Classroom teachers on the factors of school performance of Roma pupils

Thousands of Roma children throughout Europe face many problems with their integration in the school system. Most of the Roma children never attended school and even now do not attend. But those who do will probably leave school after four or five years, which means that they will not complete their compulsory education if there will not be any significant changes in the school policy, system and direct teaching practices. Slovenia also faces the issue of Roma children education. We have been trying to resolve this issue, but have always been rather unsuccessful. Roma children, whose cultural and linguistic environment is significantly different from the majority, should have the opportunity to develop their identity in both cultures, so they must be able to learn and maintain their native language and also be given a chance to learn the language of their environment as best as they can. The thesis thus exposes the problems of educating Roma pupils in Slovenia, which are on average much less successful than the general population of the school-aged. It also presents the theoretical concepts that have to be necessarily taken into account in arranging schooling for minority ethnic groups, and analysis of current expert solutions and documents, made to improve the situation of Roma pupils. The findings from empirical work suggest that in most cases, teachers do not realize that their way of working is one of the main factors that affect performance of Roma pupils in school. Also, most of them blame Roma parents for unsuccessfulness of their children. According to teachers, the key factor for successful schooling is integration of Roma pupils in the pre-school institutions, at least two years before beginning elementary school. There, they can get familiar with their language, certain rules and daily routine which later continues in the elementary school