The Think Tank Education of SYRIZA-PS was presented by St. Kasselakis

The first think tank, which concerns Education, was announced on Tuesday morning 6/2 by the president of SYRIZA-PS, Stefanos Kasselakis, in a post on social media.

In his post on social media, St. Kasselakis refers to the think tanks «that we are building, with people who come not from the narrow party framework but from you, from society» and presents the first of them, the Think Tank Education, which consists of 7 people. «The excellent people of society will be by my side to build a pioneering public education programme,» the SYRIZA president noted.

«Because real education is what the Mitsotakis system does not want. Because real education gives a society the tools to resist propaganda, to ask questions, to learn, to claim a better life,» he adds.

The Education Think Tank includes:

– Vassilis Celfes: Professor Emeritus at the TEAPI of the University of Athens. He has a specialization in Physics and more than 200 publications.

– Lucia Bezier: Clinical and Developmental Psychologist, with a PhD in Psychology from the University of Paris XIII and a wealth of academic work.

– Triantaphyllou Triantaphyllides: Associate Professor at the Department of Elementary Education of the University of Thessaly, with postdoctoral studies at the University of Michigan and rich academic experience.

– John Toulis: Professor at the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian University, specializes in academic development and management.

– Dimitrios Tortopidis: Associate Professor at the Department of Dentistry, University of Thessaloniki, with a PhD from the University of Glasgow. And with more than 100 speeches and free papers in international and Greek scientific conferences.

– Georgios Bagakis: Professor Emeritus at the University of Peloponnese, with a PhD from the University of Geneva.

– Danae Vukelatou: PhD candidate at the University of Gothenburg, research assistant at the University of Oslo, with a Master's degree in Research and Psychology of Education.

Here are their biographies in detail:

- Vassilis Tsefes is professor emeritus at the TEAPI of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He is a physicist with a PhD in Solid State Physics and a specialization in Science Teaching. He is interested in the social dimensions of teaching and interdisciplinary approaches. She has a rich educational and research record with about 200 publications in international and Greek books, journals and conferences. She has also taught at the Marasleio Pedagogical Academy and the Pedagogical Department of Primary Education of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Finally, she has considerable administrative experience from positions of responsibility in the administration of the TEAPI and other educational institutions (DEPPS, PI).

- Loukia Beze is a Clinical and Developmental Psychologist and was a professor at the Department of Early Childhood Education at the Democritus University of Thrace. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Paris XIII with specialization in Developmental Psychology and Deviance. With a rich academic work that includes book writing, editing, translations, journal articles and conference participation, she has served as chair of the 8th Panhellenic Congress of Psychological Research and the 2nd Panhellenic Congress of Evolutionary Psychology of the Hellenic Psychological Society. He has also taught in the Departments of Psychology of the Panteion University, the University of Crete and the University of Montpellier. She was Director of the Laboratory of Child Psychology and Director of the Postgraduate Programme «Socio-cultural education and training of animators» at the Department of Early Childhood Education Sciences of the DUTH, of which she was Chairperson for 8 years.

- Triantafyllos Triantafyllidis is an Associate Professor at the Department of Primary Education of the University of Thessaly, with a PhD in Mathematics Education from the University of Edinburgh and postdoctoral studies at the University of Michigan. At the same time, he directs the Postgraduate Programme «Modern Learning Environments and Teaching Materials Production» and the «Mathematics Education Laboratory» at the University of Thessaly, University of Thessaly. His academic experience includes publications, participation in conferences and contributions to the creation of educational material. He is actively involved in curriculum design, supervises doctoral theses and served as chairman of the Department of Elementary Education of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Thessaly.

- Ioannis Toulis, professor at the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian University, is specialized in cello and viola da gamba. He actively participates in chamber music concerts and is a founding member of music groups. He took his first cello lessons from C. Manolas, I. Bianki and R. Dragnev. He then studied at the Berufsfachschule für Musik Bad Königshofen in Germany with Dr. W. Jacksch and then at the “Franz Liszt” Hochschule für Musik in Weimar with G. Vieweg. He has taught at the “Karol Lipinski” Music Academy in Wroclaw, Poland, at Toledo State University and Bowling Green State University in the USA and at the University of Applied Sciences in Turku, Finland. In recent years he has been focusing on academic development and management issues and has been actively involved in international projects such as Erasmus+ and the Polifonia Project. He is also the initiator and scientific manager of the NOSTOS initiative.

- Dimitrios Tortopidis is an associate professor at the Laboratory of Prosthodontics, Department of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.He graduated from the School of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow. He has given more than 100 lectures and free papers in international and Greek scientific conferences. He has a rich research activity, with more than 60 scientific articles and participation in international and Greek conferences. He coordinates the Laboratory of Prosthodontics U.P.T. and is deputy chairman of the Department of Dentistry U.P.T. and secretary general of the Stomatological Society of Northern Greece (S.E.B.E.).

- Georgios Bagakis, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Social and Educational Policy of the University of Peloponnese, focuses on Innovative Approaches to Education. He also promotes intercultural learning programmes as a special advisor to the Mayor of Corinth for UNESCO's Learning Cities. She participates in programme evaluations of the Laskaridis Foundation and holds a PhD from the University of Geneva in Problem Solving in Education. She has published in journals, presents scientific papers at conferences, participates in committees, organizes conferences and participates in international research associations.

- Danae Vukelatou, PhD candidate at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, with work experience as a research assistant at the University of Oslo, Norway. She holds a Master's degree in Education Research from the University of Gothenburg and a Master's degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Nicosia. She also has specific training through seminars on right to work, anti-discrimination issues, as well as volunteer activities in Greece, focusing on education and social solidarity issues. Finally, she has worked for several years in pre-school education in Sweden.

The coordinator of the Think Tanks of SYRIZA-PS explained in detail the process that has been followed so far, while she thanked each and every one of the more than 3,000 citizens who sent an application form to participate.

«The great interest makes us happy and with optimism for the future and collective effort we will stand by every citizen with a modern, left-wing, government proposal that will respond to the needs of our society», he stresses.

The entire post of Diana Voutyrakou:

Today the announcement of the Think Tanks of SYRIZA-PS on the theme of Education was officially launched. We start with Education not only because it is a fundamental right, but also because it is a key pillar of our society. It shapes what kind of people we will be and what kind of society we will live in. And that is why as SYRIZA-PS we will always be advocates of public, free education. The recommendation of the Education Think Tank can be found here:

But I would also like to explain the process we have followed so far, and to thank each and every one of the more than 3000 citizens who have sent in applications to participate.

On 18/12 the period of accepting applications through isyriza ended and since then we started evaluating them. Our MPs (Othon Iliopoulos and Evangelos Apostolakis), Spyros Kasapis, Manolis Kamsiakis, Menelaos Givalos, and of course the President himself, were of great help in this evaluation. Interviews (discussions) were held with those who were pre-selected based on their biographies in order to make the final selection of proposals to the President of SYRIZA-PS. The proposals were then given to the President, who started a round of interviews with these candidates in order to select the participants of the think tanks.

Additional Think Tanks will be announced in the coming days. We are delighted by the great interest and with optimism for tomorrow and collective effort we will stand by every citizen with a modern, Leftist, government proposal that will answer the needs of our society.