A personal educational history
My family always travelled when I was very young. From the time I was born until I was five or six years old we had a completely nomadic life. Then in the early sixties my family travelled over to Manchester mainly for economic reasons. The men took up building site work and the women would have went out begging or selling just as they did at home in Ireland, the intention was to save or put by as much as you could and return to Ireland as soon as possible.
A number of my family group moved to England at this time, as did many other Traveller families. Four or five families shared a rented house and again like at home in Ireland the families moved from house to house when the need arose or when they thought they had been too long in the same place, it was just like moving from camp to camp at home.
The sharing of a house by a number of families provided company as well as a sense of support. There was a feeling of safety and support in staying close together in a strange country and as many of the Travellers did not have an education or training (many could not read or write) this would also have been a factor in remaining close together.
Gradually over a period of time as they became more confident and familiar with their environment and surroundings a single family would move into their own rented house, but never far from the other members of the extended family, so you would have 5-6 families living in adjacent houses or streets within easy reach or contact with each other. There was very little if any mixing or socialising with the settled Irish people who had moved over to England, the Traveller families kept very much to themselves.
All this time there would be regular travelling over and back to Ireland and this would always be an occasion for sending home or getting news from family and friends, those going home would get a big send off, with a great welcome for those coming over. Funerals in particular were events not to be missed under any circumstances and great efforts were made to ensure that close family in particular were able to go home for such sad occasions.
My own family travelled between Ireland and England from the time I was about 4/5 years old until I was 10/11. I went to three-four different Catholic primary schools in Manchester during that time and I also attended a convent school in Mullingar for a short while during one of those return trips.
The very first school I remember attending was a Catholic primary school in Manchester from the age of 4/5 until I was seven. I went to this school with my older brother, sister and cousins. Depending on how often the families moved or "travelled" around Manchester or England you could be sent to a number of schools in a short length of time.
My family moved back to Ireland permanently when I was about ten/eleven years old. That year we travelled around for the summer months and after 6-9 months my parents applied for a house in Mullingar. We lived in Mullingar until I was 15/16
I went to primary school there on and off and made my Confirmation. By the age of fourteen I had completed my schooling, which had not been very regular or consistent at the best of times.
My longest period in school was in Manchester. There was a legal requirement that children must go to school in England and Traveller families were afraid of doing anything that would attract the attention of the authorities or social services which could result in the children being taken away by the 'cruelty man' i.e. School Attendance Officer or social workers.
The adults saw authoritarian figures in England very differently than they regarded them in Ireland. In England, the threat or fear of the unknown seemed greater, while in Ireland there was a sense that they were 'among our own'. Families 'put up' with sending children to school in England because it was the law and it was expected of you, whereby in Ireland it did not appear to matter too much, if at all.
It was useful too, it could be seen as a sort of childminding service, as the fathers were out of the home every day working on the building sites and the mothers went out begging or selling paper flowers and clothes pegs as they had done inIreland. In Ireland a number of adults would always be around the campsite, the men making tin cans, saucepans, looking after the horses or other women who did not need to go out selling or begging that day.
When we returned to Ireland, schooling wasn't regarded in the same way. There wasn't the same sense of threat or fear and school wasn't really necessary as members of the extended family could share childminding responsibilities or the children would be brought out with the mothers.
My older sister, brother and I went to school in Manchester. The three of us learned to read and write fairly quickly. I was a very good reader by seven or eight and developed a love of reading, which has stayed with me and 'educated' me down through the years. A younger sister had stayed at home in Ireland with my grandparents when the rest of the family had first moved to England. She didn't go to school until she joined us later on. She and my younger sisters did go to school inEngland for a short while, but she never learned to read or write to the same standard.
Perhaps the difference in our reading abilities is a reflection of how well the three of us were taught or the age at which we learned. I'm not really sure or if there were other factors involved. I went to the convent school in Mullingar before special classes had been introduced or set up. They did not have segregated or special classes in the schools I attended inManchester. I was always in mainstream classes throughout my time in school.
We had a good experience of education in England and Ireland in mainstream classes. In England we were treated as being Irish, and although some would describe us as gypsies we were identified mainly as being from Ireland. I have no recollection of experiencing prejudice in England as a child. Similarly, in Mullingar I have no clear experience of prejudice. My experiences of education and relationships with others at that time were generally positive.
At times like when we made our First Holy Communion and Confirmation, the nuns gave poorer parents a 'helping hand', it was generally done sensitively and privately. Settled and Traveller children got free books. There wasn't a feeling in that sense of being different to other families, whether they were Travellers or settled people. There was a lot of shared poverty in both the settled and Traveller communities in Ireland from the 1950's - 1980's. We knew that there were poor and disadvantaged children families in the settled community too.
Mullingar was a small country town where rural and urban children attended the schools. In general, relationships between Traveller and settled children were mainly OK or so it appeared to me as a child anyway. We walked to and from school from our camp on the side of the road with other Travellers and with settled children from the country area and then the town when we were housed.
There were of course incidents at times, name-calling or teasing by the settled children, but this was not a big deal to us, as we gave as good as we got, there were a big enough group of us in school to watch out for each other. I and the other Traveller children were aware that we were different from the settled boys and girls, we could not say how but we knew!
The teachers also treated us differently, sometimes unfairly, other times more positively. I suppose looking back with hindsight as an adult, one could describe some of this as discrimination, prejudice, but as children we could not name this.
I do remember that there was one black girl who was in my class for a short while, whose father was from Africa. The teacher did a geography project on the country where her father came from. This was very interesting and I can still remember how proud the girl was and even some of the work we did for the project. Compare this to how the more negative delivery of an Irish lesson entitled 'Campa Tincéiri' using the old Cómhra pictures, was for me in the same class. Because most of my early schooling had taken place in Manchester, I had no Irish at all and I didn't understand what was being said or the context of the lesson.
I do remember that I felt very uncertain and uncomfortable about the pictures and story and I can clearly remember the awkward or uncertain way and manner in which the other children were looking at me. There was no positive affirmation or celebration of Travellers, their customs, lifestyle etc in the same way as for the African girl - everyone knew you were a Traveller but it was unspoken, something best left unsaid. No one ever did tell or explain to me what the story was about!
As Traveller children we were 'educated' within the family or community. This was an informal and practical life-skills education. We observed the cultures and practices in our own family and community. This education didn't include reading and writing. Girls mainly learned domestic and child minding responsibilities and boys learned 'outdoor' duties. You learned by listening, observing and a very much hands on experience rather than following written instructions or reading "how to".
The gender differences were I suppose similar to those in the farming and country communities of the time. But it wasn't everyone's experience. My mother grew up in a mainly female family and so had to do a lot of the boys or 'outdoor' duties that would be done by males in a family where there were sons and daughters.
I spent a lot of time minding younger brothers and sisters. I can remember sitting around fires hearing music on wind up gramophones and stories, my granny lilting or singing songs. Travellers made their own entertainment. The adults would recall or tell about things that they had been told as children, stories, happenings or the history of the family.
Contact and communication with the extended family was very important - families didn't lose touch when they went away. Information was passed between people by those who were travelling around the country, or between Ireland and England, for funerals or weddings. It was very important for people to maintain a contact with home.
My family moved to Finglas, Dublin in the early 1970's. It was a much bigger place than Mullingar and there were better opportunities at the time to make a living or go out begging or selling i.e. more houses/people!
But things were changing in Ireland and there were also growing fears and concerns. Traveller parents were reluctant to let their children or young people wander too far away. We always went out begging or selling in groups of three-four, and we didn't always tell our parents that we sometimes went further than we were told
On a few occasions while we were out with the other girls, men pulled up and tried to entice us into their cars. We had all been taught to run away if something like that happened, these people probably thought we were vulnerable because we were not in school or were out on the roadways without adult company.
My own mother became more cautious about my younger siblings going out on their own. She was fearful of who might be in a house or on a road and worried about their safety in a big city like Dublin, full of strangers. Later the pattern of begging/selling changed, there was always at least one adult with children for safety and eventually the begging slowly died out among most of the families I know.
Some of the women today would have what they call 'callbacks' whereby they are regular callers to certain houses that they have been calling back to over a number of years, most of the younger people would not now go out begging or selling. Developments such as part or full time work, the setting up and availability of women's groups, training courses and training allowances particularly for the women, improved conditions also had an impact and reduced the necessity of begging.
Traveller experiences of and attitudes towards begging have changed. This is partly due to legislation as well as other social changes. It was part of the Traveller way of life and was an important skill in the past. For my mother's and previous generations, you really needed to be a good beggar or seller. It was an essential skill. When Traveller families were very nomadic there was no alternative for most.
The men were dependent on seasonal work and settled or regular work wasn't available or suitable to them. Knowing how to sell, beg or 'hawk' meant that a woman's family would not go hungry. My family accepted begging as an essential part of life in the same way that other Traveller families did - it wasn't seen as degrading or being downtrodden, but as an important life-skill.
When I was seventeen I got married and spent the next twenty years rearing a family of four children. In this time I did voluntary work and also a number of short educational and training courses. I attended the local Traveller training/education centre for a year and during this time I got involved as a trainee representative with the training/education centre representative committee. I worked for this committee for a number of years producing a community type magazine, which was a publication for and about Travellers and is still being produced.
I decided to use my knowledge and experience to apply to Maynooth University to do a three-year course in youth and community work. I completed this in 1997 and that year I started to work with a Barnardos Traveller education project as the education development worker. I have been working with this project for the past number of years and have seen lots of changes and developments regarding the Traveller community even in this short space of time.
People have many different opinions and views regarding their understanding of education, what it is and its value. For myself something as simple as learning to read and write well at an early age and which was to a standard that I myself could then continue to develop and improve has had numerous rewards and outcomes for me personally.
I have completed a number of third level certificate and diploma courses in subjects such as computer studies, group facilitation skills, equality studies, addiction studies, family literacy, and adult literacy tutor.
It has allowed me to develop and challenge myself personally, given me life and work skills, increased my confidence and self esteem, broadened and increased my interest, understanding and knowledge of people and the world about me, given me employment and financial security, opportunities for further education and training, so many, many experiences that I otherwise would not have done or even attempted. In short I suppose it has played a major part in making me the person I am.
I have always encouraged my own children to develop a love of reading and learning and to see the value for themselves in this, without pushing them too hard or putting too much pressure on them, sometimes you have to let these things develop gradually.
I would like in the near future to do a university degree. I have some ideas in mind that I would like to explore and I will probably do this in the next while. I believe strongly in the principle of lifelong learning and that you are never too old or late to learn or achieve something.
Changes in the Travellers' experiences
Things have really changed for the Traveller community in the past 30-40 years, there have been huge developments in all aspects of Travellers lives, you have only to read and compare some of what has been written and recorded from the early sixties to the present i.e. Commission on the Report on Itinerancy 1963, Report on the Task Force on the Travelling Community 1995 to be aware of this, of course there remains a lot more to be done before Travellers are really equal citizens in this country.
Most young Travellers today haven't travelled, they haven't lived as nomadic a life as their parents or grandparents have. Younger people in their thirties/forties can remember travelling but it hasn't been as central a part of their lives as it was for their parents.
It could be said that young Traveller people have lost the skills and maybe the necessity or inclination for travelling or living a nomadic lifestyle. Also due to various government polices and legislation their choices or options are very limited, I'd say non existent in comparison to the choices or opportunities available to Travellers in the past in regards to travelling and living a nomadic life.
Settled people are always making the assumption or mistake that the identity of Travellers is only possible or applicable if the person is travelling or living on the side of the road, housing Travellers automatically changes them, Travellers themselves don't see it like that at all, they still belong to the Traveller community and identify themselves very clearly as Traveller. Even very young children know whom they are and are aware of their identity and that their family links to other Travellers are very important to them.
My mother sometimes says that the younger generation aren't real Travellers at all! Like most people from another or older generation she thinks that they don't know anything! But they don't know the kind of life and experiences that she and others of her generation have lived.
The way of living and society has changed completely from her childhood and youth, and the younger current generation of Travellers are trying to live in the ever-changing world of today and are trying to hold on to and maintain what their understanding and perceptions of being a Traveller is for them.
They have to live in a very different time and society than the one that their parents or grandparents lived in and they have to try to cope with that reality and also with what their families and community expect of them and this can at times be at odds. It is very difficult and confusing for them.
Their grandparents and parents may want them to live a life, as much like what they themselves did, this can seem to the young people that they are caught between two worlds. On one hand they want and need to live and survive in today's society and on the other they are expected to continue to live like Travellers from another time and place and with the best will in the world this is neither possible nor I would say is it appropriate.
The older generation would love if time had stood still! They are concerned and fearful about some of the more negative influences and developments that affect young Travellers today and yet don't really know how to deal with them or even prepare or support the young people to cope themselves with these issues or concerns.
The young people want to be like their peers - they are living closer than ever to and with the settled community, they see consumerist culture on television and in the media. Many young travellers are starting to work, socialise and go to school for longer with the young people from the settled community and so are more exposed to outside influences. This can be confusing and frustrating for young and old. I even find it confusing myself!
Some of the community traditions and practices can seem to them to be very old fashioned, out of date and not relevant to them. The option or opportunities to keep distance and space between the Traveller and settled people is no longer possible or even desirable.
You can't change things overnight - but it is a struggle and challenge for all to figure out how to adapt and bring about positive change and developments, not just make the best of things. The question is how this can happen in a balanced way without causing too much grief and hurt for all concerned.
Traveller Community and Education:
Due to various causes and most significantly the inappropriateness of an education system, which ignores the distinct cultural identity of the Traveller community. Travellers fare badly within the existing mainstream education/training system.
There are many books and a lot of documentation in evidence regarding the Traveller community and the Irish education system. These deal with a wide range of different aspects or perspectives among which are, discrimination, participation, social, economic, political and cultural etc. the vast majority of these are written by settled people with little or no real input from Travellers.
The history of Traveller participation in the formal education system is relatively new and while there has been a sizeable improvement at primary level (Report of the Commission on Itinerancy, 1963 shows that144 Traveller children were attending Primary schools) there is still a long way to go.
At present there are 5,240 Traveller children registered with extra capitation status at this level. In the school year 97/98, 737 of these children were 12+ years of age.
Travellers have never seen formal education or training as a way of improving either themselves or their community. Self-sufficiency has always been the choice of most Travellers. For the older and many of the current Traveller population the connection between school, book learning and making a living was never really clear or seen as relevant.
Most Traveller parents would agree that education is important to an extent - they believe that today people need to be able to read and write to do well; (this also is a matter of opinion, some say that you can make a living just as well without!) But the majority at present are certain that post-primary schooling is not necessary or important to help prepare their young people for life or at least the life that they as young Travellers will lead.
For Traveller parents some of the subjects or materials taught or used by the teachers are seen by them as not being suitable or appropriate for their children to learn about in school, i.e. programmes such as drugs and sex education. Even some schools, especially secondary co-ed are suspect, boys and girls together!
I find that in some ways I have more in common with Asian or Muslim people that I have met than I have with many settled Irish people. There are certain values or practices we have in common that are not necessarily shared with the majority Irish population i.e. close family kinship, extended family, arranged/inter family marriages etc.
Travellers feel it is alright to send young children to pre-school or primary school, at lower primary school age they are still seen as children and not yet expected to contribute to the family income or be preparing for the more grown up roles that they will be expected to fill during their teenage years. Confirmation is still seen as an important transition in the life of the young Traveller, a time to leave childhood behind and become a more responsible and grown up person who is preparing for the more important things in life such as earning a living, marriage and raising a family
Many Travellers today are living or located on the margins of localities or communities that are in the main working class or designated disadvantaged, they see that continuation or participation in education is not very important or vital to the settled communities among which they themselves reside, many of whose children too drop out of school or don't continue on in the education system. Many of these young people want to get jobs, earn money, get married, enjoy themselves rather than stay on in school or go to college or university. Travellers can see this as further confirmation that formal education is not all its made out to be. If its not important or necessary to these young settled people what are our youngsters going to use it for or gain from it?
Traveller parents in the main are familiar and more comfortable with primary education and schools. The subjects the children learn or are taught make sense to them - they can see the value in learning reading, writing and maths. It is also simpler to deal with one teacher per year and a school principal. If families have a number of children attending one or the same school, the children get similar type homework and while a majority of parents themselves have a poor education standard, the children manage to get through primary school adequately although from my experience and work this can be a matter of the individual succeeding rather than the system.
I see far too many Traveller children still coming through the primary system who literally cannot read or write, and this despite all the extra or increased funding and resources that are available to schools for Traveller children. This of course has a knock on effect on the transferring of the child and their ability or skills for participating or progressing at secondary school.
