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Citizenship education has been a feature of the school curricula in many western democracies since the 1990s. Consequently, there is a proliferation of research which explores its efficacy in instilling political literacy and encouraging democratic engagement amongst pupils. Less is known however about how citizenship is taught in societies emerging from conflicts which are [at least in part] motivated by competing narratives around citizenship. This paper examines this issue within the context of Northern Ireland. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 post-primary citizenship teachers, it argues that whilst the curricular text for citizenship education has encouraged teachers to discuss 'the past' in Northern Ireland only a minority of teachers do so. The paper suggests that teachers are constrained in their attempts to explore the past by a complex interplay of factors including cultural norms of avoidance and their interpretation of the current socio-political context. The paper argues that it cannot be assumed that teachers themselves possess the critical capacities that they are expected to nurture in pupils, yet, where efforts are made to harness teachers' critical skills, they are more likely to display the confidence and skill to discuss contentious issues related to the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centred on a carefully chosen selection of Heaney’s Troubles poems, this paper explores pedagogical opportunities that the poems present in the context of upper post-primary classrooms in Northern Ireland’s divided schools. Five poems are evaluated in total. These are: ‘The Other Side’, ‘A Constable calls’, ‘The Toome Road’, ‘The Strand at Lough Beg’ and ‘An Ulster Twilight’. While these five poems represent only a small selection of Heaney’s Troubles poems, they nonetheless cover an interesting spectrum in terms of their politico-cultural perspectives. The analysis of the poems focuses on exploring how teachers could use the poems to enable pupils to examine their traditional identities and allegiances and perhaps re-evaluate them in the light of new insights provided by the poems. While suggestions for this pedagogical exploration is at the heart of the paper, the early section establishes some relevant theoretical and educational contexts and the concluding section situates the paper in the context of previous, related curricular initiatives with Northern Ireland. It is to be hoped, finally, that the curricular initiative proposed by the paper could contribute, if even in a small way, to the ongoing search for peace and reconciliation between Northern Ireland’s two main, and still divided, communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the national curricula for primary mathematics for each of the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) for the estimation-related opportunities they offer children. Framed against four conceptually and procedurally different forms of estimation (computational, measurement, quantity and number line), the analyses indicate that computational estimation and measurement estimation were addressed in all four curricula, albeit from a skills-acquisition perspective, with only the Scottish offering any meaningful justification for their inclusion. The process of rounding, absent in the Northern Ireland curriculum, was presented as an explicit learning objective in the English, Scottish and Welsh curricula, although it was only the Scottish that made explicit the connections between rounding and computational estimation. In all curricula, both quantity estimation and number line estimation were effectively absent, as was any explicit acknowledgement that learning to estimate, irrespective of its form, has a developmental role in the learning of other mathematical topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging with digital media is part of everyday living for the majority of children, yet opportunities to learn about, through and with media are denied many pupils in compulsory schooling. Whilst Media Studies in the UK is internationally reputed to be well established, changes made to the primary and secondary national curriculum in 2014 included removal of existing media study elements. We demonstrate what is lost by these actions in relation to the United Nations Rights of the Child and, in particular, the right of the child to express identity. We demonstrate how media literacy had previously been included in curriculum, enabling opportunities to address children's rights, and propose that the absence of media education is part of an overall trend of the non-prioritisation of children's rights in England and Northern Ireland. The paper calls for media literacy to be reintroduced into primary and secondary curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the application of research into cognitive neuroscience to educational contexts. It first considers recent warnings from within the neuroscientific community itself about the limitations of current neuroscientific knowledge and the urgent need to dispel popular 'neuromyths' which have become accepted in many classrooms. It also criticises the use of over-simplified neuroscience to add scientific credibility to curricular reform, as has been the case in the rationale behind the recent implementation of the Northern Ireland Revised Curriculum. The paper then draws on the philosophy of Wittgenstein to highlight a further conceptual confusion which often surrounds the application of neuroscience to education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contextualises the Further Education (FE) sector in Northern Ireland (NI). It outlines the specific political, social and economic influences that have shaped its position as a major but understated educational provider in what remains a highly divided educational system that is slowly transitioning in a post-conflict environment. Key policy frameworks underpinning sectoral development are described, showing