Educational Inclusion of Travelers - Essay Example

OFSTED (2000) adds that it is for the most part about the provision made for and the achievement of different groups of pupils within a school, including “minority ethnic and faith groups, Travellers, asylum seekers and refugees” (p.4). However, equity in education should not be understood as “treating all pupils in the same way”, rather it involves “taking account of pupils’ varied life experiences and needs” (OFSTED, 2000: 7). Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education emphasizes that besides “valuing all students equally” and “reducing barriers to learning and participation for all students”, inclusion in education also involves “restructuring the cultures, policies, and practices in schools so that they respond to the diversity of students in the locality; …viewing the difference between students as resources to support learning, rather than as problems to be overcome; …fostering mutually sustaining relationships between schools and communities; … recognizing that inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society” (CSIE, 2011, online).

The recent evolution of inclusion within the British educational system started in 1997 when the New Labour came to power. In 2000 a revised National Curriculum was designed to “secure for all pupils …an entitlement to several areas of learning and to develop knowledge, understanding, skills, and attitudes necessary for their self-fulfillment as active and responsible citizens” (Hodkinson and Vickerman, 2009: 74). This Curriculum 2000 is intended to be a curriculum for all as of right (Clough, 1988: 11), and it is based upon three core principles: (1) setting suitable learning challenges; (2) responding to pupils’ diverse learning needs; (3) overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils (QCDA, online). During the recent decade, significant changes in policies and practices aimed at the development of inclusive education have occurred.

It is widely recognized that there are many benefits for children when they receive an inclusive education. The most important of these benefits have been documented by Moore (2009: 22-23) based on an analysis of recent research. They are:
- Increasing growth in social skills of children as a result of their socializing with similar age peers.
- Forming a better sense of belonging, is considered to have a great impact on achieving a sense of self-worth and performance in society.
- Exercising a basic right to be educated with peers and to participate in all facets of childhood and school setting on equal terms with other pupils.
- Minimising the effect of labeling is very important in terms of the maturation and development of a child’s performance.
- Learning and forming a positive feeling about others who have differences in lifestyle, race, customs, and traditions.

However, it is important to note that the benefits of inclusion can occur only if inclusion is supported by purposeful and careful measures. According to OFSTED (2000: 7), the most effective educationally inclusive schools constantly monitor different pupils’ needs and take practical steps to meet them, promoting tolerance and diversity in society.

Travelers and Gypsies have been known in Britain long ago, the first written record about Gypsies is referred to the Scottish court of King James of 1505 (Liegeois, 1994). Today “Traveller” is a collective term related to ethnic minority groups or communities who keep traveling either for work purposes or as a key point in their lives (O’Hanlon and Holmes, 2004). The Circular of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM, 2006) defines Gypsies and Travellers as “A person or persons who have a traditional cultural preference for living in caravans and who either pursue a nomadic habit of life or have pursued such a habit but have ceased traveling, whether permanently or temporarily, because of the education needs of their dependent children, or ill-health, old age, or caring responsibilities (whether of themselves, their dependants living with them, or the widows and widowers of such dependents), but does not include members of an organized group of traveling show people or circus people, traveling together as such” (p.6).

Nowadays there are the following communities of travelers in the UK: Gypsy (English, Welsh, Roma), Traveller (Irish, Scottish), Showmen (Fairground), Circus families (British, international), Bargees (canal boat dwellers), and New Age or New Travellers (DfES, 2003). Among them, Gypsies and Irish Travellers are minority ethnic communities protected by the 1976 Race Relations Act and by the 2000 Amendment Act (Ibid). Although all these nomadic groups have distinctive histories and traditions, they share some common features: “Gypsies and Travellers have their languages, traditions, and customs that guide their way of life.