EDUFAM Project: Increasing the Educational Expectations of Roma and Non-European Immigrant Students Through Family Education in Spanish Urban Schools

Author(s):

Sandra Girbés-Peco(presenting / submitting)Regina Gairal Casadó Oriol Rios

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

05. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

05 SES 06,

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-23

15:30-17:00

Room:

W2.11

Chair:

Martha Mottelson

Contribution

In this paper we report some of the main results obtained from the EDUFAM project: Improving the educational system through family education of vulnerable groups, research funded by the Spanish National RTD Plan (2014-2016). The main objective of this paper is to identify the impact of family education programmes –targeted at vulnerable communities and implemented in 8 Spanish urban primary schools– in relation to the educational expectations of Roma and non-European immigrant students.

On one hand, this study arises from the need to respond to the situation of vulnerability of many students in Europe, especially to the adverse situation that is still experienced by Roma and non-European immigrant students (Nicaise, 2012, Winding, Nohr, Labriola, Biering & Andersen, 2013). Several studies suggest that education is one of the social areas in which the Roma students suffer more segregation and rejection. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2014) reports their unequal access to education and segregation in ‘special schools’ (schools with simplified curriculum). For instance, 23% of Roma children up to the age of 15 surveyed in the Czech Republic attend special schools and classes that are mainly for Roma (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2014). The corresponding proportions are 20% in Slovakia and 18% in France. Furthermore, in most of the European countries, students with non-European migrant background suffer from educational inequalities and are at a higher risk of leaving education prematurely (Griga & Hadjar, 2014). The share of non-EU-born early-leavers in 2014 in Europe was more than twice the rate of the native-born early-leavers (21% against 10%) (Eurostat, 2015). Among the practices and attitudes that perpetuate this situation is identified the reduction of the educational level offered to these students, segregation within schools, unequal information provided to vulnerable families, and school ethnocentrism approaches (Nicaise, 2012; Macías & Redondo, 2012; Rose, 1983). In addition, some studies explore the devastating effects of low expectations on the educational and social trajectories of the students (Flecha, 2012). These effects are linked to higher rates of early school leaving and exclusion from higher educational tracks, among others.

On the other hand, several studies have highlighted the benefits derived from family involvement in relation to the educational success of disadvantaged students (Epstein & Salinas, 2004; Warren, 2005). Among the different strategies for involving vulnerable communities in school and education, it has been identified that family education is one of the modalities that is contributing to reverse some of the inequalities suffered by the students at risk (Lewis & Ginsburg-Block, 2014; St. Clair & Jackson, 2006). In the European context, the Project of the 6th Framework Program of Research of the European Commission INCLUD-ED has identified successful examples of family education in primary schools. These family education programs are contributing to overcoming the barriers to participation in the school and are promoting the educational success of the vulnerable students (De Botton, Girbés, Ruiz & Tellado, 2014; Díez, Gatt & Racionero, 2011). Based on this prior knowledge, this paper analyses the impact of successful examples of family education on expanding the educational expectations of Roma and immigrants’ students and of their families in Spanish urban schools.

Method

The research has been carried out following the Communicative Methodology (MC) (Gómez, Puigvert & Flecha, 2011). This perspective has shown its ability to provide a deep and rigorous understanding of the complex elements that lead to educational and social exclusion. Moreover, based on the need to go beyond the diagnosis of the situation, the main objective of the MC is to identify those actions capable of reducing inequalities. The MC includes the voices of the participants in the research in an egalitarian way (Munté, Serradell & Sordé, 2011). Furthermore, it is committed to transfer the results of the research to the political and social sphere. It should be noted that the MC has been recommended by the European Commission as a suitable methodology to work scientifically with socially vulnerable groups (Munté, Serradell & Sordé, 2011). The study presented in this paper is part of the results obtained in the research project EDUFAM: Improving the educational system through family education of vulnerable groups, funded by the Spanish National RTD Plan and carried out from 2014 to 2017. The sample selected for the study has incorporated family members, teachers, students, school volunteers, and policy-makers linked to eight Spanish urban schools with the presence of cultural minorities ¬–mainly Roma and non-European immigrant students– and/or with families with a low socioeconomic status. In addition, schools have been selected taking into account that they implement family education programs aimed at vulnerable communities and which have shown to have a positive impact. The fieldwork has been carried out using a mixed methodology. Specifically, we conducted three qualitative techniques –communicative daily life stories, semi-structured interviews, and communicative focus group– and one quantitative technique –questionnaires–. Qualitative data analysis has been carried out following the premises of the MC. For this purpose, an analysis matrix has been designed in which eight categories and two dimensions have been established. The dimensions established are: 1) exclusionary dimension ¬–includes data related to those elements of the family education programs that have not shown to have a positive impact on the educational outcomes of students– and 2) transformative dimension –includes the information related to family education programs that have shown to have a positive influence in the educational trajectory of the students–. Statistical analysis of quantitative data has been performed using the SPSS® software.

