Conflicting value systems: Gypsy females and the home‐school interface

Abstract

Drawing on data from a three‐year ethnographic study of Gypsy life in England, this article explores the experience and attitudes of Gypsy women regarding the home‐school interface. Specific attention is given to the following: role expectations in the different contexts; changing perceptions of role in the face of economic and social change; the contradictions and tensions arising from the process of schooling; and the identity dilemmas experienced by those young women who remain in the educational system. The findings suggest that, at the individual level, for many young Gypsy women, the different demands of home and school can lead to feelings of cultural dislocation and anxiety. At a group level, the widening of aspirations constitutes a challenge to structural patterns and traditional value systems that have underpinned both family and communal life.