Roma in an Enlarged European Union

• In Event: Challenging the Universality of Inclusion: Context and Culture in the Transfer of a Western Principle

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine inclusion as a concept and as a practice related to Roma education in Central and Eastern Europe. The concept of inclusion permeates the world of education and educational policies. Nonetheless, a number of researchers suggest that definitions of inclusion represent diverse perspectives and ideologies causing confusion as to what it implies (Ainscow & César, 2006; Allan, 2010; Harry, 2005; Slee, 2013).

This study uses an international perspective regarding the role of governmental policies within an enlarged Europe. In the process of the European Union enlargement the European Council of Copenhagen in 1993 established accession criteria, which included respect for and protection of minorities. Ironically, the inclusion of Roma has revealed their increasing exclusion.

This study is based on qualitative analyses of studies and reports on education of Roma children in Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union policy entitled Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015 (the Decade).
Data sources come from: (1) Combined databases (Academic Premier Search and ERIC) with key words: Roma or Gypsies or Traveller or Sinti or Ashkali or Manush or Dom or Lom and “education” or “policy”); (2) Studies and reports commissioned by European governing bodies and NGOs; and, (3) Analysis of the Action Plans of 12 countries participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015.

The results indicate that in spite of numerous court cases, segregation of Roma children without disabilities still persists in “special schools” and separate classes (New, 2012). The countries participating in the Decade policy developed Action Plans in which the concept of inclusion became a process to be quantified. For example, some indicators of progress were going to be measured by the number of children enrolled in the schools with no baseline provided or by the number of interviews with parents (as opposed to an analysis of the content of what parents had to share).

Several researchers propose alternatives to the framework of separately discussing various groups of students who are often educationally marginalized and socially excluded and argue against curriculum based on colonial and nation state ideologies (Booth, 2011; Hooley & Levinson, 2013). Also, some researchers question integrated public schooling as a priori highly desirable space for Roma students. For example, New (2012) suggests that “the agenda of multicultural education seems not to recognize that integrated schooling per se may just bring the victims of stigmatization closer to an unsympathetic majority group of teachers and students” (p. 58).

The scholarly significance of this study on inclusion is in developing an argument against a limited binary political proposition such as: those “excluded” should be “included”. Singling out the Roma as a European priority has provided a platform for nationalistic politicians to advocate against measures to help the Roma (Vermeersch, 2012). Considering alternatives to inclusion at all costs might lead to Roma-centered approaches that move away from inclusion short-term, but lay the foundation for Roma educational and social participation in society long-term.

Author

• Svjetlana Curcic, The University of Mississippi - Tupelo