ABSTRACT

Northern Ireland has a deeply divided education system with demarcation most notable along ethno/religious and social class lines. The former is largely attributable to the historical organisation of the schools estate based on religion, and the latter is associated with a system of academic selection that filters children into grammar and non-selective post-primary schools according to their performance in tests taken during the final year of primary school. Academic selection, and the grammar school system that underpins it, has come under some considerable scrutiny, with much of the research evidence pointing to a negative relationship between the selective system and equality of opportunity in education. The suitability of this system in a transitioning society that has become more ethnically diverse in post-conflict years has, however, received less attention. Drawing on social cohesion theory, we reflect on the grammar school system to argue that the cross-community class interests animating it not only perpetuate inequalities within respective communities but may also present a significant barrier to peacebuilding efforts in education, and ultimately impede progress towards a more socially cohesive society.

摘要

北爱尔兰的教育体系严重分裂，种族/宗教和社会阶层界限最为明显。前者主要归因于基于宗教的学校遗产的历史组织，后者与学术选择系统有关，该系统根据孩子在学校期间的考试表现将他们过滤到文法学校和非选择性的小学后学校。小学最后一年。学术选择以及支撑它的文法学校系统受到了相当多的审查，许多研究证据表明选择系统与教育机会平等之间存在负相关关系。然而，该系统在冲突后的种族变得更加多样化的转型社会中的适用性已经，然而，受到的关注较少。借鉴社会凝聚力理论，我们对文法学校系统进行了反思，认为激发它的跨社区阶级利益不仅使各个社区内的不平等永久化，而且还可能对建设和平的教育努力构成重大障碍，并最终阻碍实现社会凝聚力更强的社会。