Abstract
Teachers are fundamental actors in education; without their contribution even the most progressive pedagogical ideas fail. However, few studies address how their individual biographies, community belonging, and intersectional identities impact their pedagogical views and practices. Furthermore, while the Roma are the target of numerous social and pedagogical initiatives, they are rarely considered as actors who shape education. Through an analysis of ten ethnographic interviews with self-identified Roma teachers embedded in two local educational settings, this paper scrutinizes the potential and challenges associated with the presence of qualified Roma teachers in rural Hungarian schools. Interviewees demonstrated a high level of commitment to ‘leading by example,’ and this was embedded in their relations with students and parents. Most teachers also believed that, besides professional expertise, shared ethnicity provided them with a specific opportunity to build trust, express empathy, implement curricula, and incorporate locally and culturally relevant knowledge. However, while professionalism and ethnicity often complemented each other, difficulties also arose due to the differing expectations and heterogeneity of local Roma communities. The findings suggest that Roma teachers may bring valuable resources for education through mobilizing their personal experiences and social and cultural sensitivity, but tapping these resources is limited by structural and contextual constraints.
Highlights
Minorities in the teaching profession have been the focus of much public, policy, and scholarly attention since the 1980s in the United States and European multicultural societies (Villegas and Irvine, 2010)
Several teachers reported that being recognized as a Roma teacher made it easier for them to get closer to Roma students, and they could turn this into a pedagogical asset, such as increasing motivation, developing skills, discipline, or by creating a friendly learning environment
This small-scale explorative study has extended the literature on minority teachers by examining the professional identities, roles, and experiences of ten Hungarian Roma teachers embedded in local contexts
Summary
Minorities in the teaching profession have been the focus of much public, policy, and scholarly attention since the 1980s in the United States and European multicultural societies (Villegas and Irvine, 2010). Subsequent policy measures targeted the recruitment of minority youth for teacher training, underpinned by the goal of creating teaching bodies whose demographic composition resembles, at least to some extent, that of student communities This was believed to help narrow the socalled ethnic/racial ‘achievement gap’ and foster the inclusion of minority students (Villegas et al, 2012; Donlevy et al, 2015). Reflection on this topic is important for teaching candidates and staff and the general public as well This inquiry takes the first steps towards engaging with the potential and challenges related to the presence of qualified Roma teachers in Hungarian public schools through an analysis of ten interviews with self-identified Roma teachers working in two rural educational settings. Concluding thoughts point to further implications of the findings
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