The role of teachers’ views and attitudes in the academic achievement of Roma students

Abstract

Purpose Inclusive education of Roma students is a priority goal of the European Union. However, synthesising analyses reveal precious little progress scored in this area. This study aims to explore the factors that have affect Roma students’ academic achievement, specifically, whether the views of their teachers have an impact on the performance besides individual and family background factors. Design/methodology/approach A large-sample questionnaire-based research study was conducted in the 2019/2020 academic year involving 4,674 seventh-grade students and 2,656 teachers from 194 Hungarian schools. On a self-admission basis, 374 of the students were Roma. Findings In the schools examined, the performance of Roma students is poorer, their commitment to learning is weaker, yet they have a higher opinion of their school and their teachers than their non-Roma peers. The involvement of majority students in extracurricular private tutoring, particularly foreign language learning, is greater. Roma students’ academic achievement is mainly affected by individual background factors, in particular by their school history. Originality/value The findings suggest that although the role of the school and pedagogical views is important, they are not predominant factors determining Roma students’ performance. The explanatory power of individual characteristics is stronger than that of school factors. The comparison between Roma and non-Roma students also shows that cooperation between different sectors (education, social and health) would be essential within and outside school in terms of home learning conditions, digital access and student well-being.

Roma Youth’s Perspective on an Inclusive Higher Education Community: A Hungarian Case Study

“…As a research tool, a life course interview was applied with structured questions covering the whole life course of the individual, focusing also on the components of the development of resilience. Resilience is understood (similarly to the above-cited research of Rayman and Varga [35], based on Masten's concepts) as the ability to resist difficulties when individuals overcome social disadvantages occurring in their lives and proceed successfully on their educational path. The factors of resilience were identified as the individuals' internal difficulties and personal strengths, as well as the barriers and supportive events and the people surrounding them.…”

“…This very low rate is also true for Hungary and it shows a huge gap compared to the non-Roma population. Research demonstrates that a large proportion of successful Roma individuals are characterized by a supportive family background as part of a strong community capital [28], with exemplary relatives [29,30], and the combined presence of ties to the majority society [31][32][33][34][35]. Research comparing Roma and non-Roma students found that Roma students are resilient because they rely on their teachers and community when facing obstacles [36].…”

Are equally competent Roma-minority students perceived as less smart than their non-Roma classmates? Ethnic differences in teachers’ ability attributions

“…The Roma constitute one of the largest ethnic minorities in Europe (O'Nions, 2016) and the largest one in Hungary. Similar to several other ethnic minority groups, Roma students lag behind majority students in terms of academic achievement and educational attainment (Fehérvári, 2023;FRA, 2018;Hajdu et al, 2018;Kertesi and Kézdi, 2011) and receive lower grades from their teachers than majority students, even if they have comparable standardised achievement scores (Kisfalusi et al, 2021).…”