Mixing children reduces division
Sectarianism could be defused if more Catholic and Protestant children attend mixed-religion schools, study finds
A nine-year study on the effects of integrated and segregated schooling in Northern Ireland shows that sectarianism could be defused if more Catholic and Protestant children were sent to mixed-religion schools.
Psychologists at the University of Ulster studied 1,732 children at ages 11, 12 and 14 at integrated schools, all-Catholic schools and all-Protestant schools, and found those who attend with children from a different faith have much more contact with members of other religious groups, both at schools and out of school, than children who attended segregated schools.
The results of the study, funded by the European Union Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, were published in the June edition of the British Journal of Educational Psychology.
Maurice Stringer, the psychology professor at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, who led the study, said the report provides support for educating Protestants and Catholics together as a means of creating cross-community friendships and moderating political attitudes in a divided society.
Just 6% of Northern Ireland’s 330,000 children attend integrated schools.
“You wouldn’t expect segregated schools to have much contact across the religious divide, but what was most surprising from this study is that firmly held group attitudes towards the central issues that Protestants and Catholics disagree on most, changed through friendships in mixed schools because they got the opportunity to mix,” Stringer said.
The researchers used a children’s political-attitude scale to measure pupils’ stance towards issues such as support for the Catholic and Protestant faiths, support or lack of it for parades, discrimination by the police, and British government involvement in Northern Ireland.
Stringer said teachers in mixed schools in Northern Ireland can find it difficult to build a school ethos or challenge segregated attitudes. But, he said, the results of the study suggest that simply allowing children to mix and become friends in a supportive school environment is enough to produce change.
“What we found is if you have structured activities in schools organised by a teacher, they don’t have the same impact,” he said. “So we went back and asked the children why. It turned out that when children are creating a friendship, it’s important that they did it by themselves, such as choosing who to sit next to in the cafeteria. Teachers would be better off just facilitating contact rather than structuring things.”
Between 35% and 40% of Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland living in segregated environments. This is particularly evident in schools, with 94% attending schools of their own faith, Stringer’s research pointed out.
