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European Education

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Renegotiating Relations Among Teacher,Community, and Students

Dorian Stoilescu & Greta Carapanait

To cite this article: Dorian Stoilescu & Greta Carapanait (2011) Renegotiating Relations AmongTeacher, Community, and Students, European Education, 43:2, 54-73

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/EUE1056-4934430203

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european education, vol. 43, no. 2 (Summer 2011), pp. 54–73.© 2011 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved.ISSN 1056–4934/2011 $9.50 + 0.00.DOI 10.2753/EUE1056-4934430203

Dorian StoileScu anD Greta carapanait

Renegotiating Relations Among Teacher, Community, and StudentsA Case Study of Teaching Roma Students in a Second Chance Program

prejudice and systematic discrimination have often been mentioned as major causes for the chronic underachievement of roma students. in this paper we present a case study of a romanian teacher involved in Second chance, an educational program implemented in romania in 2004 for the benefit of disadvantaged groups such as the roma population. Since 2006, this teacher annually recruited disadvantaged students, the majority of them roma, and taught them reading, writing, and arithmetic. She showed great understanding for roma traditions and helped her students eliminate some social and cultural barriers. this case study emphasizes that a teacher’s em-pathy, involvement, and support are essential to the success of the program, and suggests some curricular, extracurricular, and administrative solutions for elementary education. although these findings cannot be easily scaled up, this approach will provide guidance in the development of inclusive and multicultural education in postcommunist countries where minorities’ rights are fairly new concepts.

Dorian Stoilescu recently finished his doctoral program in education at the University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. His research interests include social issues in education, teacher education, educational technology, and mathematics education. Address for correspondence: dstoilescu@yahoo.ca. Greta Carapanait is an alumna of the University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She is interested in comparative education, second language education, social issues in educa-tion, teacher education, and intercultural communication in the classroom. Address for correspondence: gretacarapanait@gmail.com.

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Since the fall of communist regimes in 1989 and the enlargement of the European Union in 2007, a large percentage of the Roma population has left Romania, leaving behind a life of extreme poverty to seek opportunities in Western European countries (Claveria & Alonso, 2003; Macías León, 2006; Stevens, 2004). In recent years, the presence of Roma camps on the outskirts of major cities such as Paris, Madrid, and Rome has become a source of tension and caused the respective governments to take drastic measures against this ethnic minority (BBC, 2010; Severance, 2010; Sigona, 2008; World Directory of Minorities, 2010). Despite the freedom of move-ment stipulated by the European Commission, some Western European governments simply send Roma back to the countries they came from. Many Roma families return disillusioned by the conditions they face back in Romania.

The poor living conditions of the Roma population in Romania and other post-communist countries have been attributed to limited access to education, economic opportunities, social services, and healthcare. Other significant factors include con-stant discrimination and racist attitudes from non-Roma, and, most importantly, a reduced degree of literacy (McGarry, 2008; Ringold, Orenstein, & Wilkens, 2005; Tileaga, 2005). Furthermore, some Roma are unable to take advantage of social assistance services because they do not possess proper identification documents (e.g., birth certificate, identification card). An additional site of conflict between the Roma and non-Roma populations in Romania challenges the already fragile relations between the two: due to the similarity of their names (Roma vs. Romanian) and the large number of Roma living in Romania, many Europeans consider Romanians and Roma to be the same ethnic group; therefore, Romanians often claim that they are considered responsible for any Roma misdeeds (evenimentul Zilei, 2010; Roumanie .com, 2010a; Roumanie.com, 2010b). Without a strong political voice, the protection of any government, or any real opportunities for education and employment, Roma have become personae non grata at home and abroad.

These challenges have prompted the Romanian government to start investing in educational programs to improve Roma’s level of literacy and numeracy, and eventually to help them adapt to the present society. Second Chance, an educational program designed for disadvantaged groups, has been implemented in Romania since 2005. The majority of the students enrolled in the program are of Roma descent. The program consists of many elements of inclusive education, such as a flexible schedule for students and interactive group work (Claveria & Alonso, 2003); Roma cultural mediators (Ringold et al., 2005); and a customized curriculum including elements of Roma history, culture, and traditions (Hancock, 2002).

