Critical perspectives on education research, initiatives and interventions

A Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015: Critical perspectives on education research, initiatives and interventions

The Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005-2015) can be understood as a joint effort of European governments and international organizations to fight exclusion and marginalization of Roma communities. Based on coordination efforts and financial support that has been institutionalized through the establishment of the Decade Secretariat, the Decade Trust Fund and the Roma Education Fund, the Decade has been the core reference and baseline framework for a multitude of research activities, initiatives and interventions with education being a key priority.

The Decade has contributed to the internationalization of Roma education discourse and triggered large-scale fundraising possibilities for education. Nevertheless, only little change has been observed at the local level and many Roma communities seem not to have benefited from this international endeavor.

Coming close to the end of the Decade and being at a point where next steps are being discussed but have not yet been decided, this special issue attempts to look at the last ten years of Roma inclusion in the field of education. It welcomes papers that critically look at education research, initiatives and interventions. Researchers who intend to publish in this special issue might for example:

• analyze the tremendous amount of scientific research that has been published in the last ten years;
• scrutinize large-scale applied research / intervention projects (e.g. INCLUD-ED, EduMigRom, EduRom, RomaMatrix, QUALIROM and others) that have been implemented over the last ten years; or
• examine educational activities/projects/political initiatives related to or facilitated through the Decade of Roma Inclusion.

Interested researchers might also investigate unintended effects of international education policy, question how international education initiatives have been ignored, re-framed or even misused at the local level and/or compare different contextualizations of education research, initiatives and interventions. Studies that try to understand underlying and possibly conflicting understandings of social justice, equality of opportunity and/or affirmative action are also welcome.

Each paper should contextualize the field of inquiry with a look back covering part or all of the period 2005–2015. We kindly ask those who do not speak English as a family language to have their paper edited for language prior to submission if necessary.

The call is a continuation of a discussion that started at the 2014 conference of the Comparative Education Society in Europe with the panel “Governing Roma Education: International Initiatives and National Idiosyncrasies” and follows a panel at the 2015 conference of the Comparative and International Education Society entitled “A Decade of Roma Inclusion: Local-Level Analysis of Persistent Educational Segregation”. The call is related to a symposium proposal submitted to the European Conference of Education Research in Budapest entitled “A Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015: (Session 1) Theoretical Perspectives on Education and Policy Discourses, (Session 2) Educational Initiatives and Interventions”. Having presented at one of these sessions is, however, not a precondition for submitting an expression of interest.

Expressions of interest should be sent to christian.brueggemann(at)hu-berlin.de by 1st of May 2015 in the form of an outline of about 1.000 – 1.200 words (objectives, theoretical framework, modes of inquiry, data sources). Selected full papers should be submitted by 1st of October 2015. Submitted papers will be subject to a blind peer review and selected on the basis of academic merit (clarity, coherence, relevance, rigor, appropriateness of theoretical/conceptual literature and methodological grounding).

About the journal: European Education is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to original inquiries and dialogue on education among the member states of the Council of Europe. The journal features articles on education in individual member states as well as the impact of European education initiatives globally. The journal particularly encourages theoretical and empirical studies, interdisciplinary perspectives, and critical examination of the impact of political, economic, and social forces on education. The journal is published by Taylor & Francis (http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/meue20#.VNpiy0LZrds).

February 2015,

Christian Brüggemann (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin)

Eben Friedman (European Centre for Minority Issues)