The Research Of Northern Ireland Civil Education Under The Background Of Conflict

Northern Ireland, or Trouble in another term, is a post-conflict society which originates from a long ethnic and political conflict. Tension between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland led to a divided society and recurring violent conflicts on both sides. The Belfast Agreement signed in April,1998 has led to a new democratic structures to be established and the ushering in of a fundamental change in community relations, which thus facilitates the formation of an inclusive political culture in Northern Ireland. However, the root causing the region’s long-standing conflict and social unrest has not been removed. Ethnic and religious conflicts still exist. Therefore, the growing importance of peace education has become an important safeguard for democratic values and social solidarity.To address the problems, Northern Ireland government plans to build an inclusive and democratic society, and enhance the closeness of community bounds through the adoption of civic education. Civic Education in Northern Ireland has had a positive effect on establishing inter-religious friendship and respect between the students, and greatly reduces the differentiation of attitudes caused by the conflict. However, problems and challenges remain to be tackled concerning the introducing of civic education in this divided country.In China, a multi-ethinic country, events causing the destabilization of the society still exist. Through researching into the civic education of Northern Ireland, a valuable lesson can be drawn to the ideological and political education of China.Four parts are included in this thesis. Part one is a brief interpretation of the historical background of civic education in Northern Ireland. In this part, a description of the conflict in Northern Ireland will be presented, followed by a elaboration on the Protestant and Catholic conflict in Northern Ireland. Part two introduces the direction of political settlement Belfast Agreement and civic education for Northern Ireland. Starting from the content of Belfast Peace Agreement, and through an analyses of the provisions of the peace agreement on citizenship, three directions of cultural rights and civic education in Northern Ireland are presented. Part three is a detailed description of civic education in Northern Ireland. Five sections concerning the specific forms of civic education in Northern Ireland are presented, including curriculum design, cross-curricular, community participation, religious education and inclusive schools. Part IV proposes the problems and challenges confronted by civic education in Northern Ireland, and its possible implication for the construction of ideological and political education in China. It first supplies an analysis of the achievement and problems of civic education in Norther Ireland. And then, from the perspective of national administration, school management, educators, methods and starting time of, it proposes a possible plan for the ideological and political education within the multi-ethnic Chinese society from six aspects.