The Administration of Heritage Language Schools in Multicultural Societies: The Case of the Hellenic School of Ottawa, Canada

Many ethnic communities living in multicultural societies have established Heritage Language Schools (HLS) to transmit ethnic language and preserve ethnic culture. The administration of these HLS is no easy task however (Arvanitis, 2004; Pu, 2012; Tamis, 2010). Research is needed to help better understand how HLS programs, such as the Hellenic School of Ottawa (HSO), are administered and what can help enhance administration practices and the sustainment of these schools (Zoupa & Karlis, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of administration towards the administrative practices of the HSO. Specifically, the objectives of this study are to present the perceptions of HCO administrators toward: (1) the structure and objectives of the HSO, (2) the strengths and weaknesses of the administration of the HSO, and (3) suggestions for the enhancement of the administration of the HSO. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on ten former administrators of the HSO who have been responsible for operation of the HSO. It was found that the structure of the HSO focused on the instruction of the Greek language, including the four language skills- listening, speaking, reading, and writing; whereas, the objectives of the HSO focused on instilling a love for the Greek language. Moreover, administrators presented two strengths of the administration of HSO - (1) support from the HCO, and (2) people involvement as well as three weaknesses - (1) support from the HCO, and (2) people involvement. Further, the administrators presented ten suggestions for the enhancement of the operation of the HSO - (1) teachers of higher qualifications, (2) addition of more Greek-content activities, (3) time-frame expansion, (4) resources, (5) teacher support, (6) summer camps in Greece, (7) create school partnerships, (8) Webinars and seminars, (9) trips to Greece, and (10) engagement in Greek-content activities. Keywords: heritage language schools, Hellenic School of Ottawa, administration, ethnic language, ethnic culture