PROMOTING SELF-COMPETENCES AND LIFE SKILLS OF ROMA CHILDREN – RESEARCH-BASED DEVELOPMENT OF AN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMME THROUGH PEDAGOGICAL AND DIDACTICAL KEY FACTORS

The teaching and learning culture in countries with a high percentage of ethnic minorities is strongly characterised by stigmatisation and exclusion of children coming from vulnerable groups such as the Roma. In the countries of South Eastern Europe school attendance has been raised for Roma children and adolescents in the past decade but the teaching and learning culture still focuses on a deficit-oriented perspective and contributes to strengthening present prejudices. Reports suggest that Roma children already enter school with a visible deficit in the area of self-competences and life skills as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Children with low self-concepts also fail to transfer their pre-existing transversal competences into forms that are useful for the school context. The work of the Centre for International Projects in Education (IPE) at the Zurich University of Teacher Education focuses on intervention programmes with combined research elements for improving the educational situation of underprivileged groups.

The presented paper combines research and development in the area of cultural diversity and inclusive education. It addresses the improvement of self-competences and life skills of children coming from a vulnerable group by specific teaching and learning programmes. The presented study and programme “FACE – Families and Children in Education” focuses on promoting the pre-existing competences of primary school children through various elements on a didactical, methodological as well as transcultural level. The research element in FACE includes results on a quantitative as well as on a qualitative level. The self-concepts of children coming from a vulnerable group were gathered through a pre-post-design using the Tennessee Self-concept Scale: 2. (TSCS:2) before the intervention and after a one-year-trial period. The results show the changes of self-concept in different age groups over the course of the trial year. The qualitative analysis includes the coded and categorised qualitative feedback of teachers and social workers who tested the material. Interpretation of the results was done through traditional content analysis. The paper discusses these results aiming at a useful development and adaptation of teaching material and in-service training programmes. Following this, key factors for the development of teaching and learning programmes such as FACE are addressed. Through a step-to-step school development programme as well as joint activities between school and community the perspectives are changed from a deficit-orientation towards a competence-orientation in a multi-ethnic setting. All interpretations and suggestions are made from a transcultural perspective taking into account the specific cultural context of Romania in which the programme currently takes place. The main key factors on a pedagogical level such as the general perspective and understanding of teaching and learning, the importance of life-relevant learning, competence-orientation as well as the roles of teachers are presented. The key factors on a didactical level such as task-based learning, co-operative learning and goal orientation are discussed using examples from the FACE programme. All key factors are discussed in the framework of the common notion of inclusive education.