Literacy teaching in the L1 curriculum of Greek secondary education

An essay

Abstract

This paper presents a study of the formal current L1 curriculum for lower secondary education in Greece. The aim of this study is to examine the ways literacy is defined and language is conceived by this curriculum. For this purpose Hasan's (1996) literacy classification/taxonomy (partitioning into recognition literacy, action literacy and reflection literacy) was used. Curriculum was chosen to be studied because it is a fundamental, formally established educational text, deeply political. The analy-sis shows many internal inconsistencies of the curriculum under study. Besides, the way action literacy is promoted (through its close connection to the recognition literacy) reveals a strong tendency of the curriculum for knowledge reproduction and social conformism. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and some thoughts not only about the said curriculum but also about the wider society whose product it is.