Una investigación en el contexto educativo ibérico sobre la inclusión y el compromiso escolar del alumnado gitano

Abstract

The educational situation of the Roma community has opened a social and political debate. European Union has advocated, as a geopolitical entity, for establishing guidelines that guarantee its inclusion and participation. The European Union also aims to reduce discrimination, exclusion and marginalisation. Through sustainable commitments, this process involves member countries, society in general, and the Roma community. The European directives have established the different strategies that guarantee education, labour, health and social inclusion. However, the education of this group continues to be the subject of discourse and debate based on school failure and dropout rates. The discussion also focuses on differences in the level of education attained among Roma and non-Roma populations or the gender gap observed in these communities. While the educational and social demands of the Roma community became visible, researchers have also participated, and a large body of knowledge from the scientific field has become evident. Different initiatives, such as educational programmes and interventions, have responded to their demands with an approach that values and respects cultural diversity through inclusive education. On the other hand, different scientific fields have contributed to forming a large body of knowledge that tries to respond, make visible and favour their inclusion and participation. Likewise, to select the educational trajectory and reverse situations and problems in education, especially for disadvantaged groups and minority ethnicities, research points to promoting school engagement as an "antidote" approach to these situations. This doctoral thesis analyses the educational situation of Roma students in three stages. Firstly, it makes a European analysis with a systematic review that describes the leading educational programs reported in the literature and aimed at this group. Secondly, at the national level in Spain, a scientometric analysis of doctoral theses investigating issues related to the Roma community is carried out. Finally, we analyze the self-reported school engagement and the intervening factors nationally. This work follows a qualitative and quantitative approach, using characteristics and methods of the three studies described above. The results show educational progress, especially in school coverage in the early years, and political and social concerns to reduce the educational gap. The selfreport shows that involvement in the affective and behavioral components is higher than in the cognitive one. The self-report also shows higher ratings on educational relationships or family ethnicity and lower ratings on family participation in school activities.