Creation and implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate didactic materials for Romani children and

their parents

Project: The increase in social and cultural capital in areas with a Roma population

(Project website: www.khetanes.si)

• Project Coordinator: Institute for Ethnic Studies

• Consortium Partners: Educational Research Institute, Geodetic Institute of Slovenia, Roma Academic Club, Association for Developing Voluntary Work Novo mesto, Elementary School Leskovec pri Krškem – Kindergarten, Center for Social Work Trebnje

• Funding: The European Union through the European Social Fund and Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport

• Duration of the project: July 2010 – August 2013

The aim of the project

• The primary aim of the project was to create conditions that would allow the members of the Romani community to escape the vicious circle of social exclusion.

• This circle could only be broken by adequate investments in social and cultural capital in the environments, populated by the members of the respective community.

• The project highlighted education as the most efficient way out. • Its objectives were to increase the level of education of the Romani

community members and to raise awareness about the significance of education as the fundamental factor in the progress of the community.

DRCPI Step by Step at ERI: Educational activities for Romani pre-school children and their families

12 kindergartens and 7 primary schools from different parts of Slovenia were included in pre-school education project activities:

•Advocacy, informing and awareness raising activities in professional circles and the general public about the importance of knowledge and education for raising the social and cultural capital of Romani community members and to break the circle of social exclusion and about the social justice in education;•Development and implementation of different forms of educational work for pre-school children and their families, as well as for children who are about to start school and their families: introduction and animation days in kindergartens and schools, kindergarten activities for children who do not attend kindergartens and their families, creation and implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate didactic materials, learning second language and bilingualism in kindergarten;•Programs for empowering Romani families with regard to childcare and encouraging child development.

Advantages

• The number of Romani children enrolled increased into pre-school education.• Children`s and parents` confidence in the kindergarten and their personnel

was established.• The participants appreciated the access to professional didactic materials and

handbooks: trilingual picture books with handbooks for practitioners, trilingual picture dictionaries, grammar of Prekmurian Romani language, materials for empowerment of Romani families.

• They received professional support for and monitoring of their work: they enjoyed the opportunity for getting feedback, being evaluated and participating in team work.

• They received numerous high quality trainings.• They had the opportunity for individual work with Romani children and their

families.• They contributed to decreasing the number of stereotypes and prejudices.

Difficulties

• Too much bureaucracy and documentation (required by funders of the project).

• Facing the spatial and time challenges.• Conflicts with other kindergarten personnel (prejudices, non-

acceptance of diversity, verbal assault).• A lack of interest of Romani parents.• Low participation of Romani parents in prepared activities, language

barriers, non-understanding and demanding intensity of the project.

Project in numbers

• Number of children involved in project activities: 1233• Number of parents involved in project activities: 554• Number of implemented activities in preschools and primary schools:

349• Number of trainings: 47• Number of all staff (preschool and primary school teachers, Roma

assistants) included in trainings: 177• Number of monitorings conducted: 155• Number of publications published: 26• Established REYN Slovenia

Culturally and linguistically appropriate didactic materials

• With regard to language learning, parents, preschool teachers and teachers encounter the problem of lack of suitable learning materials that would give young children experience in their mother tongue and the language children encounter when starting formal education.

• There is also a shortage of material reflecting children's actual experience and their everyday life in the Romani family or settlement. Children thus encounter visual materials that present only the majority culture.

• The aim of this activity was to promote pre-reading skills in the children's mother tongue and the introduction of the second language in the preschool and the home environment.

Reflection question: What would you consider as culturally and linguistically appropriate didactic

materials?

Trilingual picture books

• ISSA has created three Activity Kits to accompany selected groups of Reading Corner books.

• Each Activity Kit includes the following: Adult manual – Opening Magic Doors: Reading and Learning Together with Children for Different Age Group + 4 children’s story books.

• 3 age groups: 2-3, 4-5, 6-8• We translated all 12 story books to Slovenian language, Romani

dialect from Prekmurje region and Romani dialect from Dolenjska region + Adult manuals to Slovenian language.

• We also left a blank space in each story book in order to encourage teachers and parents to translate the story in any of child’s mother tongue.

Trilingual picture dictionaries• Development of trilingual picture dictionaries was based on trilingual

picture books.• Equipped with transcription in Slovene and two of the most common

dialects of Romani language in Slovenia: the Prekmurje Romani and Dolenjska Romani dialect.

• A possibility of entering its own language, that is the closest to the child, was also given in these dictionaries.

• This enabled yet accessibility to the same material to the other children living in Slovenia, whose mother tongue is not Slovenian.

• Romani children drowned pictures, used in the dictionaries.• For age groups from 2 to 3, from 4 to 5 and from 6 to 8 years.

Amari čhib/Our language – Grammar of Prekmurian Romani Language

•It contains chapters of sociolinguistics, phonetics, morphology and syntax.•It is intended for educational professionals working with Romani children and those who would like to acquire some basic linguistic features of Prekmurian Romani language.

Group work

Based on the given situation form a short culturally and linguistically suitable story for

Romani children and their parents, containing the given keywords:

Sandra is growing up in the Roma settlement with no access to electricity and water together with her parents and three

siblings. The house, where she lives, has only two rooms. Romani is the only language spoken in the family. As the

youngest she still does not attend the preschool.

Keywords: river, candle, nature, smile, music and dance

Implementation of multilingual didactic materials in the educational process

• Practitioners faced different situations: children whose mother tongue is Romani + children who grow up in a multilingual environment, but for various reasons do not use Romani for communication

• Findings:1) children felt uncomfortable when reading in Romani; parents do not

see sense in bringing elements of Romani culture and language in preschool

2) children who poorly understood Slovenian, showed particularly enthusiasm for reading the story in Romani, since it is rarely encountered in preschools

3) parents were impressed about the fact that it is possible to write and read in Romani

From a project worker's report

„A Roma mother was encouraged to read out loud a book in Romani. She was encouraged by the other parents, who expressed particular satisfaction at her performance […] The children were interested to hear something read in Romani. They were happy to hear a story in their own language. The girl whose mother read the story showed

particular pride.“

„Both parents and children were happy, since we still have pre-school children who do not understand Slovene and know only their mother tongue (Romani). At the end, they praised us and gave us a round of

applause… and asked for more similar stories.“