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Research Article

School Crisis Management: Attitudes and Perceptions of Primary School Teachers

Efstratia Karasavidou , Nikolaos Alexopoulos

Despite the fact that crisis management is essential for school’s smooth operation and crises occur at schools and education institutions around.

D

Despite the fact that crisis management is essential for school’s smooth operation and crises occur at schools and education institutions around the world, Greek school is characterized by limited readiness to manage its potential crises. This study investigates the attitudes and perceptions of teachers concerning crisis events in school units bearing in mind that such events occur in a unique context in every school and every situation. The study’s findings are based on data collected through an empirical, qualitative research. The results show that that school premises in Greece are not considered safe sites not only due to students’ aggressive behaviour but also to the feebly support provided by the Ministry of Education and the Local Authorities as well as teachers’ feelings of inadequacy and inappropriateness. Since the problem of school safety is proved to be multifaceted, it requires collectivity and a dedication to strong collaboration in order to be solved.

Keywords: School safety, school crisis, crisis management, school accidents, teachers’ attitudes, teachers’ perceptions.

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