While most academic studies about Roma students focus on theoretical aspects of policies and social realities (e.g., Klimova-Alexander, 2007; Marushiakova & Popov, 2007; McGarry, 2008; Tcherenkov, 2004), few empirical studies describe implement-ing these policies or concrete paths of successful teaching. Therefore, we designed the present study with this purpose in mind. Our case study focuses on an instructor who teaches predominantly Roma students in a Romanian elementary school in the Second Chance program. Melania (a pseudonym) helped her Roma students not only

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by preparing them to achieve literacy in primary school, but also by facilitating an understanding of both Roma and Romanian cultures. Furthermore, Melania herself was open to change, and she adjusted her teaching style following the special training for the Second Chance program. In this view, Freire (1973) ascertained that “the role of educator is not to ‘fill’ the educatee with ‘knowledge,’ technical or otherwise. It is rather to attempt to move toward a new way of thinking in both educator and educatee, through the dialogical relationship between both” (p.125). Our study reflects Freire’s approach to a new way of thinking, teaching, and acting as an educator.

Melania’s educational approach renegotiates relations among teachers, com-munities, and primary school students in order to promote inclusive education. We define inclusive education as a cohesive set of theoretical premises, attitudes, policies, and practices able to empower people from various backgrounds, regard-less of their ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, or disabilities. We argue that part of the solution to the challenges exposed above requires a renegotiation of approaches in teaching by reexamining relations between teachers and Roma students in primary school classrooms in order to promote inclusive education. We explored Melania’s choices in the Second Chance program with regard to promo-tion of inclusive education, and discussed teachers’ activism based on inclusive education with the following research questions in mind:

1. How did the teacher approach the implementation of the Second Chance program in her school?

2. What challenges has the teacher found in her classroom and how has she overcome them?

This article is divided into five sections: (1) the social, political, and educational context for the case study; (2) a theoretical background of Roma students; (3) the study’s methodology; (4) our findings; and (5) a comparison of our findings with other researchers’ views and official recommendations, and further implications.

Literature review

Social, political, and educational context

Statistical results describe the situation in which a large part of the Roma popula-tion lives in the gadje (Romani for “host”) countries as “alarming: long-term un-employment reaching up to 80–100 [percent], very often connected with extreme poverty, lack of hygiene and basic health care, or strong dependency on social assistance” (Milcher & Zigova, 2005). According to the World Bank, around 84 percent of the Roma population live below the poverty line worldwide (Ringold et al., 2005). The same source identifies Romania as the country with the highest Roma population—approximately 2 million, which accounts for about 9 percent of the total Romanian population.

Political changes, such as the transition from communism to democracy in 1989, and the resulting alliances and new policies have an important impact on ethnic

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minorities. Ringold et al. (2005) identify four approaches that characterize the treatment of Roma based on different political contexts: exclusion, assimilation, integration, and minority rights. The World War II period was characterized by ex-clusion, the communist era by forced assimilation, and the postcommunist context by efforts for integration and minority rights. Under the assimilationist approach during the communist period, Roma underachievement in schools was seen as a deviation from mainstream society, which led to policies intended to change Roma culture and traditions; however, “the dissolution of Roma identity and culture is not the answer and such attempts have only driven the Roma further from schools and education” (Claveria & Alonso, 2003). An example of institutionalized discrimina-tion during communism was the placement of many Roma students into special schools for the mentally disabled. The new era of democracy after 1989 brought a more transparent approach, and subsequently efforts toward the inclusion of Roma into schools. The placement of Roma students in special schools for the mentally disabled is prohibited by law unless strong evidence is provided that a student is actually in need of the special care in these schools.

However, the “baggage” of one approach is carried on from one time period to another. As Silova (2004) observes, “the collapse of empires often leaves a legacy of political, cultural and educational institutions, as well as cultural norms and be-haviors that continue to exist long after their demise, thus influencing postsocialist transformation processes” (p. 76). Thus, in the postcommunist context, the Romanian government’s efforts for inclusion are still hindered by attitudes of marginalization, discrimination, and segregation, as well as by lingering attitudes of assimilation. The tension mentioned above builds mistrust on both sides of the population, and also affects educational outcomes: the non-Roma population fears that the presence of Roma children in classrooms makes them unsafe and lowers the standards of edu-cation, while Roma often view mainstream schools as places where their traditions are not respected and are therefore lost (Claveria & Alonso, 2003).

In regards to educational initiatives different from the mainstream schools, such as the one presented in this case study, some scholars are skeptical considering that the Romanian educational system is not entirely prepared to implement education for minority populations and that experiments and mistakes are repeatedly made, “increasing the tiredness and resignation of children and parents, teachers and administration” (Cozma, Cucos, & Momanu, 2000, p. 283).

Overall, we found that while most research describes Roma education negatively, few studies focus on fostering success for inclusive education for this ethnic popu-lation. Our case study is different because it introduces some positive outcomes of inclusive education for Roma students and what it takes to achieve them.

