Managerialism and human rights in a post-conflict society: challenges for educational leaders in Northern Ireland

Abstract

International human rights instruments provide a legal basis for an agreed set of human values globally. These 'values' are expected to underpin the purposes and content of education. This paper aims to explore how compliance with human rights instruments and values is balanced by educational leaders in Northern Ireland where diverse interpretations of human rights are held by the main communities and managerialist principles guide education policy making. The paper argues that whilst there is a political and policy commitment to protecting human rights in education as a means of addressing the causes of conflict, this commitment is constantly threatened by interpretations of rights in the local context and a polity underpinned by managerialist principles. It is argued that managerialist concerns around budgetary constraint and academic performance frame the work of educational leaders, yet it is in retrieving the human values which underpin rights, that the potential for educational leaders to transform society through education might be best realised.

Three-faced: The conflicting roles of citizenship education in conflict-affected societies – A comparison of Northern Ireland and Israel

“…The dilution of CE through neoliberal policies and the privileging of a market rationale in education has been widely discussed in the literature (e.g. Donnelly, McAuley, and Lundy, 2020;K. Mitchell, 2003).…”

“…Yet schools and classrooms are inherently social and political spaces where knowledge, meanings and identities are constantly negotiated (Donnelly et al, 2020; Pinson, 2007) and it has been shown that where political issues are addressed in the classroom, teachers’ political views and background play an important role in how they teach (Kitson and McCully, 2005; Muff and Bekerman, 2019). Similarly, students’ civic identities will also influence and be influenced by their classroom experiences (Rubin, 2007).…”

“…It seems possible that when the tenets of transformative CE are upheld, new identifications and understandings of citizenship can be formed that are based on democratic values and human rights rather than protective community attachments. Human rights in particular have been identified as an important tool for education in conflict societies as it can provide a robust and legitimate framework for debates about the conflict that teachers can refer back to (Donnelly, McAuley and Lundy, 2020). Such frameworks are also important for integrated, bilingual, and shared education contexts in conflict-affected societies.…”

Constructions and purposes of school leadership in the UK

“…A key leadership construction by educational policy-makers at the macro-level in Northern Ireland is of leaders at the micro and meso-level as pragmatic actors un-bounded by the social and political divisions that characterize NI society. Hence, leadership is fashioned in managerialist terms; as a professional practice where the focus is on financial management, accountability, improving outcomes and pedagogical excellence (Donnelly et al, 2021). The aims of educational governance chime with these 'common sense' managerialist objectives, yet the macro-political tier is inevitably suffused with tensions motivated by differences in identity and ideology.…”

“…Friction around identity was framed as outdated, perceived to inhibit leadership agency and militate against system wide improvement (Gallagher, 2021). Yet, and paradoxically, educational leadership at the micro and middle tier is, unavoidably, shaped by identity related issues (Donnelly et al, 2021). That this was not openly acknowledged by participants is possibly reflective of socio-cultural norms which frame the discussion of conflictrelated issues as taboo, especially in mixed religious company (Donnelly, 2006).…”