Whose Integration is it Anyway?

A panel of stakeholders involved with Integrated Education will discuss matters arising from new research being conducted at Queen’s University. On the panel will be Dr Rebecca Loader, Kellie Armstrong MLA, Kevin Lambe and Linda Ervine (Turas, Scoil na Seolta). The panel will be chaired by Ian McMillan. Themes discussed are expected to include religious balance, all-ability education, Shared Education, social class in education, education as a revolution, and how to disagree safely, supportively and productively.

Ian McMillan is a PhD research student at Queen’s University, Belfast. His research focuses on governance and leadership in Integrated schools. Before this, Ian worked as a language teacher in an Integrated College for 23 years, during which time he created and led the award-winning Shared Education pilot-project Sharing Languages, Sharing Cultures. Ian has served as a school governor both inside and outside the Integrated sector. Ian also produces the educational podcast Speaking Irish.

Dr Rebecca Loader has done extensive work in the field of Integrated and Shared Education, including recent studies for the Integrated Education Fund and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education on the Integrated Education Transformation process. Her 2015 paper Plugging the Gap: Shared education and the promotion of community relations through schools in Northern Ireland, with Professor Joanne Hughes, was recently highlighted by the British Educational Research Association as one of 10 ‘landmark studies’ in educational research over the last ten years. She has recently also led a large study of experiences of education among migrant and minority ethnic families in Northern Ireland and is currently undertaking research on the post-primary transfer process.

Kellie Armstrong MLA is the Alliance Party’s spokesperson for Communities, Housing and Public Administration. In the Assembly, Kellie sits on the statutory Committee for Communities, Chairs the standing Committee for Procedures and is a member of the Chairperson’s Liaison Group. On the 26th April 2022 her private members bill received Royal Assent and the Integrated Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 became law. The Integrated Education Act is groundbreaking legislation that broadens the definition of Integrated Education and increases the scope of the statutory duty placed on the Department for Education and the Education Authority.

Kevin Lambe taught in St Louise’s Comprehensive College and Lagan College before working as a development officer, where he supported parents to found 13 new Integrated schools between 1990 and 1994. In 1994 Kevin was appointed the founding principal of Shimna Integrated College, a position which he held until 2021, making him the longest-serving principal in the Integrated sector. Kevin is currently vice-chair of Erne Integrated College.

Linda Ervine MBE is a language rights activist from East Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is an Ulster Irish speaker and supporter of the Gaelic revival, and is the leader of the Turas Irish language project which “aims to connect people from Protestant communities to their own history with the Irish language”. Linda is also the co-founder of Scoil na Seolta, an Integrated, Irish-medium primary school and nursery school.

Part of Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics>>