Session Information
07 SES 13 B, Gypsy, Roma, Traveller Education
Symposium
Contribution
Even though the situation of Roma in Spain has improved in recent years (Flecha & Soler, 2013), many datastill show their educational exclusion. Only 30% of Roma people obtain the certificate of Secondary education, and 0.2%have a university degree. Among non-Roma, these statistics are very different: 60% and 28% respectively. Besides, the Roma adult population shows high levels of illiteracy (more than 65%), much higher than the rest of Spanish adult population (12%) (Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity, 2014: Laparra, 2011). In this paper we want to discuss with the audience the results obtained in the project INCLUD-ED “Strategies for inclusion and social cohesion in Europe from education” (2006-2011), which was a project funded by the FP6 (European Commission). The key contribution of INCLUD-ED was the identification of a set of Successful Educational Actions (SEAs), which are effective and transferable evidence-based actions that are improving school success for all students, including the most vulnerable groups as Roma people, and contributing to social cohesion in every context where they are implemented (Flecha, 2015). Such principles of non-segregation, high expectations and family involvement, are totally aligned with the demands claimed by Roma people (Macías & Redondo, 2012). The case study discussed here, “La Paz” School, was one of the six longitudinal case studies conducted withinINCLUD-ED, across Europe, during five years. This school is located in “La Milagrosa” neighborhood (Spain). We collected a totalof 318 answers to a surveyand 113 interviews, daily life stories, focus groups and observations (qualitative data). At the beginning of the project, “La Paz” School had high levels of absenteeism and school failure, and low rates of enrollment. Besides, the school is located in one of the poorest Roma neighborhoods in Spain, with an unemployment rate of almost 100% and high number of families living at risk of poverty. In 2006, local government met with INCLUD-ED researchers and together with families, decided to close the school and re-open it again applying SEAs. As a result, in just one school year, the statistics on absenteeism decreased from more than 25%; the school enrolment increased from 45 to 114 students, and children educational performance improved in all subjects (Flecha & Soler, 2013; García, Girbés & Gómez, 2015). Nowadays, for the first time in that neighbourhood, students are obtaining the certificate of Secondary education and most of them are continuing post-compulsory studies.
References
Flecha, R. (Ed.). (2015). Successful Educational Actions for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe.Meppel, The Netherlands: Springer. Flecha, R., & Soler, M. (2013). Turning difficulties into possibilities: Engaging Roma families and students in school through dialogic learning. Cambridge Journal of Education, 43(4), 451-465. García, R., Girbés, S., & Gómez, G. (2015). Promoting Children's Academic Performance and Social Inclusion in Marginalized Settings.Family and Community Participation in Interactive Groups and Dialogic Literary Gatherings. In L. D. Hill & F. J. Levine (Eds.), World Education Research Yearbook 2015 (1st ed., pp. 30-58). New York & London: Routledge. Laparra, M. (Ed.) (2011). Diagnóstico social de la comunidad gitana en España.Madrid: Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity. Macías, F., Redondo, G. (2012). Pueblo gitano, género y educación: investigar para excluir o investigar para transformar.[Roma people, gender and education: investigating to exclude or investigating to transform]. International Journal of Sociology of Education, 1(1), 71-92. Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity.(2014). Estrategia Nacional para la Inclusión Social de la Población Gitana en España 2012-2020.[National Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma in Spain from 2012 to 2020]. Madrid: Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity.
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