Marking International Literacy Day: ROMLIT at World Funfair Month

To mark International Literacy Day, we are pleased to share news of ROMLIT’s participation in the World Funfair Month celebrations in Carlisle on 4–6 September. ROMLIT is an innovative early years literacy project based at UEA working alongside Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and Showmen children, their families, and schools and communities across England. The research is led by Dr Spyros Themelis, UNESCO Chair member and Associate Professor at UEA’s School of Education and Lifelong Learning.

The event offered an important opportunity to celebrate Showmen’s culture and heritage, while also reflecting on literacy as something that extends far beyond the classroom. Children and families bring rich forms of storytelling, language, cultural knowledge and everyday literacy practices that are too often overlooked in formal education.

ROMLIT’s work challenges deficit approaches to Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and Showmen communities by asking instead: whose literacies are valued, whose knowledge is represented, and whose stories find a place within education? Read more about this exciting project.