Moving Beyond the Standard Curriculum: Culturally Responsive Pedagogies in Support of Roma Students in Bulgaria

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogy: Cases From Around the World (Table 10)

Abstract

This presentation offers insights into culturally responsive pedagogy in diverse international settings by focusing on educators of Roma students. Using the lens of culturally responsive teaching, we explored Bulgarian teachers’ cultural awareness and strategies for supporting Roma students. Interviews with 14 teachers from two segregated Roma-only urban high schools in Bulgaria revealed that teachers developed cultural awareness through informal means, like building trusting relationships with students and families and sharing best practices with other educators. Teachers acknowledged the adverse effects of poverty and discrimination on Roma children’s academic success but did not address the need to end school segregation. Addressing structural inequities like poverty and segregation is essential at the governmental level.

Authors

• Veselina Lambrev, University of South Florida

• Emily McConnaughy, University of South Florida - St. Petersburg