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Educational Sciences: Special Education

Director of the MA programme: Vlachos Filippos, Professor

Postal Address

Postgraduate Studies Secretariat “Educational Sciences: Special Education”

University of Thessaly, 1st floor, Office 19

Argonafton & Filellinon St.

38221- Volos - Greece

 

Days and Hours of Operation

Monday: 9:00-13:00

Wednesday: 9:00-13:00

Thursday: 9:00-13:00

Friday: 17:30-21:00

Saturday: 9:00-13:00

Tel: 0030 24210 74756, Secretary: Ms Aslanoglou Vasiliki, e-mail: Αυτή η διεύθυνση ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.

Note: The communication is limited to the hours listed above or electronically.

Objectives

Special education has become nowadays a crucial issue not only for the European educational and social policy but also for the Greek one. There is an urgent need to create the proper framework to educate and support children with special educational needs, either within general education or at the already existing special education schools, aiming to eliminate the exclusion and marginalization of these students.

Moreover, it has been found that there is an increasing demand for an organized provision of appropriate interventions as well as for qualified special educators. This particular Postgraduate Programme of Studies on Special Education aims to cover this lack and to provide scientists coming from several fields with the opportunity to acquire the appropriate knowledge and skills in order to be able to successfully live up to the current demands of the educational community.

The Postgraduate Programme of Studies aims at helping the students who come from several different fields to develop an expertise at “Special Education”. More specifically, the postgraduate programme aims at building the knowledge to identify and understand the special characteristics of children with special educational needs, as well as to design, implement and evaluate the right educational interventions. It also aims at developing support systems of these students and at the same time use the existing know-how on the Special Education field.

Within this framework this particular Postgraduate Programme of Studies may lead to three (3) expertise fields:

  1. Special and Inclusive Education
  2. Learning Disabilities
  3. Language development, Language Pathology and Educational Intervention

By using the current know-how on Special Education this Postgraduate Programme of Studies aims at educating scientists coming from different academic fields in evaluating special needs, designing and implementing methods and teaching strategies as well as using social skills development strategies for people with special needs. In this perspective, students will be able to:

  • Identify and understand the special characteristics of children with special educational needs.
  • Become acquainted with designing appropriate educational interventions and teaching approaches.
  • Implement and assess the educational interventions
  • Suggest ways of using the current research data within the education field.

Selection Process and criteria for selection/admission

Prerequisites

All candidates/applicants have to send their application file to the Secretary of the MA Program. This file includes the following documents:

  1. Application form (with an indication of the selected domain by the candidate).
  2. Detailed curriculum vitae.
  3. Copy of the degrees (with the recognition by DOATAP/DIKATSA, if this is from an international University) or proof of completion of studies (with indication of the grade level) from the Secretary. Certificates of degrees in all modules for the full years of studies.
  4. Copy of the Identity Card (ID).
  5. At least one recommendation letter.

In case where applicable, each candidate has to send:

  • Copies of other degrees from Universities or Technological Institutions
  • The BA Dissertation
  • The MA Degrees
  • Copies of publications and oral presentations
  • Certifications of participation with oral presentations in national and international conferences
  • Certifications of participation in seminars and research-training courses
  • Certifications of relevant professional experience as well as certified volunteer work.
  • Recognized diplomas/degrees for efficiency in knowledge of foreign languages (at the level B2).

Director: Vlachos Filippos, Professor

Coordination Committee

  • Vlachos Filippos, Professor
  • Avramidis Elias, Associate Professor
  • Nikolaraizi Magdalini, Associate Professor
  • Stavrussi Panayiota, Associate Professor
  • Tzivinikou Sotiria, Assistant Professor

Categories of Applicants

Graduates from Departments of Universities or Technological Institutes in Greece or equivalent Departments of academic institutions (following Article 2 of Law 3549/2007) can be admitted to this MA Program. The number of admitted students to this MA Program has been determined to be 90 students for every two years (30 students in each field). The distribution of placements in each domain may change following the General Assembly of Special Composition, in the case of having less than 30 successful or registered students in any domain.

Students who can be also admitted to each domain of the MA Program are: one (1) student funded by the Greek State Scholarship Foundation to complete postgraduate studies at MA level in Greece, as well as one (1) international student funded by the Greek State can be also admitted.

Financial requirements

From the academic year 2009-2010, the annual operating cost of the Postgraduate Studies Program is mainly covered by the tuition fees that the postgraduate students pay. Tuition fees are subject to change upon approval by the General Assembly - Special Composition of the Department of Special Education. The total amount of tuition fees for the academic years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 is 4.000 euro. Tuition fees payment is to be made by means of six-monthly instalments. Payment should be settled within three (3) weeks by the commencement of each semester and is deposited directly into the Program’s special bank account.

