Reforming education in post-partition Northern Ireland: state control and churches’ interference

  • Cecilia Biaggi*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

After the partition of Ireland, the newly established parliament in Belfast was given control over education. The unionist government, mainly representing the majoritarian Protestant population, embarked on a reform of the pre-existing denominational education system and tried to persuade all the churches to transfer their schools to state control in exchange for public funding. Despite the sincere efforts of the first Minister of Education, the Catholic Church rejected interference in education from a government that its followers perceived as hostile, while the Protestant churches became increasingly intransigent in their demands for more control over state schools. In order to ensure their support, the government met their requests, ignoring the instances of teachers and principals who called for independence from clerical managers. The result was a segregated education system that contributed to maintain the deep divisions of the Northern Irish society.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)379-397
Number of pages19
JournalHistory of Education
Volume49
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Jun 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie grant agreement No 707404. The opinions expressed in this document reflect only the author?s view. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Research programs

  • ESHCC HIS

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