Scottish Traveller Education Programme

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Welcome to STEP: background

Moray House (as an Institute of Education Moray House became part of The University of Edinburgh’s College of Humanities and Social Science - now known as The Moray House School of Education) has long had an interest in pursuing equality of opportunity in learning for Scotland’s Travelling families. The original rationale for setting up STEP emerged from the Secretary of State for Scotland Advisory Committee on Scotland’s Travelling People. It met from 1971 until 1999, with a broad remit to consider Traveller life and the interplay between families and ‘settled’ communities (see 8th Term and 9th Term Reports). In 1984, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), a key member of the Committee, recommended that funding be provided to help Scottish local authorities develop Traveller educational support.

Two initiatives were instituted to take a national lead in promoting educational equality for Travellers in Scotland, and to challenge racism, harassment and bullying of Travellers in education. In the late 1980s, the then Scottish Office funded a lecturer’s post with the explicit remit to focus on Scottish Travellers to be based at Moray House. The Scottish Traveller Education Programme (STEP) was subsequently set up in 1991. Dr Betty Jordan, STEP’s first director, instituted the Traveller Education Network (TENET) an association of Scottish teachers of Travelling children and young people.

STEP initially worked with a number of institutions - the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain – Scottish Section, the Scottish Gypsy Traveller Association and other voluntary organisations, such as Save the Children, and the Scottish Commission for Racial Equality. Of these groups only the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain continues to operate. STEP also worked with professional networks engaged in supporting Traveller families’ access to education in the UK, e.g. the National Association of Teachers of Travellers (NATT +) and in Europe e.g. the European Federation for the Education of The Children of the Occupational Travellers (EFECOT) and the Centre de Recherches Tsiganes. The latter European Institutions no longer exist.

Funded by the European Commission and published in January 2008, a research report, ‘The school education of children of occupational travellers in the European Union’ (PDF file), outlines the key barriers faced by mobile Traveller families in accessing education for their children across the EU’s 27 member states. The research report’s loose definition of ‘occupational travellers’ took its lead from EFECOT’s planning and policy documentation for 2000-2007 (PDF file). The definition is said to recognize the cultural and ethnic distinctions between Traveller communities. The research report comments on the demise of EFCOT and the rise of “a looser network of stakeholders, the European Network for Traveller Education (ENTE). ENTE, it states, “continues to link providers, disseminate information and lobby policymakers, but lacks the financial resources to continue the full range of EFECOT's activities” (p.6). Importantly, the report focuses on the impact of mobility on Traveller children’s and young people’s learning, and concludes that,

“A move towards individual, tailored learning pathways, with a focus on 'learning outcomes' rather than attendance at school, seems to present the most suitable approach towards developing provision for occupational traveller children. This represents a certain shift in attitudes, from the idea of equality of opportunities to equality of outcomes and reflects similar developments across education and training policy in Europe”.

The European Roma Rights Centre monitors the situation of Roma in Europe, which includes education. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights also provides information on policy and practice in Europe. Meanwhile, Black and Ethnic Minorities Infrastructure in Scotland (www.bemis.org.uk), an organisation that tackles the impact of racism on access to public services, includes representation regarding Gypsies/Travellers access to public services. More recently, Article 12 Scotland, a young person led NGO that works, through the medium of peer education, to promote young people's rights as set out in international human rights charters, now includes opportunities for young Gypsies/Travellers.

Since the setting up of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government, STEP is core funded by the Scottish Government’s Schools Directorate, Support for Learning Division. STEP reports annually to the Scottish Government and STEP’s Programme Advisory Group. The latter group is comprised of representatives from HMIe and the Scottish Government, teachers of Travelling children, local authority line managers and Travelling people. Individuals with a background in or specialised knowledge of particular service areas are also invited to help STEP address ongoing and new issues that have arisen during the year. Teachers of Travelling children, who are members of TENET, annually evaluate STEP’s support for TENET and it’s work with local authorities more generally. Based on STEP’s report, a core budget and a set of outcomes are agreed annually.

STEP’s research since (2000 – 2006) focused on the potential of ICT supported distance learning for Scottish Travelling children and young people. Part of STEP’s programme of work included its development of a model e-learning community to provide distance learning for children and young people from Travelling communities. Subsequently, The Scottish Government’s Equalities Unit awarded STEP a Grant to appoint a Facilitator to pilot its e-learning model for delivery by self-identified Education Authorities.

Work on taking the pilot model e-learning forward commenced in March 2009. Called e-Learning and Traveller Education Scotland (e-LATES), the pilot is designed to mitigate the impact of interrupted learning through its blended learning approach, the e-learning community members will communicate through a virtual learning environment (VLE) hosted and delivered by Glow, Scotland’s schools digital network, and supported by Learning and Teaching Scotland . The pilot, called the e-LEARNING AND TRAVELLER EDUCATION SCOTLAND (e-LATES), will focus on secondary-aged Gypsy/Traveller learners, some may be mobile while others will be educated by an Education Authority in an ‘outwith school’ setting.

Glasgow City Council’s Interrupted Learning Services provide an ICT supported distance learning for mobile Showmen’s children and young people and we are delighted that the service has joined the pilot bringing with them their considerable experience in delivering ICT supported distance education.

By linking into and supporting education authorities and a range of organizations with a role to play in effecting inclusive education, e.g. the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain – Scottish Section, the Gypsy Traveller Education and Information Project (North East), the National Association of Teachers of Travellers +, the Scottish Traveller Education Network (TENET), the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, BEMIS and colleagues at Article 12 Scotland, STEP will respond to requests for information, advice and, where possible and appropriate, provide support regarding the educational inclusion of Scotland’s Travelling communities.