When Good Intentions are not Enough – What Romanian Teachers tell us about Teaching Roma History
While inclusive education is formally embedded in national and European policy frameworks, the everyday reality inside Romanian classrooms reveals a more complex picture. A recent study conducted by researchers from Roma Education Fund Romania explores how teachers understand and implement intercultural education, with a particular focus on Roma history and culture.
Our Roma community represents the second largest ethnic minority in Romania. Yet essential historical realities like five centuries of slavery, the Roma Holocaust, deportations during the Second World War, and persistent structural discrimination, remain marginal or absent in classroom discussions. While policy language increasingly emphasizes diversity and inclusion, the depth and quality of how Roma history is taught varies significantly across schools.
The study set out to better understand how teachers conceptualize intercultural education, how they address racism in schools, what pedagogical strategies they employ, and what barriers they encounter in attempting to create inclusive learning environments.
The study, Intercultural Education and Teaching Roma History In Romania: Educators’ Perspectives, Challenges, and Pedagogical Practices, led by Ider Ștefan and developed in collaboration with Valentin Negoi and Alexandru Zamfir, was selected for presentation at the 31st International Congress of Applied Psychology in Florence, marking the first time Roma Education Fund Romania has been represented at this high-level global forum. The Congress is one of the most prestigious international platforms in applied psychology and educational research, and the acceptance of the study signals the international relevance of its findings.
The research analyzed responses from 25 female teachers, aged 23 to 54, working in both urban and rural schools, with Roma student populations ranging from 0% to 100%. Participants completed open-ended questionnaires following a structured training on intercultural education and Roma history.
“What this study demonstrates is that all participants are united by the values they share when it comes to inclusion, despite the lack of infrastructure to support them. Teachers do not avoid difficult conversations about the history, discrimination, and identity of the Roma; on the contrary, they are willing to engage in them. However, without systematic training, validated resources, and clear institutional support, inclusion remains an individual effort rather than a coherent educational policy” – Ider Ștefan, PhD candidate and coordinator of Research and Development Division within the REF Romania.
Using thematic analysis, the study identified five central findings with direct implications for educational policy and teacher training.
First, teachers conceptually embrace intercultural education. They speak about empathy, respect, equality, and diversity with clarity and conviction. There is no rejection of inclusive values. On the contrary, there is strong theoretical alignment with them.
Second, educators identify the competencies required for inclusive practice: socio-emotional skills, reflective thinking, cultural literacy, and conflict management. Teachers understand that intercultural education goes beyond delivering historical facts. It requires creating psychologically safe spaces for dialogue.
Third, participants openly acknowledge the manifestations of racism within schools. These include labeling, social exclusion, spatial segregation, lowered expectations toward Roma students, and the cultural invisibility of Roma identity within mainstream curricula. The issue is not denial. it is structural persistence.
Fourth, when discriminatory situations arise, teachers describe immediate interventions, dialogue-based approaches, and empathy-building exercises. However, these responses are often reactive rather than embedded within a broader, consistent pedagogical framework.
Fifth, and most critically, substantial barriers remain. At the personal level, teachers mention fear, internalized stereotypes, and uncertainty about how to approach sensitive topics. At the professional level, they cite insufficient training and lack of quality teaching materials. At the institutional level, rigid curricula, limited administrative support, and systemic segregation significantly constrain their efforts.
The core conclusion is both encouraging and sobering: teachers demonstrate empathy and willingness to engage, but good intentions alone do not translate into sustained pedagogical transformation. There is a clear gap between awareness and structured implementation.
Importantly, this study does not portray teachers as resistant actors. On the contrary, it reveals a professional body that is reflective, empathetic, and prepared to engage with difficult conversations about history, discrimination, and identity. Many participants demonstrated moral clarity and a genuine desire to foster inclusive classroom environments. They recognize injustice when it occurs. They intervene when conflict arises. They understand the importance of representation.
What the study exposes is not reluctance, but structural fragility
Teachers are expected to address centuries of historical trauma and contemporary prejudice without consistent training, without pedagogical tools adapted to sensitive content, and without institutional frameworks that protect and guide their practice. They operate within rigid curricular structures that leave limited room for contextualized discussion. They work within school cultures where segregation may persist informally. They are evaluated through systems that measure academic performance but rarely measure inclusion. Under such conditions, inclusion becomes dependent on individual goodwill rather than systemic design.
When inclusive education relies solely on personal commitment, it becomes uneven, vulnerable to burnout, and inconsistent across schools and regions. Some teachers innovate and persist. Others hesitate, uncertain whether institutional backing will exist if controversy emerges. The result is fragmented implementation, not because educators lack values, but because the system lacks scaffolding.
The study therefore shifts the focus from individual responsibility to the broader architecture of education policy. If Romania expects educators to teach five centuries of Roma slavery, the Holocaust, deportations, and ongoing discrimination responsibly and confidently, then structured training, validated materials, institutional support mechanisms, and clear national guidance must accompany that expectation.
For Roma Education Fund, these findings reaffirm a fundamental principle: improving educational outcomes for Roma students requires strengthening the entire ecosystem in which learning takes place. Inclusion cannot be achieved solely through student-focused interventions. It requires equipping teachers, reforming curricula, embedding intercultural standards into mainstream educational frameworks, and fostering sustained collaboration between civil society, academia, and public authorities.
This commitment has already translated into many concrete institutional action. The latest example, is the Intercultural Education – From Theory to Practice. A Guide for Early Childhood Educators and Primary School Teachers, officially approved as an auxiliary didactic material by the Ministry of Education and Research through Order no. 6836/04.12.2025. Its approval affirms both the pedagogical quality of the resource and the institutional recognition of intercultural education as a structured and legitimate component of the national educational framework.
However, validated tools alone are not sufficient. Their impact depends on sustained implementation, continuous professional development, and policy coherence that ensures intercultural education becomes embedded practice rather than optional enrichment.
Inclusion cannot be left to courage alone. It must be engineered, resourced, and sustained
Continuous professional development must move from sporadic workshops to institutionalized pathways. Culturally relevant teaching materials must be officially integrated rather than informally circulated. Policy commitments must translate into operational guidance. And inclusion must become a measurable dimension of educational quality.
“If Romania is serious about historical reconciliation, social cohesion, and equal opportunity, then teacher training, curriculum reform, and institutional accountability must advance together. Without structural support, inclusion remains aspirational. With it, classrooms can become spaces of recognition, dignity, and shared future. The representation of Roma students in school is essential for their harmonious educational development. From the presence of the Romani language in simple greetings to key elements of Roma history and culture, all these elements constitute an indispensable kit for any child belonging to a minority. In addition, non-Roma students must internalize these elements equally, so that cohesion between the two groups grows exponentially so that the school environment becomes an inclusive space in which everyone can find themselves both individually and as a unified group” – Alexandru Zamfir, PhD.