Teachers using culturally relevant pedagogies

Our theoretical framework is based on teacher development theories, particularly those that identify new roles and responsibilities for teachers who are able to gener-

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ate change beyond the classroom; those who, through “their day-to-day activities shape the environment in which learning occurs and affect the impact of education on the learner and on the social milieu of the learner outside the school” (Churchill, 1994, p. 133). This framework of understanding encompasses the inclusive and multicultural dimensions of teaching both inside and outside the classroom and the school. It reaches beyond the actual curriculum, as the focus of our case study is an educational program for a disadvantaged ethnic minority that needs to be included and accepted into schools. Their success in school is a bridge for their acceptance and inclusion into communities and society in general.

Theories such as culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2000) or culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 2001) are pedagogical approaches that comprise the multicultural and inclusive dimensions of education to which we refer (Banks, 1993, 2004; Diamond & Moore, 1995; Gay, 2000, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 2001). We are particularly interested in Gay’s (2000) approach to teachers who nurture “ways of knowing, understanding, and representing various ethnic and cultural groups in teaching academic subjects, processes, and skills” (p. 43). At the same time, we consider Hollins’s (1996) perspective that sees teachers striving “to make linkages between the home-culture and school learning for students from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds” (p. 8). The goal of this transformative way of teaching is for the “students from diverse cultures to learn how to transcend their cultural borders and engage in dialogue and action with people who differ from them in significant ways” (Schugurensky, 2002, p. 2).

We also rely on Diamond and Moore (1995), who see culturally responsive teaching as having three main roles: (1) cultural mediator, (2) cultural organizer, and (3) cultural orchestrator of the learning process. In the first role, the teacher is aware of sociocultural issues in the classroom; in the next role, the teacher starts to design a specific plan of action to initiate the empowerment of minority students; and in the third role, the teacher constructs a plan and receives feedback. Similarly, Gay (2002) proposes the following main approaches for teaching across cultures: devel-oping a culturally diverse knowledge base, designing culturally relevant curricula, demonstrating cultural caring and building a learning community, communicating responsibly across cultures, and cultural equality in classroom instruction.

Multicultural education and inclusive education were recently introduced in Europe (Buchberger, 1998; Hegarty, 1998). As migration in Europe intensified after World War II, the need for more inclusive schooling became evident to government officials. These inclusive schooling policies include practices for helping children with low socioeconomic status to adapt, for example, those of Roma background, and focus on improving their performance in schools (Themelis, 2009). European countries use different terms for these types of policies—in some countries, such as Spain and Romania, the term “inclusive education” is usually used; in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, the term “multicultural education” is preferred.

While multicultural and inclusive education target similar issues, the problem

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of considering Roma education as a separate project has been considered recently. Luciak and Liegl (2009) argue that educators might miss important cultural aspects when they are teaching Roma students. Therefore, specific programs for Roma education have been created, while in other general programs, Roma perspectives have been integrated into their practices. For instance, while the Teacher In-Service Training for Roma Inclusion (INSETRom) program is dedicated exclusively to Roma students from countries such as Cyprus, Austria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (INSETRom, 2010), other programs, such as Second Chance, have a broader orientation offering opportuni-ties to include various categories of disadvantaged people.

Description of the Second-Chance program

History and main objectives

The European Commission proposed the Second Chance Schools scheme in 1995 in order to combat school failure and social exclusion. An essential white paper titled teaching and Learning: towards the Learning Society was drafted (Euro-pean Commission, 1996), and the Second Chance Schools scheme was one of the most important programs developed as a result of this paper. Overall, the main objective of the program is “integration into an education and training programme with a view to obtaining employment” (Lafond & Tersmette, 1999). The general characteristics of the program are:

(1) partnership with local authorities, social services, and private sector associations;

(2) teaching and counseling approach focused on the needs of individual students;

(3) stimulation of active learning on the part of pupils; (4) flexible teaching modules; and(5) acquisition of skills through new technologies (European Commission Di-

rectorate General for Education and Culture Education, 2001).Around 80 pilot projects started in 1996, and by the end of 2000 the number

reached more than 300. European Union countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy, as well as other non-European countries such as Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, and Tunis, have shown interest in promoting these pilot projects. Romania was also one of the countries involved in starting the pilot projects.

Policies adopted by Romanian officials

PHARE,1 together with the Ministry of Education and Research of Romania, developed a number of programs that were piloted in a few counties through-out Romania. The access to education for disadvantaged Groups–inclusive

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Schools program began in 2003. The objective of this program was to transform traditional schools into inclusive schools to welcome all children regardless of their abilities and cultural or ethnic background, and foster the learning needs of every child through active learning, cooperation, and teamwork in the classroom. At the same time, the program involves parents, schools, and communities in an effort to provide quality education for all. Special attention is given to training educators and program directors.

