The University of Thessaly (UTH) consists of sixteen (16) Departments and four (4) Faculties (Humanities, Engineering, Health and Agricultural studies). It has more than 9,647 undergraduate students, 1,471 postgraduate students and 1,148 PhD students. It also has 560 members of teaching and research staff, 98 members of teaching staff with a temporary teaching contract, 308 members of administrative staff and 57 members of Special Technical Laboratory Staff. UTH Departments participate in numerous projects funded by the EC RFSR, FP6, FP7, INTERREG and LIFE Programmes.

The Department of Special Education (SED) of UTH was founded in 1998, as part of the School of Humanities, located at the city of Volos. The SED has a strong cross–disciplinary approach to disability (educational, sociological, medical, psychological and neuropsychological approaches), has expertise for different categories of disabilities, and a strong emphasis and expertise in inclusion, especially inclusive education at all levels. SED’s main R&D areas of research include adaptive learning environments, empirically-based good practices for supporting disabled people and their families, assistive technologies and accessibility. It also focuses on research in the area of disability studies, educational policy-practices in relation to promoting inclusion and professional development for personnel who work with disabled people. Additionally, the SED organizes and runs two postgraduate programs: 1. The MA in Special and Inclusive Education, and 2. the MSc. in Counselling in Special-General Education and Health.

The SED maintains strong links with the disability associations across Greece as well as with education and health institutions, offering assessment, training and accessibility services to people with disabilities and their families. It offers training and professional development to teachers, psychologists, medical personnel, social workers, occupational, physio- and speech therapists; in essence professionals who work with disabled people and their families and has a strong and constantly growing network with related institutions and services. Priority is given to the elimination of disabling barriers and the promotion of enabling learning environments.

Website: www.sed.uth.gr

 

TEAM MEMBERS

Anastasia Vlachou

Associate Professor of “Special – Inclusive Education” of SED-UTH and the Director of the Masters Programme in Special – Inclusive Education. She holds a BA in Psychology, University of Ioannina, Greece, an MA in Educational Psychology and Counselling from McGill University, Montreal Canada, and a PhD in Inclusive Education, Sheffield University, UK. She has taught and worked in a number of educational institutions in Canada, England and Greece. She has –and continues – to participate in National and European R&D projects in the areas of disability studies, inclusive policy-practices, social inclusion of people with disabilities, cultural counseling and the inclusion of socially-vulnerable groups. She serves at the programme and review committees of numerous International/European/National scientific journals and conferences, she has published more than 70 papers with 750 known international citations. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the international journal ‘Disability and Society’ and the author of the book ‘Struggles for inclusive education’ Buckingham: Open University Press, (1997) that has been also published in Spanish «Caminos Hacia una Educación Inclusiva». Madrid: La Mourallia.

Academic rank: Associate Professor, Director of the MA “Special-Inclusive Education”
Subject: Special and Inclusive Education
Email: anavlachou@uth.gr
Phone: (+30) 24210-74824

George Kleftaras

Professor in “Clinical Psychology – Psychopathology” of SED-UTH. He is also the Director of the: (a) Postgraduate Program (M.Sc.) “Counselling in Special–General Education and Health” and (b) “Laboratory of Psychology and Applications on Education”. He studied Psychology and Occupational Therapy. His doctoral degree is in Psychopathology and Differential Psychology, University of Paris-X-Nanterre, France. He has an M.A. Degree in Applied Psychology, University of Moncton, Canada, a D.E.A. in Experimental Psychology, University of Paris-X-Nanterre, France, and a D.U.S.R. in Rehabilitation, University of Paris XII-Val De Marne, France. He has significant clinical work in counselling and psychotherapy. Ηe is the scientific editor of the book series “Modern Psychological Issues” and a reviewer at a number of Journals such as: “Child Development”, “European Journal of Psychological Assessment”, “The Gerontologist”, “Hellenic Journal of Psychology”, “Psychology: the Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society” etc. He has an extensive teaching experience at both undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the Universities of Thessaly, Crete, Athens, the Aegean and at the T.E.I. of Athens while he has participated in a number of funded research and/or intervention programs. He has published numerous scientific papers, articles and books in Greek, English and French, which have received more than 250 citations.

Academic rank: Professor, Director of the MSc “Counselling in Special–General Education and Health”
Subject: Clinical Psychology – Psychopathology
Email: gkleftaras@uth.gr
Phone: (+30) 24210-74738(+30) 24210-74738

Panayiota Stavroussi

Assistant Professor of “Intellectual Disability: Psychological Approach and Applications in Special Education” at the SED-UTH. She holds a BA in Philosophy, Education, and Psychology, specialization in Psychology (Department of Philosophy, Education, & Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece), a Master’s Degree and a PhD in Psychology (School of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece). Her main research interests fall within the following areas: cognitive and social development of persons with intellectual disability, genetic syndromes of intellectual disability, language development, socio-cognitive skills and self-determination skills development in persons with intellectual disability, supports for and education of children/adolescents with intellectual disability – transition from school to adult life and work.

Academic rank: Assistant Professor
Subject: Intellectual Disability: Psychological Approach and Applications in Special Education
Email: stavrusi@uth.gr
Phone: (+30) 24210-74708

Dimitra Papadimitriou

Assistant Professor at the Department of Business Management of the University of Patras, Greece. She has obtained the doctoral degree in management from the University of Sheffield, UK (1995) and her Master’s Degree in sport management from the University of Ottawa, Canada (1991). She has extensive experience in vocational training and education, working as instructor and programme leader in a number of Vocational Education Training Centers (i.e., Mentor Educational Intuition for Vocational Training, Greek Organization for Local Development and Administration, General Secretary for Public Vocational Training, European Innovation Vocational Training, Olympic Vocational Training). She has an extensive record of publications in the broad area of management (i.e. managing small enterprises, voluntary management, marketing) published in broadly acknowledged scientific journals.

Academic rank: Assistant Professor, Department of Business Management
Email: dpapad@upatras.gr
Phone: (+30) 2610 969982

Olga Roka

Postgraduate student in MSc in “Counselling in General-Special Education and Health” at the SED-UTH for which she has been awarded a scholarship from State Scholarship Foundation. Her Master thesis concerned work integration/reintegration of people with mental health problems and/or intellectual disabilities with a particular focus on the supported employment model. She gained her first BSc in Business Administration from the University of Piraeus, in Athens, Greece. She also has a BSc in Psychology from Panteion University in Athens, Greece, which she gained with distinction. She had been working in the bank sector for almost 10 years. During her BSc in Psychology, she completed her internship as an assistant psychologist in the Mental Health Centre of Peristeri (Athens, Greece), while during her MSc she worked as a trainee counsellor in a Special Vocational Education and Training Workshop in Volos (Greece).

Email: rokaolga@gmail.com
Phone: (+30) 6936362914
Curriculum: download

Evdokia Vasilou

Evdokia Vasilou is a counselling psychologist. She holds an MSc in Counselling in General – Special Education and Health (University of Thessaly) and a BSc in Psychology (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). She has been working for almost 8 years in a private vocational training centre in Greece, implementing training programs aiming to promote integration to the labour market for unemployed individuals and people from vulnerable social groups. She has also experience in counselling unemployed individuals participating in relevant employment actions.

Email: eudokia1@hotmail.com
Phone: (+30) 6948821924
Curriculum: download