Walking into Lalor North Primary School on Sunday, May 4, you could feel the buzz in the air for the annual conference of the Modern Greek Teachers Association of Victoria (MGTAV).
Ready to greet teachers at the door, emcee, hand out photocopies, prep the food and even join in workshops is Despina Sarandis, the organisation’s president, whose dynamic presence and enthusiasm is infectious.
“We have an amazing program this year, with the theme Learning Beyond the Book to offer fresh approaches to Greek language teaching,” she tells The Greek Herald.
“We’re a small but mighty team… We have the right people.”
Chrisoula Stamopoulos, former secretary, still sits on the MGTAV committee.
“We have given the reins to the new generation, but I remember the old days when we had double the members. We have 100 members, and while the MGTAV focuses on teachers, we also created Pharos to bring together the entire community—including parents. Our 3rd parents workshop is on June 8th,” she says.
“We’re all volunteers, and Professor Joseph Lo Bianco is an amazing workshop facilitator who gives parents great advice. We have Pharos, workshops like this where we train up—I don’t know what more we can do apart from literally going to people’s homes and yanking them to our parent workshops.”
Inside the hall, drama teacher Katerina Poutachidou leads role-playing games that could easily be adapted to the classroom. Teachers act, guess words, and play for memorable learning.
Keynote speaker Peristera (Perry) Papageorgiou facilitates a workshop on using technology and adapting to students’ own teaching styles.
“I’m not telling them anything they don’t already know. But we are encouraging sharing between colleagues and reinforcing their knowledge,” she says.
One highlight is “Greek Language Football,” where students compete in vocabulary-based soccer. Laughter echoes through the theatre, proving that Greek doesn’t have to be all declensions and dictations.
More guest speakers arrive offering diverse perspectives—from music with Archie Argyropoulos to AI presentations by Maria Sabo. Dr Matt Absalom emphasises strategies that “unlock student creativity” beyond rote learning, Scott Cordwell presents ImmerseMe digital tools, and Amanda Macdonald from ELLA Education Services explores tech-driven strategies for engaging early learners.
The passion for teaching is palpable.
Assistant teacher Vivian Tzavaras says, “I was a student at Aetolian College and now I’m an assistant teacher from Prep to Year 10 and a Greek dance teacher at the school as well. I’m studying science at university, but I hope to continue teaching even after I finish my course.”
Demi Lazarakis, in her second year of teaching Greek at Alphington Grammar, says the greatest difficulty is teaching students from scratch.
“They don’t know the language at all, and that is a challenge,” Demi says.
Kypros Kyprianou, former MGTAV president and principal of the Greek Orthodox Community Schools of Melbourne and Victoria, says times have changed. He worries that we may never regain lost ground, but believes MGTAV is on the right track with initiatives like Pharos.
“I believe that a community, organisations, need to admit that it is now our responsibility to save the language. We cannot rely on legislation to pass through Parliament,” he says. “Even if the promotion of Greek is discussed, the next day another 50 languages will appear.”
Kypros remembers leading the MGTAV in the ‘80s.
“Back then, it was just for teachers with degrees and closed to students and non-degree-holding teachers. Even so, we had at least 200 members and our conferences would draw hundreds. Now there are half the members, and even fewer attending events,” he says.
There may be fewer members, less funding, but the group is just as loud in purpose.