The Ministry of Education and Research of Romania (2007) issued an official document, the methodology and organization of the Second chance program for primary education, outlining the program in terms of requirements for enrollment, schedule, evaluation, certification, and monitoring. In this case study we will refer only to the methodology designed for primary education. The document does not specifically refer to the Roma population; however, the fact that the Romani lan-guage is the only one offered among the optional subjects, and not other minority languages (Hungarian, Turkish, Ukrainian), is self-explanatory. In our case study, 90 percent of the students belong to the Roma ethnic minority.

Program participants

Regardless of age, people who are able to enroll in the Second Chance program are those who had never attended school, or have interrupted their education and were unable to continue. Therefore, the students in these classes may be children, but most often they are teenagers and adults who wish to return to school and complete their primary education. To organize a Second Chance program class, there must be a minimum of eight students and a maximum of fifteen. The most important features of the program outlined in the methodology are flexibility and a careful consideration of the students’ needs.

The Second Chance program class committee includes a director, a vice-director, a secretary, a primary school teacher, a Roma mediator, and the program coordi-nator in that school. Responsibilities of the committee include initial placement, evaluation of candidates, evaluation upon the completion of the program, analysis of special cases, and informing the community of the program’s existence in that particular school. Upon enrollment, candidates must provide documentation such as an identity card, birth certificate, or school records, but often they do not own such documents. The committee still enrolls these students, and later helps them acquire identification documents.

The program structure

The Second Chance program is flexible in terms of time (morning, evening, or in-tensive weekend sessions) and in terms of teaching modules. The decision of when classes are scheduled belongs to the Second Chance program committee in every school, and it is based on the students’ requests in their application forms.

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Subjects are taught in modules, which allows for the simultaneous teaching of four levels in the same class. For example, a student might study Module 1 in mathematics in the morning, but work with a different group and study Module 3 in language later on, while others might work on Module 2. If students request, and the school can provide the necessary resources, instruction can be partially provided in the Romani language. Students may reenroll to study modules they fail. The program may be completed in two years or more, and upon completion students receive a certificate of primary education completion, which is similar to the certificates received by students in mainstream programs.

Methodology

This research develops a qualitative case study: “Case studies concentrate attention on the way particular groups of people confront a specific problem, taking a holistic view of the situation” (Shaw, 1978, p. 2). According to Merriam’s (1998) criteria of distinguishing case study types (i.e., descriptive, interpretative, and evaluative), our research is an evaluative case study, because we compare the findings with theoretical assumptions. The data was collected from an interview and informal discussions with the teacher, and from document analysis of various sources from classrooms and from the Romanian Ministry of Education. We base our descrip-tion of the program on the following secondary sources: documents published by the Romanian Ministry of Education, information provided by the European Union Committee for Education, flyers advertising the program (called Scoala incluziva [Inclusive Schools]) in communities, textbooks especially designed for the program, and an evaluation guide provided to the Second Chance teachers (Boca, Bucinschi, Dulman, & Dumitru, 2007).

For our case study, the interviewee is an instructor who teaches Roma students in the Second Chance program in an elementary school in Romania. Melania is an experienced schoolteacher who taught standard primary school classes for nearly thirty-five years before taking on the task of teaching in this particular program. She has lived close to thirty years in this community, interacting with people from different backgrounds. She was interviewed in the summer of 2009, after her third year teaching in the Second Chance program. There were fourteen students regis-tered in this classroom, ranging from first to fourth grade. Because the interview was conducted during the summer vacation, no data was collected from the students and there were no direct classroom observations. We were primarily interested in Melania’s experience in the program and the outcomes. We tried to explore how her teaching evolved, whether the settings and the approaches are different from the program’s recommendations, what the main challenges were and how she overcame them, and how this case could inform teaching practices in similar settings.

We use a critical theory approach as a way to disseminate teaching approaches that empower disadvantaged groups in Romania that make them aware of critical aspects in their education that affect their lives. Therefore, we are interested in

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exploring and discussing Melania’s role in initiating and implementing the Second Chance program in the school, as well as aspects of her teaching that proved suc-cessful. Also, we were interested in identifying aspects that challenged the intentions and successfulness of her teaching the program’s policies and explain why.

The data was collected between the fall of 2008 and the summer of 2009. For data analysis, to answer the first research question we selected the following main themes: (a) teacher as a liaison between school, school board, and community, (b) special training received by the teacher, (c) teacher–students rapport, and (d) curriculum and materials. For the second research question, the following themes emerged: (a) lack of identification documents, (b) absence of Roma me-diators and teachers, (c) cultural constraints, (d) Romanians’ attitude, and (e) late start in education.

