ABSTRACT

The Good Friday Agreement (1997) brought political violence in Northern Ireland to an end and provided the basis for shared government. A consociational political structure was adopted which institutionalised community differences while encouraging coalition government. The goal was that a requirement for consensus decisions would encourage cooperation between political leaders and promote effective decision-making. This paper examines the period of devolved government in Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2017 through the lens of education policy to explore leadership on these issues. The paper will examine three policy issues: a review of the effects of academic selection in post primary education; a proposal to rationalise the administrative arrangements in education; and an initiative to promote collaborative networks between separate denominational schools through ‘shared education’. The paper will conclude that, far from providing a superordinate goal around which the different political parties could coalesce, there was a lack of systemic leadership on educational debates. Inability in most cases to establish consensus resulted in policy paralysis. The one area where this did not occur was the adoption of ‘shared education’ which may have been because this initiative was a bottom-up process based on the empowerment of teachers.

摘要

《耶稣受难日协定》（1997年）结束了北爱尔兰的政治暴力，并为共同政府提供了基础。采取了一种联合政治结构，在鼓励联合政府的同时将社区差异制度化。目的是要求达成共识性决定，以鼓励政治领导人之间的合作并促进有效的决策。本文通过教育政策的视角考察了北爱尔兰政府下放时期从1998年到2017年，以探索在这些问题上的领导力。本文将研究三个政策问题：回顾选拔对后小学教育的影响；以及 合理化教育行政安排的建议；并通过“共享教育”促进不同宗派学校之间的协作网络的倡议。本文将得出的结论是，除了提供一个不同的政党可以合并的上级目标之外，教育辩论还缺乏系统的领导能力。在大多数情况下，无法建立共识导致政策瘫痪。未能实现这一目标的一个领域是采用“共享教育”，这可能是因为该倡议是基于教师授权的自下而上的过程。在大多数情况下，无法建立共识导致政策瘫痪。未能实现这一目标的一个领域是采用“共享教育”，这可能是因为该倡议是基于教师授权的自下而上的过程。在大多数情况下，无法建立共识导致政策瘫痪。未能实现这一目标的一个领域是采用“共享教育”，这可能是因为该倡议是基于教师授权的自下而上的过程。