Eu member states

Annex C – Good Practices Fiches
EU MEMBER STATES
PORTUGAL
Ethnic Minorities and Secondary Education: the Roma student body
Organisations involved in the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

Initiating group/ Implementing organisation

Project co-ordinator Fundación Secretariado Gitano c/Antolina Merino, 10, 28025 Madrid (Spain) Tell: [phone] [e-mail] Mª Teresa Andrés – Responsible for Education [e-mail]

Profile of Partners

Rede Europeia Anti-Pobreza/ Portugal (REAPN) Rua de Costa Cabral, 2368, 4200-218 Porto Tell: 00351225420800 Fax: [phone] [e-mail] www.reapn.org Comité de Co-ordination Pour la Promotion et en Solidarité des Communautés en Difficulté: Migrants et Tsiganes 44 ch. Des Izards, 31200 Toulouse, France Tell: 00330562724850 Fax: [phone] [e-mail] www.ccpst.org/ats National Institute for Education P.O. Box 26, Pluhová 8, 83000Bratislava 3, Slovakia Tell: 00421244372035/42 Fax: [phone] [e-mail] www.spu.sanet.sk Asociación Socioeducativa Khetané 1 José Alonso, 31002 Pamplona, España Tell: 0034948207792 Fundatia Genesis Marasesti 2, 500046 Brasov , Romania Tell: 0034948207792 Gandhi Gymnasium 7629 Pecks, Komjath A.u. 5, Hungary Tell: 003672239826

