A background to change
An education that privileges one child over another is giving the privileged child a corrupted education, even as it gives him or her, a social or economic advantage. (Connell 1993, p15)

This assignment will be a critical and analytical report on the educational provision for traveller children in my setting and how as part of my role I am involved in developing links with the traveller community.

Reflecting on my practice I will show how my values of social justice and equality compels me to engage in social and educational practices that ensure that no child is privileged at the expense of minority or marginalised groups. My setting has an ethos of equality of respect for all; a practice of inclusion that is grounded in an intercultural ethos. What does this mean in reality, well as a faith school we have at the heart of our vision the desire to nurture and love all children regardless of their background, ethnicity or faith. Striving all the time to reach out to all areas of our school community, this can be seen in the way we are building bridges of friendship with the families of our children encouraging them all to become engaged with the school in the development of their children.

A passionate belief in the right to social justice and equality for all people, irrespective of social class, race, gender or ethnicity drives me to strive for equal opportunities in the area of educational provision. The rationale behind this aspiration is reflected by Russell (1932) and Dewey (1966) of the importance of education as a lifelong process that has the capacity to confer on participants’ libratory and life-enhancing experiences.

Traveller children belong to an ethnic minority group who exist mainly on the margins of society. Dwyer (1974) describes how for generations they have lived in the fringe of society, tolerated by some,