Decolonising Literacy Practices for an Inclusive and Sustainable Model of Literacy Education

Despite efforts on the part of institutions, professionals and social agents, the Roma population in Europe still lacks equal access to education. Difficulties in literacy development are at the root of this: Roma learners present lower literacy rates than non-Roma learners and learners in non-segregated schools, preventing them from transitioning to secondary education. This article presents the results of ethnographic research with a group of Roma primary learners in Southern Spain. The aim was to analyse the contexts, interactional spaces, contents and practices of learners’ engagement with literacy in and outside the classroom. Data analysis was carried out using an adaptation of the continua model of biliteracy, useful for analysing literacy practices in contexts with different literacy cultures. Results show that communicative practices that challenged skills-based literacy models helped activate learners’ literacy reservoirs, enhancing their literacy engagement and allowing them to renegotiate their position as Roma learners in a non-Roma institution and as text creators in the classroom. Conclusions point to the need to decolonise classroom practice by identifying learners’ literacy reservoirs and ways to activate these, contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable model of literacy education consistent with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal for quality education.

Segregation, Caste and Cash: Segrenomics in Detroit

Though in other countries caste is generally understood to name social stratification based on ethnic and/or religious affiliation, in the United States, racial and economic segregation in housing and education are the factors that trap one to the lower rungs of the social system in that nation. Significantly, these caste making levels of segregation are “cash making” for wealthy business concerns. In my earlier work, I have referred to this profit from segregation as, “segrenomics.” In this piece, I offer an example of the mechanics of these relationships relative to segregated schools, caste, and cash making in the city of Detroit, Michigan.

An evolving conception of discrimination in Europe

CESAA 19th ANNUAL EUROPE ESSAY COMPETITION 2011 - Postgraduate winner: Simone Abel (University of New South Wales)In 2007, the European Court of Human Rights’ Grand Chamber handed down its judgment in DH and Others v Czech Republic. The case arose out of the disproportionately high number of Roma children assigned places in segregated schools for children with intellectual disabilities in the Czech Republic. It was alleged that this practice discriminated against Roma children who had normal, or even above normal, intelligence levels. The applicants claimed that they had been discriminated against in the enjoyment of their right to education on account of their race or ethnic origin TheCourt made a finding of indirect discrimination against the Czech government. Commentators have hailed this as a landmark judgment that expands the conception of discrimination under the European Convention on Human Rights. This paper will discuss how this finding differs from the First Chamber’s judgment and other ECHR caselaw to alter the conception of discrimination under the European Convention on Human Rights.