Education and Turkish communities in Bulgaria in the years of transformation (1989-2007): a negotiated formal balance of educational outcomes

摘要

This paper on the education of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria in the years of transformation (1989-2007) aims to discuss the perceptions and experiences of minority members in schooling. After a succinct introduction into the historical development of minority education, the article focuses on research conducted among the Turkish communities in south‐east Bulgaria. This adopts as a theoretical starting point John Ogbu's cultural ecological theory of students' school achievements, and works with the methods of educational anthropology. On the basis of the collected field material, the article discusses the perceptions of the minority group about education and Turkish as the language of instruction, as well as the patterns of victimisation displayed by the three groups involved in schooling: teachers, parents and children. I conclude by stating that an apparent negotiated balance of educational outcomes is achieved between the groups, which addresses their short‐term interests. In the long run, however, minority children experience difficulties and are discriminated against. But despite all this, there are no open conflicts or protests on the side of the community, mainly because of the constant negotiating process taking place at the micro level.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03050060903538616