This book explores the educational experiences of Scottish Gypsy and Traveller girls and seeks to centre the girls’ voices and perspectives, initially considered through a series of papers and publications during the course of my research (Marcus 2013a, b, 2014a, b, 2015a, b, 2016). It offers space for their voices to be heard and features their agency in the private spaces of home and the public spaces of education . The girls’ stories are highlighted and juxtaposed alongside the general problems encountered by Gypsies and Travellers and reveal a complex narrative that spans centuries.
This research builds on the limited literature on Gypsies and Travellers in Scotland (including Murray 1875; Wilson and Leighton 1885; Mackenzie 1883; MacRitchie 1894; McCormick 1907; Rehfisch and Rehfisch 1975; Williamson 1994; Neat 1996; Reid 1997; Kenrick 1998; Clark 2001, 2006, 2008, 2013; Clark and Taylor 2014; Shubin 2010, 2011). The relative paucity of scholarly literature on the experiences of those living in Scottish Gypsy and Traveller communities , in itself accentuates their invisibility and disguises the gravity of the discrimination and inequality that affect some Travelling peoples . Gypsies and Travellers are outliers within our society.
Accounts of Scottish Gypsy and Traveller life also reflect an authored gender imbalance in being written largely by men. Existing studies thus risk further erasing or misrecognising the competing experiences of Gypsy and Traveller women. It demonstrates an essential gap in the literature in which Gypsy and Traveller girls ’ experiences are not represented. They are even more marginalised than the men and boys in their communities .
According to some studies, Gypsy and Traveller children have the lowest levels of educational achievement in the United Kingdom (Cemlyn et al. 2009; Wilkin et al. 2009). Organisations like the Scottish Traveller Education Programme (STEP ), a national Knowledge Exchange and Information centre funded by the Scottish Government ‘s Learning Directorate, have sought to investigate the reasons for this underachievement. Gypsy and Traveller children in Scotland often report negative social experiences in school and it is believed this factor is fuelled by poor communication, a lack of trust and a curriculum that can appear irrelevant to the travelling child and their family (STEP 2013). Gypsy and Traveller children are also outliers within our schools. None of these studies focus specifically on girls. There is currently no research that examines how girls and young women from Gypsy and Traveller communities fare in Scottish schools and what they think of their experiences. As the girls’ voices are missing from the scholarly literature and policy documents, the critical exploration of their experiential accounts of education and schooling is timely and vital.
The Scottish Government and the UK government have yet to develop a comprehensive National Roma Integration Strategy, which includes education , but has relied on current equalities legislation, such as the EU Race Directive 2003 and the Equalities Act 2010, to promote the integration of all Roma people in the country (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2015: 3). The EU has acknowledged that the improvements within its framework are still in its ‘early phase and needs to be supported with sustainable funding ’ to translate national strategies into action at local level (European Union 2015: 14). There is insufficient involvement by local authorities and civil society, and the situation is not sufficiently monitored (European Union 2015: 14).
It should be noted that across Europe , Gypsies and Travellers are classified as Roma , however, there are distinct differences in these communities at many levels—origin, identity , ascription, nationality, language, culture . These distinctions are made clear in the next chapter. Scottish Gypsies and Travellers do not identify as European Roma . Whilst similar stories of persecution and discrimination pervade their lives as Gypsy /Roma /Travellers , the degree and manner to which this occurs differs, as do their needs.
In 2013, a Scottish mapping exercise was completed to ‘ensure that Scotland is recognised at European levels for playing an active part in meeting the European Commission’s Roma inclusion objectives, build an understanding of the Roma population living in Scotland and increase knowledge about the individual and institutional capacity that exists in Scotland to apply EU funds for the social and economic inclusion /integration of the Roma populations’ (The Social Marketing Gateway 2013: 4).
Confusion exists about whether these strategies and funding should apply to Roma from Europe and/or indigenous Scottish Gypsies and Travellers . Organisations like Article 12 , hitherto mentioned in the preface, for example, who obtain funding from the government, only support young people from Gypsy and Traveller communities and do not cater to the needs of European Roma youth . Whereas, the Roma Youth Project, amongst others, cater only to the needs of the latter.
In June 2016, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, stated under Section 20 (c) that ‘many children in certain groups, including Roma , Gypsy and Traveller children … continue to experience discrimination and social stigmatization, including through the media ’ (UNCRC 2016: 5). It also notes in Section 47 (a) that ‘bullying , including cyber bullying , remains a serious and widespread problem, particularly against…children belonging to minority groups, including Roma , Gypsy and Traveller children ’ (2016: 11). The committee expressed concern that in Scotland their health, accommodation and educational needs are not being adequately met. There is a disproportionate number of exclusions of Roma , Gypsy and Traveller children , including the use of informal exclusion practices like being ‘taught off site ’, and isolation rooms to control behaviour (2016: 18). As the girls’ accounts in this book attest, many experience being sent to these isolation rooms without clarification or work to occupy them.
My original proposal involved exploring educational data and guidelines, juxtaposing these materials and the voices of practitioners and that of the Gypsy and Traveller girls I interviewed. I also envisaged a study that balanced the views of practitioners and those of the girls. Over the course of my fieldwork, my research focus changed to take a more critical stance to question why so little is known about the lives of Gypsy and Traveller girls and why their experiences and perspectives have not significantly featured in academic and policy debates that concern these children .
An underlying question in the unfolding narrative relates to how history is represented given that ‘a particular challenge in historiography arises when faced with two distinct cultural interpretations — one based on oral tradition and the other on written accounts’ (Marcus ...