Using cultural brokering strategies to improve the early childhood education of Roma children: case studies from the UK and Serbia

• In Event: Critical perspectives on ECE inequality

Proposal

This study explores the use of cultural brokering to promote the inclusion of Roma children in early childhood education through examining case studies of the Traveller Education Support Services (TESS) in the UK and Pedagogic Assistants in Serbia. It uses Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of human development as a tool for understanding the value of integrating cultural brokers at various levels of early education, and specifically in both early education services (preschools and primary schools) as well as at municipal levels. Strategies in these two countries were selected for this study to better understand how cultural brokering operates at various levels of the education system. The UK’s TESSs strengthen the capacity of municipal structures to reach out to Roma communities, while the introduction of Serbia’s pedagogical teaching assistants is an approach that supports linkages with Roma communities at the classroom or institutional level (preschools and schools).

The following research questions were addressed in this study:
a. Why were cultural brokering strategies introduced in each country?
b. What are the key features of these two cultural brokering strategies generally, and, more specifically, of the roles of the cultural brokers in each system?
c. What evidence is available to support the notion that cultural brokering strategies being used in two distinct cultural contexts increase participation in, and quality of, early childhood education for Roma children?
d. How do the people involved (cultural brokers, parents, teachers, children) perceive the impact of cultural brokering?

Qualitative research was conducted in two cities in each country (UK and Serbia; four cities in total) to better understand how these cultural brokering approaches operate in different contexts. Research included Review of Documents, Interviews/Focus Groups and Discussions, Observations and Participation/Attendence at Events/Conferences. Over the course of the study across the two countries this included 24 interviews and 3 focus groups, recording the perspectives of 57 people. Additionally, observations were conducted in 9 preschools and primary schools and several days were spent shadowing TESS workers in the UK and Pedagogic Assistants in Serbia.

As a result of this research, a definition of cultural brokering in early childhood education, was developed, which incorporates four key functions: 1) provision of direct support to children, families, preschools and schools; 2) liaising between communities and early education services; 3) enabling linkages of families with other necessary resources and services; and, 4) serving as advocates and role models to support social inclusion and counter discriminatory practices.

Results suggest that cultural brokers add value to systems through extending the social capital of marginalised communities by linking them with broader social institutions. They create an argument for extending cultural brokering across early childhood education systems to support social inclusion of the most marginalised groups and illustrates the importance of strong engagement of both national and municipal governments in establishing enabling conditions. Finally, this research suggests that significantly improving the social inclusion of the Roma population in Europe will require earlier and more complex interventions that support children’s development well before they enter the formal education system.

Most studies about early education of diverse students are premised on the assumption that services, as they are structured and staffed now, can adapt effectively to meet the real needs of very disadvantaged ethnic minority groups. This research explores the possibility that in order to significantly impact young Roma children’s development, broader changes in early education systems are needed, not only in classrooms and schools, but also in the local authorities that manage access to services.

The concept of cultural broker explored in this research has had little application in early education. A cultural broker is, essentially, an additional staff position hired intentionally to strengthen linkages of young children and their families with early education provision. This research looks at cultural brokers embedded in the early education systems in the UK and Serbia in order to develop a common definition that could be applied more thoroughly in future studies, perhaps, importantly, studies that compare outcomes of young children from families that have had the benefit of support from cultural brokers, with those that have not. Interestingly, this study reinforces the importance of intervening at multiple levels of systems, in this case in both classrooms and local authorities.

Findings from this research could inform improvements to or expansion of the cultural brokering initiatives explored in the UK and Serbia, and these strategies should be shared with other countries/areas that have Roma populations. However, the concept of cultural broker might be further applied in Europe as a mechanism to support other fragile, minority communities facing discrimination, including migrants and refugees. Cultural brokering could offer these communities not only an easier pathway into early education, but it could potentially provide employment opportunities for newcomers, who were educators in their home countries. Cultural brokers may well be required during an essential transitional phase to support communities that initially have very little traction in early education systems. In a world where so many people are on the move, deeper adjustments to the early education system may well be necessary. The findings from this study speak to changes in policies and service provision that would have impact on academics, educators and communities alike.

Author

• Sarah Maria Klaus, Open Society Foundations