Abstract:

Even today the phenomenon of segregation and the marginalization of roma students either at school or at the society are apparent. Taking into consideration that a large number of roma students may enroll at the beginning of the school year but not actually attend school and even more the high rate of dropouts, it is imperative to put emphasis on their elementary school education. Their attendance to elementary school is essentially connected to their early entrance to labour market and to their parental roles they undertake at early ages. The main aim of this research was to shed light on the benefits of approaching elementary school teaching and learning in a pedagogical innovation. For this reason a specific teaching intervention based on the exploitation of a plethora of digital tools and the working in small groups were taken place in a third class of an elementary school in Greece. The high interest of roma students on learning itself while they are gaining a satisfactory level of language literacy is of great importance and gives hope for their path towards lifelong learning as well as for their working career. Hidden talents, skills and abilities were evident through their involvement in the creation of comics, analysis of works of art and other interactive activities while they manifested their creative potential, critical thinking, collaboration and their digital intelligence.

Keywords:

Roma student, elementary school, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, digital tools, digital intelligence.