Integrated Schooling and Religious Tolerance in Northern Ireland

Abstract

The design of educational institutions has long been seen as a key element in determining social divisions. This article examines the long-term impact of separate and integrated education on relations between the two religious communities (Catholics and Protestants) in Northern Ireland. Using a large-scale survey, the results suggest that in comparison to their previously separate counterparts, individuals who attended an integrated school are more likely to be understanding and respectful of the culture and traditions of others. The finding holds even after a range of background characteristics are taken into account. The results have implications for the role of segregated educational institutions in ameliorating religious, ethnic or racial division in other post-conflict societies. The Northern Ireland evidence suggests that a segregated school system rather than ameliorating intolerance and division may end up exacerbating and reinforcing it.

Acknowledgements

We are especially grateful to the three referees of this journal who provided very detailed and constructive comments on an earlier draft of this article. Our thanks also to Paula Devine (ARK) for providing us with the pooled data set.

Notes

Notes

1. We use the term ‘separate’ rather than ‘segregated’ in respect of school composition, to underline the voluntary nature of single-faith schools. The term ‘segregation’ implies enforcement of single-faith schools.

2. There has also been recent growth in the small Irish-medium sector, which is independent of Church control but funded by the state. A few Evangelical Protestant schools linked to the Free Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the New Church movement exist outside state control (see DENI, Northern Ireland Schools).

3. This view found some recent support, albeit on financial grounds, from a number of economists at Oxford, who advocated a shared approach to educational provision, within which they explicitly identified a formally integrated educational system as one suitable option (Oxford Economics).

4. As Cardinal Brady, the Primate of Ireland, put it, “Recent suggestions that schools in Northern Ireland should be forced into one single state system are a stark warning to all those who respect diversity and the rights of parents. It seems strange that people in Northern Ireland are being told that they should accept a lower standard of rights and freedoms than they would have if they lived in Britain, Scotland or the south of Ireland.”

5. It is important to note, however, that no single model of integration unites Northern Ireland's integrated schools and that schools vary considerably in terms of how actively they promote an integration ethos. There is evidence to suggest that in some integrated schools discussions involving sensitive topics, such as religion and identity, are actively avoided (Donnelly, “What Price”, “Integrated School”).

6. Additional analysis confirms that, for both religious communities, the differing levels of understanding between those who attended an integrated—either formally integrated or fairly mixed—school and those who attended a separate one are statistically significant at the 0.05 level.

7. Additional analysis among those who claimed ‘a lot’ of respect lends some further support to this view. For example, while no statistically significant differences were revealed between those who attended a separate or fairly mixed school in relation to this issue, Catholics who attended a formally integrated school were significantly more likely to hold this view that those who attended a separate one.

8. Additional analysis confirms this finding. For both religious communities, the differing levels of understanding and respect between those who attended an integrated—either formally integrated or fairly mixed—school and those who attended a separate one are statistically significant at the 0.05 level.