Redes temáticas

T h e sch o o ls th a t p artic ip a te d in the case stu d ies w e re se le c te d p u rp o se fu lly to fo llo w th e re p lic atio n logic d esc rib ed above. S ch w a n d t n o te s that,

... sites or cases are chosen because there m ay be good reason to believe that what goes on there is critical to understanding som e process o r c o n c e p t... The site m ay also be chosen on the basis o f prior knowledge that it is extreme, typical, deviant, unique, particularly relevant and so on. The procedure for the selection o f a site or case requires that the inquirer first establish some relevant criterion and then choose a site or case because it meets that criterion.113

T h e c rite ria set fo r the sam ple w as b ased on th e re s e a rc h e r’s p rio r k n o w led g e o f his o w n and o f o th e r schools in the area b ein g ‘u n iq u e ’ an d on th e e v id en c e u n ea rth ed in the in itial lite ratu re re v ie w in b o th the in te rn a tio n a l a n d Irish co n tex t. T h e crite ria ce n tred o n th re e p artic u la r aspects.

1. Determ ining what was a multi-ethnic school

2. The distribution o f migrants

107 Anton J. Kuzel, ‘Sampling in Qualitative Inquiry’, D oing Qualitative Research, 2nd ed., ed. by Benjam in F. Crabtree and William L. M iller (California: Sage publications, 1999), p. 45.

108 Kuzel, p. 45.

109 Yin, p. 54.

110 Benjam in F. Crabtree and W illiam L. M iller, ‘Researching Practice Settings, A Case Study Approach in Doing Qualitative Research’, D oing Qualitative Research, 2nd ed., ed. by Benjamin F. Crabtree and William L. M iller (California: Sage publications, 1999), p. 299.

111 Yin, p. 58.

112 Yin, p. 54.

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S im ila r crite ria h av e b e e n em ployed in ed u c a tio n a l research . S ta k e illu stra te s th e in itial crite ria se t fo r re se a rc h w hich e x p lo re d re fo rm in sch o o ls in C h icag o . T h e y in clu d ed im p o v erish m en t o f neigh bo urho od , ra cial m ix an d ten u re o f p rin c ip a l.114

2.6.1 Defining a Multi-Ethnic School

C o n sid e rin g th e aim o f th e p ro jec t is to ex p lo re ch a n g e s in sch o o ls w h o se stu d en t p o p u latio n s w e n t from b ein g m on o -eth n ic to m u lti-e th n ic , it w as im p o rta n t to d eterm in e w h a t co n stitu ted a m ulti-ethn ic sch oo l. T h e lite ratu re p o in ts to th e fa c t th at ch a n g es o f a n y sig n ifican ce o c c u r in sch o o ls th a t h a v e a ‘h ig h ’ co n c e n tra tio n o f M E stud en ts. T h erefo re, a n u m eric al figure w as set. In th e Irish co n tex t, b a s e d on th e E S R I rep o rt, a p o st-p rim ary school w ith o v e r te n p e rc e n t o f M E stu d en ts is co n sid ered h ig h . T h e m ajo rity o f sch oo ls h av e b e tw e e n tw o an d n in e p e r c e n t w h ic h th e y c a te g o rise d as lo w /m ed iu m.115

In E n g lan d , som e scho ols have an M E stu d e n t p o p u la tio n e x c eed in g n in e ty p e rc e n t. 116 In A u stralia, B u lliv an t clo sely ex a m in e d a sch o o l w h e re o v e r fifty p e rc e n t o f the stu d en t p o p u latio n w ere b o m o u tsid e o f A u s tra lia an d w h e re n e a rly th ree q u arters o f th e stu d en t p o p u latio n w ere from a la n g u ag e b a c k g ro u n d o th e r th a n th a t o f E n g lish . 117 In B elg iu m , Van H o u tte and S tev en s d eterm in e th a t ‘high c o n c e n tra tio n ’ sch ools are tho se in w hich m in o rity eth n ic stu d en ts m ak e up o v e r fifty p e rc e n t o f th e stu d en t p o p u latio n . S ch ools b e tw e e n tw e n ty an d fifty p e rc e n t are re ferred to a s ‘m u ltic u ltu ra l’ sch o o ls.118

In v ie w o f the ab o v e figures, a n u m e ric a l fig u re re fle c tin g a c o m p ro m ise b e tw e e n the Irish and intern atio n al co n tex t w a s ju d g e d th e m o s t su itab le. T h e fig u re o f tw e n ty fiv e p ercen t w as selected. T h is e n s u re d th at, fo r th e Irish case, su ch sch o o ls w e re ‘u n iq u e ’ co m pared to th e norm . T h e c u rre n t stu d y w o u ld d iffe r from