how many policy initiatives have been both 'borrowed' from the English context and adapted to local need. The article proceeds to highlight a number of curricular and institutional innovations that have contributed to the development of a small-scale, but distinctive educational, social and economic model. The piece concludes by suggesting that the NI FE experience has the potential to contribute not only to its own specific conditions but, through its 'policy and practice' adaptations', to positively influence FE policy and practice in other parts of the United Kingdom (UK) that require interventions around skills development economic growth and social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Service user and carer involvement in social work education is now well established since its inception as a compulsory requirement in the social work curriculum in the United Kingdom in 2003. Since then, there have been many examples of how such involvement has been approached by education providers. Nevertheless, one of the key obstacles and challenges in this field continues to centre on the need to achieve non-tokenistic user involvement which cements the engagement of service users and carers at the heart of social work education. This paper describes one such initiative where service user and carer colleagues in a university in Northern Ireland have been actively involved in the assessment of first year social work students' preparation for their first period of practice learning. The paper presents the background to this initiative explaining how the project unfolded; the detailed preparations that were involved and the evidence gathered from evaluations undertaken with the students, service users and carers, and academic colleagues who were all involved. We believe that the findings from this project can contribute to the advancement of existing knowledge in the field in exploring and recommending creative methodologies for user involvement in social work education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the United Kingdom tensions have existed for many years between the pedagogical traditions of pre-school, which tend to adopt developmentally oriented practices, and the more formal or subject-oriented curriculum framework of primary school. These tensions have been particularly acute in the context of Northern Ireland, which has the earliest school starting age throughout Europe. In response to international research evidence and practice, a play-based and developmentally appropriate curriculum, known as the Enriched Curriculum (EC), was introduced as a pilot in Year 1 and 2 classes in over 100 primary schools in Northern Ireland between 2000 and 2002 and continued until the Foundation Stage became statutory for all primary schools in 2007. This paper outlines four key lessons that have been learned from the first four years of the evaluation of this experience. These include the value and the meaning of a play-based curriculum; the importance of teachers' confidence and knowledge; teaching reading in a play-based curriculum; and easing transitions in a play-based curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of European Journal of Teacher Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As more countries align their curricular frameworks with play-based and experiential pedagogies, this paper provides a critical insight into the benefits and challenges that arise in practice when a play-based approach to learning and teaching becomes a political directive in Northern Ireland primary schools. Drawing on socio-constructivist and post-structural thinking, the messages from Foundation Stage teachers and the learning experiences provided are unravelled through the researchers' interpretive lens, exposing for critique two key discourses about the relationship between play as policy and practice – namely play as learning and play as pedagogy. Although this study may have raised more questions than answers about the debate, the authors conclude, in so doing, it has facilitated an original troubling of the established discourse and added to the knowledge base about the politicisation of play as practice in the early years of primary schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores how participation in classroom-based qualitative research, initiated early in the pre-service year, can enhance the reflective skills of subject specialist student teachers studying Art and Design Education on a one year Post-primary, Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). Findings from the study indicate that such engagement in classroom-based research helps to support the development of informed professional dialogue that can increase student teachers' reflective capacities. It can also offer the means to enrich understanding of curriculum change by providing an authentic opportunity to link educational theory to professional practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been much debate in recent years about the future of primary language teaching in England, Scotland and Wales but relatively little discussion about the situation in Northern Ireland. This paper seeks to set the policy context in Northern Ireland where the provision for primary languages lags behind other regions of the United Kingdom and where the recently revised Northern Ireland curriculum has failed to make modern foreign language learning a statutory entitlement for pupils in primary schools. A number of positive but largely uncoordinated developments in primary language teaching in the province are examined but the conclusion is reached that, given the striking absence of languages as a statutory entitlement in the revised primary curriculum, the long-term future of language teaching in Northern Ireland remains regrettably insecure. A number of key proposals are outlined to remedy the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings from a survey of Primary One and Primary Five teachers' experiences of delivering the new learning area personal