Roma Identity and Ritual in the Classroom: The Institutional Embeddedness of Ethnicity PDF
Preview Roma Identity and Ritual in the Classroom: The Institutional Embeddedness of Ethnicity
jana obrovská roma identity and ritual in the classroom Th e Institutional Embeddedness of Ethnicity Roma Identity and Ritual in the Classroom Jana Obrovská Roma Identity and Ritual in the Classroom The Institutional Embeddedness of Ethnicity Jana Obrovská Faculty of Education Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic ISBN 978-3-319-94513-2 ISBN 978-3-319-94514-9 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94514-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018952084 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and trans- mission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: © Gwengoat / Getty This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Acknowledgments This book would not have emerged without the project, Educational Strategies of Migrants and Ethnic Minority Youth (P404/12/1478), financed by the Czech Science Foundation. Thanks to its generous support, I could conduct my research study. However, it offered me much more than only financial support. I had the opportunity to cooperate on this project with my colleagues Lucie Jarkovská, Kateřina Lišková, and Adéla Souralová, who accompanied me along the ethnographic journey and the path toward publishing the results. Our common publications were a source of inspiration for several of my interpretational links in this book and also for the actualization of my own research. The reader will find several references to these publications throughout the book. The greatest thanks belong to these three colleagues. In addition, I am grateful to Associate Professor Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky for numerous consulta- tions on the proposal for this book and language proofreading. She has been an exceptional professional as well as a source of friendly support. Similarly, I extend great thanks to Jolana Navrátilová for prompt chapter translations of very high quality. I am also grateful for the comments, notes, and professional insights of everyone who has provided me with feedback. These include my doctoral colleagues and friends, especially Petr Kubala, for his very constructive ideas and comments at advanced stages of the text. Furthermore, I want to thank Martin Nový, Hana Porkertová, Dita Jahodová, Karina Hoření, Elaheh Mohammadi, and the v vi Acknowledgments others who discussed the problems as well as the dead-ends of my research (not only) during the Athos seminar at Masaryk University. Sincere thanks go out to my supervisor, Associate Professor Radim Marada, for individ- ual consultations and professional support during the writing process. Additionally, I thank Professor Pavel Barša for kind and constructive feedback within doctoral seminars, Associate Professor Csabo Szaló not only for his advice but also for his permanent smile, and all the anony- mous reviewers of my texts, especially those from the Czech Sociological Review. I am also very grateful to Veronika Štefečková for the preparation of my final text and help with indexing. Last but not least, I owe thanks for the financial support provided by a grant from the Faculty of Education at Masaryk University, through which I was able to pay the costs related to translation and proofreading. I would never have been able to realize this study without the kindness and generosity of my research participants. I am especially indebted to the school head for allowing me to conduct my research at the school and the teachers of classrooms 8A and 8B for the patience and willingness to have a curious observer in their classes. However, my biggest “thank you” goes to the students of the two classrooms, who were always friendly to me, spoke with me in a very open way, and shared their opinions, views, and experiences. Without them, my research would have never been possible. I am indebted to my sister for willingly having read the whole book. The greatest appreciation of all is directed at my partner Peťa, for more and less academic discussions, for analytical coaching, and sharing the common search for the sense of Everything. And also to my daughter Anička Alkmini, who would sleep so patiently while I was finishing this book. Contents 1 Roma Education in Post-socialist Classrooms: Between Segregation and Inclusion 1 2 Everyday Ethnicity and Ritual 27 3 T he Methodological Aspects of Educational Ethnography in Ethnically Diverse Classrooms 59 4 The World of the Town and the School: The Institutional Embeddedness of Ethnicity 83 5 E thnicity in Breaktime Interaction Rituals 101 6 E thnicity in Classtime Rituals 145 7 The Future of Roma Education in the Czech Republic: From Homogenization to Diversification? 171 I ndex 193 vii List of Figures Fig. 2.1 Characteristics and types of rituals/ritualizations in the school environment 51 Fig. 7.1 Relationships between rituals and the positions of ethnic minority boys in classes 8A and 8B 181 Fig. 7.2 Positions and inclusion strategies among Roma girls in classes 8A and 8B 181 Fig. 7.3 Gendered inclusion strategies and positions of Roma boys and girls in classes 8A and 8B 182 ix List of Tables Table 3.1 Overview of methods and data sources 69 Table 4.1 Overview and characteristics of basic schools in DiverCity 89 Table 5.1 Students in 8A 102 Table 5.2 Students in 8B 102 xi 1 Roma Education in Post-socialist Classrooms: Between Segregation and Inclusion In the fall of 2017, Czech social networks circulated an image of first- grade students from the basic school Plynárenská, in which an ethnically mixed classroom was pictured, with children from the Czech majority, as well as students (presumably) of Vietnamese, Arabic, and Roma back- grounds. Many people commented on the photo, one of them indirectly suggesting that those children should be sent “to gas,” because “at least they are from BS Plynárenská [Gasworks Street]. The solution is at hand.” (Golis 2017) The author of this statement later said to defend himself: “This really has been taken out of context. I am no (big) racist.” A woman in another comment chastised majority parents for sending their children to the same classroom with minority children. Media cases like this are not at all rare in the Czech context—news articles and documentaries about the Roma often spur hateful and heated debates, in which the Roma are labeled as “parasites” or “shirkers.” The above-mentioned exam- ple is symptomatic, because the author of a strongly racist comment defends himself saying that he is no “big” racist. This commenter thus personifies the discourse of ethnic intolerance that has become wide- spread and legitimized, especially in relation to the Roma. What the authors of similar comments cannot stand is ethnic diversity, which they © The Author(s) 2018 1 J. Obrovská, Roma Identity and Ritual in the Classroom, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94514-9_1
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