The aim of this research has been to elucidate schools’ experiences of the Integrated Education Transformation process, drawing on data collected through interviews and a survey of staff from Transformed schools, as well as interviews with participants from stakeholder organisations.
The Integrated Education Transformation process relates to a legal process whereby an existing non-Integrated or ‘separate’ school becomes Integrated. The process can be initiated by the school’s Board of Governors or via a parental ballot. Since 1991, 31 schools have transformed, the majority of which are formerly Controlled schools; the first Catholic Maintained school transformed in 2021. Once a school achieves Integrated status, it is expected to make a range of operational and organisational changes over time to reflect its new status. The nature and extent of these changes will depend on the existing circumstances of the school but, in order to enhance integration, may include review and revision of school management, ethos, culture, curriculum, governance, pupil intake and
staff profile (DE, 2017).
The IEF commissioned research from Queen’s University Belfast in June
2023 to investigate the Integrated Education Transformation process. This research occurs in the context of a period of reflection and reform within Integrated Education, following the publication of the Review of Integrated Education (Topping and Cavanagh, 2016), which made a series of recommendations concerning the development of Integrated Education; the introduction of Integration Works: Transforming Your School guidance (DE,2017) and the IEF’s (2022) Transformation Toolkit, which provide updated information for schools on the Transformation process;
and the Integrated Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which reflects some of the Review’s recommendations in legislation. The current research on the Transformation process was conducted between September 2023 and March 2024.
Read the report below.
