Promoting realistic expectations: Roma inclusion in the Catalan education system

Abstract

This policy brief is based upon the results of our project Vakeripen, which we implemented in collaboration with the Roma associations Fundació Privada Pere Closa and Rromane Siklovne, with the support of the City Council of Barcelona as associate partner. Its main objective was to promote inclusion in education of Roma children in Barcelona through dialogue between schools and Roma families. We found that the Roma families, contrary to common perceptions, did not have low expectations on the education of their children, but that the realisation of these expectations was often hampered by factors as their lack of resources and overall vulnerable situation. Among the schools, in turn, we found that the expectations on the educational outcomes of Roma pupils were overall low, and that teachers often felt frustrated because they perceived that the Roma families were not enough involved or interested in the education of their children. Overall, we found that there is a great need to improve the communication and mutual understanding between schools and families, in order to work together for the same objective: the educational success of Roma children and youth. In the brief, we first present the main results of our project, and then suggest a series of policy actions that we believe could potentially improve Roma inclusion in education.