THE PERSONA DOLLS APPROACH FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS
Pitsou Charikleia, Pouta Aikaterini, Ζωή Καρανικόλα · European Journal of Education Studies · 2025
The existence of people from different cultural backgrounds is undoubtedly a reality that education should recognize and exploit for the benefit of all students. The pedagogical tool Persona Dolls can approach and optimize the concept of diversity to be treated as an element of enrichment in the educational process. The purpose of this research is to examine the contribution of the Persona Dolls Approach methodology in the management of cultural diversity by exploring the representations of eight Greek pre-school teachers on its implementation in the educational process. The qualitative method was considered appropriate for the study of this topic, and the semi-structured interview was used as a data collection tool. The survey data were processed using the method of thematic analysis. According to the results, the teachers consider the Persona Dolls Approach methodology to be an innovative and effective pedagogical tool for both teachers and students, which contributes to the effective management of cultural heterogeneity of the student population. What this research has highlighted is the need to educate and train pre-school teachers in innovative teaching methods, which in the context of a collaborative culture will promote the development of personal, social and emotional skills in children, so that they can become responsible and active citizens of the modern world. Article visualizations: