Education and a shared future - Schools Working …

1 Educationand a shared futureOptions for sharing and collaboration in northern ireland schoolsPhilip O SullivanIan O FlynnDavid RussellContents Introductio n3A Shar ed Fu ture?3 Shar ing: mo re is better than less5 The ar gume nt from identity5 The ar gume nt from reconciliation6 Shar ing: mo re is not always better than less7 The ar gume nt from identity revisited8 The ar gume nt from reconciliation revisited9 Wher e to fro m here?10 No rthe rn Irela nd13 Backgr ound and methodology13 Atti tudes to sharing18 Types of schools19 Rel atio ns be tween schools21 Deno minatio nal colla borat ion22Cr oss- com munity sharing24 Age-gr ouping f or s chools27 Comp arativ e Analysis 31 Shar ed Campus Schools in Scotland32 Backgr ound and methodology32 Cas e s tudy one Diocese of Glasgow35 Cas e s tudy two Diocese of Motherwell37 The v iews of an independent consultant38 The v iews of a North Lanarkshire councillor39 The v iews of a senior representative of the Diocese of Motherwell 40 Lesso ns f or northern Ireland41 Jointly Managed Church Schools in England and Ireland43 Backgr ound and methodology43 Cas e s tudy one Somerset44 Cas e s tudy two Devon46 Cas e s tudy three Torba y48 Cas e s tudy four Laois.

2 Ireland50 Lesso ns f or northern ireland 52 Mul ti-denominational Schools in Ireland53 Backgr ound and methodology53 The importance of context54 What is diff erent in a multi-denominational school?55Et hos and practice58 Lesso ns f or northern ireland 60 Conclusio ns and recommendations63 Appe ndices66 Appendix A: Projec t questionnaire66 Appendix B: Cate gorical v aria ble s for the sample of parents who to ok part in the 2007 consultation exercise70 Appendix C: A charter for Catholic Schools in Scotland71 Appendix D: Protocol for shared management campus schools72 Appendix E: Example of a Mission Statement of a Joi ntl y Managed Church School74 Appendix F: Educate Together Charter75 References76 Notes on Authors and Acknowledgements802: 3In Nort he rn Ir el and t he pri nci pl e of sha ring is a c rucial component of thetransi tion f rom vi ole nt c onf lict to pe ace ful democr acy. Its significance issym boli ca lly ca ptur ed by t he const ituti onal and political settleme nts of theBel fast (Good F rida y) Agreem ent , Nort her n ireland Act 1998 and St.

3 Andrew sAgre em ent . Not only a re the quest ions of how and on what basis to shareaddre ssed by t hese doc um ent s, but c rucially, the reasons for doing so a nd theinte nded obj ec tives a re also de tai led. Members of the Assembly are the reforecom pel led to st rive i n ever y pr act ica l way towar ds reconciliation andrappr ochem ent wi thin t he fra me work of democratic and agree d arrange ments .1 Gover nme nt m ini sters a re re quir ed t o operate in a way conducive to promotinggood com muni ty rel at ions and e qual ity of tre atm ent .2 Publ ic aut hori ties areobl iga ted to have rega rd t o t he desi rabi lity of promoting good relations betweenpersons o f di ffer ent re ligi ous bel ief, pol itical opinion or racial gr oup .3 Sha ring is i nt ended t o be muc h mor e, i t se ems, tha n a pragmatic bargain. It is therai son d t re of an e nvisaged a nd em erging society . Determining what it means tolive togethe r, the refore , i s to sha pe t he structural and procedural foundations of apl ural ist Nor the rn Ir el and.

4 And, i t is r easonable to assume, that following thecom mitment s m ade by e lect ed repr esentatives ,legisla tion, policies and financialsupport for shari ng would be guarant eed. A str ategic framew ork ,appropriatelyent itled A Share d future , cert ai nl y i ndi cated that this assumption might becorr ect . AShared Fut urecom mitted gover nme nt to establishing over time anorm al , ci vic soci et y, in whi ch al l indi viduals are considered as equals, wheredi ffere nces a re resol ved thr ough dia logue in the public sphere, and wher e allpeopl e a re t reat ed i mpa rtial ly .4It c al led for a soci et y whe re t here i s e quity,respe ct for dive rsi ty a nd a rec ognit ion and ac ceptance of our inte rdependency .5A S hared Fu ture?Wh en peopl e f rom diff ere nt eth ni c, relig iou s o r n ati on al com muniti es havede cided to l ive tog eth er peacefull y, it beco mes n ece ss ary t o consi der both howmuch they are go ing to sha re and on what basis th is s ha ring mi ght oc cur.

5 To h elp answ er th ese quest ion s e lect ed re pre se nta ti ves ,and th os e w ho adv iseth em ,ma y d eci de th er e is a need for a str ateg ic fra mewor k one that sets adi rec tio n for public p olicy and aga inst wh ich th e effec tive nes s of governmentinitia tiv es to prom ot e sh arin g can be meas ured. But th is w ill no t al way s be th eca se. Sharing is, aft er all , a co mpl ex and even co mp lica ted b usiness, and theidea of dev elop ing a st ra te gic fr am ework th at de ter mines ho w and w hat t o sh ar emay be view ed as an un ne ce ssary con st ra int or li mi ta tion . I nd eed, decisions ofth is sor t m ight j ust a r ead ily be m ade p iece meal th ro ug hon going d eli berati onsin res pons e to a give n a rea of pu blic policy an dwh ichaffor d d ecis ion-makers agr eater degree of fr ee do m and fl ex oduct ionBut A Share d future went furthe r tha n principledstatements a nd norm ative ide al s.

