Dr. Alexiou Thomai

The crisis we are experiencing nowadays

is first and foremost a crisis
of moral values.

Values stem from our education.

The cultivation we all receive.

Education and principles start
predominantly within the family.

On a second level, they stem from school
and then pass on to our society.

Believe me, if we prioritize education
even during periods of adversity,

miracles will happen.

And, believe me, it is never
too late for miracles.

I believe a lot in teaching,
but I believe even more in education.

In the morals and values of individuals
and their holistic development.

According to Plato, education
can change and define lives.

It's like a second sun for people.

So, let's start with the first part,
which has to do with the family.

It is the main core 
of the society, after all.

What do we need to provide for a child

in order to ensure 
a proper and balanced upbringing?

Love?

Care?

Protection?
Security?

Indeed, but these are self-evident.

I don't know of any parents 
who don't love their children.

With the exception
of clinical cases, of course.

What children really need
to grow up in a proper and balanced way

is roots and wings.

Roots, to feel that they belong somewhere,

but also wings, to feel that they can fly.

This expression was first used around 1920

and was then used in 1950 by Carter,

but, really,
it doesn't matter who said it first.

What matters is that 
something as old as this

is considered contemporary and timeless.

Roots and wings, quite contradictive.

From this, I will move on 
to my personal story to convince you.

I grew up in Kastoria.
Yes, I was lucky.

My schoolyard and house 
had a view of the lake,

the swans, and the ducks.

The value of this experience 
for my life and sense of taste

is something I realized much later.

Because some things define our lives, 
but we recognize them much later.

The value of our childhood environment

is something that recurs 
over and over again.

Even during the difficult times 
in our lives.

I am lucky enough to travel a lot.

But every time I go back to Kastoria,

this sense of "coming home"
is beyond all other feelings.

You go home for a while.

Therefore, you go back to your self.

I remember when I was young, 
while studying

my mother would quietly bring me
some sage tea or orange juice.

Even today, these smells
remind me of my childhood.

They bring back feelings of

warmth, comfort, security, love.

My father had his own business 
and worked long hours.

Still, I can't forget 
that he asked our mother

to keep both me and my sister up at night
for fifteen minutes

so that he could play with us, 
at least for fifteen minutes every day.

Even today, thinking about this 
moves me deeply.

I remember 
when I entered university,

the Department 
of Early Childhood Education in Ioannina,

my mother had 
a very typical "mum" reaction.

Some of you, especially the younger ones,

will recognize this reaction.

She said "It's so far away,
you aren't going anywhere!".

Of course, my father's reaction was

"No matter how far it is, 
you are going there to study."

Four years later, I went to England
to do my master's degree.

My panic-stricken mother
came to help me "settle in".

The very first day, I remember,
she made a tempting suggestion

to spend some tuition money 
on shopping or whatever I wanted

and go back home to Kastoria the next day.

My father's instant reaction 
to this suggestion was

"Send your mother back home packing
on the first available flight."

Which is what I did.

A few years later, I received 
a full scholarship at a U.K. university

for a three-year PhD.

It was September 
and I was working in Ioannina.

My parents lived in Kastoria.

I called to let them know
and my mom had again a typical reaction.

"You can't leave for three years now, 
we just brought you winter rugs."

Unbeatable arguments, as you can see.

My father told me not to miss
this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

From these stories, you can tell
who gave me roots and who gave me wings.

Both of which are important, however.

About three years later, 
I returned to Greece with my PhD.

I gave up a university position there, 
because I wanted to contribute here.

For about five years, I was working in different universities in Greece.

Until I found a full-time position.

I want to say this
for all the young people to hear.

I had no contacts 
or parents in the academic world.

In fact, my father only finished 
primary school.

From the place that I am now,
I can say he's my greatest teacher.

He gave me 
the strongest wings in the world.

My mother comes from a similar 
educational background.

But she raised me not only with milk,

but with "milk and honey",
as Fromm rightly says.

With roots so strong, I always find 
ways and reasons to go back home.

What I want to say is,
if a family is solid and strong,

nothing can shatter it.

No child has a problem on its own. 
A child develops a problem,

if not properly guarded.

From a very young age, I learned 
that I don't need expensive brands

to feel that I am of value
and, above all, to be happy.

I also learned that education
means thinking on your own

and not always following the crowd.

Only when you manage
not to care about the image, thoughts,

and opinions of others,

will you manage to isolate the noise
and listen to your own voice.

It's not always easy.

As my grandma used to tell me, 
when she was alive,

"Don't ask me for advice about the future,
but only about the present,

because I have a lot 
to offer you from the past."

"But if you ask me about the future, 
it is you who must decide."

"Because your sun looks to the east, 
while mine to the west."

So, let's move on to school education.

Let's see what's going on here.

A month ago, we received
an official report.

It foreshadows a bright future
for education in Greece.

I really believe that this can happen 
under certain conditions.

Indeed, our school drop-out rates are low
compared to other European countries.

This means
that our children don't leave school.

I am very proud of this, 
as well as of the fact that,

according to the report,
our educators are highly qualified.

Especially in this time of crisis
that we are going through today,

offering high-quality public education,

for free, 
as I would like to highlight,

is something actually quite significant.

On the other hand, having travelled 
to multiple universities and schools

across the world,

I can personally assure you
that our schools,

the education quality we offer,

as well as the qualification level
of our educators,

are by no means of lesser value
compared to schools abroad.

We are vastly inferior though 
with regard to infrastructure.

But there are reasons behind that.

What I would also like to mention

are the countless opportunities we offer
for further education.

