Erasmus Courses

Job Shadowing in Athens

Job Shadowing is a short-term professional development mobility funded under the Erasmus+ Key Action 1 programme. Unlike structured courses, it is not about sitting in a classroom being taught. It is about immersing yourself in a working educational environment in another country observing, participating, exchanging, and reflecting alongside experienced colleagues.
Our Job Shadowing programme invites teachers, school leaders, trainers, and education staff from across Europe to spend a week in Athens as professional observers and learners. You will step inside Greek institutions and organisations, sit alongside colleagues, bring your questions, your experience, and your curiosity and you will leave with the perspective that comes from seeing your own practice reflected in the work of others.

Athens is one of Europe's most complex and compelling educational environments and that complexity is precisely what makes it so valuable as a job shadowing destination. Greek schools serve one of the most diverse urban student populations in southern Europe. Athens has been at the forefront of managing large-scale migration and refugee integration, and its teachers have developed remarkable expertise in welcoming and educating children from dozens of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

For any educator working with diversity and inclusion, there is no better place to observe these skills in action. At the same time, Greek education is navigating a genuine transformation. After years of economic crisis that tested institutional resilience to its limits, schools across Athens have emerged with a hard-won pragmatism and creativity finding ways to do more with less, building community around learning, and developing teacher cultures marked by solidarity and mutual support. The challenges have been real, and the responses to them have been instructive.

Our extensive network of partner schools and educational institutions spans Athens and its surrounding municipalities. Depending on your professional interests and goals, your programme can be tailored to include visits to and observations in:

Primary and Secondary public schools

Step inside the Greek public school system and observe how it actually functions day to day. You will see how teachers manage structured national curricula within the constraints of a centralised system, how they adapt to large and mixed-ability classes often with limited resources, and how individual educators carve out genuine space for creativity, warmth, and pedagogical innovation within those constraints. Greek teachers are, by necessity, extraordinarily resourceful, and watching that resourcefulness in action is one of the most instructive things a visiting educator can experience

Vocational Education and Training

Greece has been actively reforming its vocational pathways, and Athens is home to a concentration of vocational high schools and vocational training institutes (called EPAL and IEK respectively) that reflect this transition. You will observe how schools are bridging the gap between the classroom and the labour market, integrating digital skills and entrepreneurial thinking into vocational curricula, and working to change the long-standing cultural perception that vocational education is a second-best option, an uphill challenge that Greek VET educators are tackling with notable determination.

Adult Education Schools and Lifelong Learning

Athens has a well-developed network of adult education institutions called Second Chance Schools, designed specifically for adults who left education early, as well as lifelong learning centres spread across its municipalities. These settings address school dropout, long-term unemployment, migrant integration, and social exclusion in ways that are both practically inventive and philosophically interesting, placing adult dignity and self-determination at the centre of the educational relationship in ways that many mainstream schools struggle to replicate.

Intercultural Schools

Athens has been at the centre of Europe's migration and refugee challenges for over a decade, and its schools have developed real, tested, and often impressive expertise in response. Greece operates a formal system of Reception Classes — dedicated structures within mainstream schools designed to support newly arrived children in language acquisition and integration — and several Athenian schools have become genuine centres of excellence in intercultural pedagogy. Observing these settings offers an unfiltered look at inclusion in its most demanding and most human form.

Experimental Schools

Alongside the state system, Athens hosts a the distinctive category of Peiramatika Scholia, officially designated experimental schools attached to Greek universities, which serve as testing grounds for innovative curricula and pedagogical research. These schools operate with a degree of freedom unusual within the Greek system and offer a fascinating counterpoint to mainstream state education, often pioneering approaches that gradually filter into broader practice.

Our programmes can be built around any professional focus. The most frequently requested themes in Athens include:
Inclusion and Diversity: With one of Europe's most diverse urban school populations, Athens offers unparalleled opportunities to observe intercultural pedagogy, refugee education, differentiated instruction, and the daily reality of truly inclusive classrooms.
Digital Transformation: See how Athenian schools are integrating technology and AI tools into everyday teaching, from primary classrooms to VET workshops, and how teachers are navigating the challenges and opportunities of the digital shift.
Sustainability and Environmental Education: With the pressures of urban growth, water scarcity, and climate change highly visible in the Mediterranean context, Athenian schools have developed creative approaches to environmental education that connect local reality to global challenges.
Tailored Programmes: The most valuable job shadowing experiences are those designed around your specific needs. Tell us what you want to learn, what challenges you want to address, and what you hope to bring back to your institution — and we will build the experience around you.

