Constructing the ethos of tolerance and respect in an integrated school: the role of teachers

Abstract

This article seeks to explore how teachers develop tolerance and respect within an inclusive school in Northern Ireland. Drawing on interviews and observation of 18 teachers, it will be shown that teachers’ own personal values and assumptions exert a defining influence on the school ethos. It will be argued that if teachers are not accorded the time and space to develop a critical understanding of their own values and beliefs then there is the potential for schools to simply reinforce the psychological barriers which sustain division.

Notes

* School of Policy Studies, University of Ulster, Shore Road, Jordanstown, Newtownabbey BT37‐OQB, Northern Ireland. Email [email protected]

The ‘parades issue’ refers to Orange Order (a Protestant Organization founded in 1795) parades which take place each summer in Northern Ireland. The route taken by these parades often causes dispute between the Catholic and Protestant communities. The RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) was reformed in 2000 in an attempt to make the police force in Northern Ireland more acceptable to the Catholic community. This has invoked strong feelings amongst both communities.

Every July since 1996, a Protestant churchyard at Drumcree on the Garvaghy road near Portadown has been the focus of considerable inter‐communal strife because the RUC has refused to permit an Orange Order parade through the Catholic nationalist Garvaghy road.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Caitlin Donnelly *

* School of Policy Studies, University of Ulster, Shore Road, Jordanstown, Newtownabbey BT37‐OQB, Northern Ireland. Email [email protected]