It is by no means incidental, 
and it is indeed inconcievable,

how much progress
has been done in this section.

For instance, with MOOCs, 
distance learning programmes, and so on,

access to education and training 
has been simplified.

Namely, someone living in a remote village
on a Greek mountain

can enter an educational platform
and without any charge, or for very little

attend courses from Yale, Sydney, 
or anywhere else.

These were inconceivable in the past.

So, we have open access to education.

To make a comment 
based on my field of studies,

I'd like to say that 
one of the reasons for such opportunities

is the fact that we have a high level 
of English language knowledge.

The language of access to the world.

Recently, since we are trying to emphasize
English language teaching,

English is now being taught
from the first grade of primary school.

I need to say, though, 
that with one teaching hour

we will see no difference.

These are not breakthroughs. 
They are half-measures.

That was my field-specific comment. 
Let me ask something.

Since we have a good education 
and our educators are of a high level,

why is cultivation giving us 
such a hard time?

So, let's move on to the school.

Do we have love in schools?

Are we ever going to add it 
to our reformation,

as the dearly departed teacher, 
Mr. Tsolakis, used to say?

Our schools are, unfortunately,
even today, a sports field of grades.

Their objectives are exam-based.

The recent report also pointed out

that less emphasis 
is to be placed on exams.

We place too much emphasis on them.

Therefore, we keep having obsessions.

Grammar, maths, certificates of course, 
and technology more recently.

We ask children to memorize information
they will probably never need.

We ask for one question 
only one correct answer.

How against Socrates is this in learning?

We essentially ask children 
to do things they won't need.

Children lose their childhood.
They lose unique talents in school.

In our schools, 
children suffocate in their talents.

Picasso used to say:

"It took me four years to learn 
how to paint like Raphael

and an entire lifetime to learn
how to paint like a child."

Yet we insist.

We dictate pictures, shapes, letters

we instruct them 
on how to logically remember history.

God forbid they change 
anything in history.

Mr. Trivizas is right when he says

that what we need 
to cultivate in schools is imagination

and innovation.

This is a talent 
that we unfortunately strangle.

I remember my godchild,
back when she was three or four years old,

we were drawing together,

and I noticed that out of five markers, 
she was only using two: red and black.

No blue, light blue, or green.
Nothing.

I became alarmed.

I was looking between the lines 
for any other issues.

I talked to her in person and asked:

"Sweetheart, why don't you
use more colours?"

"Why only black and red?"

She looked at me like I asked
the most stupid thing in the world.

In her childlike naivety she said:

"But my other markers 
have dried out, godmother."

I didn't even think of the simplest thing.

So, let's move on to the practical part.

What can we do 
to add cultivation in education?

What can we do 
to guard children inside schools?

Disciplines change 
and what we are teaching now

might be outmoded 
in five or ten years.

This is how things are, 
because everything runs fast.

Humanitarian studies, however, 
never dissapoint.

We need life lessons, as Mr. Yosafat 
has been saying for years,

and we must begin in Kindergarten.

Love lessons.

Teach children empathy, ethics, 
respect for the other,

what is actually the other, 
what is finally emotional intelligence.

We need lessons of basic world knowledge
that children will always need.

From what to eat,

because even eighteen-year-olds 
don't know how to eat,

to what fills their heart 
during hard times.

We emphasize all the rest so much, 
that we forget about the basics.

Music, dance, culture, arts.

These add quality to our life
and can truly help us

during hard times.

Of course, we also need digital education
and Internet lessons, especially today.

I could, but I wouldn't like to mention
the emphasis we place on technology

in today's schools.

Many dangers lurk, I can confirm that,

but I am not 
among those against technology.

I am, however,
against one-sided obsession.

In robotics lessons only, 
emotions cannot be cultivated.

I'm moving on to the heart 
of cultivation in education.

This is the teacher.

Everybody in this space teaches, 
but we forget that we are educators.

All teachers, 
in all levels, and of all fields,

are above all educators, 
and therefore role models.

Their influence is permanent through time.

To convince you, close your eyes, 
and think of your favourite teacher.

Of your childhood.

You all recalled someone, a name.

Do you know why this happens?

Because, simply, 
nobody forgets a good teacher.

If I ask each one of you 
why you remember this particular teacher,

you won't say you remember them
because of maths or grammar.

Children don't remember 
what we taught them,

but they forever remember
how we made them feel.

Therefore, the inspiring teacher,
the one who envisions,

knows that they are don't just teach,
they educate.

They facilitate learning 
and they educate.

This is their main role.

Moreover, they accept 
mistakes and failures,

because they are part 
of the next success.

Many people fail until they succeed.

Therefore, we don't condemn mistakes.
We embrace them.

Finally, the right teacher knows 
that teaching stems from the heart,

not from the brain.

So, the example is always
more effective than the lesson.

Finally, and to conclude...

to change everything, 
not just the education and family,

but also the society,
in order for it to offer the child

roots and wings,

we must change our mindset 
and take on our responsibilites.

Change, re-evaluation of role models,
based on humanitarian values and culture,

to have meaningful education.

Let's cultivate ourselves, 
enough with our image.

Exupéry told us this years ago.

The meaningful is invisible to the eye.

The question is...

The parents, educators, 
citizens of this world...

Do we want to give our children
roots and wings?

I'm asking you.

Do we want to?
I didn't hear you, louder.

Mediocrity and desire don't go together.

Let's get pumped, open our eyes, 
open our heart above all,

and let's take on life differently.

Nothing mediocre fits 
or is worth it for our children.

Thank you.