Resilience capacity and supportive factors of compulsory education in ethnic minority families: mixed methods study of Czech Roma mothers

ABSTRACT This mixed methods study from 2017 to 2018 documents the living conditions and Czech Roma mothers’ experiences of the education system. Based on a comparative analysis of quantitative survey data and in-depth biographical interviews, we focus on the mothers’ reflections of macro, meso and microsystem level primary education conditions and experiences. We especially draw upon racially/ethnically framed oppression and its interrelation with modes of communication between education facilities and families, as well as educational aspirations. The negative schooling experiences of Roma mothers and their children appear to oscillate at the intersections of race, ethnicity and social class. Our findings indicate the development of resilience and coping strategies, the overriding feature of which is a mode of family damage control and prevention rather than the pursuit of ambitious prospects when assisting children through the education process. At the same time, when seeking support, Czech Roma mothers preferably turn to informal education and the private sphere, rather than the formal education sphere.