Elias Hemelsoet

A Right to Education for All: The Meaning of Equal Educational Opportunities

The debate on the social function of schooling is as old as the idea of schooling itself. In those discussions, the concept of equal opportunities is often referred to as a means or a strategy to pursue social equality. This article discusses four conceptions of equality, each referring to different notions of justice. In meritocratic, distributive and social equality of opportunities, the conceptualisation of equality is deduced from a particular societal order. The subject-oriented equality position, as an alternative, focuses on the consequences of these approaches at an individual level. A closer look at the everyday social practices of minority groups (in this case irregular migrants), is very useful in order to gain insight into these consequences. Are equal opportunities as a conceptual tool for educational policy making helpful to realise the ‘universal right to education’ that we are willing to offer to all? Conclusions will be drawn on how this universal right can be turned from merely a legal provision into a vivid practice in an educationally more promising way.

How to make sense of the right to education? Issues from the case of Roma people

In most cases, discussions on the right to education focus on the way access to education can be warranted for all and which aims should be pursued in rather abstract terms. This article approaches the topic starting from the case of Roma people. The particularity of their living circumstances raises the question what it is that we are aiming at when trying to realize a universal right to education for them. After confronting their social practices with the education system, three suggestions are made how to make sense of a right to education. First, the need for a holistic approach towards human rights is expressed. Second, the right to education is thought of in terms of a right to qualification. Finally, an open dialogue of social practices is proposed, as a fixed idea of what the school should look like is not desirable in a multicultural society.

Shaping the Right to Education for Roma Children: A Case Study of Present Practices in Ghent, Belgium.

Western European cities are increasingly confronted with Roma immigrants. Societal changes associated with this phenomenon create new challenges for schools. Using a case study, this article sheds light on present practices that shape the right to education for Roma children. Three principal success factors are distinguished: boundary-blurring practices, a lifeworld-oriented approach and commitment. Finally, the relation between promising practices and a rights-based approach to educational justice is discussed.

Positioning the Educational Researcher through Reflections on an Autoethnographical Account: On the Edge of Scientific Research, Political Action and Personal Engagement.

Ethnographic fieldwork is subject to a number of tensions regarding the position of the researcher. Traditionally, these are discussed from a methodological perspective, and draw attention to issues such as ‘objectivity’ of the research and the supposed need for ‘distance’ in the process of knowledge-building. Approaching the issue from a different angle, this article provides a reflection on the positionality of the researcher through an autoethnographical account based on fieldwork with socially excluded groups. Rather than reflecting on the (dis)advantages of proximity for the research process, it explores from a personal stance how this role interacts with other roles in the researchers life (e.g. being a volunteer, a citizen, an advocate, a moral being). Increased awareness about this intrinsic positionality of the researcher calls for a situated conceptualisation of professionalism and science. The author furthermore explores how an autoethnographical approach relates to educational research and substantiates the educational meaning of autoethnography for science in general.

To frame the unframable: quantifying irregular migrants’ presence

For various reasons, irregular migration has become a more frequent phenomenon during the last decades. Without going deeper into the globalising context of growing and changing migration tendencies in different parts of the world, it should be remarked that this topic is gaining attention. Until recently, there was only a limited amount of scientific evidence on irregular migration (with a focus on clandestine activities such as human trafficking and smuggling). But these days, in Western societies there are humanitarian and social problems related to the growth of this group, problems which have stimulated political discussion. This has subsequently led to scientific research on the subject. Irregular migrants have become visible in our everyday lives. They defend their rights in self-help groups, protest marches and hunger strikes and they are visible in the streets: we are all familiar with the salesman in the Pakistani night shop, the East-European or South-American cleaning lady in the hotel, the gipsy woman begging for money. These cliches provide prototypical examples of the role irregular migrants play in the public imagination. As a consequence of this situation, both politicians and scientists want to ‘grab hold’ of what is happening and to acquire an overview of the state of affairs. Predominantly short-term government-driven research is flourishing.

7.6 Beyond the Quantification of Irregular Migrants: From “Knowledge on the Case” to “Knowing How to Go On”

This chapter deals with the quantification of irregular migrants in policymaking. As it concerns populations that are difficultly identified, estimations are often unreliable and pose various methodological problems. Moreover, and more important from an educational perspective, while many differences are implied in ‘irregular migrants’, these estimations tend to homogenise the people under consideration. Within an educational framework, inclusion seems to provide a solution to acknowledge differences. Still, as is argued with the case of Roma, homogenisation is at work here too, albeit in a different way. From the theoretical approach of looking at education as an initiation into practices, the need for a different kind of ‘understanding’ in educational research is defended. Recognition of the inherent transformative character of educational practices suggests a move from the production of ‘knowledge of the case’ as a scientific endeavour towards an increased attention to ‘knowing how to go on’. Practices are not fixed entities and therefore knowledge about these will by definition be partial and temporary. But focusing on ‘how to go on’ implies that an investigation of what exists is only a starting point. Consequently, interpretation is not only a concern when mapping practices; it should also entail the educational practice of wondering how these practices are to be transformed.

Thuis zonder Heimat: de Roma

Recentelijk kregen de Roma in Vlaanderen heel wat media-aandacht. Vooral de aanwezigheid van een groep Roemeense Roma die enkele maanden in een geimproviseerde sloppenwijk in Gent doorbrachten, gaf aanleiding tot maatschappelijk debat. Eerder dan directe politieke oplossingen te bieden, gaat deze bijdrage op zoek naar wat deze mensen drijft.