Ulrike Niens

Education for global citizenship in a divided society? Young people's views and experiences

Global citizenship education has been suggested as a means of overcoming the limitations of national citizenship in an increasingly globalised world. In divided societies, global citizenship education is especially relevant and problematic as it offers the opportunity to explore identities and conflict in a wider context. This paper therefore explores young peoples understandings of global citizenship in Northern Ireland, a divided society emerging from conflict. Results from focus groups with primary and post-primary pupils reflect some theoretical conceptualisations of global citizenship, including an awareness of global issues, understandings of environmental interdependence and global responsibility, though other elements appear to be less well understood. We argue that global citizenship education will fail to overcome engrained cultural divisions locally and may perpetuate cultural stereotypes globally, unless local and global controversial issues are acknowledged and issues of identity and interdependence critically examined at both levels.

Educating for Peace? Citizenship Education in Quebec and Northern Ireland

This article explores the theoretical underpinnings of citizenship education as well as issues relating to educational practice to identify and discuss challenges that divided societies, which are characterized by conflicting national or cultural identities, may face in the development and implementation of such programs. Formal education curricula from Northern Ireland and Quebec are compared to identify how they promote citizenship in their divided societies. Both societies are characterized by high levels of segregation in education as well as other aspects of social and political life, but they differ in the extent to which conflict and violence are features of these societal divisions. In our examination of citizenship education in Northern Ireland and Quebec, we outline a brief theoretical framework underpinning citizenship education and discuss issues affecting citizenship as a tool for promoting community relations and peace in modern societies in general and divided societies in particular. Building on this theoretical framework, we describe the sociopolitical context for each society and provide an outline of the educational systems and previous curricular initiatives (explicitly or implicitly) aimed at promoting citizenship and community relations. We then offer a critical examination of the formal citizenship education curricula in the postprimary school sector of each society. We conclude with a consideration of the implications of citizenship education for long-term peace in divided societies.

Global citizenship as education for peacebuilding in a divided society: structural and contextual constraints on the development of critical dialogic discourse in schools

In post-conflict and divided societies, global citizenship education has been described as a central element of peacebuilding education, whereby critical pedagogy is seen as a tool to advance students’ thinking, transform their views and promote democratic behaviours. The present study investigates understandings of and attitudes to global citizenship and the challenges faced in its implementation. Teacher interviews highlight lack of time and resources for critical reflection and dialogue. Where opportunities for relevant training are provided, this can benefit critical engagement. Boundaries of educational systems and structures also influence pupils’ understandings of the issues as evidenced in questionnaire findings. We argue that critical pedagogies may be limited unless criticality and activism transcend local and global issues and are applied to schools themselves. Emotional engagement may be required for teachers to claim the space to critically reflect and share with colleagues within and beyond their sectors in order to enable critical discourse amongst pupils.

Building bridging social capital in a divided society: The role of participatory citizenship education

Participatory citizenship education has been highlighted as a strategy to promote social cohesion in divided societies whereby collaborations with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and inter-school links have been proposed as tools to improve social networks between schools and communities. This article explores the role and meaning of citizenship education and cross-community participation in promoting social capital and social cohesion. School survey findings, focus groups and interviews with young people and educators indicated that differences between school sectors and established allegiances with particular communities and NGOs may limit the potential for citizenship education to produce bridging social capital and serve to reproduce bonding social capital. It is argued that the introduction of citizenship curricula into segregated schools systems in divided societies may be useful to promote citizenship values and positive attitudes to the other but insufficient to promote the development of bridging social capital and, ultimately, social cohesion in the long term.

Understandings of citizenship education in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: Public discourses among stakeholders in the public and private sectors

Internationally, citizenship education has come to the fore in the past decade. It may be particularly important within the context of societies with a legacy of political conflict, such as Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, where it is being implemented as part of the statutory curriculum.This article explores understandings of citizenship education among stakeholders in the private and public sectors in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with the aim to compare these with curricular conceptualizations of citizenship in both contexts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in both societies involving non-governmental organizations, political parties, trade unions and the police. Results indicated that levels of awareness about citizenship education varied substantially and understandings mainly reflected current theory and curriculum practice in citizenship. Commonalities emerged as in both societies similar key concepts were identified while differences transpired over issues relating to national identity and political conflict, which may raise questions for history and citizenship education in both societies.

