Professor Tony Gallagher seems surprised by the suggestion that he might be described as a visionary. Yet there is no doubt that his unique perspective is what is behind an imaginative programme of research which could have a lasting impact on learning in Northern Ireland.
His brainchild, the Shared Education Programme, is about forming bonds between schools – ‘creating networks of trust and friendship which will change the nature of relationships between communities. People from outside Northern Ireland are amazed at the system here and the institutional barriers that exist. Our research is trying to find ways of making those barriers more porous, of getting teachers and pupils to move between schools – all part of creating the architecture of a new society that’s based on peace.’
Funding has been provided by the International Fund for Ireland and Atlantic Philanthropies, with additional support from the Economic and Social Research Council.
Tony has vivid memories of a time when things in Northern Ireland were different. He was educated at St. Malachy’s College in North Belfast during the 70s, ‘a period when the violence was just awful. That really shaped and informed my teenage years.’
He went to Queen’s where he became fascinated by social psychology ‘because of the way it helps us understand relationships between people.’ A psychology degree was followed by a masters, then a PhD.
After university he worked in educational research and at the Centre for the Study of Conflict. He returned to Queen’s as a lecturer in education, followed by a gradual process of promotion that led to his becoming Head of the School of Education, a role he fulfilled for five years before becoming Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for academic planning, staffing and external relations.
He explains the background to his research. ‘Over the past 30 years there have been"I see what we’re doing as part of the great civic tradition on which Queen’s was founded." three approaches to bringing young people together – through the curriculum, through contact programmes, such as joint holidays, or through integrated schools. There has been inspirational work in all these areas but the scale was limited and slow.
‘The Peace Process provided new opportunities for research and funding. We wanted to achieve broader systemic effects more quickly, with schools being seen as a network, rather than as a collection of individual places. Currently they’re autonomous, competitive, with kids cut off from one another, so would it be possible to change that relationship?’
In 2006, 12 schools were approached and all agreed to take part. By the end of the first three years of the programme, 5,000 pupils from more than 60 schools were involved.
The Shared Education Programme has also had influence beyond Northern Ireland. ‘They’re very excited about it in Macedonia where there are separate schools for Macedonians and Albanians – sometimes different shifts in the one school.’
It has been genuinely innovative. ‘We had no template. We depended on the expertise of the teachers and we were prepared to let them try things. Some of them didn’t work but you can still learn from that.
‘It’s been wonderful to see kids in the one classroom and wearing two or three different school uniforms. But we want to create a situation where this isn’t extraordinary.
‘We’re measuring the longer-term consequences of sustained regular contact and interchange. One of the striking facts in the first survey carried out was that 40 per cent of the pupils involved had never met someone from the other community before – and this was 15 years after peace. To me that was an extraordinary illustration of just how divided our society still is.’
Queen’s itself has also played a part. ‘I see what we’re doing as part of the great civic tradition on which Queen’s was founded. The support of the university has added a sense of legitimacy to the project. It has also been an opportunity for some secondary school pupils who didn’t have a relationship with us to get a look at what it’s like.’
As for the future of the Shared Education Programme, he says, ‘The longer-term aim is to promote processes that aid reconciliation through ideas that are new. We don’t use the term best practice. We talk about next practice. It’s about looking over the horizon, rather than looking over your shoulder.’
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