Implementing the Integrated Foreign Languages Curriculum in Greek EFL Education: Teachers’ Beliefs, Practices and Professional Challenges

Abstract

This article examines Greek EFL teachers’ beliefs, training experiences, and reported classroom practices in implementing the Integrated Foreign Languages Curriculum (IFLC, hereafter) — a nationwide curriculum innovation introduced in Greek state schools as part of a broader reform agenda to modernize foreign language education. Drawing on English foreign language (EFL, hereafter) teachers’ beliefs, training and practices, the study explores how teachers mediate top-down curricular change within complex institutional realities. Employing a mixed-methods design, quantitative data from 370 EFL teachers were triangulated with semi-structured interviews with 16 EFL teachers and 8 school advisors, alongside the analysis of 12 lesson plans. The findings reveal limited awareness and fragmented training, resulting in partial and uneven implementation of the IFLC. While many teachers endorse the innovation’s communicative and learner-centered philosophy, deeply entrenched beliefs, contextual constraints, and insufficient professional support hinder full implementation. Nonetheless, emerging evidence of adaptive and selective agency suggests teachers’ gradual movement toward more reflective and context-responsive practices. The study also highlights the importance of sustained, collaborative professional learning and participatory curriculum design in promoting meaningful educational innovation. Implications are discussed for teacher education, curriculum policy as well as scholarship on agency and innovation in global educational contexts.