The Modern Greek Teachers' Association of Victoria (MGTAV) was established in 1971, and is the professional association for Modern Greek Language Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers. The MGTAV represents Modern Greek Language Teachers from Government, Independent, Catholic, and Community Language Schools, as well as across all levels of education.
Our main goal is to empower Modern Greek Language Teachers in their teaching of the language, and to support and enhance Greek language programs throughout Victoria. Apart from providing quality professional development for Modern Greek Language Teachers, the MGTAV also:
maintains and promotes Greek language and culture by being in contact with Educational Institutions in Australia and Greece;
assists Greek language programs in overcoming any issues that may arise by providing advice, guidance and support;
participates in discussions and proposals that concern the teaching of languages generally, but also specifically to Modern Greek;
promotes Greek language and culture through publications and interviews in mass media publications and broadcasts;
and, has close ties and professional relationships with tertiary institutions in Greece, which allows the development of further materials, as well as promotes in-country study programs for Modern Greek Language Teachers.
The MGTAV is a not for profit association, and committee members volunteer their time and expertise to support the teaching and learning of Modern Greek.
At the AGM on 27 February 2022, the members below were elected onto the committee.
As of June 2021, the Committee has introduced a paid 'Administration Officer' role.
Office Bearers
President: Despina Sarandis
B.Ed (Major: Modern Greek | Minor: English as a Second Language)
Despina Sarandis has completed her secondary degree and majored in the Modern Greek language, in 2023 she will be teaching Greek and English as a Second Language at St Monica’s College. Despina has had experience teaching Greek at Community Language Schools as well as day schools over the last three years. She has coordinated the Modern Greek faculty at Victorian Schools of Languages for the past three years. Despina is currently completing her second degree, which is a Masters of Education in Leadership and Management. She has been a member of the MGTAV for a number of years and has immersed herself in the community to allow for continuous learning of the language as well as the teaching of it.
vice president: Anita KolaiTis
B.A., DipLang, MTeach, BA (Modern Greek) (Hons) Anita Ladas is a qualified teacher of Modern Greek, currently teaching Greek at Alphington Grammar School and has had experience teaching Greek at Community Language Schools as well as day schools over the last nine years. Anita has completed research looking into the teaching of Modern Greek in Melbourne during her Greek Honours' year. Anita has been a member of the MGTAV for a number of years, and became an active member of the committee in 2017. Anita was President of the MGTAV since 2018 and now in 2023 became Vice President.
secretary: denise diakodimitriou
B.A., DipEd
Denise is an experienced teacher of Greek, currently employed at Alphington Grammar School and is passionate about promoting and maintaining the Greek language. Denise has taught at Alphington Grammar School for over 20 years and has also been the Head of Languages for the last seven years. Denise has taught in several community schools and taken part in in-country professional development opportunities. She has been an active member of the MGTAV for many years, often presenting at the VCE Lectures and assisting at events or helping create student competitions such as the Dimosthenia. In addition to this, she serves Secretary since 2021 for the MGTAV.
treasurer: NATASHA SPanos
B.A., DipEd, BA (Modern Greek) (Hons) Natasha Spanos is a qualified teacher of Modern Greek with more than 20 years of experience. She has taught in South Australia and in Victoria in many Community Language Schools as well as day schools. Currently she is teaching Greek at Oakleigh Grammar and she is the Student Representative Council and the Hellenic Culture Coordinator as well as the VCE Academic Leader for LOTE. She has been an active member of many different Greek organisations for a number of years including the Australian Hellenic Memorial Foundation Inc, the Battle of Crete & Greece Commemorative Council and the Organisational Committee for the Greek National Day. Natasha has been Treasurer of the MGTAV since 2021.
Administration Officer
Vacant
Committee Members
Chrisoula stamopoulos
B.A., DipEd
Chrisoula is qualified teacher of Modern Greek and History who has had experience teaching at Greek Community Language schools as well as day schools that teach Modern Greek and Humanities. Chrisoula was Secretary for the MGTAV for an extended period of time and has been an active committee member for many years.
Connie diakodimitriou
Connie is a qualified teacher of Modern Greek and has been teaching Greek in Lalor North Primary School's Greek Bilingual Program for the past twelve years. Prior to this she spent time teaching in the Greek Community Language Schools. Connie is a passionate and creative teacher with many years of experience in the primary school setting.
eva o'hehir
B.A., DipEd Eva is a qualified secondary teacher who has been working in a public school for the last 37 years teaching Greek and Humanities. Her interest and passion is to continue to maintain and promote the teaching of the Greek language and culture to all students wanting to learn another language at high school level in the public sector.
irene kodoudakis
Irene Kodoudakis is the Head of Greek at the Victorian School of Languages Distance Education and a course writer with 9 years of experience. Currently, she teaches 7-12 Greek and Year 8 Spanish. Irene specialises in VCE curriculum planning. From 2019 she has been working with VCAA as a Language assessor for Greek and at the same time she has been the Assessor for the Early Childhood Language Proficiency project of the Department of Education for Greek. Irene contributed to the ELLA Program (2019-2021) as a Subject Matter Expert in reviewing and screening the written scripts. In 2018 Irene collaborated with ACER (Australian Council of Educational Research) as a Language expert in order to review specific test items against the Victorian Curriculum Achievement Standards for a new language assessment project and provided expert advice to evaluate one component of this project. In 2017 she presented as a language specialist the film “Boy on the Bridge” and connected it with the Victorian Curriculum on a webinar organised by the Modern Languages Teachers’ Association of Victoria in collaboration with Melbourne’s Students International Film Festival.
Niki farfara-pashou
B.A., DipEd, Masters of Letters (Greek)
Niki is an experienced Greek teacher who has taught Greek, other languages and Humanities in public and private schools for many years. She has been teaching Greek at different community schools and is principal of the Greek Orthodox Community of Dandenong Greek School. Niki has been an active member of the MGTAV and many years ago she was a committee member organising competitions and has often presented at the VCE Lectures. Niki has written a vast variety of Greek resources.
ourania papageorgiou
B.A., FD.,
Ourania is an experienced Greek teacher who has taught at community schools. She has been an active member of the MGTAV. She has written, edited and illustrated children’s books.
The MGTAV sincerely thanks the outgoing Office Bearer, Sofia Chaniotaki for her invaluable contributions and dedication to the Association.
Honorary Members
Honorary Membership has been awarded to the following educators for their dedicated and significant contribution to the work of the MGTAV over an extended period of time.