I can see from my current work and involvement with Traveller parents and the schools how much segregated education - special classes, segregated withdrawal etc has impacted on the current generation of young Travellers, their parents own very negative experience, poor expectations and outcomes have coloured and influenced their own fears, concerns, ability to support and expectations of their own children's education prospects today.
My own younger siblings and other younger Travellers with whom I work and have spoken to, have awful stories about being taken out for enforced showers, separate lunches and playtime, separate communion and confirmation ceremonies, special segregated learning etc. All of this segregated provision stigmatised Travellers and made them feel different and inadequate to other children. It also influenced how they were assessed and taught by teachers.
I know there were some positives too - that individual schools and teachers had more better and equal teaching practices for Traveller children. But in my view the many negative experiences far outweigh the positives and have had a lasting and ongoing effect.
Post-Primary Education
The experience for Travellers at post primary level is not so positive and the figures bear this out. In the 1999 school year there are 650 traveller children registered/attending Post Primary schools out of a total of 3,000 eligible. There is evidence too that there is a dramatic fall off within the first two years of registration.
There are many and complex reasons for this low level of participation and continuation among which from the Traveller point of view/ perspective are: family concerns, age appropriate transfer, history of non participation, nomadism, customs and traditions, value of formal education, low expectation or achievement, costs, discrimination and racism.
Retention of Travellers in Post Primary 97/98
School Year Numbers %
|
1st Year |
314 |
100% |
|
2nd Year |
175 |
55.73% |
|
3rd Year |
91 |
28.98% |
|
4th Year |
20 |
6.36% |
|
5th Year |
22 |
7.00% |
|
6th Year |
15 |
4.77% |
|
P.L.C. |
1 |
0.32% |
(Presentation Paper by Peter Kierans, VEC Representative, Dept of Education Advisory Committee on Traveller Education)
While there have been increasing numbers of young Travellers transferring to post primary schools in the past number of years, The most recent figures show that there were registered at the beginning of the school year, how many are still attending in the final term? Retention and continuation in the system of these young people are two of the major challenges for parents and education providers.
As Traveller children get older and move on to post-primary, the situation for Traveller parents is completely different from the primary system, now the school is bigger, there are more teachers to deal with and there are new and strange subjects and Traveller parents are unsure of the value of this wider curriculum.
Many young Travellers who may be the first in their family or group to transfer to post primary can feel isolated and unsure without the presence or support of other young Travellers, their lifestyle, social mores and values are different than the settled students. Young Travellers can feel they have to submerge their identity in order to participate or survive at this level.
Teachers at second level are in the main expected to teach and prepare the young people in their care for state exams, future employment and to contribute positively to their community and society. All too often this is a preparation for life in the settled or majority community, it doesn't make allowances or take into account young Travellers or other minority groups or communities, and the positive contribution they can make to themselves, their communities and the wider society.
Because there are so many more teachers involved in their child's education it is difficult for parents to connect with all of them. Attendance at parent-teachers meetings is a struggle and parents are confused and uncertain about the purpose of much of what their children are being taught or what the end result or outcomes will be. The structures, expense, exams, longer day etc at second level all contribute to the uncertainty and worry of the usefulness or need of this additional education to Traveller parents.
Concerns, challenges and hopes for young Travellers
There are many concerns and challenges that must be met in regards to Traveller education both by the Traveller community, the government, the teaching profession and education providers if we are to have or give hope to future generations of Traveller children.
The mindset and thinking of the Traveller community to education and training needs to change if their young people are to be equipped to provide for their future, they cannot expect to continue to live the inadequate self sufficient, hand to mouth existence which previous generations of Travellers accepted and thought would never change, depend on social welfare or low paid temporary jobs, to live on the margins of society because they are Travellers rather than having or being able to make their rightful contribution to society.
Because of parental fears and concerns, some genuine, some misplaced, Traveller children have not been given opportunities to be open to or experience positively other cultures, customs, socialising etc. Parents express concerns that they may change or be negatively influenced by the settled community and so lose their identity, values, etc. Other communities or societies who have been marginalized or who have similar customs, practices and traditions to Travellers have always seen education and used educational advantage as the way forward for the betterment of their own and their communities futures.
