Affiliation:
1. University of South Florida, USA
2. University of Alberta, Canada
Abstract
Using the case of Bulgarian Roma—Europe's largest, poorest, and most discriminated against group—this chapter examines how educational institutions and, more specifically, teachers can plan for and support marginalized Roma students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting socioeconomic calamities. It identifies educator-initiated strategies to support Roma students' learning in times of a major health crisis that can be identified as emergent teacher leadership. The study found that participants went beyond their educator duties through a series of leadership practices, such as collaborative improvement of practice, nurturing a culture of success, and taking actions to break down barriers. The teachers described a complex picture of socioeconomic and digital gaps, showing that teacher leadership emerged during the pandemic as an approach to tackling structural problems such as poverty and discrimination through employing adaptive leadership.
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