ACTA SZEKSZARDIENSIUM - Pécsi Tudományegyetem Illyés Gyula ...

Natalia Kiss
Shall I tell you the reality? As I see it, you can’t break out of this circle; it is very hard
to break out of this circle. I don’t think they’ll be accepted more easily.
Teachers’ opinion about the Roma people’s aspirations emphasises the perceived
cultural differences and hidden prejudice which are disguised in generalisation. The
striking feature of the following quote is that the teacher admits that she cannot envision
any prospects for these children while at the same time attributing all the responsibility
to the system and the parents rather than the teaching profession.
Ex. 18.
T1: They [children] don’t have a vision of the future, and though it can’t be
said that their culture means they would have a vision of the future, this is typical
of not only roma people. Those living from day to day, well they don’t have a vision
of their future. And their parents don’t either. Neither the parents nor the children
do. We teachers can say to parents that it [the situation] would just be worse if they
hadn’t made their children study. But those who have- still don’t have a job, so those
who don’t learn won’t have a job anyway. So the problem is that these children, for
example, don’t understand the concept of getting a salary. Has the family allowance
arrived? This is what the usual conversation is about. They go as far as to ask me “Do
you get family allowance?” So they have no idea how people get income, and if they face
any problem the solution they come to is asking for allowance. This is very typical.
Parents, with a few exceptions, generally tend to be more optimistic about the value of
education and about the prospects of their children. They do not have high expectations
but simply express the wish that their children achieved more than they have.
Ex. 19.
F4: The truth is that I always tell them: They do not study for me, they study
for themselves. They do not choose a trade for me, but for themselves. I did not have
a say in what they liked. I know that in today’s world, it is very difficult to find a job,
and this is impossible without learning. If they have ideas then I support them, so
that they can achieve what I couldn’t. So that he has what I didn’t have.
The next transcript gives a very succinct summary of how one interviewee interpreted
why it is that he finds education important for her daughter’s future. This includes his
experience of what it means to be deprived of valuable things and to be humiliated, but
to stand up in spite of it all.
Ex. 20.
F1: They can take away everything from you, your clothes, your bag… your
hair can be cut, your skin can be cut, but your mind cannot be taken away from you
Discussion
As shown earlier, both teachers and parents assume differences in each other’s value
systems, which affect their relationship to a great extent. The core of this is their different
beliefs about the world, and lack of knowledge about each other’s beliefs (Nordby, 2008).
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