How Roma families’ education can impact Roma children’s academic success? The results of EduRom project.

Author(s):

Noemi Martin-Casabona(presenting / submitting)Fernando Macías(presenting)Joan Cabré Olivé Aitor Gomez Marc Sampé Compte

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

07 SES 05 B, Professional Perspectives on Roma Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-03

11:00-12:30

Room:

B005 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Dana Moree

Contribution

This paper offers the results on how the family education of Roma families contributes to improve the academic results of their children. It is based on the EduRom project: Promoting the access of Roma to LLP, VET and employment through family education in Primary schools, a project of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission. The main aim of the project is to widen the access of Roma community to LLP, VET and employment through the acquisition of key competences and, at the same time, impact in the Roma children academic success. EduRom started in July 2013 and has the participation of 6 countries: Spain (University of Rovira i Virgili is the coordinator), Bulgaria, Rumania, Ireland, Czech Republic and Greece.

Specifically, this paper is centred on the results obtained in a centre of early childhood education and primary education in Spain that has a 68% of students from the Roma ethnic group. The educational centre is located in a neighbourhood in which the families have a situation of financial, job and educational insecurity, being the majority of the family members of the centre individuals who have not finished their studies of elementary school. According to the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020, in some Member States, only a limited number of Roma children complete primary school. As a result of this situation there are a high number of Roma adult people without basic qualifications.

The Project EduRom is based mainly on the European strategy and contributions from previous research studies, such as Brudila Callí, Roma-in, Workaló and, above all, INCLUD-ED Project Strategies for inclusion and social cohesion in Europe from education (2006-2011), a project of the priority 7 of the Sixth Framework Programme of research of the European Commission. INCLUD-ED has identified successful educational actions which, based on scientific evidences, contribute to overcome social exclusion and to achieve educative success of Roma from the most disadvantaged areas.

International research highlights that the participation of families in the educational centers contributes to the educational success of the children (Epstein, 1991; Barron, Hohlfeld, & Ritzhaup, 2010) at the same time that achieve to reduce the students’ absenteeism and increases the graduation rates. It also improves the behaviour and attitudes of students (Henderson & Berla, 1994; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997; Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). Therefore, family education facilitates the overcoming of inequality situations of children from families with low educational and from low socioeconomic status. Because of family education , it proves that children in situation of vulnerability can achieve academic success (Flecha, 2012).

INCLUD-ED has identified five types of family participation: informative, consultative, decisive, evaluative and educational, but only recognizes the last three as transformative and creators of an educational impact on the children. EduRom is centred in the type of educational participation, in which the members of the community participate in the learning processes as well as in the training processes for them, in agreement with their needs and requests (INCLUD-ED Consortium, 2009).

INCLUD-ED (2006-2011) states that the types of participation that promote transformation should be developed from a dialogic orientation (Flecha & Soler, 2013). In our case, a type of orientation that will allow the families to be the ones deciding on what do they want to be trained and educated on, how and when legitimizes their decisions in their participation, and therefore they have a greater involvement. In addition, a greater involvement of the families contributes to improve the results of the children. To have the participation of the families’ voice, and among other actions, they have organized family assemblies.

Method

The methodology used in the EduRom project is the communicative methodology, recognized as the best methodology when carrying out cultural groups’ projects (Workaló, 2001-2004). It is a methodology that includes the voices of the excluded individuals of society and that can be a critical tool in conducting socially relevant and evidence-based research (Puigvert, Christou & Holford, 2012). This methodology advocates epistemology intersubjective dialogue and an egalitarian relationship between the research team and those being researched. Involving the target group in a social reality that they want to transform and constructing the reality through the interaction of people (Gómez, Puigvert & Flecha, 2011). So, according to Puigvert, Christou & Holford (2012), the communicative methodology is an alternative that may produce research data that adjusts itself to the overcoming of social exclusion. Regarding the techniques of data gathering, the scientific evidences are gathered from the discussion groups. One group with Roma families and the other one with teachers and other staff and people of the community linked to the school. In the data analysis the exclusory factors (barriers) and the inclusive factors (possibilities) of existing spaces for participation in school have been identified. The courses of family education and the family assemblies have a communicative orientation. The voice of the families and the egalitarian dialog allows a more rigorous analysis of the reality, ensuring the quality by considering the voices of the beneficiaries. With the aim to ensure the quality of the Project and to be able to transfer its results and have a social and political impact that will guarantee that Roma people can be directly involved in decision making is important to use the advisory committee as a mechanism (Munté, Serradell & Sordé, 2011). The project has two groups that have the objective to ensure the quality of the products and the results of the project. First, a Quality Evaluation Group, constituted by members of the Centre of Research in Theories and Practices that Overcome Inequalities (CREA) from the University of Barcelona, who have been distinguished with research experience on Roma topic, to assess the project and to see if it is consistent with the previous researches and the recommendations from the international scientific community. Second, a Policy and Family Advisor Group, constituted by members of the European Parents Association, an umbrella organization that gathers parents associations in Europe, to assess the consortium in all the phases of the project.

