The START project explored ways to facilitate participation in ECEC of Romani children, especially by easing transitions between home and ECEC or school environments and by working with families. The case study is a source of inspiration as it details and evaluates a range of activities over a 2-year period.
This Case Study Report, prepared in partnership with World Health Organization (WHO) and the LEGO Foundation, describes the implementation experiences and emerging lessons of COVID-19 response strategies of seven programmes that prioritize nurturing care and early childhood development (ECD) in their work.
The Equal Opportunities Initiative Association (EOIA) has been working with Roma communities in Sofia since 2008, helping to increase enrolment rates of young Roma children in pre-school. Today they collaborate closely with local authorities and national government, ensuring that Roma parents are consulted on issues of access and quality of early childhood services.
This report outlines good practice in the education of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) school children in the UK. It interviews schools, provides case studies, and includes an overview of the findings from Traveller Movement’s three year education and advocacy project. Without a shadow of a doubt much more needs to be done to improve the attainment and educational outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils in the UK.
Researchers highlight seven case studies where children and their families were assisted by the advocacy team. The presenting issues include: racist bullying; unmet Special Educational Needs; school exclusion; admissions and transport; discrimination; attendance and; elective home education. Each case evidences a high level of need by families, the complex and bureaucratic nature of school systems, and the level of advocacy required to address each issue. What was also apparent from analysing the casework was the level of prejudice and discrimination exhibited by schools, many of whom were unaware that GRT are distinct ethnic groups. The Traveller Movement also interviewed schools with high GRT populations and good attainment to ask what they were doing to ensure GRT children reached their full potential.
In this report, researchers present and discuss the findings of seven in-depth case studies of curriculum, pedagogy, and/or social climate interventions currently ongoing in seven European countries, from distinct geographic regions, diverse in their income levels, research traditions, education and welfare systems, and immigrant integration policies: England, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal.
Specifically, they conducted an inventory of promising interventions, within the classroom and school microsystems, aiming to promote educational equality and belongingness in immigrant, Roma, and low-income children attending early childhood and primary education provision in the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal.
The family literacy project (STEP 2015) investigated how family literacy initiatives might benefit mobile communities in Scotland through the design and implementation of three pilot programmes.
The pilot programmes ran in three different locations across Scotland with three groups of families: (1) Slovakian mothers in a Primary school in Glasgow, (2) Gypsy/Traveller families on a Traveller Person site in an educational outreach portacabin, Fife, and (3) with Gypsy/Travellers in a nursery/Primary school in the Highlands. The aim of the project was to identify approaches for programme delivery that would be relevant and meaningful to each specific community. For this reason, the structure and content of each pilot programme was designed in collaboration with participating families. Early consultation was achieved through a range of methods, such as informal social gatherings and activity sessions. The groups made suggestions that they felt would benefit their own situations and these were used to guide and structure the design of the activities.
The paper examines the risks and challenges related to the cooperation of pedagogical assistants (PAs) with Roma parents/families and their work with Roma pupils, and offers further insight into ways to overcome these risks and challenges.