Knowledge about Roma and Travellers in Nordic Schools : Paradoxes, Constraints, and Possibilities

Roma and Travellers are national minorities in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. To tackle the inequalities these national minorities face in schools, policies and practices that promote the provision of knowledge about Roma and Travellers for the school communities have been implemented. This chapter sets out to investigate the ways in which 18 interviewees—who identify themselves as Roma or Travellers and who work to promote the basic education of these groups—make sense of the measure. The analysis, which draws from feminist post-structural theories in education, suggests that with the knowledge they are providing the interviewees are reacting to forms of racialisation of Roma and Travellers in schools. In addition, the interviewees are challenging dominant narratives of the nations by discussing the relationship between Roma/Travellers and the nation-state. It is argued in the chapter, however, that the underlying assumption in the policy measure is that non-Roma and non-Travellers are not accountable for the racialisation of Roma and Travellers in schools and societies, or for changing the current racialising discourses. This chapter demonstrates that school communities and policymakers should actively analyse power relations within institutions and the narratives that are provided about the nations.Peer reviewe

Viattomuus, etuoikeus ja vastuu : valtasuhteet kansallisten romanivähemmistöjen peruskoulutusta koskevissa toimintapolitiikoissa ja käytännöissä

This dissertation focuses on policies and practices promoting the basic education of Roma and Traveller national minorities in Finland, Sweden and Norway. The study analyses the power relations inherent in the current policies and practices. The interest lies especially in the subjectivities enabled and constrained by the relations of power in the promotion of basic education of Roma and Traveller national minorities. The study stems from the notion that the power relations and subjectivities are produced by travelling discourses which result from the interplay between national and international policy processes. The study consists of three publications and a summary. Each publication perceives the questions of power relations and subjectivities from their unique perspective. The study is positioned in the intersections between several disciplines, such as education, sociology, feminist studies, studies on ethnic relations and minority research. Theoretically, the study draws from feminist theories, poststructuralism and critical theories on race and whiteness. The transnational and translocal data of the study includes a) policy documents about Roma, Travellers and basic education (N=8) from Finland, Sweden and Norway, and b) interviews with 24 research participants who are implementing the policy measures. The interviews with five of the research participants from the Finnish data are ethnographic, including participant observations for one to four days. The study identifies three problem representations from the policy documents: 1. “Special needs of Roma pupils”; 2. “Roma families” and 3. “National minority cultures at school” making the Roma and Travellers the focus of attention rather than the school institutions, structural discrimination or racism. One of the practices the policy documents promote is “Roma mediators”, whose work is validated by these problem representations. The analysis shows that the work of the Roma mediators is constrained by the current power relations since, in order to do their work, Roma mediators need to negotiate with the discourse of tolerance which submits individuals to relations of power where some are the potential tolerating actors and others may become tolerated. Roma mediators are perceived as representatives of all the Roma, assumed to work against biases with their own presence. The responsibility for change is placed on the shoulders of the Roma mediators. Another policy measure that is closely scrutinised in this research is the measure of providing knowledge about Roma and Travellers in schools. This research shows that the actors who identify as Roma or Travellers use knowledge about the groups to react to racialization of Roma and Travellers in schools and to challenge the silence about the Roma and Travellers in the nation states. The analysis highlights that the notion of providing knowledge involves the premise that the responsibility for change and transformation is on the Roma. It is argued that the current policies and practices focus on Roma and Travellers and their actions in manifold and persistent ways, enabling the subjectivity of innocence for other than Roma and Travellers. The analysis suggests that the subjectivities enabled for Roma and Travellers include being those responsible for change, for the current situation, and for being inadequate, whereas the subjectivities of innocence, not being responsible, being a helper, and a tolerating actor are enabled for others. Making the Roma and Travellers the focus of attention and enabling innocence and helper subjectivities for others reflects the asymmetrical power relations the current discourses subject individuals into. The study argues that Roma policies would benefit from a further analysis of the current power relations produced by the discourses in order to promote the equality of the Roma and Travellers in these societies.Tässä väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan toimintapolitiikkoja ja käytäntöjä, joita kohdistetaan kansallisten romanivähemmistöjen peruskoulutuksen edistämiseen Suomessa, Ruotsissa ja Norjassa. Tutkimuksessa analysoidaan toimintapolitiikoissa ja käytännöissä rakentuvia valtasuhteita. Tutkimus on monitieteinen liikkuen kasvatustieteen, sosiologian, feministisen tutkimuksen ja vähemmistötutkimuksen risteymissä. Tutkimuksen aineistona on suomalaisia, ruotsalaisia ja norjalaisia politiikkadokumentteja, jotka koskevat romaneja ja peruskoulutusta. Lisäksi tutkimukseen on haastateltu henkilöitä, jotka toimeenpanevat kansallisia politiikkaohjelmia. Tutkimuksessa käy ilmi, että politiikkadokumenteissa peruskoulutukseen liittyvät ongelmat paikannetaan romaneihin sen sijaan, että ongelmaksi kuvattaisiin kouluinstituution rakenteellinen syrjintä tai rasismi. Dokumenteissa ja käytännöissä romanit myös asetetaan vastuuseen muutoksen tekemisestä. Yksi keskeinen politiikkadokumenteissa esitetty toimenpide koulutuksen yhdenvertaisuuden edistämiseksi on romanitaustaisten työntekijöiden palkkaaminen kouluun työskentelemään romanioppilaiden ja -perheiden sekä koulun henkilökunnan kanssa. Tutkimus osoittaa, että romanitaustaiset työntekijät nähdään kaikkien romanien edustajina, joiden oletetaan työskentelevän ennakkoluuloja vastaan. Tutkimuksessa osoitetaan myös, että romanitoimijat pyrkivät tietoa tarjoamalla haastamaan romanien rodullistamista koulussa sekä koulujen ja yhteiskunnan laajaa vaikenemista romaneista osana kansallisvaltioita. Analyysi osoittaa, että käytäntönä myös tiedon tarjoaminen romaneista sisältää lähtökohdan, jossa vastuu muutoksesta on romaneilla. Tutkimuksen keskeinen johtopäätös on, että nykyiset toimintapolitiikat ja käytännöt keskittyvät ennen kaikkea romaneihin ja heidän toimintaansa, vaikka koulun käytännöissä on syrjiviä mekanismeja kuten rodullistavia käsityksiä romaneista. Tutkimus osoittaa, että rakenteellista keskustelua käydään vähän ja muut kuin romanit kuvataan viattomina auttajina. Keskittyminen romaneihin ja samanaikainen viattoman ja auttajan itseymmäryksen tarjoaminen muille kuvastaa tämän hetkistä epätasa-arvoa tutkituissa yhteiskunnissa. Tutkimuksessa väitetään, että nykyiset toimintapolitiikat ja käytännöt ovat yksinään riittämättömiä edistämään oikeudenmukaisuutta koulutuksessa

