Session Information
Contribution
Description: This paper will explore the meaning of ethos in schools which seek to promote better relations between divided groups. The paper explores theoretical debates on ethos and drawing on recent data from integrated schools in Northern Ireland argues that the notion of ethos is often reduced by school participants to a set of 'measurable criteria' where the overriding focus is on its quantitative elements, such as numerical balance between religious groups or on formal statements of commitment to peace and integration. The paper suggests that this emphasis on what is measured creates a type of context, which underplays the qualitative and subjective processes underlying human interaction. This, in turn, produces a school ethos where it seems unnecessary and, indeed, unacceptable to engage in the type of self disclosure and open debate about identity and belief which Kenworthy et al (2000) believe to be intrinsic to the development of good relations between divided groups. The paper proposes that greater cognisance be taken (both by schools and policy makers) of the qualitative indicators of ethos: where the subtle and subjective processes which are likely to impede or facilitate good relations are considered in external and internal evaluations of school performance. In neglecting such measures there are dangers that the schools which are specifically constructed to transmit values of harmony and peace are subtly and unintentionally creating contexts for the entrenchment of greater sectarianism.
Methodology: The empirical data upon which this paper is based are derived from documentary sources in the two integrated schools and from the NICIE, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (see Chapter 2). The School Prospectus from both schools and the School Development Plan from School G (School C had not yet finalised its development plan) were the main sources of documentary evidence. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with governors, parents and teachers. This was complemented with one period of staff-room observation in each school. The interviews and observationSeven unstructured (taped) interviews were held with parents, teachers and governors in each school. These interviews typically lasted one and half to two hours. Although the specific issues discussed varied between participant all interviews ranged across a series of common themes, which included perceptions of ethos, definitions of the integrated ethos and giving practical effect to the ethos. In addition to the interviews two periods of non-participant observation in the staff rooms was carried out in each school (A request to observe the governor meetings in the schools was rejected for confidentiality reasons). These took place during lunch-times on days when I was also carrying out interviews and were included in the research design mainly because they offered an opportunity of not only hearing accounts of practices but also of seeing how teachers actually acted and interacted in an informal setting in the school. Whilst I developed a 'feel' for the school during these observation sessions I was, nonetheless, always aware of my presence affecting 'normal' practices in the staff room. Flick (2000) notes, that 'the act of observation influences the observed in any case', and as a 'newcomer' to the staff room I immediately recognised that teachers were (unsurprisingly) constantly adjusting to the presence of this 'interested strange
Conclusions: The paper shows that the schools in the study have tended towards a 'positivistic' interpretation and evaluation of ethos (using numerical balance and/or formal statements of intent as primary indicators) whilst apparently neglecting the qualitative issues around building better relations between divided groups. As activity in the schools has been directed towards the quantitative, which is more easily measured, this seems to have led to a de-problematising of the complex task of building better relations between the groups. The research underlines the need for greater scrutiny to be accorded (both by government and by schools themselves) to the definition, evaluation and measurement of both the intended and qualitative experiences of ethos (McLaughlin, 2005).
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