Session Information
99 ERC SES 04 D, Interactive Poster Session
Poster Session
Contribution
European policy has made efforts to extend education and care resources and accessibility to Gypsies, Roma and Travellers. However, there is still seemingly low engagement with education and care services from the GRT population, this may be due to fundamental underlying problems that need systematic research to identify. Despite attempts by European policy to solve the lack of educational engagement and poor educational trajectories, 50% of GRT children in Europe do not complete primary education, and 25% complete secondary education (Council of Europe, 2020). The GRT population make up the most predominant ethnic minority group in Europe. There is a lack of conciseness to census data on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller population figures possibly due to their nomadic lifestyle, a non-representational choice of ethnicity to choose from, or distrust in reporting ethnicity at all in fear of discrimination (Rutigliano, 2020). Despite difficulties in census attainment across Europe, it is estimated more than 10-12 million individuals identify with being a part of the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller population (European Commission, 2020). This community has endured undeniable intergenerational trauma in the form of discrimination, racism, exclusion and unequal access to educational and care resources. Travellers and Roma people across Europe have historically been reported to have lower levels of attainment with higher levels of school absenteeism and school withdrawal. The European Union Agency of Fundamental Rights reports 36 % of GRT individuals have difficulty reading the national language of their country while nearly half (43 %) have difficulty writing it. Barriers that oppress and discourage GRT from engaging within education in the first place, such as lack of representation and bullying due to cultural differences must be addressed in order to understand how policy can be informed more accurately to improve uptake of education and care resources.
An important dimension of this systematic review is the emphasis on early childhood education and care engagement and uptake within the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller population. A family and child's early experience or past experience within an education system can set the tone on how willing the family is to engage with resources and opportunities presented. This systematic review will focus specifically on early childhood engagement within the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community across Europe. The first 3 years of life are an especially sensitive period of time for brain development. After birth a young child's brain rapidly produces synaptic connections based experiences of their external environment. A young child's brain reaches approximately 1,000 trillian synaptic connections by about age 3 which is double of what is present in an adult's brain (Halfon et al., 2001). This stage of early development presents a window of opportunity for expansive brain growth and lifelong foundational development. Care settings such as preschool and community settings along with family home life all possess points of interaction for the child's brain structure to produce and build skills in cognitive, social, attention and self regulation (Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Evidence points to a positive impact in young children, especially minorities, in engaging with quality early childcare services. Early childhood education can increase lifelong educational success rates along with narrowing poverty and equity gaps (Wilder et al., 2008). Yet the GRT participation rate in early childhood education is nearly half that of the majority mainstream population (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2016). Analyses conducted in this review will potentially be able to pinpoint recurring themes across GRT accounts that may be responsible for facilitators or barriers of engagement that can in turn inform policy and practice at the European level within early childhood education and care.
Method
For a well grounded analysis, this systematic review will be informed by the PRISMA statement and guidelines (Moher et al., 2009) along with reliable quality assessment tools. Selection Criteria: Inclusion criteria included: -Early Childhood Education and Care Refers to any regulated arrangement that provides education and care for children from birth to compulsory primary school age, which may vary across the EU (European Commission) -Roma, Gypsy Traveller Roma, Gypsies and Travellers (GRT) have been used to describe a range of ethnic groups or people with nomadic ways of life who are not from a specific ethnicity (government UK) -Continent of Europe Continent of Europe and surrounding islands -Peer Reviewed -Published in English Exclusion Criteria: -Occupational Travellers -Travellers who do not identify with the ethnicity or cultural component of a migrant community -Parental home school The parent may not be the sole provider of early childhood education and care -Compulsory school Any literature pertaining to children in formal schooling including primary, secondary and higher education The following platforms were used to conduct the initial search using the search strings below. Ebsco, Proquest, and Wiley. Additionally, appropriate government and organisational websites were searched for grey literature. Search Strings “early childhood education” OR “early childhood education and care” OR “early child-care” OR “early education” OR “early-education” OR “pre-primary education” OR “pre-primary school” OR “pre-primary education”OR “childcare” OR “early childcare” OR “creche” OR “preschool*” OR “pre-school*” OR “pre school*” OR “child development* centre*” OR “nursery school*” OR “nursery education” OR “day nursery” OR “early child-care” OR “early childcare” OR “day care” OR “day-care” OR “day care centre*” OR “day-care centre*” OR “playgroup*” OR “playschool*” OR “pre-kindergarten” OR “pre-k” OR “prekindergarten*” OR “infant* school*” OR “early childcare* centre*” OR “early childcare setting*” OR “early child-care centre*” OR “early child-care setting*” OR “early childcare service*” OR “early child-care service*” OR “early education service*” OR “early year* education” OR “early-year* education” And “traveller*” OR “european gypsy” OR “gypsy” OR “irish traveller” OR “pavee” OR “english gypsy” OR “scottish gypsy” OR “welsh gypsy” OR “roma* gypsy” OR “hungarian gypsy” OR “vlach rom” OR “kalderash” OR “manouche” OR “sinti” OR “tattare” OR “kale” OR “kaale” OR “cale” OR “lavari” OR “ursari” OR “boyhas” OR “nachins” OR “luri” OR “abdal” Or “romanichel” OR ashkali OR “camminanti” OR “gitano” OR “roma-sinti” OR “yenish” OR “gurbeti” OR “churari” OR “ursari”
Expected Outcomes
The search resulted in 173 records identified for initial review after the removal of duplicates. Two authors (SP/RG) screened titles and abstracts of records independently based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Each source received a Yes/No/Maybe to determine eligibility (van Tulder et al., 2003). This left 58 records that were then screened at the full text level. Two authors (SP/SS) screened full texts which left 36 sources of data eligible to be included. Data extraction and preparation for synthesis is currently underway. Due to the high volume of qualitative data identifying through data extraction, I will be conducting a thematic synthesis of data (Thomas & Harden, 2008). Through NVivo I will be able to identify descriptive and analytical themes from the data that will emphasise the lived experiences of Gypsy, Roma and Travellers in Europe and the barriers and facilitators they face within early childhood education and care.
References
Council of Europe. (2020). Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2020–2025). European Commission. (2020). EU Roma Strategic Framework for Equality, Inclusion and Participation for 2020–2030. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (n.d.). (rep.). Roma and Travellers in six countries - Technical report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Halfon, N., Shulman, E., & Hochstein, M. (2001). Brain Development in Early Childhood. Building Community Systems for Young Children. Page, M. J., Moher, D., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., ... & McKenzie, J. E. (2021). PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews. bmj, 372. Rutigliano, A. (2020). Inclusion of Roma students in Europe: A literature review and examples of policy initiatives. Thomas, J., & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews. BMC medical research methodology, 8(1), 1-10. Women and Equalities Committee. (2019). Tackling the Inequalities Faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities. London: UK Parliament Women and Equalities Committee.. Yoshikawa, H., Weiland, C., Brooks-Gunn, J., Burchinal, M. R., Espinosa, L. M., Gormley, W. T., ... & Zaslow, M. J. (2013). Investing in our future: The evidence baseon preschool education. Society for Research in Child Development.
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