Economic Inequality and Health: Looking Beyond Aggregate Indicators

This paper examines the relationship between relative income inequality and health in Finland, using individual microdata over the period 1993-2005. Our data allows us to analyse a large spectrum of health indicators. Overall, our results suggest that income inequality is not associated with increased morbidity in the population. The results for women differ to quite a large extent from those of men and the pooled sample. There is evidence that an increase in the Gini coefficient is negatively related to the probability of good physical health and no disability retirement. For men, relative income inequality is clearly not important for health.Health, health behaviour, economic inequality, relative income inequality, relative deprivation, Gini coefficient

Tarinoita Suomen romanien koulutuksesta

Regardless of the good reputation of the Finnish basic education system, Finnish Roma children fall behind the overall average in their performance of academic skills: Roma children face more challenges completing basic education and have more repeated school years. Furthermore, compared to the average, Roma youth apply less for upper secondary education and thus their general level of education remains low. However, looking at Roma education solely through problematic representations only provides a partial picture. In this article, based on two separate sets of fieldwork among Finnish Kaale Roma, we examine how teachers, Roma activists and mediators perceive the educational trajectories of Finnish Roma children and youth. The article seeks to scrutinize Finnish Roma schooling within the framework of the Finnish National Policy on Roma (NRIS). The analysis highlights the multiplicity of voices in the field, discusses the possibilities, and thus problematizes the single-aspect discourse on Roma education. Many countries in Central and Eastern Europe struggle with school and residential segregation, but Finnish Roma face different challenges.Regardless of the good reputation of the Finnish basic education system, Finnish Roma children fall behind the overall average in their performance of academic skills: Roma children face more challenges completing basic education and have more repeated school years. Furthermore, compared to the average, Roma youth apply less for upper secondary education and thus their general level of education remains low. However, looking at Roma education solely through problematic representations only provides a partial picture. In this article, based on two separate sets of fieldwork among Finnish Kaale Roma, we examine how teachers, Roma activists and mediators perceive the educational trajectories of Finnish Roma children and youth. The article seeks to scrutinize Finnish Roma schooling within the framework of the Finnish National Policy on Roma (NRIS). The analysis highlights the multiplicity of voices in the field, discusses the possibilities, and thus problematizes the single-aspect discourse on Roma education. Many countries in Central and Eastern Europe struggle with school and residential segregation, but Finnish Roma face different challenges.Peer reviewe

Becoming tolerable : Subject constitution of Roma mediators in Finnish schools

Although Finnish politics relating to the Roma tend to be perceived internationally as fairly successful, several obstacles exist for the Roma in education and the labour market. Training of Roma mediators has been actively promoted in Finland to improve the school performance and equality of Roma pupils. This article, based on ethnographic research, focuses on exploring how the current discursive terrain around the topics of tolerance and prejudice functions in the everyday work of mediators. It is argued that the present discourses in school expose the mediators to unequal power relations of tolerance. The terms for being tolerated are set by the potential tolerating actors, the school community. The mediators aim to supply knowledge about the Roma and try to address prejudices as representatives of the Roma. The study identified three different strategies that the mediators used when encountering prejudice: making sure one does not seem too different, parody and feigning naivety. The analysis suggests that the present discursive terrain creates obstacles to addressing inequalities, discrimination and racism in educational contexts. The responsibility for tackling discrimination is placed on the shoulders of individual Roma - not the whole school community.Peer reviewe

