The Economics of Schooling in a Divided Society: The Case for Shared Education

by V. Borooah, C. Knox

Overview

Countries that have suffered ethnic or religious conflict and become segregated societies reflect these divisions in education provision for their children. Northern Ireland is a case study in point where a parallel system of schools offers education in Catholic maintained schools and Protestant (de facto) controlled schools. While school segregation is the most obvious manifestation of Northern Ireland's fractured society, there are more important issues of 'educational inequality' with respect to schools and pupils. This book analyses three issues in some detail: segregation, educational performance and inequality in educational outcomes between schools and between pupils from deprived and affluent family backgrounds. Thus far public policies to tackle these issues have been met with limited success. The authors consider an alternative approach, which they term 'shared education', the aim of which is to improve school performance and, in so doing, to dismantle some of the barriers between maintained and controlled schools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137461872
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	05/26/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	190
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Vani Borooah, who was born in India, is Emeritus Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Ulster and Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, and Honorary Fellow at the Australian Institute for Business and Economics at the University of Queensland. He is a past President of the European Public Choice Society and of the Irish Economic Association, and Member and Secretary of the Royal Irish Academy.

Colin Knox is Professor of Comparative Public Policy at Ulster University. His research interests are devolution in Northern Ireland and comparative public sector reform in developing countries. Knox is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Table of Contents

Contents List of abbreviations, acronyms and glossary of terms Preface CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION – DIVIDED COMMUNITIES Divided communities Behavioural Vs structural approaches to division The 'parallel lives' thesis A shared and equal future? CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF EDUCATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND Education in Ireland Education in Northern Ireland Improving community relations through schools Integrated education: Education for mutual understanding (EMU): Cross-community contact scheme (CCCS). Segregation Vs integration in education Is integrated education the solution? CHAPTER 3: THE EDUCATION POLICY CONTEXT Political background Declining violence Tackling segregation A reconciled society? Shared Space Building a United Community? Education in Northern Ireland School Structures School performance Education segregation Tackling segregation and inequality CHAPTER 4: POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS' PERFORMANCE School performance Salient Features of Northern Ireland's Post-Primary Schools Pupil Absenteeism A Multivariate analysis of School Performance School Size, Financial Stress, and Area Boards Single Sex versus Co-educational Schools FSM and SEN pupils Catholic versus Protestant Schools Explaining Absenteeism Is there a Catholic Ethos? Summary findings CHAPTER 5: INEQUALITY AND SEGREGATION Inequality and segregation Differences in educational outcomes between Grammar and Secondary Schools Differences in Educational Outcomes between Secondary Schools Difficulties of Accessing Grammar Schools by FSM and SEN pupils Selection Tests: FSM pupils and Grammar School Admission The performance gap – underachievement and inequality The deprivation-induced performance gap Segregation in schools Measuring Segregation Summary findings CHAPTER 6: SHARED EDUCATION – AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH Collaborative learning Shared Education The Shared Education Programme – its inception Shared Education – its theoretical underpinnings Shared Education – implementation Shared Education - Impact Education Vs Reconciliation benefits Impact on Primary schools CHAPTER 7: THE ECONOMICS OF SHARED EDUCATION The Economics of Shared Education Programme The Case Studies Case Study A: Lumen Christi/Foyle College Case Study B: Belfast High School/Dominican College/Hazelwood Integrated Case Study C: Belfast Model School for Girls Case Study D: Shimna Integrated College Measuring the Economic Benefits Measuring the reconciliation benefits CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS – EMBEDDING SHARED EDUCATION REFERENCES

Editorial Reviews

A slim but useful volume examining potential efficacy of changes in the institutional structure of schooling in Northern Ireland … . There is much in this book that gives food for thought about reducing inequality of opportunity. The authors enrich their work by citing and evaluating a wide range of literature on the place of schooling in society. … Those that are interested in education, especially in societies blighted by the politics of identity, would find this book worth reading.” (Shanti P. Chakravarty, Journal of Economics Library, Vol. 2 (4), December, 2015)

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