As a final note, we are Romanian, of non-Roma background. Being born in and living a number of years in Romania during the communist and postcommunist regimes, and coming from families where teaching was important and Roma edu-cation part of it, we learned about the different Roma issues in Romania from a Romanian perspective. In addition, living in North America for several years and doing graduate studies in education in which sociocultural issues had an important place, we started to become aware of Roma issues in Romania from a different perspective and began to recognize our biases. The second author lived in the same community in which we conducted our research, and even attended the same school more than twenty-five years ago—thus she had a good understanding of the students participating in this program, and the issues they faced in mainstream schools.

Findings

In this section we illustrate the vital importance of the teacher in the implementa-tion and development of the Second Chance program in this particular school: first, Melania acted as a liaison between her school, school board, and community to initiate the program in this school; second, she adjusted her teaching style fol-lowing the special training she received for the Second Chance program, which prepared her to build a special rapport with her students in addition to teaching the curriculum content. In the second part of this section, we describe how Mela-nia handled some of the challenges and prejudice that her Roma students face in Romanian society.

The teacher as a liaison among school, school board, and community

The first surprising element in our findings was Melania’s personal involvement in the recruitment of her students, and the way this program was first introduced to the community.

melania: In 2005 in mass media, on the Internet, I saw this program as a pilot study implemented in two counties in Romania. I live in an area where there are

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many disadvantaged citizens and Roma children, and I was convinced that if I let them know about the program, I would be able to implement this project in our school. Before sending our school board a formal request, I had to make sure that I could have at least one class. The school board asked for the minister’s approval and in the following year, in 2006, I started the first [class].

Melania was the initiator of the program at that particular school, and the liaison between the school, students, community, and school board. She recruited the students simply by visiting communities around the school and spreading the word about the program, urging families to send their children to school or attend school themselves. The school had been in the community for approximately forty years—what she urged them to do was to give the school a second chance at edu-cating them. Melania had been a respected educator in the community for thirty years; therefore, her efforts were well received.

Special training

After Melania received the formal approvals for teaching in the Second Chance program, she was trained in Roma history, inclusive education, and the expecta-tions for teachers involved in the Second Chance program. She emphasized that the training had a tremendous impact on her, and changed her perspective on teaching, even after a thirty-year career as an educator. Melania adjusted her teaching style following the special training she received for the Second Chance program, which prepared her to offer students emotional support in addition to teaching the cur-riculum content. She said that during the training, educators were asked to reflect on their teaching practices, empathize with their students, and be flexible.

melania: The people who trained us explained that [Roma] are people like us, have the same needs as ours and that we have to support them if we want to collaborate with them.

Asked about the relation between disadvantaged people and Roma, she noted that the program is looking specifically at the Roma population because “especially Roma populations were systematically disadvantaged and discriminated against.”

The teacher’s rapport with the students

We noticed that Melania’s class accommodated people with different needs, such as Roma students from Turkish and Romanian ethnic backgrounds, some of them working full-time; mothers with children already registered in school; and even students traveling from great distances (20–30 km). She appreciated that the strength of the program resided in its flexibility, especially the ability to pass two years in one or to extend the program if necessary. Asked to describe a typical day at school, she mentioned that students are allowed to have their own schedules according to their needs.

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The Second Chance program’s guidelines require that Roma be included in its administrative structures as mediators (Ministry of Education and Research of Romania, 2007). Unfortunately, no Roma mediator or committee member has been available since the program started in this school. Aware of this issue, Mela-nia attempted to downplay the disadvantage by trying to understand the students’ situations herself in order to adjust her teaching style and curriculum according to their various needs. Despite these shortcomings in terms of available human resources, the program was implemented, and later expanded by adding one more class and another teacher.

Melania emphasized that it is very important for the principal and teachers to be actively involved in promoting inclusive policies. She also mentioned that she succeeded in gaining respect from her family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors for this program, and for Roma in general.

melania: At least from my acquaintances, my colleagues, and neighbors, they all treat this program with respect. And I don’t lose any opportunity to tell [the students] at least three or four times per day that I love them and I am proud of them.

Constant encouragement and trust are the main incentives for attending school, and helping students to build self-respect is of paramount importance in her teach-ing style. Melania educated her students, and in some cases her students’ parents. She told us how in the beginning some parents used to come to school dressed in pyjamas and enter the classroom in the middle of a lesson to talk with their children. During these incidents Melania kept her composure and explained to the parents that they must wait until the students had recess, and upon returning to wear less casual clothes—otherwise she would not allow them to enter the classroom.

