Devolution, Social Policy and Education: Some Observations from Northern Ireland

Many commentaries on social policy in the UK assume that policy as developed in England applies to the constituent countries of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, the advent of political devolution in the last five years is slowly being reflected in the literature. This paper takes education policy in Northern Ireland and discusses recent policy developments in the light of the 1998 Belfast Agreement. The Agreement, it is suggested, is providing a framework which promotes equality, human rights and inclusion in policy making. Some early indications of this are discussed and some of the resultant policy dilemmas are assessed. The paper concludes that accounts of policy development
in the UK, which ignore the multi-level policy-making contexts created by devolution, do
a disservice to the subject.

Contact as a Policy Mechanisim in Integrated schools in Israel and Northern Ireland

Policy initiatives in inter-group education evolved in Northern Ireland and Israel at around the same
time. In each jurisdiction, the emphasis is on improving relations between protagonist groups in
ethnically divided societies. Central to this objective and at the core of integrated education
(Northern Ireland) and bilingual/bi-national education (Israel) is sustained contact in a shared
learning environment. Based on qualitative research in four schools, this paper examines the nature
of the contact experience in two integrated schools in Northern Ireland and two bilingual/binational
schools in Israel. Through comparative analysis, and with reference to contact theory, it
illuminates some of the contextual and process variables that seemingly mediate the quality and
moderate the effectiveness of contact in each school setting.

Extracting Policy Positions from Political Texts Using words as Data

We present a new way of extracting policy positions from political texts that treats texts not as discourses to be understood and interpreted but rather, as data in the form of words. We compare this approach to previous methods of text analysis and use it to replicate published estimates of the policy positions of political parties in Britain and Ireland, on both economic and social policy dimensions. We “export” the method to a non-English-language environment, analyzing the policy positions of German parties, including the PDS as it entered the former West German party system. Finally, we extend its application beyond the analysis of party manifestos, to the estimation of political positions from legislative speeches. Our “language-blind” word scoring technique successfully replicates published policy estimates without the substantial costs of time and labor that these require. Furthermore, unlike in any previous method for extracting policy positions from political texts, we provide uncertainty measures for our estimates, allowing analysts to make informed judgments of the extent to which differences between two estimated policy positions can be viewed as significant or merely as products of measurement error.

Approved Social Work Training in Northern Ireland: Using Research to Examine Competence-Based Learning and Influence Policy Change

This article reports on how research activity helped describe and analyse ASW (Approved Social Worker) learning experience as well as acting as a catalyst for change and development in policy and practice in Northern Ireland. The paper contextualizes the study by outlining the legislation, the main features of the ASW role and the approach to ASW training in Northern Ireland, and by reviewing the literature on the efficacy and value of competence-based learning. While the findings do not provide conclusive evidence that a competence-based approach is inherently more effective than previous courses, they do indicate that candidates who were trained in this way were moderately more satisfied than those who had participated in non-competence based programmes. The research also highlights the importance of the interrelationship between training, practice experience and support in developing and sustaining competence. The paper concludes with a review of the recommendations arising from the study and an analysis of the developments in training and regulations relating to practice experience and re-approval of ASWs since publication of the research. The study is of contemporary interest given the proposed changes to the role of ASWs/Mental Health Officers in the context of the reviews of UK mental health law.