The Roma as a minority in the mainstream schools: from a threat to a hope for the future. The purpose of this study is to investigate, describe and analyse how the relationship between the Romani minority and the Swedish majority has developed from the middle of the 20th century until the present time with regard to the school situation for the Roma. In order to discuss the changes in the relationship between the majority and the Romani minority, it has been important to analyse the concepts of culture and ethnicity, how these concepts have been used to define the Roma, and how, in turn, this definition has influenced how the Roma have been portrayed in the literature. The study is based on three types of data: texts, interviews and observations, that have been organised to cover three different periods. Three autobiographies and two theses cover the first period, from the middle of the 20th century to the 1970s, when the Roma were allowed into schools. The interviews cover the second period, from the 1970s to the year 2000, when the Roma were recognized as a national minority. The participant observations and the interviews cover the third period that deals with the present and the future with regards to education of the Roma. An interpretive hermeneutic approach has been used to analyse the data. The analysis takes the school as one order of discourse in which different discourses attempt to dominate. Both ethnicity and culture are discussed in relation to power relationship between the Roma and majority society. A “chain of consequences” approach has been used to analyse the situation of the Roma in schools, where one event in the chain results in certain consequences, for example the Romani child is present in school but without support from school or home. The consequence is school failure and marginalisation. One of the main themes that emerge from this analysis, is how schools gradually transferred the responsibility for educating the Romani children to the families, thus abdicating their role as providers of academic development. The other theme is how the school took a deficit perspective in relation to the Romani families and, rather than taking responsibility for the education of the Romani children, they blamed the failures on the Romani group and its culture. The study concludes that the institutional discrimination of the Roma and the total exclusion of the Romani culture in school still has far reaching consequences. One of consequences is that, in order to be accepted in school, some of the Romani children begin to undercommunicate their ethnic identity. Since the recognition of the Roma as a national minority, there has been a remobilisation and revitalisation by the group and their demand for more inclusion in education. This thesis suggests an intercultural approach as an alternative i.e., a change of perspective and a revision of the image of Sweden as a monocultural and monolingual nation.

Cultural policy research typically emphasises national and local policies in its studies, while studies of subnational and regional policies tend to be less common. Between the levels of country and city, however, there is a vast array of cultural policy-types that is often cast aside or underrepresented in the literature – this, despite the fact that a number of prominent subnational governments of national minorities have been extremely active in developing their own cultural policies and institutions. Unlike their national or local counterparts, however, these subnational governments often contend with an additional layer of complexity when developing cultural policies, as their history and their population differ from that of their country’s cultural majority – which often leads to a different understanding and appreciation of their cultural identity and sense of nationalism. It is with this complexity and difference in mind that this thesis examines the cultural policies developed and implemented by subnational governments expressing a different national identity from that of their country – in particular, the Canadian province of Québec, the United Kingdom nation of Scotland, and the Spanish region of Catalonia – with the purpose of exploring the ways in which cultural policies are used to shape and influence a sense of cultural identity. Drawing on the economies of worth framework elaborated by Boltanski and Thévenot and the theory of governmentality developed by Foucault, this thesis developed a type analysis of cultural policy for national minorities as a means of exploring not only the ways in which their policies differ from that of their majority counterparts, but to offer a unique understanding of their culture and cultural/social predicament. Through its type analysis, this thesis found that the cultural policies of national minorities exhibited a unique trend in terms of: their application of the cultural industries as vehicles for the development and growth of their cultural/national identities; their support of culture and art as drivers of economic development and social cohesion; and their appraisal of artists and cultural producers as symbolic and literal ambassadors of cultural identity both nationally and internationally. More specifically, far from simply introducing policies that endeavour to preserve and protect cultural traditions and heritages as it has long been suspected, national minorities are developing policies that emphasise the creative aspects of culture and seek to grow their cultures identities through the production and dissemination of new works or forms of culture and art. In other words, the cultural policies of national minorities exhibit a discursive temporality: there is an acute awareness and appreciations of the culture of the past, juxtaposed by approaches to culture that seek to ensure the culture continues (and evolves) beyond the present.

<p>Over the last few decades, the Swedish society has become more and more multicultural, which has resulted in the fact that the differences between different ethnic groups have become more and more noticed and debated. Studies have shown that persons belonging to minority groups are often wronged by majority decisions, which leaves the minorities in a disadvantageous position in relation to the majority. The scientific problem is how a state should compensate different minority groups for their disadvantaged position in order to be able to guarantee justice and equality for all individuals of the state.</p><p>The aim of this thesis is to examine the Swedish government’s attitude towards minority rights, and to analyse whether this coincides with Will Kymlicka’s normative minority rights theory. The research questions are:</p><p>• How should the majority society treat minorities according to Kymlicka?</p><p>• Which is Swedish minority policy’s stance on minority rights?</p><p>The methods used in this thesis include a qualitative text analysis and a field investigation among Finnish-speaking people living in Borlänge.</p><p>The conclusion of this essay is that the Swedish government in all likelihood has a positive attitude towards minority rights, since it has assigned group differentiated rights to the national minorities in Sweden. Furthermore, the Swedish government’s view on minority rights coincides to a great extent with Will Kymlicka’s normative theory.</p>