Tell us your goals: Contact us with your professional interests, your institution's development priorities, the number of participants, and your preferred dates. The more specific you are, the better we can design your experience.
We design your programme: We match you with the most relevant partner schools and assign a dedicated mentor for each participant. We send you a draft programme for approval before anything is confirmed.
We handle thw logistics: We prepare all required Erasmus+ documentation, including the Mobility Agreement, support with the Europass Mobility Certificate, and a welcome pack with practical information about Athens. We are your single point of contact for everything.
You arrive: We welcome you to Athens with a briefing session that contextualises what you are about to observe, the Greek education system, its recent history, its current priorities, and the specific organization you will be visiting.
You observe, participate, and reflect: Each day includes structured school visits with your dedicated mentor, guided observation, opportunities for informal exchange with teachers and staff, and a daily reflection session with fellow participants to process what you have seen.
We close the loop: On the final day, we facilitate a structured debrief to help you consolidate your learning, identify your key takeaways, and begin planning how to bring them back to your home institution. We provide all certification documentation required by your National Agency

✱

Duration: Usually 3 to 5 days (excluding travel), but longer programmes are available on request.
✱

Participants: Available for teachers, school leaders, trainers, support staff, librarians, and administrative personnel from school education, VET, and adult education institutions.
✱

Language: All programmes are conducted in English. Knowledge of Greek is not required.
✱

When: Job shadowing in Athens is available throughout the Greek school year, typically from October through June, with flexible scheduling to accommodate your institution's project calendar.
✱

Fees: Contact us for a personalised quote based on your programme duration, number of participants, and specific thematic focus.

Ready to bring your team to Athens? Contact us to begin designing your programme. We look forward to welcoming you.

Our Method

At Europerativa, we are committed to fostering lifelong learning by offering a diverse and inclusive range of courses tailored to adult learners of all backgrounds. Our mission is to provide high-quality education that enhances personal and professional development, promotes social inclusion, and responds to the evolving needs of our local and international communities. Through our curriculum, we aim to empower individuals by equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence necessary to thrive in today’s dynamic world.
Our programme is deeply rooted in the principles of active learning and learner-centred education. We believe that education is most effective when it is participatory, collaborative, and adapted to the needs of the learners. As such, we prioritise creating a supportive and engaging learning environment where students are encouraged to take ownership of their education. Our methodology integrates both theoretical knowledge and practical skills, enabling learners to apply what they’ve learned in real-world contexts.

Additional Hosting Services

As a training organisation in the field of adult education, our role extends beyond the delivery of educational content. Alongside the implementation of training activities, we provide a range of organisational, logistical, and mentoring services intended to support participants throughout the entire mobility experience and facilitate the smooth implementation of Erasmus+ programmes.
Our support begins before participants arrive and continues throughout the duration of the mobility activity. We assist partner organisations and participants with the coordination of practical arrangements related to accommodation, local transportation, scheduling, communication, and programme implementation.
Participants are also supported with travel planning and local orientation. We provide guidance regarding travel routes, airport connections, and transport options prior to arrival. Participants are tutored by a coordinator who provides initial orientation and practical information related to the programme, the city, transportation, and the daily schedule.
Where required by the sending organisation or project structure, we can also assist with administrative and financial procedures related to participant support, according to the instructions provided by the sending institution.

Mentoring and Monitoring Programme

In addition to logistical coordination, we provide mentoring and monitoring support throughout the mobility period. The purpose of this support is to facilitate participants’ integration into the programme, monitor the educational process, and maintain communication with the sending organisation when necessary.
The programme begins with an introductory meeting during which participants receive detailed information about the structure of the mobility activity, the educational objectives, practical arrangements, and the overall schedule. Participants are accompanied to the course venue and, where applicable, to job shadowing placements or other programme-related activities. Coordination support is provided throughout the implementation period in order to assist with practical matters and ensure smooth communication between all parties involved.
Regular in-person meetings are organised in order to monitor participants’ progress, discuss experiences, address possible challenges, and collect ongoing feedback regarding the educational and organisational aspects of the programme. Support is also provided in relation to documentation and administrative requirements connected to Erasmus+ mobility projects, including learning agreements, attendance documentation, evaluations, certificates, and other relevant certification procedures.
For emergency situations or urgent matters, participants have access to a 24/7 emergency contact number throughout the duration of their stay.
At the conclusion of the mobility activity, evaluation procedures are conducted with both participants and host organisations in order to assess the quality and outcomes of the programme. A final documentation package can also be prepared for the sending organisation, including participation records, evaluations, certificates, photographs, feedback summaries, and other material relevant to reporting and dissemination activities.

Socio-Cultural Activities