Educational Change in the School Unit for the Inclusion of Roma Students in the Educational Process

The education of Roma students in Greece has been a field of educational policy since 1997, within the framework of the "Education of Gypsy Children" program and the 2nd Community Support Framework on intercultural education issues. The central educational policy for the education of Roma students aims to rearrange the relationship between the school and the Roma community, so that Roma students can be integrated into the educational process. However, in achieving this educational change, the role of the school unit is important since it is the one that is based, operates and acts in areas inhabited by Roma families. The subject of this paper is to investigate the contribution of the school unit in achieving this educational change within the framework of its autonomy. The purpose of the research is to examine the role of the educational unit in dealing with this change, to highlight the dimensions of the school unit in which the change is attempted and to examine the role of the principal in the design, implementation and integration of the change into the usual operation of the unit through a literature review.