Engaging young people with
conflict through the narratives of
former combatants in Northern
Ireland
Lesley Emerson
School of Education
Queen’s University Belfast
l.emerson@qub.ac.uk
Overview
• Education in transitional contexts
– Focus on North(ern/of) Ireland
– Focus on history and citizenship education
– Foregrounding conflict
• ‘Prison to Peace’: programme
• ‘Prison to Peace’: impact evaluation
Overview
• Participatory
• Interactive
• Reflective
Education in transitional contexts
• Paradoxical role of education in conflict-affected societies (Bush and
Saltarelli 2000; Smith and Vaux 2003)
• Education should seek to:
– develop understanding of the nature of conflict and to assist in its resolution
(Tawil and Harley 2004)
– play a role in ‘narrowing the space for permissible lies’ (Ignatieff 2003, 78)
by ensuring that past grievances are addressed (McEvoy (Emerson), 2007)
in order that potential misrepresentation of the past does result in conflict
reappearing in future generations (Cohen 2001).
Education in transitional contexts
• Paradoxical role of education in conflict-affected societies (Bush and
Saltarelli 2000; Smith and Vaux 2003)
• Education should seek to:
– develop understanding of the nature of conflict and to assist in its resolution
(Tawil and Harley 2004);
– play a role in ‘narrowing the space for permissible lies’ (Ignatieff 2003, 78)
by ensuring that past grievances are addressed (McEvoy (Emerson), 2007)
in order that potential misrepresentation of the past does result in conflict
reappearing in future generations (Cohen 2001).
Education in transitional contexts:
North(ern/of) Ireland
• Partition of Ireland in 1921 and the creation of a new ‘Northern Ireland’
jurisdiction.
• An inbuilt Protestant ruling majority aligned to a largely
Unionist/Loyalist political agenda and a small Catholic minority aligned
to a largely Nationalist/Republican agenda.
• 1968/1969 sustained conflict began (colloquially, ‘The Troubles’) which
was to last for over three decades
• Reasons for its protraction:
– exogenous;
– more common endogenous (McGarry and O’Leary 1995).
Education in transitional contexts:
North(ern/of) Ireland
• Impact on a small population of just over 1.6 million people:
– over 3700 people killed
– 47,000 people injured in 16,200 bombing and 37,000 shooting incidents;
– an estimated 7000 people (mostly Catholic) internally displaced
(Consultative Group on the Past 2009);
– over 2000 people interned without trial and over 40,000 people imprisoned
due to conflict related convictions (McEvoy and Shirlow 2008).
• Deepening community division and high levels of social disadvantage
• Prolonged peace process
• Belfast/‘Good Friday Agreement’ of 1998
Education in transitional contexts:
North(ern/of) Ireland
• Engagement with the processes of transitional justice
– early release of prisoners, reform of policing and the criminal justice system,
demilitarisation and the decommissioning of ‘paramilitary’ weapons,
reintegration etc.
• Victims
• Truth recovery
• Tension between justice and reconciliation
Education in transitional contexts:
North(ern/of) Ireland
• Education system
– Separate schools
– Integrated schools
– Shared Education
• Curriculum
– History education
– Citizenship education
Education in transitional contexts:
history education
• Support for teachers in promoting the critical enquiry needed to
challenge entrenched views (Cole and Barsalou 2006).
• Need for more nuanced history resources (Freedman et al. 2008),
including ‘polyvocal histories’ (Paulson, 2006).
• Should aim to present a more complex picture of the nature of conflict
to challenge homogenised official historical narratives and partial
unofficial histories (Emerson, 2012).
Education in transitional contexts:
citizenship education
• Young people need to be provided with opportunities to engage
critically not only with issues of identity, but also with the legacy of
conflict and their own contribution as active citizens to the processes of
transition.
• This requires a shift from presenting conflict as a ‘contextual issue’ to
overtly addressing conflict and promoting ‘critical respect’ for the
principle that justice can be pursued without recourse to violence
(Davies 2008).