114 Robert, E. Stake, The A rt o f Case Study Research (London: Sage Publications, 1995), p. 5.

115 Smyth and others, p. 38.

116 Reynolds, p. 10.

117 Bullivant (1987), p. 46.

118 Van Houtte and Stevens, p. 211.

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o th e r Irish stu d ies, in p artic u la r th e case stu d ies in th e E S R I re p o rt w h ic h exam in ed sch o o ls u n d e r th is fig u re.119 In line w ith th is an d as w as re v e a le d in th e literature, th e E S R I stu d y d ra w s a general p ictu re o f h o w sch o o ls a d a p te d to th e en ro lm e n t o f M E stud en ts, w h e re a s this study sets o u t to ex p lo re in m o re d e ta il w h a t ch an g es to o k p la c e in sch o o ls w ith a h ig h con cen tratio n o f M E stu d en ts. F in ally , th is fig u re w o u ld allo w fo r g re a te r co m parative d iscu ssio n b etw een ‘h ig h5 co n c e n tra tio n m u lti-e th n ic sch o o ls in Ire la n d and in o th er countries.

T h e lite ratu re also d rew atten tio n to th e se ttle m e n t p a tte rn s o f im m ig ra n ts in so c io -e c o n o m ic a lly d isad v an ta g ed u rb a n setting s. A s p o in te d o u t in C h a p te r O ne, D u b lin ’s n o rth -in n e r district w as o n e a rea w h ic h w a s h e a v ily p o p u la te d b y im m ig ra n ts. 120 T herefo re, this p artic u la r g eo g rap h ical lo c a tio n w a s selected. F inally , in lieu o f th e evid en ce in Irelan d and a b ro a d th a t M E stu d en ts g e n e ra lly atten d ed d esig n ate d d isad v an tag ed schools, D EIS sch o o ls in D u b lin ’s n o rth -in n e r city w e re selected.

2.6.2 Preliminary Research

P re lim in a ry re se a rc h w as conducted. T h e re s e a rc h e r c o n ta c te d all p rin cip a ls a n d h o m e sch o o l co m m u n ity liaiso n (H S C L ) teach ers o f all D E IS se c o n d a ry sch o o ls in the n o rth in n e r city to d eterm in e th e n u m b e r o f M E stu d en ts. F o u r sch o o ls c o rre sp o n d e d to the criteria above. A ll fo u r sch o o ls w e re v o lu n ta ry sec o n d ary sch o o ls. T h e tw o b o y s’ sch oo ls are u n d e r the p atro n a g e o f E d m u n d R ice S ch o o ls T ru st (p re v io u sly the C hristian B ro th ers) an d th e tw o g irls ’ sch o o ls are u n d er th e S isters o f C harity . T ab le 2 a b elow h ig h lig h ts th e n u m b e r, in p erc e n ta g e , o f M E stu d en ts w h o en ro lle d in each school in 20 1 0 . A s illu stra te d , w h ile th e sch o o ls w e re sim ila r in s o fa r as they w ere in n er c ity D E IS v o lu n ta ry se c o n d a ry scho ols, th e y d iffe red alo n g g en d er lines and o n the size o f the M E stu d en t p o p u la tio n . T h is is im p o rtan t giv en th at the nature o f ch a n g e co u ld d iffe r b etw e e n b o y s ’ and g irls ’ sch o o ls a n d b e tw e e n scho ols w ith a h ig h e r p e rc e n ta g e o f M E stu d en ts, lik e S ch o o l 1, co m p ared to o n e w ith a lo w er percen tag e, lik e S ch o o l 4.

119 Smyth and others, p. 38.

120 M aria Hegarty, Towards Integration, A City Fram ew ork (Dublin: Dublin City Council, 2009), p. 24.

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Table 2a Number of ME Students Enrolled in Each School, 2010.

School Type Gender ME

Population (%)

S ch o o l 1 E R S T M ale 70%

S ch o o l 2 S isters o f C harity F em ale 5 0 %

S ch o o l 3 S isters o f C harity F em ale 4 0 %

S ch o o l 4 E R S T M ale 2 9 %

It w a s also im p era tiv e to estab lish a p a rtic u la r tim e fram e fo r th e re searc h . A g ain , the lite ratu re in d icates th e m o st p ro lific n o n -Irish m ig ra to ry tren d s o c c u rre d d u rin g th e first ten y ears o f the n ew m illen nium . So a sp ec ific ac ad em ic tim e p e rio d , 2000/01 to 2 0 0 9 /1 0 w a s set.

C o n ta c t w as th en m ad e w ith the fo u r p rin cip a ls. A le tte r a c c o m p a n ie d b y a ‘P la in L an g u a g e S ta tem en t’ (A pp en d ix 55) w h ic h ex p lain s th e d etails o f th e p roject w a s sen t to th em and to th e ch a irp erso n o f th e B o ard o f M an a g em en t. T h e letters w e re th e n fo llo w ed up b y p h o ne calls.