Book Description

The common goal of integrated education in Northern Ireland is to bring Protestant and Catholic children together in schools in an attempt to foster an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect. These integrated schools stress what the divided communities have in common, rather than what divides them. They remain, however, a small percentage of Northern Ireland’s schools. There are many stories of the long discord in Northern Ireland between the Protestant and Catholic communities. Breathing the Same Air: Children, Schools, and Politics in Northern Ireland focuses on the stories of the integrated education movement, the context in which it began and continues to develop, and an American researcher’s experience as she learned of these stories. Dr. Abigail Stahl McNamee is an American educator who went to Northern Ireland for many years to write about the stories of the integrated education movement. She asks: “What families and schoolpersonnel have participated in the movement? What risks have they taken to do so? What church personnel and politicians have supported it? What do the children who attend an integrated school, and those who attend the State (Protestant) and Catholic schools in the same community, understand about the uniqueness of the school that they attend? Do their friendship patterns extend beyond their own school to the other schools in their community? How has the integrated education movement changed over the years? How can this movement resonate with Americans?”