• Should aim to educate young people about the complex political
processes involved in transition (Emerson, 2012).
‘Prison to Peace’: programme
• Complexity of conflict
• Intricacies of conflict
transformation and transition
• ‘Political generosity’
(Emerson, 2012)
Education in transitional contexts:
‘political generosity’
• Capacity for ‘political generosity’ is the ability to legitimise the cultural
and political identity of those with opposing views, primarily on the
basis of their right to hold them.
• Individuals having confidence in their own cultural and political identity
and in their right to hold and express it (McEvoy (Emerson) et al 2006).
• Both requires and engenders trust:
– development of a ‘psychological repertoire that accepts, recognizes, respects,
legitimizes, humanizes and personalizes the rival or discriminated group’. (Bar-Tal
2004, 263)
– politically pragmatic in nature, focused on concrete issues related to conflict
transformation (McEvoy (Emerson) et al, 2006; Emerson, 2012).
‘From Prison to Peace’: programme
• Loyalist groups
– Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF)
– Ulster Defence Association
(UDA)
• Republican groups
– IRA (Provisional)
– IRA (Official)
– INLA
Card Cluster:
becoming
involved
‘From Prison to Peace’: programme
‘From Prison to Peace’: programme
Silent
Conversation:
the prison
experience
‘From Prison to Peace’: programme
‘Prison to Peace’: programme
• Complexity of conflict
• Intricacies of conflict
transformation and transition
• ‘Political generosity’
(Emerson, 2012)
‘Prison to Peace’: evaluation
• Cluster randomized controlled
trial
– Impact of programme
– Outcomes related to knowledge, attitudes and
behaviours
– The trial involved 864 young people (with 497 young
people matched across pre- and post- test) aged
14-17 years, from 14 post-primary school settings (7
intervention schools, 7 control schools).
• Case studies
– Process(es) of teaching controversial issues
– Features of school ‘readiness’
• Stakeholder interviews
– Role of curriculum in addressing conflict and its
legacy
– Relationship between statutory curriculum and nonstatutory initiatives
• Young People’s Advisory Group
Programme Outcomes
OUTCOMES
Knowledge
1. Increase in awareness of the complexity of conflict in
Northern Ireland
2. Increased knowledge of the conflict, processes of transition
and conflict transformation
Attitudes
3. Reduction in sectarian prejudice (exploratory only)
4. Increase in respect for political diversity and, more
specifically, acceptance that other political positions/opinions
are legitimate
Intended
behaviours
5. Reduction in intention to use/support the use of violence to
deal with divisions and conflict
6. Increase in intention to be politically engaged.
Findings
• Clear evidence of the positive effects of Prison to Peace on young peoples’
knowledge, attitudes and behaviours.
• Specifically, the programme had the following statistically significant
effects:
– increased knowledge of the conflict, processes of transition and conflict
transformation;
– increased support for using non-violent means to deal with conflict;
– reduction in sectarian prejudice;
– increased likeliness of young people becoming politically engaged.
(Effect sizes were sizeable, with effects ranging from .17-.42.)
• Although the intervention schools reported higher scores (compared to the
control schools) across measures of direct participation in politics and
respect for political differences, the difference was not statistically
significant
Additional findings
• increased awareness of the complexity of the conflict
• increased optimism in relation to ‘permanent peace’;
• increased trust in civic and political institutions;
• no change in relation to the young people’s strength of cultural identity;
• high levels of enjoyment of all aspects of the programme.
In sum:
• Foregrounding the nature of conflict and the processes of conflict
transformation in the curriculum, through the narratives of those who were
directly involved in conflict (arguably the most contentious ‘voices’), has a
positive impact on young people.
Findings – young people
The young people enjoyed engaging with the narratives of the exprisoners, valuing these first-hand accounts which they saw as grounded
in reality.
They also appreciated learning about the impact of being involved in
violence, in terms of imprisonment and the effect it had on families.
‘It brings sort of like, reality to it…because they’re (referring to ex-prisoners)
telling us about it from their views.’