The thesis is focused on the education and socialization of schoolchild - foreigners in classrooms of primary school. In the theoretical section it summarizes the findings of the Vietnamese ethnic minority living in Prague and Chomutov, the legal anchoring of the education of schoolchild - foreigners on teacher competences. The thesis summarizes the problematic questions of inclusion of schoolchild - foreigners and the importance of multicultural education in primary school. In the research part it collects and evaluates experiences of teachers with education of Vietnamese students in some elementary schools in Prague. Information and inspiration from the research is recommended for using in education and socialization of Vietnamese students in the region of Chomutov. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

<p>This is a study witch examines the national minorities relations to authorities and DO’s report of discrimination within the educational establishment. The purpose of this essay is to illustrate and highlight the national minorities’ thoughts according to DO’s report, and approach the problem with the minorities trust for authorities. In this essay I present recommendations and proposals on how these authorities should work to approach the trust issue, according to my knowledge on the subject. The theories which are applied on the empiric material are based on Niklas Luhmanns theories and also of Kieran O’Hara’s thoughts of trust as a facilitator and as an enabler to achieve goals and maintain a nourishing collaboration. This is a qualitative exploratory study which is based on interviews with central organisations within the national minorities. To sum up the result of this study, the empiric material shows a very positive attitude towards DO:s report, but there is also a general distrust amongst the national minorities against these authorities. To address the issue of distrust against them, the authorities should establish improvements. Such as social representation, intimate knowledge of both parties, take action to reach out and nurture the relations that are essential for the minorities in order to trust and cooperate with the authorities. Only then can they obtain the achievements according to the complexity of these problems.</p>

This is a study witch examines the national minorities relations to authorities and DO’s report of discrimination within the educational establishment. The purpose of this essay is to illustrate and highlight the national minorities’ thoughts according to DO’s report, and approach the problem with the minorities trust for authorities. In this essay I present recommendations and proposals on how these authorities should work to approach the trust issue, according to my knowledge on the subject. The theories which are applied on the empiric material are based on Niklas Luhmanns theories and also of Kieran O’Hara’s thoughts of trust as a facilitator and as an enabler to achieve goals and maintain a nourishing collaboration. This is a qualitative exploratory study which is based on interviews with central organisations within the national minorities. To sum up the result of this study, the empiric material shows a very positive attitude towards DO:s report, but there is also a general distrust amongst the national minorities against these authorities. To address the issue of distrust against them, the authorities should establish improvements. Such as social representation, intimate knowledge of both parties, take action to reach out and nurture the relations that are essential for the minorities in order to trust and cooperate with the authorities. Only then can they obtain the achievements according to the complexity of these problems.

<p>The Serbs are a national group which has been disliked by the Croats for hundreds of years. Even before Croatia became a part of Yugoslavia, the country wanted its independence. However, before and after the break up of Yugoslavia, there was a strong nationalism in the country which led to hatred towards the Serbs and the Serb minorities in Croatia. Studies have shown that minorities often are disfavoured by the majority decisions. This leads to a disadvantageous position for the minorities in the relation to the majority. The problem is how a state should compensate these groups for their disadvantageous position to be able to ensure justice and equality for all citizens within the country.</p><p>The aim of this thesis is to compare Croatia’s formal national minority rights with the actual national minority rights of the Serbs and to see whether they coincide with each other. The research questions are:</p><p>• What formal minority rights do Croatian Serbs have in Croatia?</p><p>• What minority rights do Croatian Serbs have in reality?</p><p>The method used in this study is the qualitative text analysis.</p><p>The conclusion of this thesis is that Croatia has a positive attitude towards minority rights and the Serb minority, as Croatia has allocated group-differentiated rights to its national minorities. The Croatian view upon national minority rights coincides to a large extent with Will Kymlicka´s theory. Furthermore, the formal rights and the virtual rights regarding education, language, culture and proportional representation coincides to a great extent if not precisely.</p>

Atsižvelgiant į šiuolaikines problemas ir poreikius integruotis multikultūrinėje visuomenėje, Lietuvoje kilo susidomėjimas kalbų mokymo bei mokymosi, dvikalbystės ugdymo, dvikalbių programų kūrimo bei dvikalbių pedagogų rengimo klausimais. Daugiausia tai siejama su tautinių mažumų atstovų integracija į Lietuvos visuomenę. Tyrimu siekta nustatyti, kaip dvikalbystės formavimosi procesas vystėsi vyresnio amžiaus tautinių mažumų mokyklų įvairių tautybių mokytojų (kaip individų) tarpe; kaip socialinė-komunikacinė aplinka įtakojo pedagogų dvikalbystės vystymąsi; nustatyti kitakalbės ir daugiakultūrės aplinkos, kuri supa mokytojus, privalumus ir trūkumus. / Novelti of the thesis: A number of the theses on bilingualism were issued within recent years. However, nobody had been researching the item on bilingualism of the teachers (as individuals). The results of the investigation: After having analyzed the data of the investigation, the presumption that prior to starting their work in the multilingual environment, the teachers already have a certain lingual base in the family and in the aducational institution, may be drawn. The main reasons of complexity of work with the other-language-speaking pupils are related with lack of skills and knowledge of the same teachers. The teacher has the possibility to develop his/her native and other language skills while working in the multilingual environment, while dealing with the methodical material or while staying in his own social environment. As the society`s demands change, so today the teacher has not only to lay efforts, seeking to satisfy the pupils` and parents` expectations, but should also be able to adapt himself/herself to the developing multilingual environment.