As soon as the Program commences, students have the right to:

  • Use the student’s ID card.
  • Borrow items from the Library of the University of Thessaly.
  • Have access to the Department’s computer room.
  • Have access to the internet (a personal code is provided that is used to receive e-mail services, to access Library’s resources and international electronic databases).
  • Receive health care services (the same as that for the undergraduate students).

Practicum

The aim of the Practicum is twofold: a) to provide postgraduate students with an opportunity to integrate theory and practice and b) to provide postgraduate students with an opportunity to develop and apply teaching methods for persons with special educational needs. According to the Postgraduate Studies Program the Practicum will be conducted in the 4th semester. Each student must complete 200 hours of practicum including attendance, participation and support of persons with special needs in educational settings and generally in settings supervised by public agencies where special education services are provided.

Practicum could take place in a variety of settings:

  1. In primary education: special education school units, including nursery schools, early intervention settings, and special schools.
  2. In mainstream schools: resource room settings and learning support settings.
  3. In lower secondary special schools.
  4. In upper secondary special schools.
  5. In lower and upper secondary special vocational schools.
  6. In institutes for vocational special needs education and training.
  7. In Centers for Differential Diagnosis, Diagnosis and Support.

Postgraduate students are required to submit a report to the Coordination Team of the course. In this report, students have to describe the activities they were engaged during Practicum. As part of the practicum course, students will be provided constructive feedback during regularly scheduled meetings with a team of tutors.

Program

To obtain the Master’s Degree of the MA Program is required the attendance and the successful examination in the following postgraduate courses. In total for the MA Program are required one hundred twenty (120) credits ECTS, ie thirty (30) ECTS credits in each semester.

1st Semester (Same courses for all the fields)

  1. Characteristics and learning needs of persons with disabilities (7,5 ECTS Credits)
  2. Education and Disability (7,5 ECTS Credits)
  3. Neuroscience & Special Education (7,5 ECTS Credits)
  4. Research methodology (7,5 ECTS Credits)

2nd Semester (Same courses for all the fields)

  1. Learning disabilities: Theoretical approaches (7,5 ECTS Credits
  2. Curriculum differentiations: applications in persons with special educational needs (7,5 ECTS Credits)
  3. ICT* applications in Learning and Special Education (7,5 ECTS Credits)
  4. Statistics or Qualitative research methods (optional) (7,5 ECTS credits)

*ICT: Information and Communication Technologies

3rd Semester

A Field: Special and Inclusive Education

  1.  Assessment in Special Education (7,5 ECTS credits)
  2. Strategies for social skills development in persons with disabilities or/and special educational needs (7,5 ECTS credits)
  3. Effective Practices in Special - Inclusive Education (7,5 ECTS Credits)
  4. Educational strategies for managing students' behavioral difficulties (7,5 ECTS Credits)

B Field: Learning Disabilities

  1. Assessment and Diagnosis of Learning disabilities (7,5 ECTS Credits)
  2. Teaching methods and strategies for students with learning disabilities (6 ECTS credits)
  3. Curricular modifications in the subject of Language for students with Learning Disabilities (7,5 ECTS credits)
  4. Curricular modifications in Mathematics and Sciences for students with Learning Disabilities (7,5 ECTS credits)

C Field: Language development, Language Pathology and Educational Intervention

  1. Structural mechanisms of language and cognitive processes for language development (7,5 ECTS credits)                               
  2. Neurobiological bases of language functions and language pathology (7,5 ECTS credits)
  3. Modern teaching approaches to language (7,5 ECTS credits)
  4. Educational interventions for the language development of children with mental retardation (7,5 ECTS credits)

4th Semester (Same courses for all the fields)

-Practicum (20 ECTS credits or 30 ECTS credits. Depends if the MA student submits a Thesis too or not)

-Submit a Thesis (Optional - 10 ECTS credits)

Selection Process and criteria for selection/admission

Candidates (the 60 ones that have the higher selection points in each field) that have handed in the relevant documents are able to take the mandatory written exam to certify their proficiency in English. This exam is organized by the Department of Foreign Languages at the aforementioned University. The exam is written and the candidates are assessed based on a text about special education in English in order to evaluate their command of the foreign language, and more specifically their ability to comprehend an English text. The text is chosen by the members of the Committee that meets two hours before the exam to determine the text. Candidates who hold a B2 certification of English knowledge or have studied abroad as well as graduates from a Department of English Language and Literature of a University in Greece or abroad (certified by DIKATSA or DOATAP) are eligible to abstain this exam. Candidates who fail this exam cannot take part in the rest of the selection procedure. Successful candidates are eligible to take part in the interviews.

The final evaluation of each candidate is based on a system of points awarded to specific criteria relating to things such as Degree Grade, Second bachelor degree, Professional degree of a second language, Postgraduate studies degree, Research activity, Professional Experience etc.                                                                      

FINAL EVALUATION

Application file (X 80%) & The points of interview (points X 20%)

 

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