Preparation activities of preschool Roma children for schooling

Romska skupnost pri nas je manjšinska skupnost, ki je zaradi velikih razlik med romsko in slovensko kulturo pomaknjena na rob družbe. To se kaže v odmaknjenosti oz. zaprtosti in nerazvitosti naselij, kjer bivajo Romi, v nezaposljivosti in splošni neizobraženosti (osnovno šolo konča manj kot 50 % romskih otrok) in s tem v nižjem socialno-ekonomskem statusu (SES). Zaradi nespodbudnega okolja, kjer odraščajo romski otroci, so njihove možnosti za uspeh v šoli veliko bolj omejene kot pri večini njihovih sovrstnikov večinskega prebivalstva. Čeprav vrtec pripomore k zmanjševanju razlik med otroki, ki prihajajo iz nižjih in višjih SES, ga romski otroci pogosto ne obiskujejo pred vstopom v šolo. Raziskava se je zato osredotočala na delo s predšolskimi romskimi otroki, pri čemer so se izvajale dejavnosti za pripravo na šolo. Namen raziskave je bil zasnovati in izvesti dejavnosti za predšolske romske otroke ter opazovati njihov napredek na različnih področjih: motorika, pozornost in koncentracija ter pomnjenje, govor in jezik ter socialno-čustveno področje. V dejavnosti so bili vključeni štirje otroci. Na podlagi ocenjevalne lestvice funkcioniranja sem ugotavljala, kakšno je splošno funkcioniranje v srečanja vključenih otrok, katera so njihova močna in šibka področja oz. kje se kažejo njihove posebnosti. Zanimala so me tudi ozadja njihovih družinskih okolij, ki sem jih spoznavala na podlagi izpolnjevanja ocenjevalne lestvice, in pogostost obiskovanja srečanj. Dejavnosti so bile oblikovane v skladu s Kurikulom za vrtce in z Dodatkom h kurikulu za vrtce za delo z otroki Romov ter prilagojene interesom in značilnostim otrok. Uporabljeni so bili različni konkretni materiali (naravni in vsakdanji materiali, kocke, slikovno gradivo ter nekateri drugi didaktični materiali) in pristopi (gibalne dejavnosti, igra, petje in ples). Analiza vseh delov raziskave in obravnave (začetna in končna ocena funkcioniranja, ocena družinskega okolja, načrtovanje in izvedba treninga) je omogočila bolj poglobljeno razumevanje opaženega napredka posameznega otroka. Rezultati primerjave začetnega in končnega ocenjevanja otrok kažejo na učinkovitost zastavljenih dejavnosti, saj je pri vsakem otroku opazen vsaj minimalen napredek na vseh ocenjevanih področjih. Poleg uspešnosti izvedbe dejavnosti so bile analizirane tudi ovire, ki omejujejo napredek otrok (družinsko okolje in sodelovanje s starši, nepoznavanje kulture, prepričanja strokovnih delavcev, materialne in prostorske razmere ipd.). Za boljšo predstavo o načinih vključevanja romskih otrok v slovenske vrtce sem kontaktirala z nekaj vrtci, ki so navedli njihove izkušnje. Na tej podlagi so bile pripravljene okvirne smernice za strokovne delavce in ideje za dejavnosti, ki so jim lahko v pomoč pri vključevanju romskih otrok v predšolsko okolje.The Roma community in Slovenia is recognized as a minority community, which has been pushed to the margins of society due to the great differences between Roma and Slovenian culture. This is reflected in the remoteness or the closedness and underdevelopment of the settlements in which this population lives, unemployment and general illiteracy (less than 50% of Roma pupils complete primary school) and, consequently, lower socio-economic status (SES). Due to the uninspiring environment in which Roma children grow up, their preconditions for success in school are much more limited than for most of their peers in the majority population. Even if kindergarten helps to reduce the gap between children coming from lower and higher SES, Roma children mostly do not attend it before entering school. The research is therefore focused on working with the pre-school Roma population, among which school preparation activities were carried out. The purpose of the research was to design and implement activities for preschool Roma children and to observe their progress in various areas: motor skills, attention and concentration, memory, speech and language, and the socio-emotional field. Four children took part in the research. I determined the general functioning of the children involved in the meetings based on the assessment scale. I determined their strengths and weaknesses and where their peculiarities were manifested. I was also interested in the the frequency of attendancy at our meetings and backgrounds of their family environments, which I got to know through filling out the assessment scale. The activities were designed in accordance with the Kindergarten Curriculum and the Appendix to the Kindergarten Curriculum for Working with Roma Children. They were also adapted to the interests and characteristics of children. Various concrete materials (natural and everyday materials, cubes, pictorial materials and some other didactic materials) and approaches (movement activities, play, singing and dancing) were used. The analysis of all parts of the family environment, planning and implementation of training) provided a more in-depth understanding of the observed progress of each child. The results of the first and final evaluation show the effectiveness of the remaining activities, as at least minimal progress was observed in all assessment areas in all children. The successfulness of implementation of activities was observed, as well as the hurdles that limit the child\u27s progress (family cooperation with parents, ignorance of cultures, belief of professionals, material and spatial conditions, etc.) were also analyzed. For a better understanding of the ways of including Roma children in the Slovenian preschools, a few kindergartens were contacted and they shared their experiences. Based on all the findings, brief guidelines of ideas for activities that can help integrate Roma children into the preschool environment were prepared for teachers, social workers and other professionals