Information about the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

1. Title:	Ethnic Minorities and Secondary Education: the Roma student body
2. Rationale:	Given the lack of diagnostic evaluations and studies on the European level as regards the scope of this situation and the underlying causes and consequences of the educational difficulties encountered by this group of students, the first objective of the project giving rise to this handbook was to conduct a trans-national study to shed some light on the level of enrolment and the different variables contributing to early dropout in each one of the participating countries. Close to 1300 Roma students between the ages of 12 and 16 from Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, France and Spain took part in this study whose aim was to study the education situation and to identify the factors contributing to Roma’s access to and permanence in secondary education and enrolled Roma students, Roma youngsters who have prematurely abandoned their studies, teachers and families. The results of the study are available at www.gitanos.org/education, where you will also find a description of the project’s min actions and an electronic copy of this Handbook of Guidelines and Best Practices for Educators.
3. Objective(s):	General aim To understand what is happening with the Roma youth and what are the main problems in access to secondary education (in Portugal preparatory and secondary), seeking to define the measures and strategies to be implemented in order to facilitate access, retention and success of gypsies in secondary education. Specific objectives Discovering the factors that influence on the access and residence of Roma students in secondary education; Finding and reporting best practices that promote academic success for these students; Developing documents showing guidelines for the promotion of access to school and the academic success of the Roma in the school environment; Promoting awareness and knowledge of education professionals and school administrators on these strategies and the best ways to put into practice in different contexts.
4. Target ethnic group(s):	The ethnic group is gypsies’ communities. To undertake a Europe-wide diagnosis (mainly in the countries participating in the project) of the educational situation of Roma students at the compulsory secondary level of education (12-16), especially focusing on Roma girls, to gain further insight into the causes of the high rate of Roma Students who drop out of school and to make recommendations on how to improve the situation. Groups targeted in the project Direct: teachers and the staff of secondary schools in which there is a presence or potential presence of students Gypsies (media heterogeneous in terms of culture) Indirect: professionals outside the school (mediators, educators, social), training centres for teachers, school administrations, families of students Gypsies from difficult social backgrounds.
5. Involvement of ethnic group in:
Scoping
Implementation	Methodology in Portugal Two case studies focused on two areas (No interviews, socio-economic situation of students, gender, ethnic group, rural and urban, geographical distribution and their representative). Another very important variable is the age. Bearing in mind that the number of interviews is reduced (case study) is important that the views of all ages (between 10 and 14 years) are well represented. Lisbon (Pastoral of the Roma) • 6 interviews with Roma who are in the system of secondary education (men and women) and their families • 6 interviews with Roma who are not in the system of secondary education (men and women) and their families Alentejo (Institute of the Education) • 6 interviews with Roma who are in the system of secondary education (men and women) and their families • 6 interviews with Roma who are not in the system of secondary education (men and women) and their families
Assessment
6. Main activities:	• Research: through exchange of experiences between the partners seek variables common to all countries in order to identify which prevents or hinders the access of Roma to secondary education. Trying to identify the strategies that different professionals are developing to address these problems. To this end should be a methodology that will own, in addition to a general contextualization of each country based on documentary collection (taking into account a number of parameters to be defined jointly), the use and application of different instruments (questionnaires and interviews) in the form of case studies (the target of these instruments should be the teachers, students gypsies, the families of students. All this work should be done in the form of case studies selecting an area for this purpose (region / school / community school) that can in any way be representative of what is happening in each country (at least in relation to means and similar situations). • Development of a manual, this instrument will research previously prepared and should contain the strategies and guidelines that emerge from the fieldwork carried out. • Presentation of the manual and awareness: this work will be done primarily through the final seminar of the project. However, each country will set in motion their own strategies for this work to raise awareness at national level (e.g. presentation of the manual in schools, promotion of events for this purpose, presentation to the press inviting key players for this presentation, developing strategic partnerships to disseminate this result • Dissemination: in addition to the website which will be the primary means of disseminating the results of the project, each country can put in place specific strategies for the dissemination of the results. It is suggested that each country will now using all means information at its disposal in organizational terms to disseminate the project (magazines, Web pages, interviews, press releases ...). It should be remembered that it is important to record all these events and (5) retain copies of everything that post and is related to the project.
7. Duration of the project:	2003-2005
8. Main results:	• Document of analysis (the result of research): This document will be translated into all languages (including English) but it will not be published formally. It will be available on the web page and will be available in grey literature. • Document with the lines of orientation guides for intervention: This document will be translated and published in all languages (including English similar to what happened in the previous project). Each country will be entitled to 1,000 copies in their own language. • Web page: This page is hosted on the website of FSGG and should come into operation as quickly as possible.
9. Total budget and sources of funding:	Total budget: 233.330 € Total budget of funding the Commission: 169.339 €
10. Assessment of effectiveness:	1. Basic statistical and demographic information on each country 2. Social situation of the Roma in each country (although generic presenting a historical perspective and development) taking into account data such as: No, gypsies, birth rate, type of groups operating in the area, their mobility and geographical distribution, basic data on the condition of employment and health. Basically, it is presenting the main problems facing the Roma communities in each country; 3. Presentation of the education system in each country (structure, number of years of school, dividing public and private system, legal framework, financing of education). At this level it is important to give specific programs that exist for socially disadvantaged group (with particular attention to the Roma); 4. The particular situation of the Roma in relation to the education system, with particular focus on secondary education (situation of the Roma by levels of education: primary, secondary, higher, adult education and alternative)
11. Sustainability:	Each partner organization was responsible for disclosing in each country the main results of the project, including the report Teaching and learning in contexts of cultural diversity so that teachers and families have an opportunity to learn to live with diversity.
12. Difficulties and reasons of insuccess (if any):	-
13. Transferability:	The results of the project should be transferred and used for all educational contexts and for all players involved in this area. In some ways, the main ideas and results of the project are included in the publication of the project – Education: a shared project. Key elements and strategies for the educational inclusion of Roma youth

ROMANIA
Empowering Roma Teachers
Organisations involved in the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

Initiating group/ Implementing organisation	The Resource Centre for Roma Communities Str. Tebei nr.21, 400305 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 0040-264-420474/0040-264-420474 www.romacenter.ro Claudia Macaria, Project Co-ordinator
Profile of Partners	Romanian Association Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking

Information about the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

1. Title:	Empowering the Roma Teachers
2. Rationale:	Need to increase the quality of education for the Roma pupils from Romania. In the academic year 2005-2006, out of 280.000 active teachers in Romania, 490 (0.18%) are Roma teachers (formed by the Ministry of Education and partners between 2000-2005) who are teaching Romani language and Roma History and Culture to 220.000 Roma students (that self-identified as Roma) staring with pre-school level and ending with high school. The Romani language and Roma History subjects are included in the national educational curricula since 1999. The majority of Roma teachers are teaching for primary and secondary school (students between 7 - 15 years old). Because the future Roma teachers are trained in an open distance learning format, their practical preparation as teachers needs to be improved. If it is to be successful, and lead to the much desired inclusion of all our children, the training of Roma teachers needs to catch up with the progress made in the pre-service (initial training for qualification) and in-service (continuous) training of non-Roma teachers: it needs to train teachers how to develop students’ critical thinking skills, through the instruments they normally use in teaching mother tongue: reading and writing. Unless we want only generations of Roma people doomed to become blue-collar workers, it is high time we do something about it right away, and the strategic measure that can be supported quite easily is to work with the teachers that can best model to our students what it means to be a thoughtful, reflective person, interested in continuously improving oneself, and our community.
3. Objective(s):	Professional development of 50 Roma teachers who teach Roma language and history and Roma traditions. Training 10 Roma trainers in education field. Including the RWCT (Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking) methods within the initial and continuous training programs, through CREDIS College, Bucharest University; Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca; Teacher Training Houses.
4. Target ethnic group(s):	Roma teachers from Romania Roma pupils who learn Roma language and history and Roma traditions.
5. Involvement of ethnic group in:
Scoping	Roma teachers, graduates or students at the Long Distance College – CREDIS, University of Bucharest were involved in the main management phases of the project: planning, implementation and assessment.
Implementation	Mentoring for the Roma teachers work in class; evaluation of the individual portfolios; mentoring the delivering of RWCT methods by the 11 Roma teacher trainers.
Assessment	Daily out-put tickets at the training sessions, evaluation questionnaires at the end of each training session.
6. Main activities:	Adapting and delivering the training programme RWCT (80 hours) for 50 Roma teachers who teach Roma language and history and Roma traditions. The programme RWCT promotes active participative teaching methods and cooperative learning and it aims to develop critical thinking skills. The training programme includes 4 training modules. Between the modules, Roma teachers will benefit of mentoring in order to put in practice the teaching methods assimilated during the training module. The materials used at the training will be published as a series of 8 guides. Training and certifying 10 RWCT Roma trainers. 10 future trainers will be selected out of the 50 trained teachers. The 10 selected teachers will benefit of a training of trainers programme and will be trained for RWCT certifying. The trainers will deliver 40 hours of training for 80 Roma teachers. After the certifying the RWCT Roma trainers will be invited to become members of the RWCT Association, Romania. Including some specific elements of the RWCT training programme within the initial training of the Roma teachers through the university courses of CREDIS. Including the RWCT training programme in the offer of at least 10 Teacher Training Houses as well as in the offer of other initial or continuous training institutions for teachers. Disseminating the results of the project through a final conference.
7. Duration of the project:	18 months (November 2005 – May 2007)
8. Main results:	Professionalisation of a total of at least 239 Roma teachers (40 benefited from 80 hours of direct training by the project team, out of whom 25 have been trained as trainers; and 199 new Roma and non Roma teachers have been provided 80 hours of training by the project-trained Roma teacher trainers); As a short term result, all final reports of the Roma teachers, revealed the increased participation and interest of the Roma children in the learning process, as a consequence of using the ”Critical thinking. Active learning” programme (promoting RWCT methods). Subsequently, as a medium and long term result, the Roma students’ average school grades will be increased by at least 1 point on a scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is the lowest, and 10 is the highest grade), as a result of the teachers’ revised approach to teaching; At the moment 20 Roma teachers became members of the Romanian RWCT Association; 250 copies of each of the 8 RWCT teachers’ guidebooks were elaborated, published and distributed to the 239 Roma and non Roma teachers involved in the project; The County Teacher Training Houses showed a great openness and support towards the project (influenced by the Phare Education Project for Disadvantaged groups); Great interest of the Roma teachers in learning and using the RWCT methods; Great interest of the new (second wave) teachers in learning and using the RWCT methods; Interest of the University “Babes Bolyai” Cluj in including the RWCT methods within the initial training for qualification of the Roma teachers and school mediators; Good cooperation between the implementing partners (RCRC, RWCT, CREDIS) in elaboration of the implementation plan, launching the project, selection of the candidates, professional development process of the Roma teachers;