Expected Outcomes

The family education programs offered in the selected primary urban schools have covered a wide range of topics, including literacy, language courses, literary dialogic gatherings, job training or parenting courses, among others. One of the outstanding characteristics of the family education courses has been the involvement of the participants in the decision-making in relation to the content, schedules and structure of the programs. In addition, many of these programs have raised two objectives: increasing the cultural and formative level of the family members while providing them tools and strategies to contribute to the educational success of their children. The results obtained in relation to the impact provided by these family education programs have been related to 1) the increase of the family members’ educational expectations regarding the students and, 2) the increase of the expectations of the own students in relation to their educational trajectories. Firstly, the data analysed suggest that the inclusion of family members in educational programs has allowed them to increase their cultural level, access new educational opportunities and acquire tools that have allowed them to be involved in a greater extent in the education of their children. Several family members interviewed have linked these benefits with an increase in the value they attribute to the education of their children and with the increase of the expectations for them to continue their studies beyond compulsory education. Secondly, the data obtained through the interviews and questionnaires answered by the students indicate that the inclusion of their family members in training programs is related to an increase in motivation towards education and in their educational expectations.

References

De Botton, L., Girbés, S., Ruiz, L., & Tellado, I. (2014). Moroccan mothers’ involvement in dialogic literary gatherings in a catalan urban primary school: Increasing educative interactions and improving learning. Improving Schools, 17(3), 241-249. Díez, D., Gatt, S., & Racionero, S. (2011). Placing Immigrant and Minority Family and Community Members at the School’s Centre: the role of community participation. European Journal of Education, 46(2), 184–196. Epstein, J. L., & Salinas, K. C. (2004). Partnering with families and communities. Educational leadership, 61(8), 12-19. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2014). Fundamental Rights: Challenges and Achievements. Retrieved from: http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2015/fundamental-rights-challenges-and-achievements-2014 Eurostat (2015b). Statistical Office of the European Communities. Regional statistics. Luxembourg: Eurostat. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat 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. Gómez, A., Puigvert, L., & Flecha, R. (2011). Critical communicative methodology: Informing real social transformation through research. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(3), 235-245. Griga, D., & Hadjar, A. (2014). Migrant background and higher education participation in Europe: the effect of the educational systems. European Sociological Review, 30(3), 275-286. doi: 10.1093/esr/jct031 Macías, F., & Redondo, G. (2012). Pueblo gitano, género y educación: investigar para excluir o investigar para transformar, International Journal of Sociology of Education, 1(1), 71-92 Munté, A., Serradell, O. y Sordé, T. (2011). From research to policy: Roma participation through communicative organization. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(3), 256-266. Nicasei, I. (2012). A Smart Social Inclusion Policy for the EU: the role of education and training. European Journal of Education, 47(2). doi: 10.1111/j.1465-3435.2012.01528.x Lewis, K., & Ginsburg-Block, M. (2014). Early childhood literacy and language programs: Supporting involvement of DLLs and their families. Dialog, 17(2), 17-57. Rose, R. (1983). Sinti and Roma in Germany. Roma, 7(2), 21-24. St. Clair, L., & Jackson, B. (2006). Effect of family involvement training on the language skills of young elementary children from migrant families. The School Community Journal, 16(1), 31- 41. Warren, M. (2005). Communities and schools: A new view of urban education reform. Harvard Educational Review, 75(2), 133-173. Winding, T. N., Nohr, E. A., Labriola, M., Biering, K., & Andersen, J. H. (2013). Personal predictors of educational attainment after compulsory school: influence of measures of vulnerability, health, and school performance. Scandinavian journal of public health, 41(1), 92-101.

Author Information

Sandra Girbés-Peco (presenting / submitting)

University Rovira i Virgili, Spain

Regina Gairal Casadó

Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Reus

Oriol Rios

Roviria i Virgili University

Pedagogy

Tarragona

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