Adjusting the curriculum and rethinking the resources

The flexibility of the program and the use of modules allowed for lessons custom-ized according to students’ needs.

melania: The program is flexible. Hours can be grouped. For instance, I have days when I teach only Romanian three, four, or five hours. When someone arrives at school I give him or her priority. I work with one to four students simultaneously. They get used to it and everybody prepares their materials, they know what they have to do. Some read, others write. We also have some activities in common, for instance when they read 3rd or 4th grade Romanian textbooks. Some texts capture the attention of all students. For instance, Earth Day, 1 March, Fools’ Day, and so on.

Melania mentioned that the content of materials and textbooks used in her classroom is different from mainstream classrooms. She justifies it by stating that the students are expected to be at least four years older than the students tradition-

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ally in a primary school classroom; therefore, the textbooks address a more mature audience.

melania: For instance, in language classes, you help them write down a shopping list. After that, you discuss when you use a specific product on the list. Actually these are all practical things. Good manners and traditions from different peoples based on the idea of learning and accepting their customs and traditions.

The textbooks are not always well designed—the dialogues in one civic educa-tion textbook are not realistic even though they are about issues such as identifi-cation cards, birth certificates, and passports. Also, many texts are in the Romani language, so teachers from a non-Roma background such as Melania are unable to teach them. Melania overcame these problems by allowing the students to learn the skills they needed by using extracurricular materials that were relevant to them; for example, a student who was interested in obtaining a driver’s license learned to read and write from the official driver’s handbook. She confirmed her commitment to help Roma students achieve literacy and numeracy. “We do everything in order to make them read and write,” says Melania. “In mathematics, they learn the four basic operations.”

Asked if she considers her teaching successful, Melania said that Roma students appreciate the program and show an increased trust and interest in it. In some cases, after attending this program, Roma students were interested in bringing their younger siblings to school: “If the eldest siblings come to school,” says Melania, “the younger ones come as well.” She emphasized the importance of attending school at a younger age.

Challenges

The challenges mentioned by Melania are similar to the ones we found in the literature about the Roma: lack of identification documents, no Roma mediators, no Roma teachers, and certain social and cultural traditions that prevent some students from graduating.

Lack of identification documents

Roma students usually come from families with a very low socioeconomic status, and they lack many of the basic skills and requirements to either get enrolled in educational programs or to be hired.

melania: The majority [of Roma] are living below the [poverty] limit, they are unemployed or are coming from families of unmarried parents, and only the mother’s name appears on their birth certificate. Some of them don’t even have a birth certificate. We help them. Two years after registration, we succeed in obtaining a birth certificate, not to mention an ID card and others.

The intervention of the program might be surprising as the school takes on

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the responsibility of acquiring birth certificates and identification cards for its pupils. This may be viewed as a breach of a family’s agency; however, illiteracy, poverty, or humiliation leave Roma families unable to acquire their identification documents on their own, and the school succeeds in breaking a cycle of misfor-tunes that would otherwise lead nowhere. This type of institutional intervention is not imposed—though upon completion of the program, together with the iden-tification documents, the Second Chance students have the same opportunities as students enrolled in mainstream school programs.

absence of roma mediators and teachers

Another challenge is found in the structure of the Second Chance program itself. Melania found it difficult to find members of the Roma population able to fulfill the role of mediators and join in the program, as the structure of the present program requires (Ministry of Education and Research of Romania, 2007). Moreover, she noted that few teachers were willing to teach in these programs, despite government incentives of increased salary.

At times, Melania feels that she has not found the solution to improving the future of her Roma students. Another challenge is that she does not know the Romani language, so some of the provided curriculum is impossible for her to teach. Also, being a non-Roma teacher, she might miss some of their cultural traditions, despite living for several years in a neighborhood with many Roma families.

cultural constraints

While the Second Chance program encourages students to keep their traditions and be proud of them, there are some Roma cultural and social traditions that often im-pede students’ ability to attend school. The program has already addressed some of these issues; for example, the fact that many students work with their parents during the day has been addressed by allowing for a flexible schedule and for students to attend classes either in the morning or in the evening. However, one custom that has not yet been dealt with is early marriage (as early as twelve in some cases) that especially affects the female students enrolled in the program.

melania: It happened with the girls who get married very early, no matter how hard one tries to convince them not to. When you speak with them, they agree that it is not a good idea to get married so young, and they even say that they will never get married. (laughs) Well, you find after two weeks that that girl got married. . . . And once married, girls are not coming to school anymore. Boys yes, girls no. It is their lifestyle and you cannot change it.

