Fomento de la igualdad de oportunidades

Parker-Jenkins and Masterson maintain that schools are still ‘finding it difficult to recognise and acknowledge new expressions of race, culture and religion.’387 In 2002, Devine, Kelly and MacNeela explored the perplexities surrounding new multi­

380 Polyfeyt and Bouwens, p. 206.

381 Polyfeyt and Bouwens, p. 206.

382 Polyfeyt and Bouwens, p. 200.

383 W illiams, p. 76.

384 John Coolahan, ‘School Ethos and Culture within a Changing Education System 5, School

Culture a n d Ethos: Cracking the Code, ed. by Catherine Furlong and Luke M onahan

(Dublin: M arino Institute o f Education, 2000), p. 115.

385 Smyth and others, p. 43. 386 Reynolds, p. 5.

ethnic schools and religious affiliation. They found that staff had doubts as to

388

whether schools could be ‘Catholic multi-denominational multi-cultural schools’. The general consensus to emerge from more recent research shows that much of school life in Catholic schools is still informed by ‘Roman Catholic’ traditions. It is within this context that authors believe,

... religious beliefs tend to define the school ethos and w e found that convictions that differ from the established religious norms were not being acknowledged ... [th ere is] a lack o f awareness and understanding about religious differences in schools.389

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Intercultural Guidelines for Post Primary schools advocates that schools should ‘expose students to a broad

* 390

range of religious traditions’ and ‘promote tolerance and mutual understanding’. Equally, the Joint Managerial Body/Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools (JMB/ACMSS) guidelines on the Inclusion of Other Faiths in Catholic Secondary Schools stresses that a ‘genuinely Catholic ethos values religious tolerance and inclusiveness.’ 391 Similar guidelines are published in other countries.392 While authors allude to efforts to promote inclusivity and religious diversity in Irish schools,393 they maintain that schools with multi-ethnic students, are still ‘predominantly Catholic, White and Gaelic’.394 Bryan claims that such efforts are limited in promoting inclusivity and are mere ‘token gestures’.395 This narrow ‘engagement’ has been referred to as a ‘liberal limited approach’ to recognising and promoting cultural and religious differences in schools.396 In stark contrast, Devine’s most recent work reveals that some primary schools practice a genuine inclusivity.397

388 Devine and others (2002), p. 88.

389 Parker-Jenkins and Masterson, p. 7.

390 M ullally, p. 9.

391 M ullally, p. 7.

392 Bishops o f Queensland, Queensland Catholic Education Commission, Identity o f the

Catholic School: A Discussion Paper fo r Reflection and Action.

393 Smyth and others, p. 91.

394 Parker-Jenkins and Masterson, p. 13.

395 Bryan (2010), p. 261.

396 Parker-Jenkins and Masterson, p. 5.

59

Religious Education (RE) has the ‘potential’ to ‘foster interfaith and intercultural understandings.’398 The growing body of research in Ireland recognises that the RE curriculum affords students an opportunity to explore different religions. Nevertheless, authors critique its limited value as most schools focus on teaching Christianity as opposed to other world faiths.399 Although parents in Ireland have the right to remove their children from Religious Education, a challenge confronting schools centres on resources and what to do with students when they are removed. Issues surrounding the supervision of students were documented as early as 2002 by Devine, Kelly and MacNeela.400 In some schools students ‘remain’ in class during Religious Education but do not participate, while in others, students are withdrawn for additional language support.401 Authors maintain that such approaches may lead to student ‘discomfort and isolation’.402 Smyth and others highlight a negating perspective that, by remaining in class, students ‘may convey contradictory messages about belief and spirituality if the faith of the family is different.’403

It is evident that Roman Catholic traditions are at the core of the ethos of schools in Ireland. A significant concern for authors is that this limits the acknowledgement and understanding of other religious traditions. Thus, school efforts to adapt to religious diversity have been inadequate. While guidelines offer direction on how schools should be more culturally and religiously inclusive, the Education Act (1998) affords religious-based schools measures to protect their religious ethos. Research indicates that some Catholic schools exclude students of other faiths. There is evidence to the contrary; other schools are much more inclusive. Whether this inclusivity is underpinned by an intentional interpretation of their Catholic ethos or by the reality that they admit ME students due to being

‘under-subscribed’ has yet to be determined and requires further investigation.

The above offers some insight into the challenges confronting Catholic schools which enrol students of different faith backgrounds. Additionally, it exposes the dearth of research in Ireland. Akin to what has occurred in other countries there

398 Smyth and others, p. 32.

399 Parker-Jenkins and Masterson, p. 7.

400 Devine and others (2002), p. 120.

401 Smyth and others, p. 104.

402 Smyth and others, p. 33.

is scope for future research to explore in more detail how the enrolment of ME students has changed the school ethos of Catholic schools and how Irish Catholic schools have adapted to teaching students from diverse religious backgrounds.

Section Three of this chapter provides an overview of the Irish and international literature on ME education; in essence it offers a ‘snapshot’ of how ME students change schools. It is clear from the above research that certain aspects of school life dominate the research landscape. These primarily relate to achievement, teaching, student relations and school identity. Equally, it is apparent from this section that the impression ME students make on schools is considerable and extends from the school office to the classroom and from the school yard and beyond. This section of Chapter Three affirms the contention set out in Section Two that the research on ME education in Ireland, whilst growing, is limited in quantity and scope. The next section continues to explore this notion as it draws from what has been previously documented in this chapter with the view to identifying a vacuum within the literature in Ireland.

Section Four: Identifying a Gap in the Research