9. Total budget and sources of funding:	82,344 Euro; Roma Education Fund Budapest
10. Assessment of effectiveness:	- 10 Roma educational trainers who will successfully be involved in different educational activities; - the Roma teachers increased their self esteem, had the opportunity to bring and share new cooperative, participatory teaching methods in school and community; - an improved relationship between the Roma teachers and their colleagues in school; - professionalisation of a total of at least 239 Roma teachers; - increased participation and motivation of Roma children in the learning process; - a more friendly, more student-centred learning environment in classrooms; - formal collaboration partnership with 8 Teacher Training Centres that supported the Roma teacher trainers to deliver their 89 training hours of RWCT package. Accreditation of the Critical Thinking. Active Learning in-service teacher training programme was extended to the Teacher Training Houses where there are Roma teacher trainers prepared in the project (Olt, Dolj, Maramures, Salaj, Harghita, Ialomita, Botosani), and to the CCDs of Sibiu, Satu Mare, Cluj, Dambovita, Valcea counties.
11. Sustainability:	The Empowering Roma Teachers programme is continuing with the project “Roma Teachers – a key for quality educations for Roma children” (2007 – 2009) – complex professional development for Roma teachers in order to: a. support and further 11 Roma teacher trainers’ professional development by engaging them in the training of 2 groups (40 people) of Romani language teachers, Roma and non-Roma ethnic educators (who will participate in 89 hours of teacher training to be delivered in 4 modules, covering topics such as: a constructivist framework for learning; reading and writing for critical thinking; cooperative learning; reading workshop; writing workshop; lesson planning and authentic evaluation) b. provide tutoring to 100 Roma children who need to improve their basic literacy skills (reading and writing) using 20 Roma teachers trained especially for this purpose; c. to develop a set of 5 titles of children’s books (graded difficulty) which will act as “mirror” and “window” (for Roma children to recognize their culture mirrored in it, and for non-Roma children to get to know Romani culture) and for which the project will train 20 Romani teachers. Financed by FNASAT France – Programme Roms & Voyageurs with 62,325 Euro. Moreover, 10 out of the 11 selected Roma teacher trainers have been accredited as educational trainers by the Ministry of Education and Research, subsequently they can deliver paid trainings for the Teacher Training Houses and other companies/organisations.
12. Difficulties and reasons of insuccess (if any):	When make the selection of direct beneficiaries to take into account a percentage (5 – 10%) of drop outs. At the beginning of the project to sign a participation contract with each selected candidate.
13. Transferability:	Best practices identified or developed by the project: - accredited course for Teacher Training Houses the (the teachers who attended at least 60 training hours will receive 25 credits out of 90 credits that every teacher has to gather every each 5 years in the process of continuous professional development); - the creation of a group of Roma teacher trainers; - partnership between 8 Teacher Training Centres that supported the Roma teacher trainers to deliver their 89 training hours of RWCT package. - the inclusion of the “Critical thinking. Active learning” – RWCT methods in the in-service curricula of the Roma institutors and school mediators at “Babes-Bolyai” University. All these best practices could be transferred to other settings. The best way could be done by involving the newly prepared Roma teacher trainers in peer visits and peer learning activities, EU programmes and dissemination events – demonstrative lessons. This project was the most consistent teacher training project targeting Roma teachers in the 2005-2007 academic years. Many of the teachers and trainers participating in the project have meanwhile become school inspectors for the Roma (Harghita, Ialomita and Vrancea counties), and some of the direct beneficiaries have already been included in the teacher trainers’ team in the PHARE Access to Education for Disadvantaged Groups project (Tulcea, Salaj and Vrancea counties).

SPAIN

The Multiregional Operational Programme - Fight Against Discrimination - ACCEDER

Organisations involved in the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

Initiating group/ Implementing organisation	Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) It is a national wide programme with implementation in 46 cities around Spain. Headquarters: c/Ahijones s/n. Madrid 28018. Spain. Tlno. 00 34 91 422 09 60 Fax. [phone] www.gitanos.org Contact person: Belén Sánchez-Rubio. Employment Co-ordinator [e-mail]
Profile of Partners	The FSG is a Spanish NGO working at national level. Headquarters are in Madrid.