Northern Ireland

Teacher training review can untangle 'wicked problem' of education division

The latest paper concerns initial teacher education
The latest paper concerns initial teacher education The latest paper concerns initial teacher education

A RADICAL review of teacher training may help unravel "the wicked problem of educational division", a study has said.

The recommendation is included in a new paper from the Transforming Education project at Ulster University.

It has been examining policies relevant to integration and separate schooling.

Its latest report concerns initial teacher education (ITE), which is offered at four institutions.

It noted that while all four were open to students from all sections of the community, the composition of student bodies at the two university colleges - St Mary's and Stranmillis - still strongly reflected the religious divide.

The study referenced a report by The Irish News from 2014 which revealed 18 per cent of student teachers at Stranmillis were Catholic, and there were no Protestant students at St Mary's.

"The problems of community division are complex, and they are woven across many dimensions of life in NI," the paper concluded.

"The separation of education is not only indicative of this tangled mess but significantly also makes a considerable contribution to its reproduction. In order to untangle a knotted thread, a loose end needs to be found.

"A radical review and redesign of ITE may provide the starting point from which the wicked problem of educational division and duplication can start to be unravelled."