Support for Roma students in Podravina region and specialists perspective

Cilj ovog rada je ispitati kvalitetu podrške koju stručnjaci pružaju učenicima Romima u ustanovi u kojoj rade na području Podravine te uvidjeti kakav je značaj predškolskog odgoja za učenike Rome iz perspektive stručnjaka. Unutar tog okvira, u fokusu su bila njihova dosadašnja iskustva u radu s učenicima Romima te prepreke na koje najčešće nailaze u radu. Svrha ovog istraživanja je također i ispitati generalno kvalitetu podrške koju učenici imaju (od stručnjaka, ustanove koju pohađaju, lokalne zajednice i roditelja) te koliko su stručnjaci time zadovoljni. S obzirom da je suradnja važna za stvaranje kvalitetnog okružja u kojem će svaki učenik imati jednake mogućnosti za napredak (Lapat i Basta, 2010), u ovom je radu ispitana i procjena suradnje stručnjaka s roditeljima učenika Roma te njihovo poznavanje romske kulture. Istraživanje je provedeno online na području Podravine u redovnim osnovnim školama te posebnim ustanovama za učenike s teškoćama u razvoju. Za obradu podataka korišten je deskriptivan pristup. Rezultati ovog rada potvrdili su kako je značaj predškolskog odgoja za učenike Rome neupitan, baš kao što su to i prijašnja istraživanja potvrdila (Marušić, Mlinarević, 2005; Gornik i Lapat, 2017; Tonković, 2017). Sve ispitane sastavnice kvalitete podrške koju učenici Romi primaju, ukazuju na to da u svim područjima ima jako puno mjesta za napredak, a pogotovo u području podrške koju učenici Romi primaju od svojih roditelja. U ovom radu vidljivo je kako stručnjaci smatraju da učenici Romi imaju izrazito slabu podršku od svojih roditelja te su time iznimno nezadovoljni. Upravo suradnju s roditeljima, stručnjaci vide kao najveću prepreku u radu s učenicima Romima. Također, rezultati su ukazali na to kako stručnjaci smatraju da su osrednje upoznati s elementima romske kulture, ali većina ispitanika (88%) niti govori, niti razumije romski jezik. Dobiveni podaci mogu poslužiti kao poticaj na daljnja istraživanja o podršci za učenike Rome kako bi mogli imali jednake mogućnosti u obrazovanju, ali i u svim drugim aspektima života.The aim of this research is to examine quality of specialists support for Roma students at their workplace in Podravina region and to examine the importance of preschool education for Roma students from specialists perspective. Specialitsts previous experiences with Roma students and obstacles they encounter working with Roma students were also in focus in this research. The purpose of this research is also to examine support quality in general that Roma students recieve (from professionals, the institution they attend, local communities and parents) and how satisfied the specialists are with it. Cooperation is important for creating a quality environment in which every student should have equal opportunities for progress (Lapat and Basta, 2010), that is why this paper also examines the assessment of cooperation between specialists and parents of Roma students and their knowledge of Roma culture. The reserach was conducted online in elementary schools and special institutions for students with disabilities in Podravina region. A descripitive approach was used for dana processing. The results of this research confirmed that the importance of preschool education for Roma students is significant, just as previous researches has confirmed that potvrdila (Marušić, Mlinarević, 2005; Gornik i Lapat, 2017; Tonković, 2017). All examined components of support quality that Roma students receive indicate that they can be improved, especially in the area of support that Roma students receive from their parents. This research shows that specialists believe that Roma students have extremely weak support from their parents and therefore specialists are extremely dissatisfied. Specialists see cooperation with parents as the biggest obstacle in working with Roma students. Also, the results indicated that they believ they are moderately familiar with the elements of Roma culture, but the majority of respondents (88%) neither speak nor understand the Romani language. The obtained data can serve as an incentive for further research on support for Roma students in order to achieve equal opportunities in education, but also in all other aspects of life