Integrated “Brand” Goes Global
Nadia is principal of a school in Israel where Jewish and Arab children play and learn side by side. When it opened there were demonstrations outside, and staff are used address the conflict in the region as it is reflected in the classroom.
Marinko teaches English and German to children aged 11-14 in Vukovar: his school enrolment is around 99% Croat. He says teaching tolerance in a school without diversity is an uphill task. For the past eight years he has been working with an NGO to establish a mixed, integrated school.
Ljuljjetta works for the campaign organisation Nansen Dialogue in Sarajevo, which was set up to promote reconciliation after the wars in the Balkans. Schools in this region are segregated three ways and divisions are so deep that though there are shared schools, pupils attend in shifts according to their ethnic background and their paths don’t cross. She wants to see a truly integrated integrated school in Srebrenica.
These three, and others from Eastern Europe, Cyprus and the Middle East, gathered in Belfast recently, joined by principals, teachers and founding parents from integrated schools in Northern Ireland. The conference on integrated peace education provided a platform for sharing experiences and discussing challenges and best practice; but it also shone an international spotlight on integrated education in Northern Ireland.
Mary Roulston (Millennium IPS); Nadia Marinko; Peter Mccreadie (Formerly Priory IC)
Thirty years after the establishment of Lagan College the founders and principals could empathise and advise over the processes and pitfalls in setting up a new type of education in a context of conflict, but the situation in Northern Ireland also showed that after three decades of successful schools, integration is not yet the norm and has been allowed to flourish thanks to the efforts of campaigning parents and the financial support of philanthropists.
That said, the conference was a source of encouragement for the delegates I met. As Luljjeta says,
“I welcome the opportunity to gain insight from other delegates. You can feel very isolated when you are trying to motivate parents and the government has no interest in changing things.”
“I try to have projects with other schools of other backgrounds,” says Marinko.
“There are a lot of people in Croatia willing to live together but they’re not allowed to because of the segregated system. You have high points and low points; I feel very much re-energised after this.”
Maria teaches at the independent English School in Nicosia – the only school in Cyprus with anything like an integrated approach. Around 15% of the pupils are Turkish Cypriots. Maria has been striving to offer pupils “more than just a parallel existence” and has introduced new anti-bullying and equality policies as well as a more globally-aware curriculum.
“It has been inspiring to meet truly wonderful people here who’ve dedicated their lives to bringing forward change. I feel that we need to spread the message that if we want peace we all of us have to work hard and play our own small part”
But the founders of integrated schools in Northern Ireland all stressed that the end was worth the journey. The conference ended with a pledge to continue supporting and sharing – and a declaration that, from 2013, the first week in March would be designated International Integrated Education Week.
