Marginal groups in marginal times: Gypsy and Traveller parents and home education in England, <scp>UK</scp>

Bhopal, Kalwant; Myers, Martin

doi:10.1002/berj.3198

Cited by 27 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Whilst many Gypsy families have in the past home educated their children and taught them effectively the means of economic survival, there is clear evidence that many families believe new skills are required that are best accessed from outside the community (Bhopal et al 2000;Levinson 2014;). Furthermore there is evidence that some of the families least able to provide an education, (because of a combination of factors including; a lack of literacy and numeracy skills, being unemployed, or living in extreme poverty), resort to home education because of difficulty accessing schools (Bhopal and Myers 2016;D'arcy 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gypsy students in the UK: the impact of ‘mobility’ on education

Myers

2017

Race Ethnicity and Education

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This paper argues that Gypsy students in primary and secondary education in the UK are marginalised because of ambiguous understandings of their 'mobility'. Drawing on research conducted on the South coast of England it examines Gypsy families' experiences of education. Despite often describing their identity in relation to travelling or mobility, few families' lifestyles were characterized by actual movement or nomadism. Teachers and educationalists meanwhile cite the need to deliver a 'mobile' rather than a 'sedentary' education for Gypsy students. The Department for Communities and Local Government recently defined Gypsy ethnicity in direct relation to a nomadic lifestyle (DCLG 2015). This is problematic as the association between Gypsy ethnicity and nomadism is itself questionable and may be better understood in more nuanced terms reflecting the relationship between identity and 'mobility'. This paper argues that 'mobility' is understood to define Gypsy difference in a way that excludes students.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gypsy students in the UK: the impact of ‘mobility’ on education

Myers

2017

Race Ethnicity and Education

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“…The invocation of cultural capital opens up the issues of social class (Bourdieu, 1986), linking legitimacy of home education to institutionalized networks of recognition and "credit" (Bhopal & Myers, 2016;Myers & Bhopal, 2018). Sarah's words point to the significance of this capital as its capacity to override the stigma of Muslim home education.…”

Section: Drawing On Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Muslim Home Educators in the Time of Prevent

Pattison

2020

International Review of Qualitative Research

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Following the implementation of the Prevent strategy in the United Kingdom and the public linking of Muslim home education with radicalization, this research explores the perspectives of Muslim home educators. Using the concept of moral panics, this paper synthesizes work on Muslim identity with that of folk devil reactions to stigmatization. Data are drawn from three case study families via questionnaires and interviews and analyzed thematically within a symbolic interactionist framework, using an adaptation of Griffiths “folk devil reaction model” as an interpretative guide. Following an exploration of participants’ reflective self-appraisals, two categories of response are identified: retreat and resistance. Both of these are further subdivided, respectively, into reactions of blending in and withdrawing and reactions of drawing on resources and contestation. The paper argues that a legal and increasingly popular educational choice has been co-opted from being an individual family decision into a political narrative of danger, radicalization, and security implications. In a climate where prejudice about home education and Islam already abundantly exist, such a narrative may contribute to an increasingly intolerant society. Recognition of the situation of Muslim home educators may go some way toward tempering this.

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“…'Risks' that have been consistently identified with home educators include the potential for abuse and physical harm of children to go unnoticed because of inadequate monitoring by the state and parents who do not send their children to school avoiding prosecution by pretending to home educate (Bhopal and Myers 2016). Bhopal and Myers argue that often such risks are understood differently depending on the class and ethnicity of parents; so whilst white, middle-class parents are perceived as posing few risks to their children; Gypsy families who choose to home educate are identified as being likely to pose greater risks.…”

Section: Home Education In the Ukmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Khyra's mother denied social services access to the family home having informed them she was home educating. This high-profile tragedy led to calls for greater regulation of home education (Bhopal and Myers 2016). As a result the DCSF commissioned the Badman Review (2009) to investigate these concerns and the support local authorities were providing for home educating families.…”

Section: Home Education In the Ukmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the UK, there is little research which explores the reasons why minority ethnic families choose to home educate. Many Gypsies and Travellers home educate partly because their children experience racism and marginalisation in schools and partly because this has been an effective means of transferring economic skills (Bhopal and Myers 2016;D'Arcy 2014). The BBC (2016b) identified reasons given by Muslim parents for home education which included the standard of education their children receive and frustration with the introduction of the Prevent Strategy (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35823876).…”

Section: Home Education In the Ukmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Muslims, home education and risk in British society

Myers

Bhopal

2018

British Journal of Sociology of Education

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Muslims, home education and risk in British society The number of families who choose to home educate has significantly increased in the last decade (Winstanley, 2013). This article explores the experiences of British Muslims who home educate using data from a larger study exploring the views of a diverse range of families. Drawing on the work of Beck (1992) we discuss how 'risk' is understood in relation to Muslim home educators. For these families decisions to home educate were often made in response to identifying risks associated with their children attending school. At the same time OFSTED (2016) has identified 'risks' of radicalisation associated with the 'Trojan Horse' affair which they linked specifically to Muslim families' who home educate. We argue that Muslim families are both marginalised by the perception of 'risk' associated with radicalisation and also by their consequent decisions to home educate.

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Marginal groups in marginal times: Gypsy and Traveller parents and home education in England, UK

Cited by 27 publications

References 14 publications

Gypsy students in the UK: the impact of ‘mobility’ on education

Gypsy students in the UK: the impact of ‘mobility’ on education

Muslim Home Educators in the Time of Prevent

Muslims, home education and risk in British society

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