Eureka! Institutional Repository

The aim of this study is to focus on the educational policies the European Union has pursued from 1981 until today, the way these policies affected the educational reforms which took place in our country, with an ultimate purpose to emphasize on the values and ideals of the European educational policies as they have been promoted through European programs in all levels of education and mainly, through the two most significant programs which have been carried out in Primary Education in Greece. Emphasis is placed on how the evolution of education has been shaped, since 1981, through exchange and educational programs and eventually, how education has been connected - depending on the demands of the eras – to the economy, the society, the quality, the research and lifelong learning so as to succeed in accomplishing the development of a single, common European identity, of respect towards “the different”, of faith in the human values of freedom, democracy, equality and solidarity. Among all these, the role of the teacher is of vital importance in promoting the abovementioned values.