’It makes you recognise about what actually happened and what happened to
the families and stuff like that, the aftermath of it.’
Findings – young people
Acknowledged the benefits it holds, for example:
• the programme increased their knowledge and awareness of the reality and
complexity of the conflict;
• helped them make sense of their current socio-political context;
• helped them see how society could ‘move forward’.
‘You can’t really move on unless you know about it [the ‘Troubles’]. Because if you’re
just going into it like not knowing about it and just being like blind from it, then how do
you expect to move on if you don’t know what happened and how to change it.’
‘I think it’s [the programme] important because it gets rid of the prejudices we have
against certain groups of people and the stories that we’ve heard from the Troubles,
but with the Prison to Peace, that programme, you were able to see both sides of the
story so you could see what actually happened’.
Findings – young people
Acknowledged the benefits it holds, for example:
• the programme increased their knowledge and awareness of the reality and
complexity of the conflict;
• helped them make sense of their current socio-political context;
• helped them see how society could ‘move forward’.
‘You can’t really move on unless you know about it [the ‘Troubles’]. Because if you’re
just going into it like not knowing about it and just being like blind from it, then how do
you expect to move on if you don’t know what happened and how to change it.’
‘I think it’s [the programme] important because it gets rid of the prejudices we have
against certain groups of people and the stories that we’ve heard from the Troubles,
but with the Prison to Peace, that programme, you were able to see both sides of the
story so you could see what actually happened’.
Findings – teachers
School leaders and teachers in the intervention schools recognized the
educational benefits of engaging with ‘Prison to Peace’.
They saw the programme as providing opportunities to:
• challenge the myths associated with the conflict;
• help young people make sense of their socio-political context;
• assist young people in developing their own perspectives.
However, it is important to note that the schools involved in this study were
clearly ‘ready’ to engage with controversial and sensitive issues related to the
conflict.
Findings – parents
The parents interviewed, though to a certain extent apprehensive initially
about the programme, were supportive of their school engaging with the
programme.
‘Well I, I signed [the permission form for her son to attend the panel]…I had no
issue signing it because I have great faith that the school knows what it’s at
and I thought ‘No, that’s fine’ even though part of me thought ‘Oh God’.’
In particular they:
• recognized the value of their children learning about their socio-historical
context from engaging with ex-prisoners;
• welcomed the dialogue it created between them and their children about the
‘Troubles’ and the current nature of Northern Irish society.
Findings – educational stakeholders
Notwithstanding associated sensitivities, there were numerous benefits
recognised by the educational stakeholders interviewed:
• they believed it helped young people make sense of their present situation;
• it also helped develop an awareness of the complexity of the Northern
Ireland conflict;
• they recognised the value of engaging with the perspectives of ex-prisoners
as part of a broader engagement of a range of voices from the conflict.
They suggested that there is a need for a co-ordinated approach to
addressing the past in the curriculum to ensure that the range of
educational initiatives dealing with related issues can work together to
maximise impact.
GROUP DISCUSSION
Conclusion
• While there are many ways in which the ‘Troubles’ could be
addressed through the curriculum, ‘Prison to Peace’ provides young
people with a unique perspective on conflict, its impact and on the
processes of conflict transformation.
• This research indicates that addressing issues of the conflict and its
legacy helps young people understand the nature of their current
societal context, make sense of division resulting from conflict and,
arguably, as a consequence reduces sectarian prejudice.
Conclusion
• Curriculum programmes need to create space for ‘productive
conflict’ in relation to the past and its legacy.
• This requires nuanced resources which convey cognitively and
emotionally engaging personal narratives to disrupt both
homogenised official historical narratives and potentially biased
unofficial histories generated at home and in communities.
• The findings from this study provide an evidence base to suggest
that through direct engagement with the narratives of those involved
in conflict, young people can learn not only about but from the past,
and thus develop the skills required to understand and negotiate
the complex political contours of a society emerging from conflict.
‘History, despite its wrenching pain,
cannot be unlived, however, if faced
with courage, need not be lived again.’
Maya Angelou