The curriculum as a controversial issue : Negotiations about the position of the Norwegian Romani in school and society

National curriculum and teaching materials play a significant role in how students discuss and learn to understand issues which are controversial in society. However, the ways curriculum content aims to answer to rapidly changing political landscapes also influence the phenomena that the curriculum aims to unpack. In this article, we analyse one such phenomenon. Our aim is to investigate how the curriculum content about the Romani people in Norway has been used in the ongoing negotiation of the group’s position in Norwegian education and society. In the Green Paper NOU 2015: 7 Assimi­lation and Resistance – Norwegian policies towards Tater/Romani people from 1850 to the present, it is suggested that the curriculum should include more knowledge about Romani. In this article, we analyse the consultation process that was initiated after the publication of the Green Paper. We focus on how the submissions by individuals and institutions are discussing the curriculum content concerning the Romani. Our analysis illuminates how a specific curriculum content can have effects and play a part in on­going issues outside of the school context. We have focused on reading the positions on the curriculum in light of the contexts of historical justice for the Romani, and of multi­culturalism in education. The analysis illustrates that, how controversial societal issues are handled in the curriculum, can impact societal processes outside of the classroom.Peer reviewe

Does a Slump Really Make You Thinner? Finnish Micro-level Evidence 1978-2002

This paper explores the relationship between obesity and economic conditions in Finland, using individual microdata from 1978 to 2002. The results reveal that an improvement in regional economic conditions measured by the employment-to-population ratio produces a decrease in obesity over the period of investigation, other things being equal. This effect arises from the decline in the height-adjusted weight of people who are deeply overweight, (BMI>35). In addition, the effect is strongest for the people in later middle age (aged 45-65). The incidence of obesity is unrelated to the regional growth rate. All in all, the Finnish evidence presented does not support the conclusions reported for the USA, according to which temporary economic slowdowns are good for health. In contrast, at least overweight increases during slumps.overweight, business cycles, health

Equality in the making? : Roma and Traveller Minority Policies and Basic Education in Three Nordic Countries

The article examines policies intended to promote the basic education of Roma and Traveller minorities in Finland, Sweden, and Norway by analysing key national Roma and Traveller policy (n = 5) and education policy documents (n = 3). Analysis shows how the Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian Roma policies translate the general policy aims of improving the social positioning of people identifying as Roma consistently into policy measures responding to the special needs of Roma pupils. These policy measures are validated by problem representations regarding Roma parents and families. All the policies also problematise the relationship between Roma and Traveller cultures and schools. It is argued that the focuses of the current policy measures constrain opportunities for a change in terms of equality.Peer reviewe

Students negotiating the borders between general and special education classes : an ethnographic and participatory research study

Although Finnish basic education is based on inclusion, 37% of students receiving special support still study in either separate schools or separate classes in comprehensive schools. In this study we explore how policies of inclusion are implemented in a school with separated special educational needs (SEN) and general education (GE) classes. More specifically we conducted a two-year ethnographic study focusing particularly on exclusion and the sense of belonging in a lower secondary school (students aged 13–16) in the capital region of Finland. During the fieldwork, several students attending the SEN-class expressed an interest in changing from the SEN-class to a GE-class, or in breaking the borders between SEN and GE classes in other ways. As part of the negotiations with the school, students who criticised the GE- and SEN-class division were offered an opportunity to transfer to GE-classes but in the end, all of them wanted to stay in the SEN-class. In this investigation, we focus on the students’ reasoning and the teachers’ reactions when students negotiate the borders between SEN and GE-classes. In this study we found a clash between integration and inclusive thinking.Although Finnish basic education is based on inclusion, 37% of students receiving special support still study in either separate schools or separate classes in comprehensive schools. In this study we explore how policies of inclusion are implemented in a school with separated special educational needs (SEN) and general education (GE) classes. More specifically we conducted a two-year ethnographic study focusing particularly on exclusion and the sense of belonging in a lower secondary school (students aged 13–16) in the capital region of Finland. During the fieldwork, several students attending the SEN-class expressed an interest in changing from the SEN-class to a GE-class, or in breaking the borders between SEN and GE classes in other ways. As part of the negotiations with the school, students who criticised the GE- and SEN-class division were offered an opportunity to transfer to GE-classes but in the end, all of them wanted to stay in the SEN-class. In this investigation, we focus on the students’ reasoning and the teachers’ reactions when students negotiate the borders between SEN and GE-classes. In this study we found a clash between integration and inclusive thinking.Peer reviewe