We still know remarkably little about the work of the teachers of Traveller children. Yet they help families gain access to schooling from preschool on, they work with class teachers to include traveller pupils, they develop appropriate books and resources and in their support of mobile pupils they are leaders in the application of the latest technology. This book describes what these teachers do and how they do it. Each chapter deals with a vital element of the work of TESS heads of service and teachers. They discuss legislation and Traveller sites, governemtn and local authorities, working with families, working in the schools and thier innovative educational practice in literaccy and technology to support mobile pupils.

This translation of the proceedings of the international conference organised by the Centre for Gypsy Research & held in Carcassonne in 1989 provides a vivid picture of action research into the education of Gypsy & Traveller children in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain & the UK.

Traveller, Nomadic and Migrant Education presents international accounts of approaches to educating mobile communities such as circus and fairground people, herders, hunters, Roma and Travellers. The chapters focus on three key dimensions of educational change: the client group moving from school to school; those schools having their demographics changed and seeking to change the mobile learners; and these learners contributing to fundamental change to the nature of schooling. The book brings together decades of research into the challenges and opportunities presented by mobile learners interacting with educational systems predicated on fixed residence. It identifies several obstacles to those learners receiving an equitable education, including negative stereotypes and centuries-old prejudice. Yet the book also explores a number of educational innovations that bring mobility and schooling together, ranging from specialised literacy programs and distance and online education to mobile schools and specially trained teachers. These innovations allow us to think differently about how education can and should be, for mobile and non-mobile learners alike.

This book presents the findings from the first British national longitudinal study of Gypsy Traveller students in secondary schools. This unique phenomenological study, sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation, documents the educational experience of 44 Gypsy Travellers in secondary schools since 2000.

Over the last twenty-five years there has been an unprecedented expansion of opportunity for Traveller and Gypsy children to attend school. Educational outreach services have developed in parallel with an increased willingness on the part of parents to put their children into school. Cathy Kiddle has studied the effects of this expansion on the lives of the children. Having worked with Travellers and schools for over twenty years, she is well placed to consider the interactions between children, parents and schools. She examines particularly the parent/teacher relationship and the effect this has on the education of the children. The book looks at education in the context of several distinct travelling groups including Circus, Fairground and New Travellers. While recognising the importance of literacy for their children, many Gypsy Travellers fear that schooling will contribute to the disintegration of their culture, strongly based as it is on family education and supportive kinship networks. Teachers, on the other hand, may have stereotyped ideas of who Gypsies are, and may have their own expectations and demands of children in school. Cathy Kiddle examines the ways in which minority groups are forced to adapt to the changing society around them. She argues that education is important for Traveller children in that it enables them to develop into independent learners and, through this, independent people, able to speak for themselves, make considered choices and act as agents in their own lives. Essentially, her study is optimistic: if parents and teachers are prepared to understand and co-operate with each other, education will help to destroy the marginalisation of Traveller cultures, not the cultures themselves. The children will be able to give their communities a voice for themselves.

Traveller pupils are still the most underachieving ethnic and cultural minority group. The issues surrounding their low access, attainment and attendance in schools have been rehearsed but the reports and research have merely posed questions. This book identifies where good practice has been achieved and how, and describes examples of successful work with traveller pupils in and around the classroom. It draws on current professionalism and effectiveness in Traveller Education so that practitioners will be able to adapt proven approaches. The contributors examine education and education welfare fields across all sectors of statutory provision, and consider matters ranging from core access issues to the exciting possibilities of new technologies. This collection is aimed at those working with these minority ethnic communities as providers, trainers or in related professional fields.