Schooling for Northern Ireland children has over decades been in denominationally separate schools, until an integrated system was instigated by concerned parents in the late 1970s amidst growing political violence. By educating together Catholic and Protestant pupils and those of other religions or none, the hope was to contribute to peace in a…

Following the signing of peace agreements, post-accord societies often remain deeply divided across group lines. There is a need to identify antecedents of youth's support for peace and establish more constructive intergroup relations. This article explored the effect of out-group trust, intergroup forgiveness, and social identity on support for…

Adopting a social cohesion framework, we consider how the shared education model in Northern Ireland reflects distributive, ideational and relational dimensions of social cohesion, and the processes through which its implementation may be contributing to a more socially cohesive society. We use this case study to reflect on the current…

The relationship between the police and communities can be difficult in ethnically divided societies, especially if membership of the police force is largely drawn from one community. This situation pertained in Northern Ireland, which has separate schools for different religious communities. Despite a major reform of the police after the signing…

Colombia has been immersed in wars and violence for many years; some scholars say that the country has been in conflict since 1962. The reality is that the country began its development with multiple wars and power struggles, the latter incited by political parties. In the midst of multiple conflicts, religion has played an important role in the…

This article provides a comparative analysis of Christian faith-based schooling in five African countries, including data on the proportions of faith-based schools, financing models, and forms of organization vis-à-vis the state. The case studies represent different forms and models. In all of the countries, at least one in six schools is run by a…

Adolescents are often exposed to the lasting effects of political conflict. Complementing existing research on negative outcomes in these settings, this article focuses on the role of the family (N = 731 mother/adolescent dyads, 51% female, M = 14.72, SD = 1.99, years old at Time 1) in promoting constructive youth outcomes in response to perceived…

To what extent does the adoption of consociational power-sharing affect the design and implementation of education reforms? This article maps this territory through rich and detailed interviews collected in Lebanon, Northern Ireland, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 2012-2013. Insights from these interviews are corroborated by…

This paper examines the distinctive locus of teacher education in Northern Ireland (NI) in respect of Fundamental British Values (FBV). It is written from the perspective of teacher education tutors in a PGCE programme that explicitly subscribes to pursuing the Shared Future agenda as outlined by NI Government policy in 2005. First, it establishes…

Northern Ireland's well-known civil strife between Catholics and Protestants had enjoyed an uneasy peace, but a recent outbreak of new violence in 2010 caused disappointment to these authors. Bernard Conlon and Tom Anderson collaborated on creating a new children's peace mural with the Kids' Guernica Peace Mural Project in West Belfast. This Kids'…

One manifestation of division and the history of conflict in Northern Ireland is the parallel education system that exists for Protestants and Catholics. Although recent decades have seen some advances in the promotion of integrated education, around 95% of children continue to attend schools separated on ethno-religious lines. In 2007 a programme…

This article explores the ways in which teenagers occupy and manage space in one divided community in Northern Ireland. Drawing on stories, maps and focus group discussions with 80 teenagers, from an interface area in Belfast, the article reveals their perceptions and experiences of divided cities, as risky landscapes. Teenagers respond to these…

The contact hypothesis has arguably been the leading theoretical paradigm for educational interventions in divided societies. However most of the studies with children have been quantitative, focusing on contact outcomes and failing to take account of children's views. Therefore this paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of…

The paper presents a critical evaluation of the Literature of the Troubles Project which was aimed at using literature in an educational context to help cement the process of peace and reconciliation between Northern Ireland's divided communities. The Project, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, ran from September 2007 to August 2009. Its…

This article is concerned with the sustained peace education initiative of integrated schooling and in particular with leadership responses to cultural diversity. Using a case study group of principals of integrated (mixed Catholic, Protestant and other) schools in Northern Ireland, the author explores how principals perceive and lead their…