Journeys of Interaction: Shared Schooling in Quebec and Northern Ireland

Abstract

This article compares experiences of shared schooling in societies with 2 distinctive traits: first, a history of intercommunity conflict and isolation; and second, a segregated school system. Drawing on Parekh's (2006) reconceptualisation of multiculturalism, this article analyses issues arising from experiences of intercommunity contact in shared schools in Quebec and Northern Ireland—in one case, bringing Anglophones and Francophones together and, in the other, Protestants and Catholics. Research data from both contexts is drawn upon to reflect on how this experience is lived. The metaphor of a journey is used to capture what it represents for those involved. A need to clarify, recognize, and exploit the potential of shared schooling for the transformation of divided societies is identified.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was made possible by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; the Fonds de Recherche sur la Societie et la Culture, Quebec; the Nuffield Foundation, United Kingdom; and the UNESCO Chair in Education at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. The support of Stranmillis University College, Belfast; the School of Education at Queen's University, Belfast; the University of Montreal; and the University of Ulster is gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

¹For a critique of the models of liberal pluralism espoused by Rawls, Raz, and Kymlicka, see Parekh (2006, pp. 80–113).

²For accounts of critical multicultural education, see Duarte and Smith (2000), Kincheloe and Steinberg (1997), Mahalingham and McCarthy (2000), Nieto (2000), and Sleeter and McLaren (1995).

³These initiatives are as follows: Schools Curriculum Project (Malone, 1973), Religion in Ireland (Greer & McElhinney, 1984), Inter School Links (Smith & Dunn, 1990), Schools Cultural Studies Project (Robinson, 1992), community relations in schools (Smith, 1999), Education for Mutual Understanding (Smith & Robinson, 1992, 1996), Social, Civic, and Political Education Project (Arlow, 1999), Speak Your Piece (McCully, 2000), and citizenship curriculum (Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, 2002, 2003).

⁴For accounts of the emergence of integrated schools in Northern Ireland, see Gallagher (2005) and Smith (2001).