Publications

Challenges in Roma Education: Unveiling Anti-Gypsyism In Italian Schools  (2018)

Authors:
Pontrandolfo, Stefania
Title:
Challenges in Roma Education: Unveiling Anti-Gypsyism In Italian Schools
Year:
2018
Type of item:
Contributo in volume (Capitolo o Saggio)
Tipologia ANVUR:
Contributo in volume (Capitolo o Saggio)
Language:
Inglese
Format:
A Stampa
Book Title:
Understanding Cultural Diversity: Perceptions, Opportunities and Challenges
Publisher:
NOVA
ISBN:
978-1-53614-061-3
Page numbers:
239-276
Keyword:
anti-Gypsyism, Roma education, discrimination, assimilation, ethnography
Short description of contents:
This chapter underlines the role that ethnographic research can play in unveiling deep-rooted anti-Gypsyism in European schools, particularly in Italy. This not only regards cases of proclaimed and evident discrimination, but also several cases of apparent “scholastic success” which hide a non-recognition of the cultural specificity of Romani groups and can result in their assimilation. The first section of the chapter offers a definition of anti-Gypsyism that includes the visions, practices and effects of this particular form of racism which, for centuries, has led so-called “Gypsy” groups in Europe to adopt resistance or elusion coping strategies against the hegemonic powers in our societies. The second part shows how anti-Gypsyism is also well-rooted and ongoing in European schools, particularly in Italy. A summary of the studies that have been conducted in anthropology of education and with the ethnographic method over the last thirty years shows just how disastrous the situation of Roma education in Italy is. Nevertheless, it also shows how relations between Roma and non-Roma at school can have varying degrees of conflict depending on the local context. The third and fourth sections of the chapter give a more detailed account of the only case study carried out so far in Italy on the scholastic success of a Roma community. It does, however, highlight how this scholastic success was closely connected to the “cultural loss” of a minority, which has literally “disappeared,” rather than “intercultural dialogue” between majority and minority parties within the local society. The concluding arguments underline that the challenges schools face today lie in recognizing and reflecting on their own anti-Gypsyism and overcoming it, not only by avoiding exclusion and patent discrimination, but also by not completely ignoring all the cultural specificity of Roma and therefore, not running the risk of assimilationism.
Web page:
https://novapublishers.com/shop/understanding-cultural-diversity-in-education-perceptions-opportunities-and-challenges/
Product ID:
104637
Handle IRIS:
11562/986500
Last Modified:
November 1, 2022
Bibliographic citation:
Pontrandolfo, Stefania, Challenges in Roma Education: Unveiling Anti-Gypsyism In Italian Schools Understanding Cultural Diversity: Perceptions, Opportunities and ChallengesNOVA2018pp. 239-276

Consulta la scheda completa presente nel repository istituzionale della Ricerca di Ateneo IRIS

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Title Department Managers
Osservatorio Nazionale sull’Antiziganismo (ONA) Department Scienze Umane Leonardo Piasere, Stefania Pontrandolfo
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