Eureka! Institutional Repository

Purpose: This survey was conducted to examine the management of mourning and loss in Primary Education in Greece. Material-Method: A two-month quantitative survey was performed with the use of a self-referral questionnaire. The survey involved a random sample of 141 primary school teachers. The survey questionnaire responded to the combination of three individual questionnaires, two of which are found in the international literature. More specifically, the McGovern and Barry’s (2000) questionnaire was used to examine the knowledge, attitudes and perspectives of children's education on death and child mourning. The Pratt, Hare and Wright’s (1987) questionnaire, to explore the teachers’ readiness in addressing issues related to school death. Finally, an open-ended question, which was oriented to the needs of the survey, was also included. The statistical analysis of the data followed, where was used the t-test and the one-way ANOVA process, the correlation coefficient Pearson (r) and the control of internal relevance and reliability Cronbach a. Results: The results of the survey showed that teachers according to their age have received differentiated training on how to discuss or teach the issue of death in children (p = 0.001 <0.05). Similarly, there was a significant statistical difference between male and female teachers and the importance that they give to education for death in the university program (p = 0.049 <0.05). It has also been found that the age of teachers influences their view of how curious the children are about death (p = 0.0021 <0.05). Finally, the influence of years of service on their ease of talking with the children on death (p = 0.032 <0.05) was revealed. Conclusion: The phenomenon of child mourning is very common in Greek reality. Teachers, however, feel inadequate in their knowledge of the management of such a situation and feel that they need training. Furthermore, the inclusion of death education in the Greek school is necessary, in order to sensitize and prepare appropriately students and teachers for the management of bereavement and loss.