Citizenship Education in a Divided Society: Lessons from Curricula and Practice in Northern Ireland

This book examines the possibilities and realities of promoting citizenship, peace, and reconciliation through schooling in divided and post-conflict societies.

With specific attention to the case of Northern Ireland and the Local and Global Citizenship (LGC) initiative, it investigates the faltering progress to develop and teach school curricula aimed at promoting citizenship as well as peace, tolerance, and mutual understanding, despite the considerable investment of financial and human resources. Following an overview of the scholarship on citizenship education, the author provides a broad social and political historical context within which to understand the educational reforms and changes that have taken place in Northern Ireland, highlighting various education initiatives of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s that sought to foster understanding of ‘the other’ and promote reconciliation. The book’s focus then shifts to the implementation of the LGC in 2007, analyzing the obstacles that have impeded its success, ranging from teacher agency to wider policy and implementation to competing purposes of education, revealing larger challenges and opportunities for teaching citizenship. A concluding chapter reflects upon what we can learn from the LGC’s implementation, highlighting other initiatives that have introduced new approaches to bring young people together.

As such, this book will appeal to scholars and students of education studies with interests in citizenship education, peace studies, educational policy and curricula and practice.