Inclusion within segregation: responding to extreme poverty and social exclusion in a segregated school

All schools should work to reduce educational inequalities and risks associated with poverty and segregation. These aims are pressing in disadvantaged and geographically isolated contexts. This article draws on an ethnographic case study of one segregated primary school in eastern Slovakia attended almost exclusively by Roma children living in extreme poverty. Using a framework grounded in research on educational segregation and Roma inclusion, the study examines school practices supporting students’ participation and reducing risks associated with poverty and social exclusion. Thematic analysis of observations, unstructured interviews, and school documents identified five mechanisms: school-family cooperation through a social pedagogue, partial inclusion of students from special classes, efforts to improve attendance and reduce dropout, zero grades, and homogeneous first-grade classes. The findings show that segregated schools can mitigate poverty and exclusion while some organisational practices simultaneously reproduce internal educational boundaries. The study highlights the ambivalent character of inclusion in segregated settings.