Hídszerepek - MEK - Országos Széchényi Könyvtár

Bridge Roles 301
the same degree of empathy and ingenuity as that seen in the
previous article, on “paving” paths to the parents through the child
readers.
Four of the authors write as teachers: Etelka Jónás (Szélárnyékban
[Sheltered from the wind]) as a kindergarten teacher, Anna Oláh (Van
kiút… [There is a way out…]) as a social policy-maker and expert on
educational administration. Both came from a family background
of adobe-making Romungros to become valued and respected
specialists. János Ungvölgyi (Kirekesztõdés vagy integrálódás [Exclusion
or integration]) summed up his main aspirations and experiences as
an educator and assistant director of a student hostel, while Katalin
Varjú (from Komarno in Slovakia (Cigányokról más szemmel [A different
view of Gypsies]) did the same as a teacher.
Finally, three authors somewhat removed from library and teaching
practice enriched the thinking of our volume with important
considerations and facts that could not be left out. One is the very
talented singer Bea Palya (Indulj el egy úton [Set out on a path]),
who, like Etelka Jónás and Anna Oláh, reflects principally on the
major turning-points in her own career, and presents some of her
experiences as a singer and performer from the viewpoint of
inequality of chances. Another is Ágnes Bátori, career and employment
consultant, developmental teacher and labour affairs expert
(Kényszerpályán [On a forced path]), who reports on the internal life of
a village beside the Tisza River, and the third is linguist, Gypsy
studies researcher and sociologist, Attila Landauer, who brings
authentic news about the history and present educational chances of
the Gypsies in a small town on the Great Plain.
Naturally, even now we do not think that the group of themes
outlined here is complete. Without presenting the papers that were
planned but, in the end, not written, let us mention a single, painful
point. For years two of our “potential authors” promised to write
short articles on their experiences in reading camps for Gypsy
children…
Two further points need to be stressed to supplement the above.
One is that it was not at all intentional that we should “by chance”
find three denominational educational institutions worthy of description
and mention in connection with our central theme. As outside