Early marriage is one of the thorny issues that often captures media attention, and makes the Roma more difficult to understand to people of different ethnicities who live in the same community. Perhaps because most Roma live in poverty, they are forced into the responsibilities of adulthood faster, and girls take on the roles

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of wives and mothers at a very early age. Whether early marriage is part of Roma culture and traditions, or due to poverty, girls’ education and future is heavily affected by it. Being a Roma woman is even more difficult since they often start motherhood to their personal detriment, sacrificing any further educational and professional opportunities. In the interview Melania recognizes her defeat when confronted with this issue, but continues on a positive note by recalling a few young Roma women who attend the program and want to learn to read and write specifi-cally because they want to be able to support their children in school.

romanians’ attitude

Melania called attention to the negative attitudes most Romanians have toward Roma, which has to change into an attitude of acceptance and empathy.

melania: This first stage, as we called it, was based on this main idea . . . how to learn to accept them. We! Because many of us do not succeed in accepting them, even though we seem to do so. We are not doing it with all our heart and therefore we do not achieve any results. In this program teachers who are accepted are the ones who want to teach Roma students, who understand them, appreciate them, and know how to be close to them.

She considers that when students finish in the classroom and start to look for employment, discrimination and racism remain high. Therefore, other organizations should continue her efforts.

melania: [If] we prepare them to learn a job but they are not helped to find a place to work . . . They are hardly accepted. If you have four Romanians and a Roma applying for a job it is clear that the Roma will not get accepted. So, much more should be done, not only by the schools.

Late start in education

Melania mentioned that a late start in education is problematic for her students, and starting school early is an important contribution to successful education. Asked about ways to improve the Second Chance program, she mentioned that the program should start earlier, from kindergarten, and be extended to the middle school level so that there could be more classrooms for students from fifth grade to eighth grade. Also, these classrooms would include the opportunity to learn an apprentice job and establish partnerships with different apprenticeship schools and centers. For instance, enrolling in kindergarten would drastically improve students’ attitudes toward schooling.

melania: Two or three years ago, we set up a summer kindergarten for children in disadvantaged families. For them it is very difficult. They are not accepted, they don’t have any place to be registered. So, together with another teacher, we set up a three-week summer kindergarten with thirty-five children from Roma

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families. We couldn’t allow anymore because we were only two instructors. All thirty-five registered in school the next year.

With all of these issues, Melania has a down-to-earth attitude toward her efforts and believes in the success of educating Roma students. Although there is an im-mediate improvement in the students in her classroom, she foresees major benefits for Roma and a radical change in their lives will occur in future generations.

melania: Their kids will be in school without any doubt. Even though these girls drop out in third or fourth grade, their children will do at least eight classes, not four. I told them about documents required for working, how they should behave at work, how important it is to work with documents. They are really proud of their job. Those who finish are coming back to school to talk with me. These girls who are already in fifth grade come at least one day per week to discuss with me and I try to help them too.

It seems that this example of teaching in the Second Chance program is success-ful in helping students to read, write, and perform arithmetic; however, the effort of implementing the program is wasted when Roma are turned down for jobs despite graduating from elementary school and obtaining identification documents. Melania emphasized that mainstream society is not yet ready to include Roma “whole- heartedly,” but the cycle of trust needs to start somewhere, more institutions should become involved, and more programs should be implemented.

Discussion

Teacher’s approaches in implementing the Second Chance program

Sensitivity to multicultural and inclusive aspects outlined by the proponent of teaching multicultural education (Banks, 2004; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 2001; Themelis, 2009) is difficult to achieve in postcommunist educational settings. In theory, the Second Chance program has great potential and many of the neces-sary components for a successful educational project: flexibility, Roma mediators (Ringold et al., 2005), a curriculum customized for Roma students (Hancock, 2002), and interactive activities (Claveria & Alonso, 2003). In practice, it takes an experienced and dedicated teacher to implement the program, to motivate the students to learn and feel comfortable in these classes, and to shape the environ-ment in which learning occurs and impacts the learner and the social milieu of the learner outside the school (Churchill, 1994). In this case study, Melania acted as the cultural mediator, organizer, and orchestrator (Diamond & Moore, 1995), and had a transformative role in the lives of her students, and the community itself. Moreover, the experience of teaching in this program caused her to adjust her own teaching approach to become more culturally responsive.

The high number of Roma students created a relatively homogenous classroom, which led to unintentional segregation. Segregation is often seen as one of the weak-

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nesses of the Second Chance program; however, mainstream schools do not offer the same degree of flexibility, customized curriculum, or free choice of resources. The rigidity of the educational system in general, where the majority of students are Romanian, has been one of the main reasons why Roma students found it difficult to attend school. This case study is different from other situations where Roma students were the minority and were rejected by the other non-Roma students (But-ler & Gheorghiu, 2010), or the findings reported by other researchers that showed teachers and administrators were prejudiced and inconsiderate, but considered the teacher the sole person responsible for these challenges (Andruszkiewicz, 2006; Lavicka, 1998; Vassileva, 1998). Melania was able to create a positive atmosphere together with the non-Roma students and school administrators.

