Roma families get involved

The project "Roma families get involved" has developed a “Guide for working with Roma Families towards achieving the success of their children at school. A transnational methodological proposal for professionals” aimed at providing guidance for professionals working on the ground to involve Roma families in the educational processes of their children.

The specific aims of "Roma families get involved" include:

• To gather and analyse different strategies of work with Roma families in the different countries in order to identify those whose impact is greater than others
• To create a transnational platform for the exchange of technical know-how and experience of highly qualified professionals working with Roma in the field of education
• To generate tools to assist professionals working with the Roma population to facilitate the engagement of Roma families in the educational process of their children by providing basic approaches and strategies to work with Roma families and sensitise them on the consequences of early school leaving for their children in terms of their personal development as well as their social and economic integration for the future
• To raise awareness about the importance of investing in Roma education through adapted measures to achieve social inclusion goals by disseminating knowledge generated by the project, with a view to sensitise policy-makers about the need to promote actions in this area, as well as professionals working with the Roma population and Roma population itself

Year(s): 2012 - 2013

Target group(s): Education professionals, trainers and staff ; Policy makers in the field of education ; Roma students and their families

Website or other online channels: https://romafamiliesgetinvolved.wordpress.com/

Methodology

The project builds upon a very technical work that requires the involvement of experts regarding Roma families’ involvement and education as well as a working method based on a series of steps that build upon each other: from national analysis to international discussion and joint definition of the final tool and European and national dissemination of the tool.

The project working method is based on a process aimed at assuring the usefulness and transferability of the tool into different European contexts: a limited number of participants taking part in each working session, both nationally and internationally; national analysis as the basis for discussion and transnational level for validation of the tool essential elements; few extra experts invited to contribute.

Type of product

Online resource

Brief description of the outcomes

Methodological guide

The “Guide for working with Roma Families towards achieving the success of their children at school. A transnational methodological proposal for professionals”, developed in the context of the project, is available in English as well as in the languages of the countries taking part in the project (Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Spain). The Guide aims to provide guidance for professionals working on the ground to involve Roma families in the educational processes of their children. It includes aspects such as the working phases, strategies, key messages, warnings, and examples of good practices and the profile and competences needed for professionals, among others. - https://romafamiliesgetinvolved.wordpress.com/  https://www.gitanos.org/que-hacemos/areas/international/roma_families_get_involved.html

The purpose of this guide is to provide a flexible tool to work with different types of Roma families. It can be used in different intervention contexts and in different programmes or plans that include, among others, the goal of “working with Roma families in order to give them support to reduce school dropout and increase the academic success of their children”. The Guide can also be a helpful tool in designing a specific programme.

The different methodological steps described in this guide are focused on the individual assessments of each one of the participating families and on the design of an individual intervention plan (FWP). It also includes an evaluation of the work that has been performed.

The Guide describes different strategies, methods, actions and techniques.

It is up to the practitioners to make a good choice depending on the different situations of the families and the context in which the intervention will take place. The Guide in English is available from the following link:

https://ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/files/roma_families_guide_en.pdf

Impact on target groups / Transferability potential

The involvement of the family in the education of children has been found to be critical to educational success. Given the particularly important role of the family and the community in the Roma context, it is essential to increase the awareness of Roma families regarding the consequences of early school leaving for their children in terms of their personal development as well as their social and economic integration for the future. This Guide pretends to contribute to improving the educational situation of Roma across Europe by engaging Roma parents more actively. To this end, the project has created from a transnational perspective, a practical methodological guide to help professionals working on the ground to involve Roma families in the educational processes of their children.

Promoter of the initiative: The Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) (Spain) ; Center for Educational Integration of Children and Students from Ethnic Minorities (CEICSEM) (Bulgarian partner)

Country: Bulgaria Hungary Romania Spain

Languages available: Bulgarian English Hungarian Romanian Spanish

Website or other online channels: https://www.gitanos.org https://coiduem.mon.bg/en/welcome-to-the-ceicsems-website/