WRITTEN EVIDENCE TO THE SHARED/INTEGRATED EDUCATION INQUIRY

30.10.14

1.1.Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (CnaG) welcomes the opportunity to present written evidence to the Northern Ireland Assembly Education Committee on Shared/Integrated Education and would wish to be considered to give oral evidence to the Committee.

Introduction

1.2.CnaG is a Department of Education (DE) sponsored council responsible for the provision of advice pertaining to the development and provision of IME. CnaG was established as a direct consequence of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), which placed a statutory duty on DE “to encourage and facilitate the developmentIME”. Article 89 of the 1998 Education Order that followed the GFA contained provision to allow DE to pay grants to any “body appearing to the Department to have as an objective the encouragement or promotion of IME”.

1.3.There are currently over 5,000 children in the IME sector from pre-school to post-primary level attending IME grant-maintained schools, IME Catholic maintained schools and units,IME controlled schools, IME voluntary grammar school (IME Stream) and IME voluntary non-maintained (IME Stream). In the IME sector, there are 32 voluntary pre-schools, 12 nursery units attached to IME provision, 29 stand-alone IME primary schools, 7 IME units attached to English-medium Primary schools, one stand-alone post-primary school and 3 IME streams attached to English-medium post-primary schools.

1.4.In 2011/12 there was a growth of 3.6% in the IME sector, in 2012/13 there wasa 5.3% growth and the sector grew by 5.9% in 2013/14. There has been a growth of 206.3% in the IME sector between 2001/02 and 2013/14. CnaG calculates that the growth in 2014/15 will be 6.0%+. This would be greater if IME post-primary was available to IME primary pupils who lack easy access to this. Currently just above one thirdof IME pupils do not have easy access to IME post-primary provision.

1.5.It is CnaG’s role to represent the children, staff and schools in the IME sector as well as the wider IME community. We advise DE and others in relation to the specific needs of IME pupils, staff and schools. CnaG also lobbies on behalf of the sector and provides practical support and advice to parents wishing to establish IME provision in new areas, orthose who wish to access IME.

Comments on Shared/Integrated Education

  1. CnaG wishes to start by commenting on the Report of the Ministerial Advisory Group “Advancing Shared Education” chaired by Prof. Connolly. The report claims that IME and all the other sectors protect vested interests rather than promote SE. From an IME point of view, this report is wholly inadequate, failing to understand IME and how it could positively contribute to shared education (SE).
  2. “Arangeofvestedinterestswasidentifiedthatwasfelttorepresentsignificantbarrierstoadvancingsharededucation.Theseincluded:thechurches, grammar schools; the integrated movement; and the Irishmedium sector. In different ways it was felt that each vested interestwasprimarilydrivenbythedesiretoprotecttheirownsectorand thustendedtoviewcross-sectorcollaborationwithsuspicionandasapotentialthreat” (Advanced Shared Education Report: 73).

2.2.The above is untrue and does the IME sector a grave injustice. IME is available in stand-alone, Catholic maintainedand controlled schools. It is co-educational, welcoming children from all religious backgrounds or none and all abilities. Any serious study of immersion education and bilingualism highlights the many ways in which IME could contribute to SE, namely promoting greater tolerance of other languages and cultures, wider cultural experience and a greater understanding of lifestyle differences, central tenets of SE. It is unfortunate that the Ministerial Advisory Group didn’t recognise these benefits of bilingualism;

2.3.Linguistic preference should be a cornerstone of SE, but it’s not mentioned anywhere in the recommendations, nor is a preference for immersion education, an educational system which bolsters its core values.

2.4.CnaG recommends that the Ministerial Report on Advancing SE is revised to take account of what IME can add to SE rather than disregarding it. The fact that ESA will not be established strengthens the case for this recommendation.

ThenatureanddefinitionofSharedEducationandIntegratedEducationacrossalleducationalphases–includingconsiderationoftheneedforaformalstatutorydefinition and an obligation in statute tofacilitate and encourage Shared Education;

  1. In defining SE, CnaG suggests that the current DE definition is lacking. It doesn’t specify parental or linguistic choice or mention the involvement of parents or children.

3.1.1.Shared education means the organisation and delivery of education so that it:

meets the needs of, and provides for the education together of learners from all Section 75 categories and socio-economic status;

involves schools and other education providers of differing ownership, sectoral identity and ethos, management type or governance arrangements; and

delivers educational benefits to learners, promotes the efficient and effective use of resources, and promotes equality of opportunity, good relations, equality of identity, respect for diversity and community cohesion.

3.2.CnaG recommends that the afore-mentioned definition should be amended to reflect CnaG’s comments.

3.3.Regarding theneedforaformalstatutory definition and an obligation in statute tofacilitate and encourage SE, CnaG cautions that education solely facilitated through one language is not SE. SE in its truest sense has to embrace different languages and systems of education. The Report by the Ministerial Advisory Group did not make this observation and is lacking as a result.