development and mutual understanding (PDMU) in its first year of implementation in the Northern Ireland Curriculum, September 2007-June 2008. The study was funded by St Mary's University College, Belfast. The survey was based on a postal questionnaire sent out to a stratified sample of 350 primary schools in October 2008 and explored the following aspects of PDMU: training and resources; teaching methodologies; assessment; and implementation and outcomes. The findings suggest that teachers are on the whole successfully implementing PDMU in accordance with the guidance from the Council for Curriculum Examination and Assessment, and that the impact on the pupils, classroom and school has been beneficial. Constraints are nonetheless identified of time, training and teacher confidence. The conclusion confirms the consensus on the importance of PDMU; however, more research is needed on the long-term impact of how PDMU enhances learning and influences behaviours, taking into account not only the views of teachers and pupils but also research that is carried out by these key stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Irish-medium education has developed strongly over the last 20 years, most Irish speakers in Northern Ireland learn the language in English-medium schools, which currently provide the majority of teachers in the bilingual Irish-medium sector. This paper discusses the background to Irish in Northern Ireland from the plantation of Ulster to the aftermath of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The Linguistic Atlas of Ireland and census returns provide demographic data. The position of Irish in the education system must be evaluated in the context of languages provision in the curriculum in general, not only in Northern Ireland, but in the UK as a whole. The lower status that Irish had in the European Union until recently has relegated it to a disadvantaged curricular position, where schools can only offer the subject after provision is guaranteed for major mainland continental languages. Examination entries figures are analysed to trace trends in uptake. Curriculum reviews in Britain and Northern Ireland that make languages optional from age 14 in a more crowded curriculum are discussed. While Irish should remain a reasonably popular choice for pupils, the future of the language in Englishmedium schools in Northern Ireland is not assured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the imminent passing of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act (SENDA) into law in Northern Ireland, along with changes to the curriculum and the planned move away from academic selection for post‐primary pupils in 2008, the education system in Northern Ireland is about to embrace radical change. Inclusion has now become one of the most pressing educational issues both nationally and internationally. As we move to address such change, there is a recognition that Initial Teacher Education (ITE) must review how new teachers are trained so they are equipped to teach effectively in classrooms that may be very different from their own learning experience. This paper focuses on a research project undertaken at the University of Ulster that considers student teachers’ attitudes to inclusion before their first teaching practice experience. While the findings reveal evidence of support for the philosophy of inclusion and for inclusive practices generally, they also show that many young teachers still show a strong attachment to, and belief in, traditional academic selection as a preferred education model [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an investigation into the quality of the learning experiences for 4–5‐year‐old children in Northern Ireland schools in the context of the debate about play‐based and formal approaches to learning and teaching. Detailed observations were carried out in 70 Year 1 classes: 38 in traditional Year 1 classes where the Northern Ireland National Curriculum is being delivered, and 32 in Enriched Curriculum classes, where a more developmentally appropriate, play‐based and child‐centred curriculum is being piloted. The quality of the learning experience in each class was assessed using a structured observation schedule, i.e. Walsh and Gardner's Quality learning instrument . Overall the Enriched Curriculum appears to be providing 4–5‐year‐old children in Northern Ireland with a higher‐quality learning experience. The children are given more opportunities to act independently, are engaged in more challenging activities and are more learning disposed, and they show higher levels of emotional, social and physical well‐being. The findings are discussed in terms of what constitutes an appropriate curriculum for this age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northern Ireland endured a quarter century of political violence from 1969 until the declaration of ceasefires in 1994. Although a political settlement was signed in 1998, the actual implementation of agreed institutions has proved to be very difficult and the actual institutions have been fragile (and are currently under suspension). The purpose of this paper is to examine aspects of the role of education through the years of violence and in the post‐conflict situation. The education system in Northern is divided on the basis of religion, with less than 10% of pupils attending mixed religion schools. There have been a variety of curricular and other initiatives over the years, but their success to date has been limited. The paper will argue that the contribution of education to more positive community relations has been limited because of a tendency to over‐privilege difference. More particularly, the paper will argue that education has failed to grapple with the main consequence of separate schools which is that they perpetuate divisions in the wider society. The paper will suggest that if education is to serve as a vehicle for promoting a discourse of a common good and contribute to the construction of the architecture of a shared society then a more