6 I t also involve dcommitme nts t o undertaking difficult pr actica l worktackling the visi ble manife stations of division andaddre ssin g displa ys of secta rian a ggre ssion suc h as fla gs,para military m ura ls and ke rb-paintings. Public spac e w asto be rec lai me d and m ade sa fe for me eting, pl aying, Working a nd livi ng toge ther, with a pa rticul ar foc us onprotec ting tow n and c ity c entre s a s neutral c ivic venues. A long-term appr oa ch was to be de veloped for addre ssingthe ne eds of i nte rfaces whe re violenc e betwe en themember s of dif ferent communit ies has bee n rec urre ted r esi dent ial are as wer e to be supported andbecome a c ent ral f oc us of housing policy and planning. The duplica tion of public service provision as a result of the co nflict in a reas such a s he alth and tra nsport were to beaddre ssed. Oppor tuni tie s for sha red and inter-c ultur allear ning wer e to be provided in e duca tion, with civic-mindedne ss prom ote d through citiz enship tea ching, and a nunderstan ding of the complex history of northern I relandencour aged t hrough a common school curric ul um.

7 Finally,any governm ent fund ed projec t, whether single ide nt ity orcross- comm unity , w as to be teste d in re lation to thequality of outc ome s and its abil ity to promote the buildingof good rel at ionships .6 The proble m w ith A Share d Futurehowe ver, is that while it may a ppe ar to r eflec t the consti tutional and politicalsettleme nt s agr ee d in N orthern Ire land, it doe s not car ry theequivalent l egi sla tive a uthority . Mor eover , those engage dwith the issue cannot have failed to noti ce that the stra tegicfra mewor k for shar ing ha s lacked a ny tangible momentumgener ated by loc al ly elec ted repre sentatives . Admittedl y,following the Agr eeme nt, the first de vol ve d administr ationdid, in its pr ogra mme for government, undertake to re vie wcommunit y re lations policy a nd pra ctic e. But beyond thisinitial tent at ive com mitment, northern ireland s e lectedrepr esentat ive s have , for the most part, had little to do with A Share d future .

8 Indee d, the frame work itself wa sprincipa lly de vel oped w hen the legislative A ssembly w assuspended , wi th r espo nsibility f alling to the incumbe ntSec retary of S tate, the Nor ther n Irela nd Office Minister in rec eipt of the re leva nt por tfolio, and a numbe r of keycivil servant oste nsibl y re sponsible for A shared Futuredidsucce ed in i ts pr ogression. A c ross-depa rtmental GoodRelations P ane l c ha ired by the He ad of the Civil Se rvicewas set up t o consi der imple menta tion a nd all governmentde par tmen ts a gre ed ta rge ts to be inc lude d in the public ationof a Triennial Act ion on the two occ asions whenlocally ele ct ed r epr esentatives formally debated shar ing, theconte nt of t he ir de libe rations a nd the resolutions ac hie vedwere less tha n convinc ing. On 17 June 2004 the NorthernIre land Grand C om mittee at We stm inst er aff orded a total of 14 Me mbe rs of P arl iam ent re pre sent ing the D emocraticUni oni st Part y, Ul ster Uni oni st Part y and SocialDemoc rat ic and La bour P ar ty one aft ernoon of substantivediscussi on.

9 The m em bers of S inn F ei n, who refuse to takethei r sea ts, di d not take par t i n t he deba te, and the AlliancePart y coul d not take par t si nce it had no pa rlia me ntarysea the 4 June 2007 t he l egi sla tive Asse mbly had anopport uni ty t o furt her consi der the ma tter. On thi s occasional l of t he m ai n pol itica l pa rties were r epresented a ndres olve d to not e t he dir ect ion of and underpinningpri nci pl es cont ai ned i n t he docum ent s A Share d future (Ma rch 2005) and A Share d Fut ure : Tri ennial Ac tion Plan(Apri l 2006) , and re cogni sed t hat the gover nm ent willwish t o consi der c are ful ly t he pr ogre ss t o da te and bringfor ward det ai led pl ans, consi stent with t he pledge of office,to prom ot e t he i nt erest s of t he whol e c ommunity towardsthe goal of a share d fut ure and a prosper ous, peaceful andset tled soci et y .9A st rat egi c fr am ewor k for shari ng m ay or may not beagr eed by l oca lly el ect ed re pr esent at ives in NorthernIre land.

10 The f ol lowi ng re port does not aim to draw anyconc lusi on on t hi s m at ter. To do so, i n a soc iety where somany com ment at ors have been sur pri sed a nd bewildered bythe t urn of e vent s, woul d be at best a hostage to fortune andat wor st f oolha rdy. S o, inst ea d, we are goi ng to start fromthe undeni abl e f act s. S hari ng i s a real ity of the political and soc ial c ondit ion of Nor the rn Ir el and. I t is the contextwit hi n whi ch t he l egi slat ive Assem bly ope rates and asconse quence the re are no ar eas of publ ic policy unaffectedby t he re solve of uni onism and na tional ism, Protestantismand C at hol ici sm to l ive t o t oget her . B eyond politics, howto share and on what ba sis i t mi ght occur is pe rhaps asec ondary i ssue, but it c annot be i gnored by those whodesi gn and i mpl em ent publ ic pol ici es. To do so would beaki n t o buryi ng our hea ds in t he sa nd in or der to ignore therea lity of l ivi ng i n a pl ural ist soc iety.