3.4.CnaG supports initiatives on the spectrum of SE/IEsuch as facilitating the urgent need for IME at post-primary level,but does not believe that a statutory duty is the best way of achieving this.

Key barriers and enablers for Shared Education and Integrated Education;

Barriers

  1. The current educational system is not fit for purpose in a post conflict society. The flawed process of area-planning is a key barrier in SE and IE as it has been in IME. SE is floundering as a result.

4.2.IE and IME are not always compatible where the provision of IME in an integrated school may depend on the religious percentage in a geographical area. If the IE sector wants to be truly integrated, it needs to offer IME as an option for all children attending its schools. This is something which hasn’t been considered by Sir Robert Salisbury in his written evidence. The IME sector has facilitated the option of IME in independent stand-alone, Catholic maintained and controlled schools. It is, therefore, surprising that the only sector that hasn’t facilitated IME is the integrated sector. This is a challenge for the integrated sector.

Enablers

4.3.Research commissioned by DE indicated that IME children were, on the whole, more open to cultural diversity, due to the cultural enrichment they experienced.IME facilitates greater tolerance and understanding of other cultures; a truly shared educational experience.

4.4.In the context of SE, 72% of all IME primary schools are independent, outside of the controlled or catholic maintained sector and have pupils from Catholic, Protestant and other backgrounds.

4.5.IME is a choice for everyone in every community. Currently 6% of IME primary schools are within the controlled sector, 22% within the catholic maintained sector and 72% within the other maintained sector. IME is a linguistic choice which can be catered for within all sectors.IMEalready functions as SE, actively encouraging communities to avail of the advantages of bilingualism.

4.6.The system of immersion education which is used in IME is recognised globally for excellence. Not only does it deliver on SE, but on shared heritage, language, traditions and history. It also delivers on DE’s vision, “Every young person achieving to his or her full potential at each stage of his or her development”. In examining the two educational systems; mainstream English-medium and immersion education, two fundamental questions arise:-

  • Is it better to educate children to be monolingual or bilingual?
  • Are bilingual children more aware, tolerant, and respectful of other cultures?

Is it better to educate children to be monolingual or bilingual?

4.7.Voluminous research indicates that children benefit greatly from a bilingual education. In a study carried out by the University of Granada and the University of York in Toronto, Canada,which included bilingual children between 5 and 7 years of age and was published in February 2013, the following finding was made:

4.7.1.“…bilingual children performed better than monolingual children in working memory tasks. Indeed, the more complex the tasks the better their performance...”;

4.7.2."The results of this study suggest that bilingualism does not only improve the working memory in an isolated way, but its affects the global development of executive functions, especially when they have to interact with each other.”

4.8.Research in the Welsh-medium Education sectorby Professor Colin Baker states there are many possible advantages of bilingualism for children,these include;enhanced communication skills, biliteracy, thinking benefits, raisedself-esteem, security in identity and educationalbenefits. In the context of SE, the advantages of a greater access to two cultures and tolerance of other languages and cultures are most relevant ([ Given the advantages of this particular system, it could be said that children who do not receive a bilingual education are being disadvantaged in their education and prevented from achieving their full potential.

4.9.The above research conclusively proves that being bilingual has more benefits than being monolingual and that immersion education is the most effective way to give a child a second language. In the context of SE/IE, fluency in both English as a major global language and Irish as a minority and native language has potential to bring communities together in a shared future as outlined in the Programme for Government.

Are bilingual children more aware, tolerant, and respectfulof other cultures?

4.10.In practical terms, through their fluency in Irish, bilingual children in IME schools have a better understanding of local history, place names, culture, names, surnames and folklore, key elements of our shared heritage.

4.11.In societal terms, the Irish language is a way of reconciling communities and to encourage social integration. This has been achieved through the Líofa campaign and the CnaG/ IFI funded project “Together through culture”. The Irish language is part of our shared heritage and in line with the recommendation of the IME Review, CnaG aims to increase access to IME. IME schools in cities in the south of Ireland have found that the Irish language integrates newcomers as they become a part of the language community and gain an appreciation of the culture through the language.

4.12.Appreciation of language and culture in turn allows children to appreciate other languages and culture and have a greater tolerance and understanding of same. Access to IMEand the usage of immersion education, as a preferred system of education, for all children, at all levels in every community is an issue that needs to be actioned by DE and delivered through the area-planning process.

4.13.DE’s vision of promoting equality for children and young people; fulfilling potential; and enhancing life chances through education is therefore most effectively achieved through IME. If we were to use this system and realise its full potential, we would, indeed have ashared and integrated education service that has at its centre a focus on the needs of children and young people.

Whatprioritiesandactionsneedtobetakentoimprovesharingand integration.

  1. The current mainstream English-medium educational system needs to be reviewed and replaced by an educational system which encourages and facilities respect, tolerance and understanding;
  2. Definition of SE is changed to reflect linguistic, parental and pupil choice;
  3. The Area-planning process needs to be reviewed;
  4. Ministerial Report on Advancing SE is updated to take into account what IME can add to SE, rather than disregarding IME.