Caught in the conundrum: neoliberalism and education in post-conflict Northern Ireland: Exploring Shared Education

Northern Ireland (NI) is emerging from a violent period in its troubled history and remains a
society characterized by segregation between its two main communities. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in education, where for the most part Catholic and Protestant pupils are
educated separately. During the last 30 years there has been a twofold pressure placed on the
education system in NI - at one level to respond to intergroup tensions by promoting
reconciliation, and at another, to deal with national policy demands derived from a global neoliberalist
economic agenda. With reference to current efforts to promote shared education
between separate schools, we explore the uneasy dynamic between a school-based
reconciliation programme in a transitioning society and system-wide values that are driven by
neo-liberalism and its organizational manifestation - new managerialism. We argue that whilst
the former seeks to promote social democratic ideals in education that can have a potentially
transformative effect at societal level, neoliberal priorities have the potential to both subvert
shared education and also to embed it.

Shared education in Northern Ireland: school collaboration in divided societies

During the years of political violence in Northern Ireland many looked to schools to contribute to reconciliation. A variety of interventions were attempted throughout those years, but there was little evidence that any had produced systemic change. The peace process provided an opportunity for renewed efforts. This paper outlines the experience of a series of projects on 'shared education', or the establishment of collaborative networks of Protestant, Catholic and integrated schools in which teachers and pupils moved between schools to take classes and share experiences. The paper outlines the genesis of the idea and the research which helped inform the shape of the shared education project. The paper also outlines the corpus of research which has examined various aspects of shared education practice and lays out the emergent model which is helping to inform current government practice in Northern Ireland, and is being adopted in other jurisdictions. The paper concludes by looking at the prospects for real transformation of education in Northern Ireland.

The Adequacy of Traveller Education in Northern Ireland

The issues facing Travellers, including those associated with education are often linked to social exclusion, widespread disadvantage and discrimination (Reynolds, McCartan, and Knipe 2003




). The Office for Standards in Education (Office for Standards in Education 1999




) referred to Gypsy Traveller pupils as ‘the most at risk in the education system.’ Within this article issues pertaining to Traveller education are discussed and in particular accessing education provision in Northern Ireland. The article focuses on the views of the statutory and voluntary sector to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of educational provision for Traveller children and young people and reviews the policies in place relating to the provision of education for Travellers in Northern Ireland. It also considers the issue of segregated education for the Traveller community and how for some this segregation can exacerbate social exclusion, disadvantage and discrimination.

Shared Education in contested spaces: How collaborative networks improve communities and schools

Societies which suffer from ethnic and political divisions are often characterised by patterns of social and institutional separation, and sometimes these divisions remain even after political conflict has ended. This has occurred in Northern Ireland where there is, and remains, a long-standing pattern of parallel institutions and services for the different communities. A socially significant example lies in the education system where a parallel system of Catholic and Protestant schools has been in place since the establishment of a national school system in the 1830s. During the years of political violence in Northern Ireland a variety of educational interventions were implemented to promote reconciliation, but most of them failed to create any systemic change. This paper describes a post-conflict educational initiative known as Shared Education which aims to promote social cohesion and school improvement by encouraging sustained and regular shared learning between students and broader collaboration between teachers and school leaders from different schools. The paper examines the background to work on Shared Education, describes a ‘sharing continuum’ which emerged as an evaluation and policy tool from this work and considers evidence from a case study of a Shared Education school partnership in a divided city in Northern Ireland. The paper will conclude by highlighting some of the significant social and policy impact of the Shared Education work.

Exploring the influences on classroom-based contact via shared education in Northern Ireland

Initiatives in intercultural education have frequently involved the promotion of contact between members of different groups as a means of improving intergroup relations. Experience from Northern Ireland suggests, however, that such schemes have often been organised and delivered in such a way that opportunities for sustained, high-quality contact are limited. This paper considers processes of contact in one relatively recent initiative, “shared education”, which involves collaboration between separate schools to deliver classes to Catholic and Protestant pupils in mixed groups. Employing qualitative methods of observation and interviewing to capture participants’ experiences of contact, the research explores the influences on the quality and frequency of cross-group interaction in the shared class. With findings highlighting the subject and pedagogy, teacher’s approach and classroom arrangement as key factors, the study offers suggestions for policy and practice to enhance opportunities for contact and relationship-building in mixed classes.

Balancing cultural diversity and social cohesion in education: The potential of shared education in divided contexts

This article considers how the education systems of divided societies have been shaped in response to the experience of ethnic and religious conflict. The analysis identifies two competing priorities in such contexts – the development of social cohesion and the protection of cultural, ethnic and religious identities - and explores how these may be reconciled through a model of ‘shared education’. Drawing on research evidence and recent experience of shared education in relation to Northern Ireland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Cyprus, we reflect on the advantages and challenges of this model in areas experiencing conflict and division.

’Letting the right one in’: provider contexts for recruitment to initial teacher education in the United Kingdom

We exploit policy differences within the UK to investigate provider context and recruitment to initial teacher education (ITE). We identify three dimensions of variation: conceptions of professionalism, universal or context specific preparation and costs and benefits to providers. University-led ITE programmes used similar criteria and processes in each jurisdiction, but there were differences between university-led and school-led recruitment. Our study suggests that the current shortfall in recruitment to ITE in England may be a product of the contextual constraints which schools experience. It also suggests that school-led recruitment may tend to emphasise short-term and school-specific needs.