Optimism despite disappointment: Irish traveller parents’ reports of their own school experiences and their views on education

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of Irish Traveller parents’ experiences of their own schooling, and their views on education. An indigenous minority ethnic group, Irish Travellers, historically and contemporaneously, have experienced disadvantage and exclusion in many domains, including education, health, housing, and employment. Traveller parents' own educational experiences may affect their expectations for their children's education. Drawing on interpretivism and critical theory, we sought in this study, the only major study undertaken about Traveller preschools in Ireland, to give voice to Irish Travellers, whose views on education are rarely heard. Focus group (n = 6) and individual (n = 6) interviews were held with 36 Traveller women and men. Three main themes emerged: the importance of Traveller identity and culture, Travellers’ pride therein, and their awareness of others’ low valuation of it; the hurt and disappointment Travellers feel when they recall the negativity of their own schooling experiences of unchallenging pedagogy, curricular alienation, racist name-calling, and cultural misrecognition; and the positive value that they place on education for their children. Despite being deeply disappointed by their own negative schooling experiences, and by aspects of their children's schooling, they reported considerable optimism regarding the possibilities offered by education for their own children.