Új Pedagógiai Szemle

The portrait presents the biography of Gyöngyi Rácz – an educational specialist of Gypsy-Hungarian origin – and the most important stages of her pedagogical and professional work for the benefit of Roma children. The article explores in detail Gyöngyi Rácz’s activities in these fields, and the fact that she cared not only for Roma children, but also for the collective of teachers who supported them. Together with her teaching colleagues, she established the Eötvös József Gypsy-Hungarian Pedagogical Society, whose president became she until her death and within which she fought for teachers – who worked enthusiastically and with sufficient professional foundation for Roma youth – to receive the recognition they deserve from various forums of the Hungarian state. At the same time, the portrait also mentions that Gyöngyi Rácz collaborated with renowned Roma artists, such as Menyhért Lakatos, Tamás Péli, Tivadar Fátyol, Hontalan József Kovács and Béla Osztojkán, under the auspices of the Eötvös József Gypsy-Hungarian Pedagogical Society, i.e. included them in pedagogical programs, because she specifically emphasized that the new Roma generation should have the opportunity to learn from the iconic Roma figures of the era. Regarding Gyöngyi Rácz’s professional work, it is particularly important that, through the „Eötvös József” Gypsy-Hungarian Pedagogical Society, she motivated teachers to write their own „good practices” with the aim of creating a useful pedagogical-methodological collection (database) that could professionally support those teachers, who teach Roma children.