Education for agency or assimilation: Romani Gypsies and Irish Travellers

In designing curricula for sustainable futures, the development agenda and mainstream education give insufficient consideration to patterns of sustainable living and income generation among minority and indigenous communities,... [ view full abstract ]

In designing curricula for sustainable futures, the development agenda and mainstream education give insufficient consideration to patterns of sustainable living and income generation among minority and indigenous communities, or to different cultural systems and values and their impact on educational achievement.

In considering local contexts cultures and histories, the situation of Romani Gypsies and Irish Travellers in the UK is frequently overlooked. My research conducted with the community over a ten year period using culturalist and constructive conceptual frameworks suggests that their low educational outcomes are the result of the failure of formal education to meet their requirements and value their culture. Gypsy and Traveller parents wish their children to feel allegiance to who they are, and not to who someone else wants them to become.

The educational experiences of Gypsies and Travellers within the UK have parallels with both minority and indigenous communities elsewhere. While Gypsies and Travellers in the UK do not wish to be linked with the overseas “development” agenda, the Colangatta Statement on Indigenous People’s Rights in Education (1999) states that the purpose of much western education has been to assimilate Indigenous people into non–indigenous cultures and societies. This paper outlines the history and culture of Gypsies and Travellers in England and the impact of prejudice and discrimination on their perception of education. The paper concludes that the challenge is for educationalists to enter into dialogue with Gypsies and Travellers in order to jointly re-envisage their education.