pro‐active approach will be needed in future. The two main initiatives that provide the possibility for such a contribution are the development of a programme for local and global citizenship and support for partnership activities between schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on research into the influence of teachers' religious beliefs in religious education. Drawing on accounts from eleven teachers in Controlled Schools in Northern Ireland, it shows the contested space many of them occupy in relation to handling personal beliefs, teaching about diverse religions and articulating a public rationale for their subject in the face of challenges from pupils and parents. In particular, we investigate how and why they teach World Religions in the way that they do. The findings are considered in the light of debates on the role of teachers' beliefs in religious education. In contrast to other studies in this field which offer personal reflection as a way to resolve such challenges, the case is made here for understanding teachers' choices within a wider lens which acknowledges the public nature of the space within which they operate. We argue that the challenges cannot be resolved or mitigated by individuals alone. Changes in policy to provide an inclusive and balanced curriculum with robust pedagogical purposes is needed along with clear ethical expectations around how teachers approach teaching religious education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early years classroom practice in Northern Ireland is perceived to be dominated by a traditional teacher-directed model to the detriment of a more constructivist, play-based and child-initiated learning environment favoured in many nations' early education provision (see for example Walsh, 2000). In 2002, the Northern Ireland Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) outlined an ambitious change in the early years curriculum, designed to redress this balance and to adopt classroom practices and pedagogies that have been shown to provide a strong basis for children's later learning and social integration. The full curriculum proposal (CCEA, 2005) is based on trials of an 'enriched curriculum' approach, which blends play, child-initiated activity and the promotion of self-esteem in a Foundation Stage of early years education. This paper reports on the likely state of readiness of early years teachers, specifically Year 1 teachers who are the first to receive children entering primary school in the age range 4-5 years, to adopt the underpinning child-centred dimensions of the proposed pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the Irish language revival in Northern Ireland. Improvement in the status of the language in the education system; Reform of the school curriculum; Element in the educational change.

This article draws on findings from the first cross-national study of school exclusions in the four jurisdictions of the UK. It sketches factors associated with the past research with reductions in exclusions. It then reports interview data gathered in England in 2018 from five specialist officers working in two Local Authorities and a senior officer working for a national voluntary organisation. The officers describe good practice but also national, local and school level developments contributing to a deteriorating situation. These developments include unhelpful government guidance and regulations; school accountability frameworks affecting curriculum and leading to the neglect of Special Educational Needs; loss of Local Authority powers and funding resulting in reductions in support services. Data gathered for this study in other UK jurisdictions suggests that in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and to a lesser extent in Wales, a practice that avoids school exclusions has persisted more than in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite Northern Ireland’s deeply rooted religious history and the assumption that its citizens’ sexual attitudes and behaviours are more reserved than their English counterparts, comprehensive school-based relationships and sexuality education (RSE) has been statutory for primary and post-primary pupils since 2007. The non-biological aspects of the subject continue to remain non-statutory for all grade levels in England. This article presents a comparative analysis of the effect Northern Ireland’s and England’s policy-making models and networks have had on the status of sex and relationships education within each country’s respective national curricula. Two main sets of issues are examined: the approaches taken and values upheld by policy actors, and access to ‘policy speak’ and ‘power’ within policy-making networks. Applying thematic and content analysis to official government transcripts, legislative and statutory policy texts and interview data, the article discusses connections among the main points of comparison and suggests that these central differences within Northern Ireland’s and England’s policy-making processes may explain what has been conducive to Northern Ireland’s statutory comprehensive RSE policy development while comprehensive sex education remains controversial in England. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The word ‘humanities’ does not appear in the current Northern Ireland Curriculum (NIC). Geography and history are taught within an Area of Learning called ‘The World Around Us’ which also contains science and technology. The curriculum has a strong emphasis on an integrated, ‘connected learning’ way of teaching and learning. Religious Education is a separate subject that stands alongside, rather than within, the NIC, and the curriculum also includes a new Area of Learning – ‘Personal Development and Mutual Understanding’. The distinctive content and modes of teaching which the humanities subjects tend to encourage ought to be seen as particularly important in Northern Ireland – a part of the UK which has endured a complicated past and remains to a large extent segregated, both socially and educationally. This complicated past means that there is often wariness and reluctance on the part of teachers towards tackling controversial personal and social issues in the primary school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the changing content of history textbooks in Northern Ireland, drawing on a sample of 15 textbooks published from 1968 to 2010. Findings from the content and narrative analysis indicated that following the introduction of the Northern Ireland Curriculum in 1991, history textbooks shifted from a narrative to source-driven format, and adopted an enquiry approach that focused on significant events in Irish history. These changes allowed textbooks to more accurately reflect diverse perspectives on controversial events, but also prevented them from connecting specific events into a coherent whole. The format of more recent textbooks appears well suited to the particular demands of history education in a divided society like Northern Ireland where no single narrative is acceptable across all schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A revision of the Northern Ireland Primary Curriculum took place in 2007. It promotes strongly a cross-curricular or thematic approach to planning and teaching and has an ‘Area of Learning’ structure which includes geography alongside history and science and technology in an area called ‘The World Around Us’. Responses from teacher questionnaires and interviews with teachers and ‘stakeholders’ reveal wide-ranging opinions, mostly positive, about the effectiveness of this approach in improving pupil learning. A significant number of teachers have adopted a pragmatic, balanced and reflective approach to their planning, something which requires a high skill level in ‘curriculum-making’ which, in turn, can be enhanced by effective in-service training. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article suggests that opportunities exist to harness the potential of history and citizenship education with the processes of transition in developing programmes, which support young people in exploring conflict and the challenges associated with attending to its legacy. Drawing on the experience of Northern Ireland, it is suggested that the narratives of those who have been involved directly as both combatants in conflict and latterly as agents of change in their communities provide unique opportunities for young people to reflect on these issues. By way of illustration, an account of one such initiative is presented: From Prison to Peace: Learning From the Experience of Political Ex-Prisoners; a structured programme which invites young people to engage directly with loyalist and republican ex-combatants in the Northern Ireland conflict. The article suggests that such programmes have the potential to assist young people in exploring the complexity of conflict and the intricacies of transition. Furthermore, it is suggested that the relationships which exist between these ex-combatants arguably can challenge sectarian perspectives and foster capacity for ‘political generosity’ towards those with opposing political aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the extent to which neuroscience is being applied to education, both on a classroom level and also on the level of curricular reform in Northern Ireland. The article reviews recent research in the area of neuroscience and education and examines a number of popular 'neuromyths'. It urges the educational world to take a more informed, cautious and critical approach to neuroscience in education, not least in terms of the Northern Ireland Revised Curriculum, and also makes a plea to the neuro scientific community to police in a more rigorous way the application and misapplication of research findings in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racist attitudes towards, and attacks on, the minority ethnic populations in Northern Ireland (NI) have increased dramatically over the last number of years. Despite the increased media attention regarding racist attacks, the fallacy that racism is not a major problem in NI is an enduring one. However, there is a growing recognition that minority ethnic communities experience a diverse range of racial harassment. Education is a mode promoted by national and European governments as the vehicle in which anti-racism programmes can be delivered. This article suggests the impending introduction of a statutory citizenship education (CE) component to the revised NI curriculum from September 2007 can play an important role in tackling the high levels of racism being experienced by the minority ethnic population in NI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports results of an empirical investigation of secondary students' conceptions of history and identity in Northern Ireland. Interviews with 253 students from a variety of backgrounds indicate that they initially identify with a wide range of historical themes, but that these identifications narrow as they study the required national curriculum during the first 3 years of secondary school. Often, they draw selectively from the formal curriculum in order to support their developing identification with the history of their own political/religious communities. This process is most apparent among boys, at predominantly Protestant schools, and in schools located in areas of conflict. These findings suggest that to address history's role in ongoing community conflict, educators may need to challenge more directly the beliefs and assumptions held by students of varied backgrounds, as well as to provide a clearer alternative to the partisan histories encountered elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the role played by core subject coordinators in supporting curriculum differentiation in a range of primary schools in Northern Ireland. Significance of curriculum coordinators in primary schools; Responsibilities of the coordinator for differentiation; Views of principals and coordinators on visiting colleagues' classrooms.