I have never believed or felt that any of the educational or training experiences I have gained has made me any less of a Traveller or removed me from my family or community, on the contrary it has made me more sure of my identity both as a Traveller and as a woman. Any difficulties I have experienced have arisen out of the negative attitude and behaviours of others both Traveller and settled.
The segregated and negative mindset of the past still exerts an influence in schools and with teachers to day and must be addressed. The legacy of special classes and segregated education continues to have an impact.
Teachers very often lack an awareness of the realities of Travellers' lives, the training of teachers in intercultural teaching methods or curriculum is totally inadequate, in light of the societal changes that have occurred in Ireland over the past ten years it is unbelievable that this has been allowed to continue.
Teachers who are interested in learning, increasing their knowledge or improving their teaching practice have had to do this in their own time or as short in-service training courses, when it should be an integral part of all teacher training and ongoing career development. Prejudice and racism against Travellers and other minorities is still very much alive in Irish society and has an impact in how Travellers are perceived and treated by the settled community and teachers can go a long way in addressing and combating this.
The principal of respecting other cultures and identities is one of the most important areas to be addressed if we are to make any headway in the other areas of Traveller education. There must be a respecting and understanding that other people's cultures and identities are of equal value. I believe that until we achieve this in respect to Travellers and other ethnic or minority groups and peoples we will always be trying to play catch up.
I know of a teacher who during confirmation preparations handed back a Traveller girl her baptismal certificate, with the words that "you will be needing this soon as you will be getting married soon". This particular girl liked school and was a good student who intended to go on to secondary school. In this instance, she was challenged by the prejudice she had experienced. However, once she had completed her Junior Cert, there was family and community pressure to take her out of school.
This is how some of the misplaced or misinformed internal factors and practices of the Traveller community and schools help maintain and perpetuate inequalities for Traveller children in the education system.
Parents, grandparents, the extended family and community all have a huge influence, but they don't always have the confidence, the ability or the skills to support and encourage their young people to explore or fulfil their true potential or explore other opportunities or options that could be open to them, many don't see that not all children develop or mature at the same rates or ages. There is a lack of knowledge or understanding of the life chances that a good education can offer or make possible.
There can be huge pressure on the individual Traveller who does attempt to succeed through the formal education or training system as they are under scrutiny from the rest of the community. Lack of instant success or outcomes, failure, the length of time or the number of years it takes to finish a particular course of study or training is seen as affirming and/or confirming all the misgivings and doubts Travellers have about post primary or further education and its value or usefulness.
Traveller Education Centres can and do provide young Travellers with some options but these too can be limited and restrictive. The young people may not be adequately prepared or challenged to look beyond the centre to further their education, training or work prospects. Some of these too are Traveller only centres and so continue with another form of segregated education or training provision or service. The young people need huge support to have their self-esteem affirmed and developed to enable them to participate and work outside these centres. These centres can become a comfort zone where people are reluctant to move on from.
Not all Travellers are the same. As in the settled community, there is much diversity. Within the Traveller community there can be an expectation that everyone will do the same thing and go in the same direction, the educational limitations that many young Traveller people experience coupled with the limitations coming from the family and the community can smother the individual.
Young Travellers do what they can within the boundaries of the Traveller community, some of these young people are attempting to push back the boundaries, they are questioning some of the practices and traditions within the community and their relevance to their current lives. If someone does something different and succeeds, this can result in a lessening of the more restrictive and negative control or influence of the family, the community and the wider society.
There are real and genuine fears in the Traveller community regarding young people and children - parents want the best for the younger generation but these may be very new or unfamiliar things. It is difficult at times for Traveller parents to name or describe what they want for their children and even for themselves, will they cease to belong fully to the Traveller community, will they still be accepted as Travellers? This is very important to both the old and young.
I would hope to see young Travellers of the future being sure and confident in their identity, being the recognised role models and professionals of their own community in whatever field they choose and making a valid and positive contribution to their community and to the wider society in which they will live and participate.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Presentation Paper by Peter Kierans, VEC Representative on Dept of Education, Advisory Committee on Traveller Education, at committee meeting 23-4-99)
Report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community, July 1995, Government Publications, Dublin.
White Paper on Education 1995 'Charting our Education Future'.
Report of the Commission on Itinerancy, 1963, Government Publications, Dublin.
Information leaflet, 'Travellers' Pavee Point, Traveller Centre, Dublin
