Roma Education
Roma continue to face severe racism across Europe. Roma students at all stages of education from early years to higher education face social and educational exclusion as a result of intolerance, prejudice, poverty and racism alongside discriminatory language policies which ignore and devalue their multilingualism.
ROMtels (Roma Translanguaging enquiry learning space): we worked collaboratively with teachers and Roma pupils and their families, some of whom have experienced extreme discrimination interrupting their own schooling, to improve education for Roma pupils by bringing to life the varied Romani dialects within the classroom: ROMtels; ROMtels; Newcastle University (ncl.ac.uk)
We are delighted that ROMtels is shortlisted for Research Project Of The Year (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences) at the 2020 Times Higher Education Awards.
Read our Guidance Handbooks (translated into Finnish, French, Romanian and Spanish):
A Pedagogy for bi/plurilingual pupils: Translanguaging. Guidance for Teachers:
A Pedagogy for bi/plurilingual pupils: Translanguaging. Guidance for Teacher Educators:
Schools and Bi/Plurilingual Communities Working Together: a Languages for Dignity Approach. Guidance for Schools:
Read our Publications:
- Smith HJ, Robertson LH, Auger N, Wysocki L. Translanguaging as a political act with Roma: carving a path between pluralism and collectivism for transformation. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies 2020, 18(1), 98-135.
- Smith HJ, Robertson L. SCT and Translanguaging-to-learn: Proposed Conceptual Integration. Language and Sociocultural Theory 2020, 6(2), 213-233.
- Smith HJ, Wysocki L. Roma Translanguaging Enquiry Learning Space (ROMtels). EAL Journal 2020, Autumn 2020, 41-44.
GTRSB (Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boaters) In Higher Education: This project provided research evidence on reasons for and practices to counteract the huge disparity in access to Higher Education for Gypsy, Irish Traveller students, Roma students, and students from Showmen and Boater communities (GTRSB). Our aim was for the results of the research to inform practice, in light of NU’s desire to sign the Universities’ GTRSB into Higher Education pledge ) GTRSB into Higher Education Pledge | Buckinghamshire New University (bucks.ac.uk))