Teaching citizenship in the faith school: qualitative evidence from separate schools in Northern Ireland

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers teach and students learn about citizenship education in two faith-based schools in Northern Ireland. The data show that participants in the Catholic school were confident in their own identity; teachers encouraged active engagement with contentious, conflict-related debates and students displayed empathy with other racial and religious groups. In the Protestant school, teachers avoided any reference to identity and conflict and students seemed to have limited knowledge of these issues. The findings emphasise the extent to which separate schools embody the cultural norms prevalent within each of the communities that they serve and reveal the influence which these norms have for teaching and learning about citizenship.

Keywords:

• separate school
• citizenship education
• identity
• Northern Ireland
• intergroup contact

Notes on contributors

Dr Stephanie Burns has been a Research Fellow with the Centre for Shared Education in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast since 2012. Her research interests cross the fields of education, psychology and sociology, and focus broadly on inclusivity in education and the role of education in promoting social cohesion.

Dr Caitlin Donnelly is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, Queen’s University Belfast. Her research interests lie within the areas of school ethos and intergroup relations in schools and she has published in these fields.

Notes

1. Integrated schools in Northern Ireland educate children from different religious backgrounds together by aiming for an enrolment which is 40% Catholic, 40% Protestant, and 20% children from other religions or no religious background (see NICIE 2012, ‘Statement of Principles’ http://www.nicie.org/about-us/nicie/statement-of-principles/).

2. Parades or marches are an important part of the culture of Northern Ireland. The majority of parades are held ostensibly by the Protestant, unionist or Ulster loyalist groups, however, Catholic, nationalist and republican groups also parade. Because parading is considered to be an assertion of a group’s control over a particular territory or neighbourhood it has traditionally been highly controversial. However in recent years the majority of parades have not inspired violence.