Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal

Abstract

Roma communities are a disadvantaged minority in Europe which is particularly underrepresented in social and educational research. This study aimed to investigate the predictors of Roma mothers’ educational aspirations for their children in the Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal. Participants included 461 mothers with a Roma background (135 from the Czech Republic, 130 from Greece, and 196 from Portugal), with a child between 3 to 6 (n = 181) or 9 to 12 (n = 280) years old. Data were based on mothers’ reports, obtained during a structured in-person interview. Material deprivation (microsystem level), frequency and quality of interactions with non-Roma parents, as well as the quality of parent-teacher interactions (mesosystem level), predicted Roma mothers’ educational aspirations. Findings suggest that, in addition to microsystemic variables such as material deprivation, mesosystemic predictors such as those examining contact with non-Roma parents may play an important role in shaping Roma mothers’ educational aspirations and need to be further examined.

The attitudes of parents of typically developing students towards including students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms in the United Arab Emirates

“…A study of Roma communities in Czechia, Greece and Portugal interviewed 461 parents of typically developing children from three to 12 years old, all studying in mainstream classes, concerning the education of children with disabilities, with a particular focus on the implementation of inclusive educational programmes. Parents were found to hold positive to neutral attitudes towards inclusive education on the basis that a child with special educational needs and disabilities (SENDs) can cope with the requirements of the school (Obrovská et al, 2023). Furthermore, the more frequent a parent's contact with individuals with special needs, the less their concern regarding their child's inclusion (Kim, 2022; Naznin et al, 2023).…”