Expected Outcomes

The results presented are the outcomes of the discussion groups, family education courses and family assemblies in a Spanish school. A first result is to take into account the ways of dialogic communication with the families with the aim that they decide what type of training/education do they need, when and how they want to do it. This dialogic orientation produces a higher recognition by the interested families and, therefore, the participation in the school increases. Secondly, another result is the fact that family education and a larger participation of families in the centres promote, among others, better academic results of the children, a reduction of absenteeism and a better coexistence. We highlight the family education conducted in the studied educational centre which has aimed at reducing almost totally (less than 5%) school absenteeism which before conducting family education is was higher than 59%; increase the registration in the school in more than 66%, and reach a participation of 30% of the families in their first year of implementation of this actions and a substantial improvement of the academic results (internal data facilitated by the principal of the school). Finally, it has to be highlighted that the results offered by the educational centres conducting successful educational actions, such as the one of family education, create a scientific impact, but also social and political impact, that promote the involvement and investment of resources by the administration with the aim of maintaining the research and promoting these actions in educational centres. Research such as this one, developed with a communicative approach, achieves to overcome situations of educational and social inequalities. These positively impact in the vulnerable groups, such as the Roma community, and offer the impact that the educational research needs to transform the social and educational reality.

References

Barron, A.E., Hohlfeld, T.N., & Ritzhaupt, A.D. (2010). Connecting schools, community, and family with ICT: Four-year trends related to school level and SES of public schools in Florida. Computers & Education, 55, 391–405. Brudila Callí. Las mujeres gitanas contra la exclusión. (2000-2003). National Institute for Women from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Epstein, J. L. (1991). Effects on student achievement of teachers practices of parent involvement. Advances in Reading/Language Research, 5, 261–276. Flecha, A. (2012). Family Education Improve Student's Academic Performance: Contributions from European Research. Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Research, 3(2), 301 -321. doi: 10.4471/remie.2012.16 Flecha, R., & Soler, M. (2013). Turning difficulties into possibilities: engaging Roma families and students in school through dialogic learning. Cambridge Journal of Education, 43(4), 451-465. doi: 10.1080/0305764X.2013.819068 Gómez, A., Puigvert, L., & Flecha, R. (2011). Critical Communicative Methodology: Informing Real Social Transformation Through Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(3), 235-245. doi:10.1177/1077800410397802. Henderson, A.T., & Berla, N. (Eds.). (1994). A new generation of evidence. The family is critical to student achievement. Columbia: National Committee for Citizens in Education. Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., Walker, J.M.T., Sandler, H.M., Whetsel, D., Green, C.L., Wilkins, A.S. et al. (2005). Why do parents become involved? Research findings and implications. The Elementary School Journal, 106(2), 105–130. Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (1997). Why do parents become involved in their children’s education? Review of Educational Research, 67(1), 3–42. INCLUD-ED Consortium. (2009). Actions for success in schools in Europe. Brussels: European Commission. INCLUD-ED Project. (2006-2011). Strategies for inclusion and social cohesion in Europe from education. Integrated Project. 7 Framework Programme. European Commission. Munté, A., Serradell, O., & Sordé, T. (2011). From Research to Policy: Roma Participation Through Communicative Organization. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(3), 256-266. doi: 10.1177/1077800410397804 Puigvert, L., Christou, M., & Holford, J. (2012). Critical Communicative Methodology: including vulnerable voices in research through dialogue. Cambridge Journal of Education, 42(4), 513-526. doi: 10.1080/0305764X.2012.733341 Romain: Policies on Roma’s Social Inclusion in Europe. Towards Suceeding in Social Intervention. (2005-2007). Community Action Programme to Combat Social Exclusion. Workaló. The Creation of New Occupational Patterns for Cultural Minorities: The Gypsy Case. (2001-2004). Fifty Framework Programme European Commission.

Author Information

Noemi Martin-Casabona (presenting / submitting)

University of Rovira i Virgili

Department of Pedagogy

Tarragona

Fernando Macías (presenting)

University of Barcelona

Barcelona

Joan Cabré Olivé

University of Rovira i Virgili, Spain

Aitor Gomez

URV

Pedagogy

barcelona

Marc Sampé Compte

Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Pedagogia

Vilalba dels Arcs

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