In our findings, we discussed the particular approaches that Melania adopted when she started the program, and the challenges she encountered during the instructional process. As we noticed in the literature review, one of the major challenges of the Second Chance program is that it requires both Roma mediators and teachers willing to embark on the task of teaching disadvantaged populations, such as the Roma (Ministry of Education and Research of Romania, 2007). This is a critical aspect in the Second Chance program, as at this time it is difficult to form such committees in Romania due to the lack of Roma mediators (Liégeois, 2007). In our case study, we saw that the program functioned without a full com-mittee in place; therefore, we found the openness of the teacher paramount, as Melania was able to overcome the challenges of having a lack of Roma members on the committee.

Overcoming challenges

Prior published scholarship indicates the difficulty of giving disadvantaged populations a start in schooling. As shown in the above sections, indigenization/internalization (Silova, 2004; Steiner-Khamsi, 2000) of minority rights policies is still hindered at the informal social level. Non-Roma children continue to come to school with preconceived notions they learned from their parents’ discourse and with explicit instructions about how to treat Roma (e.g., “Don’t play with Gypsies!” “Don’t behave like a Gypsy!”). Considering that non-Roma students continue to discriminate against Roma students in mainstream classrooms, and that many teachers are not prepared or willing to adjust their teaching style, we consider the Second Chance program a temporary solution, and only the first step in a difficult process to realize full integration of Roma into mainstream schools.

These results cannot be easily implemented on a large scale since many non-Roma teachers and administrators might still show prejudice and lack the ability to teach inclusively. With all these limitations, we believe that this case study has shown that improvement in Roma students’ social and cultural life is possible. Our findings led to the conclusion that the context of Melania’s teaching expanded to reach Roma and non-Roma not only in the school, but also in the community.

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The challenges identified by Melania in the Second Chance program are not surprising, and are supported by most of the literature reviewed here.

Each school and classroom is different, and therefore each set of pedagogical, curricular, and policy actions should be unique. In this paper we do not offer a summative evaluation of the overall success of this teacher or of this program; we only wished to identify those inclusive educational practices that might succeed or have succeeded already. Our intention was not to present this case study as an exemplary case of inclusive teaching, but as a case of teaching where a teacher’s empathy and understanding toward Roma students permeates the content of the lessons, teaching attitudes, and social approaches toward Roma students.

Final comments

With all these limitations, we feel that this case study shows positive feedback. Despite feeling disappointed that many of the Roma students drop out of school after a while and never graduate from the program, Melania’s success is no less rewarding. She believes that there should be more opportunities for Roma stu-dents after completion of the program. In this case, they should be helped by other initiatives, such as social services, in finding suitable employment. At the same time, eradicating prejudice and discrimination against Roma in non-Roma communities would create a bridge for communication and trust between the two. The education toward a better life for Roma students is not only about ways of integrating Roma into mainstream society, but also about changing the mentality of non-Roma people.

This research shows the promising results of effective schooling using inclusion in a postcommunist country. Although no universal solution can be inferred, Melania gave Roma students opportunities to build up their academic foundation, as well as possibilities to start working and to continue to improve their lives. In our case study, the majority of students were Roma and were living in difficult conditions, similar to what many other researchers have found (Cozma et al., 2000; Milcher & Zigova, 2005; Ringold et al., 2005). Their families had a long history of school failure, so most of them did not achieve literacy or numeracy. While we noticed a great number of instances of exclusion in mainstream schools, where non-Roma students and teachers avoided contact with Roma students, this was not the situ-ation in our case study where Roma students formed an overwhelming majority. Therefore, we maintain the view that teaching a disadvantaged population requires teachers to take a firm stance to stop perpetuating inequities or to offer modalities to improve social equity. As Churchill (1994) stated, “Teachers are both the greatest potential allies and the greatest potential opponents of any changes toward greater linguistic and ethnocultural equity” (p. 20). Our teacher, Melania, opted to be part of the positive change. Inclusive education means offering opportunities to all students to be educated. Teaching remains the core of any strategy for addressing social inequality.

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Note

1. The PHARE program was financed by the European Commission to assist countries that wished to join the European Union (European Commission, 2005). Between 1990 and 1998, Romania received 25 million Euros from the European Union’s PHARE budget to assist in the reform of vocational education and training (Ivan et al., 2001).

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