Education as humanisation: a theoretical review on the role of dialogic pedagogy in peacebuilding education

In this literature review, we explore the potential role of education in supporting peacebuilding and societal transformation after violent conflict. Following a critical analysis of the literature published by academics and practitioners, we identify the notion of humanisation (as in the seminal works of Paulo Freire and others) as a unifying conceptual core. Peacebuilding education as humanisation is realised by critical reflection and dialogue in most curricular initiatives reviewed, an approach aimed at overcoming the contextual educational constraints often rooted in societal division and segregation, strained community relations and past traumas. We argue that education as humanisation and critical dialogue can offer pedagogical strategies and provide a compelling conceptual framework for peacebuilding education. Such a conceptual framework can serve as a basis for research in the area, especially in contexts where educational institutions tend to be structured to dehumanise.

Education as Humanisation: Dialogic Pedagogy in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

In the context of post-conflict and divided societies working towards building peace, it has been widely recognised that education can play a critical part in either fermenting community division or in assisting socio-political change leading to the reconstruction of community relationships. Over the past decades, the ambiguity with regard to the role of education in such contexts has consistently attracted the attention of and maintained its poignancy for academics, educational policy makers and practitioners as well as the public. This has been reflected in a number of articles and special issues published in Compare since the journal was established, with one of its first issues focusing on the debate about ‘Diversity and Unity in Education’ (Boucher 1978). The issue of education for conflict or for peace has since featured in articles from around the world and after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, concerns about the role of education in such contexts resurged globally, which was echoed in a Special Issue, ‘Education in the Twenty-First Century: Conflict, Reconciliation and Reconstruction’, in 2005 (Leach 2005). Most recently, global developments, including the after-effects of the Arab Spring, the devastating conflict in Syria and international withdrawal from countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, have directed our attention once more to the consequences of ethno-political conflict and its influence at many levels. A central question to be posed, then, is how to conceptualise, develop and refine pedagogical strategies in post-conflict societies to ensure that education proactively and constructively supports sustainable peacebuilding. In this context, we believe that it is vital to create a space for initiating a focused inquiry and scholarly debate about peacebuilding pedagogies and how they might affect the post-conflict reconstruction in divergent socio-political, cultural, geographical and educational settings. Both the subject and the content of this Special Issue, ‘Education as Humanisation: Dialogic Pedagogy in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding’, are timely in light of the current needs in many divided societies emerging from conflicted community relations. Reinstating humanisation as both the aim and process of education in post-conflict peacebuilding is a compelling vision at

Opting out or opting in? Conscience clauses, minority belief communities and the possibility of inclusive Religious Education in Northern Ireland

A recent research study has examined the role and effectiveness of conscience clauses as a means of protecting the freedom of religion and belief of members of minority faith communities in relation to the teaching of religious education (RE) in schools. While the specific context for this study related to young people from such communities in Northern Ireland, its implications have wider application to other national contexts. In this article, the principal focus is on the significance of the study for the content of, and approach to, RE in schools.

Emotional development among early school-age children: gender differences in the role of problem behaviours

There has been an increasing focus on social and emotional development in educational programmes in early childhood as both variables are believed to influence behavioural outcomes in the classroom. However, relationships between social and emotional development and behaviour in early childhood have rarely been explored. This article sets out to investigate the conceptualisation of these variables and their interrelationships. Structural equation models were used to assess whether differences exist between boys and girls in relation to social and emotional competences, which could affect the relative success of such programmes. This article is based on cross-sectional data collected from 749 four- to six-year-olds and their teachers. The findings generally supported the hypothesised relationships between social and emotional development variables and prosocial behaviour (including internalising behaviour) for boys and girls. However, some gender differences were noted in externalising behaviour, which teachers often consider to be most significant due to its potentially disruptive nature in the classroom.