Recently educational inclusion has been a focus of attention in international policy making. Such a focus has been highlighted by the United Nations which argues for an 'education for all' agenda. The aim was to place education as the prime focus of the international agenda. Gypsy Travellers have been recognised by the European Parliament as being one of the most socially excluded groups in schools and having the highest rate of illiteracy. This paper will explore the complex net of relationships in carrying out research with minority ethnic groups in primary and secondary schools in the UK. It will focus on Gypsy Traveller communities involved in research, academics and professionals working in this field and the researcher who is on the outside of all of these groups. This paper will argue that the 'outsider' status of the researcher is a useful and privileged position from which to engage in the research process but that such status is easily compromised in a flux of relationships. The paper will also explore how as a group Gypsy Travellers fall outside of dominant culture and are misrepresented and persecuted by that culture and look at the implications and consequences this has on researching them. It will also examine how Gypsy Travellers fall within an analysis of the 'stranger' and 'other' in society (Bauman, 1991) and whether the creation of a group that are 'strangers' has an impact on the relationship between the researched group and the academy. The data for the paper is based on 60 in-depth interviews carried out with Gypsy Traveller children, parents and professional educators (teachers, heads, classroom assistants, deputies and school administrative staff) in two primary and two secondary schools in one London borough, UK.The main findings of the study indicate that Gypsy Travellers continue to experience prejudice and discrimination in schools and this has a signficant impact upon their educational and achievement levels. The reseach also indicates that the role of the researcher in the school setting and in researching this group is a complex one that has to be negotiated and often the power lies in the hands of the 'gatekeepers' (such as the schools and the Traveller Education Service). The position of Gypsy Travellers can be viewed as one of 'strangers' and 'others' who fall outside of the dominant culture and as a result are persecuted by that cutlure. This in turn is a view that is shared universally both inside and outside of the UK. Gypsy Travellers remain marginalised and continue to experience extreme disadvantage particularly within European educational systems.Acton, T. (2004) The Past, Present and Future of Traveller Education unpublished paper presented at Conference, Working Together: Raising the Educational Achievement of Gypsy and Traveller Children and Young People, (University of Greenwich).Bauman, Z. (1991) Modernity and Ambivalence. Cambridge: Polity Press. Bhopal, K. et al (2000) Working Toward Inclusive Education: Aspects of good Practice For Gypsy Travellers (London: DfEE). Bhopal, K. (2004) Gypsy Travellers and Education: Changing Needs and Changing Perceptions, British Journal of Educational Studies, 52 (1) 47-64. Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2005) Aiming High: Partnerships between schools and Traveller Education Support Services in raising the attainment of Gypsy Traveller pupils (London: DfES). Derrington, C. (2005) Perceptions of behaviour and patterns of exclusion: Gypsy Traveller students in English secondary schools, Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 5 (2) 55-67. Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) (2003) Provision and Support for Traveller Pupils (London: HMSO).