EduPort 2021, 5(1):18-28 | DOI: 10.21062/edp.2021.005

CHANGE MUST COME FROM BELOW BUT ALSO FROM THE TOP': STRATEGIES FOR ROMA SCHOOL DESEGREGATION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Zbyněk Němec
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Roma children represent a discriminated minority in education in many European countries. Educational research shows that Roma students attending segregated schools have low educational achievement, but the strategies for reversing segregation – which have already been successfully used by some schools in practice – have not yet been sufficiently described.
The article draws on qualitative research into Roma students’ segregation in Czech elementary schools, aiming to identify good practice leading to desegregation.
The interviews were conducted with six educational experts and with teaching staff from eight elementary schools, whether segregated or successfully dealing with the risk of segregation. The data was processed via thematic analysis.
The results indicate two main areas of intervention: 1) supporting the transition of Roma students to non-segregated mainstream schools via changing catchment areas, “bussing” and even closure of segregated schools; 2) making segregated schools more attractive to non-Roma parents and children via introducing alternatives into educational programs, increasing cooperation with out-of-school partners and improving the schools’ reputation.
In conclusion, desegregation is achievable with the cooperation of all relevant actors. The remaining challenge for the future is to change the discourse – from a narrow view of Roma desegregation to the wider idea of inclusive education for all.