The collaboration forms between communities and institutions of culture and art. Key words: community, culture, social-cultural work, national minority. In the process of forming democratic and public policy of nation it is extremely important that every member of it completely would feel himself the part of the society. National minorities and their cultural self-expressions, that perform both the role of spiritual movement and strengthening national identity, are analyzed in this work. This work is based on the research of collaboration between national minorities and both culture and art institutions (66 Karaiten, Tartaren, Jews and Romany minorities’ persons were polled). The date of the research illustrates the cultural and social situation of national minorities, the spiritual demands of community members, qualities and weaknesses of their cultural life. Also the importance of this cooperation to the individuals and all the ethnic communities is emphasized as well as that essential changes in the process of cultural and spiritual live determine participation of the numbers of community in the cultural activities. The results of the research show how creative work in the community and cultural institutions stimulate the integration of national minorities, the internal socialization inside the community and emphasize the gaps and perspectives of the cultural cooperation. Hopefully, that members’ spiritual experience of communities will enrich the life of the community... [to full text]

Analizuoti tautinių mažumų švietimą ir ieškoti būdų jį tobulinti verčia spartūs Lietuvos socialinio gyvenimo pokyčiai. Kiekviena tauta turi savo gimtąją klabą, papročius, tradicijas. Šiandieninė Lietuvos švietimo sistema sudaro galimybę tenkinti visų tautybių vaikų poreikius. Lietuvos Respublika garantuoja tautinėms mažumoms teisę mokytis gimtąja kalba. Beveik kiekvienas vaikas per pakankamai ilgą mokyklinio gyvenimo laikotarpį susiduria su didesnėmis ar mažesnėmis problemomis mokykloje. Viena jų - mokymosi sunkumai, pasireiškiantys silpnu mokymusi. Tai reiškinys, su kuriuo susiduria įvairaus amžiaus, lyties, skirtingų socialinių sluoksnių įvairių gabumų mokiniai (M. Barkauskaitė ir kt., 2004). Mokymosi sunkumams pašalinti būtina nustatyti jų priežastis. Kokie mokymosi sunkumai ir jų priežastys kyla tautinių mažumų mokyklų su gimtąja lenkų kalba mokiniams nebuvo tyrinėta, nes tautinių mažumų švietimo problemos Lietuvoje nėra plačiai tyrinėtos (D. Janonienė, D. Survutaitė, 2007). Dėl to atliktas tyrimas, kuriuo siekta atskleisti mokinių, besimokančių gimtąja lenkų kalba, mokymosi sunkumų priežastis. Iškelti uždaviniai: atskleisti mokinių mokykloje patiriamų mokymosi sunkumų tipus; atskleisti mokymosi sunkumų priežastis mokinių požiūriu; atskleisti mokymosi sunkumų priežastis mokytojų požiūriu. Tyrimas atliktas Vilniaus miesto tautinių mažumų (lenkų) bendrojo lavinimo mokykloje. Atvirų klausimų anketinėje apklausoje dalyvavo 335 respondentai: iš jų 35 mokytojai (10,4 proc.) ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Rapid changes in Lithuanian social life oblige to analyse the education of national minorities and to search for the ways to improve it. Every nation has its mother tongue, customs and traditions. Current Lithuanian system of education meets the requirements of all the minorities. The Republic of Lithuania guarantees national minorities the right to be educated in their mother tongue. Throughout all the years of school life, which is comparing a long period, almost every child faces less or more complicated problems. One of them is learning difficulty which is exemplified in the form of poor learning results. Children of various ages, sexes, social backgrounds or abilities encounter this phenomenon (M. Barkauskaitė and others, 2004). To eliminate learning difficulties it is essential to determine their reasons. The educational problems of national minorities in Lithuania have not been inquired broadly. Thus, it has not been studied what learning difficulties of the students Polish minority schools are and what causes them (D. Janonienė, D. Survutaitė, 2007). The main purpose of this study was to discover the reasons of learning difficulties in schools of Polish national minority. The objectives of the study were to overview the epistemology of learning difficulties; to classify the difficulties students face at school; to present the reasons of learning difficulties according to students and according to teachers; to compare and analyse the reasons named by students and... [to full text]