seven primary-education teachers (mainstream and special education, from kindergarten and primary school) working in the prefecture of Lesvos (Greece). The discussion was audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using discourse analysis, with themes developed through open and axial coding, researcher triangulation and an analytic audit. Five thematic axes emerged: IC as a countervailing educational policy; operational, logistical, and training difficulties; relations among members of the educational community; the negotiation of IC effectiveness; and the institution's contradictions. Findings indicate that ICs function not only as tools for compensatory education but primarily as arenas for the social negotiation of meanings, identities and roles. Despite ICs' positive role in supporting students with disabilities and/or special educational needs, shortages of resources, staff and institutional support, together with stigma and teachers' categorizations, often reproduce educational inequalities. The study contributes to the sociology of education by applying a symbolic interactionism lens to an under-researched aspect of Greek compensatory education, showing how everyday interactional practices mediate formal policy, and pointing to directions for a clearer institutional framework, systematic teacher training, and continuity in secondary education to strengthen IC's compensatory function.