Background: Integrated schools were established in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s. With an explicit intention to build better relations between Catholics and Protestants, it has an intuitive appeal in a society which has long experienced sectarian division. Whilst the sector has attracted considerable research, less is understood about how…

Background: Northern Ireland is a province that remains deeply divided between Protestants and Catholics and maintains a segregated system of schools. Purpose: The research builds on a series of studies conducted in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to monitor the attitude toward Christianity of males and females educated in Protestant and Catholic…

Five factors motivated parents' choice of new integrated schools in Northern Ireland (Catholics and Protestants together): (1) ideology; (2) educational quality; (3) dissatisfaction with present school; (4) convenience; and (5) mixed marriages. Goals and aspirations among parents were sometimes incompatible, which could affect school development.…

This article reports recent research into aspects of the differences between Protestant and Catholic schools in Northern Ireland, namely, whether the two systems vary in terms of the balance of subjects in examination passes and the qualifications of leavers. Differences are presented and discussed. (CT)

Reports results of a series of semi-structured interviews with 12 teachers from Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland. Explores such topics as professional autonomy, teacher-pupil relations, a teacher's freedom to pursue his or her own methods, discipline, sources of professional identity and the social and political backgrounds to…