Keywords: school segregation, discrimination, desegregation

Published: December 1, 2021  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Němec Z. CHANGE MUST COME FROM BELOW BUT ALSO FROM THE TOP': STRATEGIES FOR ROMA SCHOOL DESEGREGATION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC. EduPort. 2021;5(1):18-28. doi: 10.21062/edp.2021.005.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Amnesty International. (2015). "Chce to více snahy: Etnická diskriminace romských dětí v českých školách" [It takes more effort: Ethnic discrimination of Roma children in Czech schools]. London: Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.cz/data/file/1993-chce-to-vice-snahy_vyzkumna-zprava.pdf?version=1457287650
    2. Arabadjieva K. (2016). "Challenging the school segregation of Roma children in Central and Eastern Europe". International Journal of Human Rights 20: 33-54. doi: 1013642987.2015.1032266.1080/ Go to original source...
    3. Araújo, M. (2016) A very 'prudent integration': white flight, school segregation and the depoliticization of (anti-)racism, Race Ethnicity and Education, 19: 300-323, doi:10.1080/13613324.2014.969225 Go to original source...
    4. Cashman, L. (2017) New label no progress: institutional racism and the persistent segregation of Romani students in the Czech Republic. Race Ethnicity and Education, 20: 595-608, doi:10.1080/13613324.2016.1191698 Go to original source...
    5. Cichá, M., J. Maláčová, B. Moravcová, A. Preissová Krejčí, M. Prokeš and M. Roubínková. (2016). "Romové očima pedagogů základních a středních škol" [Roma from the perspective of primary and secondary school teachers]. Antropowebzin 21-30. http://www.antropoweb.cz/webzin/index.php/webzin/article/view/224
    6. Committee of Ministers, Council of Europe (2019). Communication from the authorities ("Comprehensive Evaluation of the Reform of Inclusive Education in Relation to Roma Pupils") (05/04/2019) in the case of D.H. AND OTHERS v. Czech Republic (Application No. 57325/00). Retrieved from:: https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal
    7. Council of Europe. (2017). Fighting school segregation in Europe through inclusive education: a position paper. Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights. https://rm.coe.int/fighting-school-segregationin-europe-throughinclusive-education-a-posi/168073fb65
    8. Čada, K., and D. Hůle, D. (2019). Analýza segregace v základních školách z pohledu sociálního vyloučení [Analysis of segregation in elementary schools from the perspective of social exclusion]. Prague: Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, Department for Social Inclusion (Agency). https://www.socialni-zaclenovani.cz/wp-content/uploads/Analyza_segregace_2019_1.1.pdf
    9. European Roma Rights Centre. (2004). Stigmata: Segregated Schooling of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest: European Roma Rights Centre. http://www.errc.org/reports-and-submissions/stigmata-segregated-schooling-of-roma-in-central-and-eastern-europe
    10. European Union Fundamental Rights Agency. (2017). Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS II) Roma - Selected findings. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. doi:10.2811/469 Go to original source...
    11. Fandrem, H., Jahnsen, H., Nergaard S.E. & K. Tveitereid (2021) Inclusion of immigrant students in schools: the role of introductory classes and other segregated efforts. International Journal of Inclusive Education. doi:10.1080/13603116.2021.1950222 Go to original source...
    12. Harry, B. (2007). "The disproportionate placement of ethnic minorities in special education." In The SAGE Handbook of Special Education edited by Lani Florian, 67 - 84. London: SAGE. doi:10.4135/9781848607989.n7 Go to original source...
    13. Hendl, J. (2008). Kvalitativní výzkum: základní teorie, metody a aplikace [Qualitative research: basic theories, methods and applications]. 2nd., updated edition. Prague: Portál.
    14. Jarkovská, L., Lišková, K. & J. Obrovská (2015) ‛We treat them all the same, but…'. Disappearing ethnic homogeneity in Czech classrooms and teachers' responses, Race Ethnicity and Education, 18: 632-654, doi:10.1080/13613324.2015.1013457 Go to original source...
    15. Kostka, J. (2015). "Implementation of Roma Inclusion Policies: Why Defining the Problem Matters." Social Inclusion 3: 78-89. doi:10.17645/si.v3i5.231. Go to original source...
    16. Lauritzen, S. and T. Nodeland (2018). ""What is the problem represented to be?" Two decades of research on Roma and education in Europe." Educational Research Review 24: 148-169. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2018.04.002. Go to original source...
    17. Logan, J. R., E. Minca and S. Adar (2012). "The Geography of Inequality: Why Separate Means Unequal in American Public Schools." Sociology of Education 85: 287-301. doi:10.1177/0038040711431588. Go to original source...
    18. Messing, V. (2017). "Differentiation in the Making: Consequences of School Segregation of Roma in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia." European Education 49: 89 - 103. doi:10.1080/10564934.2017.1280336 Go to original source...
    19. MEYS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Czech Republic. (2017). Zpráva ke zjišťování kvalifikovaných odhadů počtu romských žáků v základních školách ve školním roce 2016/2017 [Report on the investigation of qualified estimates of the number of Roma pupils in elementary schools in the school year 2016/2017]. Prague: MEYS Czech Republic. http://www.msmt.cz/file/39658/
    20. Moree, D. (2019). Cesty romských žáků ke vzdělávání. Dopady inkluzivní reformy [Pathways of Roma pupils to education. Impacts of inclusive reform]. Prague: Nadace Open Society Fund Praha.
    21. Mušinka, A. (2012). Podarilo sa - Príklady úspešných aktivít na úrovni samospráv smerujúcich k zlepšeniu situácie Rómov [We have succeeded in - Examples of successful activities at the level of self-governments aimed at improving the situation of the Roma]. Prešov: Prešovská univerzita v Prešove, 2012. http://archiv.vlada.gov.sk/romovia/data/files/8857.pdf
    22. Němec, Z. (2020). 'Zvedněte ruce, kdo půjde do míst, kde necítí uznání': O segregaci romských žáků ve vzdělávání ['Raise your hands who will go to places where they do not feel recognized': On the segregation of Roma students in education]. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta.
    23. Nusbaum, E.A. (2013) Vulnerable to exclusion: the place for segregated education within conceptions of inclusion, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17: 1295-1311, doi:10.1080/13603116.2013.826292 Go to original source...
    24. Public Defender of Rights (2018). Doporučení veřejné ochránkyně práv ke společnému vzdělávání romských a neromských dětí [Recommendation of the Public Defender of Rights for the Inclusive Education of Roma and Non-Roma Children]. Brno: Office of the Public Defender of Rights. File number: 86/2017/DIS/VB. https://www.ochrance.cz/aktualne/tiskove-zpravy-2018/cesta-ke-spolecnemu-vzdelavani-romskych-a-neromskych-deti/
    25. Rostas, I. (2012). Ten Years After: A History of Roma School Desegregation in Central and Eastern Europe. New York: Central European University Press. Go to original source...
    26. Rostas, I. and J. Kostka (2014). Structural Dimensions of Roma School Desegregation Policies in Central and Eastern Europe. European Educational Research Journal, 13: 268-281. doi:10.2304/eerj.2014.13.3.268 Go to original source...
    27. Ryder, A. R., I. Rostas and M. Taba (2014). "Nothing about Us without Us": The Role of Inclusive Community Development in School Desegregation for Roma Communities. Race, Ethnicity and Education 17: 518-539. doi:10.1080/13613324.2014.885426 Go to original source...
    28. Strauss, A.L., Corbin, J. (1999) Základy kvalitativního výzkumu: postupy a techniky metody zakotvené teorie [Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory]. Brno: Sdružení Podané ruce.
    29. Svoboda, Z., Zilcher, L. (2019) SOCIAL DISADVANTAGE AND THE POSSIBILITIES OF OVERCOMING IT PERCEIVED BY BASIC SCHOOL PUPILS IN THE CZECH AND THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC, ICERI2019 Proceedings, pp. 6220-6225. Go to original source...
    30. Thijs, J. and M. Verkuyten (2014). School ethnic diversity and students' interethnic relations. British Journal of Educational Psychology 84: 1-21. doi:10.1111/bjep.12032. Go to original source...
    31. Walker, G. (2008) 'Overrepresented Minorities in Special Education in the United States and Romania: Comparison between African-American and Roma Populations in Disability Studies'. Research in Comparative and International Education, 3: 394-403. doi:10.2304/rcie.2008.3.4.394 Go to original source...
    32. Zachos, D.T. (2017) Teachers' perceptions, attitudes and feelings towards pupils of Roma origin, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21: 1011-1027, doi:10.1080/13603116.2017.1326176 Go to original source...
    33. Želinský, T., Gorard, S. & N. Siddiqui (2021) Increasing understanding of the aspirations and expectations of Roma students, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 42: 588-606, doi:10.1080/01425692.2021.1872366 Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content