Call for Papers! Special Issue "A Decade of Roma Inclusion: 2005-2015"

'European Education' is happy to announce a call for papers for a special issue "Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015: Critical perspectives on education research, initiatives and interventions," guest edited by Christian Brüggemann (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin) and Eben Friedman (European Centre for Minority Issues)!

The Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005-2015) can be understood as a joint effort of European governments and international organizations to fight exclusion and marginalization of Roma communities. Based on coordination efforts and financial support that has been institutionalized through the establishment of the Decade Secretariat, the Decade Trust Fund and the Roma Education Fund, the Decade has been the core reference and baseline framework for a multitude of research activities, initiatives and interventions with education being a key priority.

The Decade has contributed to the internationalization of Roma education discourse and triggered large-scale fundraising possibilities for education. Nevertheless, only little change has been observed at the local level and many Roma communities seem not to have benefited from this international endeavor.

Coming close to the end of the Decade and being at a point where next steps are being discussed but have not yet been decided, this special issue attempts to look at the last ten years of Roma inclusion in the field of education. It welcomes papers that critically look at education research, initiatives and interventions. Researchers who intend to publish in this special issue might for example:

• analyze the tremendous amount of scientific research that has been published in the last ten years;
  
• scrutinize large-scale applied research / intervention projects (e.g. INCLUD-ED, EduMigRom, EduRom, RomaMatrix, QUALIROM and others) that have been implemented over the last ten years; or 
• examine educational activities/projects/political initiatives related to or facilitated through the Decade of Roma Inclusion. 

Interested researchers might also investigate unintended effects of international education policy, question how international education initiatives have been ignored, re-framed or even misused at the local level and/or compare different contextualizations of education research, initiatives and interventions. Studies that try to understand underlying and possibly conflicting understandings of social justice, equality of opportunity and/or affirmative action are also welcome. 

Expressions of interest should be sent to christian.brueggemann(at)hu-berlin.de by 1st of May 2015 in the form of an outline of about 1.000 - 1.200 words (objectives, theoretical framework, modes of inquiry, data sources). Selected full papers should be submitted by 1st of October 2015. Submitted papers will be subject to a blind peer review and selected on the basis of academic merit (clarity, coherence, relevance, rigor, appropriateness of theoretical/conceptual literature and methodological grounding). 

Call for Papers - Marketization, Privatization, and Shadow Education

In March and June, 2014 European Education will publish a special issue in two volumes dedicated to marketization, privatization, and shadow education in Southeast/Central Europe and Eurasia. This special issue will be published in collaboration with the Privatization in Education Research Initiative (PERI), which is a global initiative supported by the Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations. PERI seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms and outcomes of the marketization, privatization, and private sector participation in education.

This region has a unique contribution to make to the body of research already growing under PERI because of the ways that private funds have flowed to education in the 20 years since the collapse of the socialist bloc. Rather than overt privatization visible through the development of private schools, this region has seen a hybrid of public and private financing as state budgets have not been sufficient to maintain the quality and range of educational services offered in the past. Parents have supplemented public education budgets by making informal payments directly to schools or school-based NGOs, by topping up teacher salaries, and by paying for private tutoring to ensure that their children have access to the entire school curriculum necessary for passing tests and university admission exams.

We welcome submissions that explore the changing nature of public/private education provision and address some of the following key questions: What are the main facets of privatization or marketization of education in the countries and sub-regions in Southeast/Central Europe and Eurasia? What are some of the policy changes relating to marketization or privatization of education in the countries and sub-regions in Southeast/Central Europe and Eurasia and how have these policies originated and resonated in the national contexts? Why have countries with similar historical and transitional paths experienced different scope, intensity, and nature of privatization in education? Given current trends in privatization the countries and sub-regions in Southeast/Central Europe and Eurasia, what are the major concerns related to equity/educational justice and education quality that are either already manifesting themselves or are likely to manifest themselves in the future.

For more information about this call for papers and directions on how to submit papers, please see this .pdf document.