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This article considers the understandings of space and place amongst a group of disaffected students within an institution that had been in a state of flux over a number of years. The article explores ways in which students are positioned by institutions into specific spaces, ways in which they use those spaces to challenge authority and ways in which they appropriate both space and place to assert new, and often playful, identities. The authors consider the meanings of the spatial behaviour of students through notions of space and place as developed by Doreen Massey, with reference to a Foucauldian understanding of power. In some ways, the students might be perceived as being marginalised, victims of a hierarchical environment in which their status is low. Yet they also emerge as active agents, forging new interpretations of their surroundings and robust group identities, and reinforcing in-group relationships through spatial behaviour.

This article focuses on methodological and epistemological issues arising from a research project with two Gypsy communities (2010-2012) in the South West of England. Although the two communities seem to share cultural roots and values, and live within a few miles of each other, they have contrasting experiences within the education system and very different relationships with the surrounding mainstream communities. The article explores difficulties emerging as a consequence of the contrasting positions of the participant communities, the differing research aspirations and practices across the research team, and also the tensions between ethnographic work and participatory action research. It queries the problematic nature of participation, and proposes the concept of the "faux-participant."

This article draws on data gathered between 2014 and 2015 through interviews with youngsters and staff, and supplemented by research that took place over a two-year period (2012-14) at a school for excluded youngsters in Devon, UK. The research explored the views of students and staff about reasons for being in alternative education settings, the difference in culture between such contexts and those provided by mainstream schools, and feelings about reintegration. Noting that reintegration is more successful with primary school students than at secondary level, the authors consider staff preoccupations around the issue of timing, and identify potential "windows of opportunity". They also discuss the way in which centres for excluded children can construct environments that operate in the manner of an extended family. This, they argue, creates a conundrum for those working with excluded youngsters: the very elements put in place to create a supportive environment for such youngsters are liable to militate against targets for reintegration back into mainstream schools. The authors conclude that, rather than suggesting problems with such alternative settings, this highlights the need for change in mainstream schools.

Considering data from a research project with two Gypsy communities (2010-2012) in South West England, this article explores issues of education and identity. The two communities have contrasting experiences within the education system. Informed by inter-disciplinary perspectives on identity and assimilation theories, the article explores these experiences within the wider context of the researcher's work with Romani communities over the past two decades, exploring the impact of schooling on cultural identity and group membership. Questions are raised about theories concerning hybrid and multiple identities. Finally, the author emphasizes the need to acknowledge the heterogeneity of minority groups in formulating policy.

Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study of Romani Gypsy groups in England (1996-2000), along with data from follow-up work involving original and additional participants (2005-ongoing), this paper explores several ethical issues that arose. It traces developing relationships across a 13-year period, identifying the problems of attempting to construct a "research community" consisting of individuals with diverse lifestyles, and at times, conflicting agendas. It problematises issues concerning the negotiation and maintenance of access, and considers, also, the prioritisation of certain voices at the expense of others, and the difficulties of "openness" when the researcher is unsure where a project is heading. Rather than engaging with a full literature review of the themes discussed, this paper seeks to highlight the situated negotiation of ethics within a specific research context. The focus is on shifting events in which official codes of practice do not seem to provide an adequate means of navigation. The paper argues that it is not sufficient for the researcher to pay lip service to superficial guidelines, calling, instead, for deeper reflection that might lead to greater honesty with both oneself and the community/communities involved in research. It implies a need to react quickly to events in the field, informing participants about any perceived flaws and ambiguities in the original research design that may have emerged during data collection and led to changes of direction. Finally, it recommends that participants are fully involved in processes, including those that are interpretive, and that they, too, share any benefit of considering the research study, retrospectively, as an historical artefact. (Contains 4 notes.)

The policy to integrate English Gypsy children in schools tends to overlook the difficulties facing such youngsters in their attempts to negotiate between contrasting practices and values at home and school. Contradictions between such practices/value systems at home and school entail not only knowledge/skills, but also differing modes of instruction/transmission. Informed by learning theories and New Literacy discourse, along with evidence from previous accounts of Romani learning practices in the home context, this article draws on findings from an ethnographic study of English Gypsies (1996-2000), and data from a follow-up study, involving original and additional participants (2005-6). The article explores attitudes across age-groups, outlining, in particular, the knowledge/skill base valued in the home setting, highlighting the mismatch between home and school expectations, and the difference of expectation in child-adult relations in each context. It argues that policy-makers need to consider the wider impact of school education on identity and group membership. (Contains 1 note.)

The attribution of low literacy levels among Gypsy children to difficulties of access to schools neglects underlying sociocultural explanations. There has been little analysis in reports/studies of Gypsy attitudes toward literacy, nor of outcomes of acquisition. Informed by new literacy theory and by the discourse of previous ethnographic studies, and by acculturation theories, this article draws on findings from an ethnographic study of English Gypsies (1996-2000), and data from a follow-up study, involving original and additional participants (2005-2006). The article explores attitudes across age groups, highlighting social reasons for resistance to literacy, and argues that policy makers should consider effects on group membership and ways in which formal literacy can constitute a mechanism for disempowerment. (Contains 6 notes.)

Drawing on data from a three-year ethnographic study of Gypsy life in England, this article explores the experience and attitudes of Gypsy women regarding the home-school interface. Specific attention is given to the following: role expectations in the different contexts; changing perceptions of role in the face of economic and social change; the contradictions and tensions arising from the process of schooling; and the identity dilemmas experienced by those young women who remain in the educational system. The findings suggest that, at the individual level, for many young Gypsy women, the different demands of home and school can lead to feelings of cultural dislocation and anxiety. At a group level, the widening of aspirations constitutes a challenge to structural patterns and traditional value systems that have underpinned both family and communal life.

This article draws on data generated from a 3-1/2-year ethnographic study of the interface between Gypsy culture and the educational system in England. The evidence suggests that Gypsy children have distinctive spatial orientations that are embedded in their own culture and life experience. These relate to issues revolving around degrees of nomadic and sedentary lifestyles, and also around spatial awareness deriving from the site environment. In combination, these features have the potential to make the transition between home and school problematic. Moreover, the utilization of space by Gypsy children is often misinterpreted within schools, being at odds with, and constituting a challenge to, the structured social space of the school environment. In view of the multiple meanings of space, this raises issues about the lack of flexible responses in institutional contexts.