Children’s education rights at the transition to secondary education: School choice in Northern Ireland

Abstract

The principles of school choice and diverse provision underpin transition to secondary education in a majority of countries. This article focuses on the potential for structural diversity to constrain rather than promote choice. Although intended to improve equity in access and quality of provision, choice-based systems serve to homogenise school intakes and magnify attainment differences between schools. School choice decisions become high-stakes in such contexts, because eventual school placements influence the future character of children's schooling. In Northern Ireland, existing community divisions are reflected in the available school types, with a majority of places at either Catholic or de facto Protestant schools, and only a small number at Integrated schools. This results in high levels of homogenisation along community lines. In addition, the provision of separate grammar and non-grammar schools means that intakes are also academically stratified, resulting in the extreme between-school attainment differences characteristic of systems arranged in this way. Drawing on documentary evidence and a survey of transition-age children, this research discusses how school choice within structurally complex systems can be constrained. The main focus is on how children's education rights, as set down in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, are placed at risk by the interaction of system-level divisions. It concludes that school choice arrangements in Northern Ireland do not operate in compliance with children's education rights when tested against each of the requirements set out in Tomasevski's 4-As scheme, namely that education provision must be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable.

Socio-economic factors, school type and the uptake of languages: Northern Ireland in the wider UK context

“…In short, children in grammar schools and from schools with lower levels of FSME are much more likely to have a language in their profile than those from non-grammar schools and those in schools with higher levels of FSME. Similar to the pattern in England, the divide between those children who are and are not studying a language is to a large extent a socio-economic one (Graham 2017) but in the NI system, school selectivity magnifies socio-economic stratification (Henderson 2020).…”

“…First, school type in the NI context is strongly linked to questions of cultural and educational capital. There is a clear 'symbolic' difference between school types in NI's academically selective system and this is reflected in the fact that many grammar schools are oversubscribed despite the requirement to opt into assessments for selection (Elwood 2013;Henderson 2020). Second, although the measurement of socio-economic status and social class are methodologically complex, FSME is a widely-used proxy for social deprivation and at the school level, 'FSME profile' can be used as an indication of the concentration of socio-economic deprivation in a school's population (Allen and Vignoles 2007).…”

“…Second, although the measurement of socio-economic status and social class are methodologically complex, FSME is a widely-used proxy for social deprivation and at the school level, 'FSME profile' can be used as an indication of the concentration of socio-economic deprivation in a school's population (Allen and Vignoles 2007). Third, secondary school data for NI demonstrate a strong link between school type and FSME representation (Henderson 2020) and therefore when analysed alongside each other, they provide a route into issues around both social and economic capital. The data in Tables 1 and 2 refer to the total population of schools in NI and certain traits are worth noting as relevant for the analysis that follows.…”

“…The data in Tables 1 and 2 refer to the total population of schools in NI and certain traits are worth noting as relevant for the analysis that follows. Particular attention should be paid to the representation of only non-grammar schools in the highest FSME quartile and only grammar schools in the lowest FSME quartile, which reflects a broader pattern of association between academic selectivity and levels of FSME (Henderson 2020). We will return to this in the presentation of data below.…”

High School Choices: Comparing Representations of French Immersion and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs in Nova Scotia

“…Critics of educational choice point to evidence that school choice in practice, leads to the segregation of students based on social economic factors, ethnicity and academic ability (Henderson, 2020). School choice undermines the roles of schools as architects of social cohesions by resulting in the homogenisation of student bodies, and the amplification of achievement gaps between social groups (Henderson, 2020). This effect of educational choice has been observed within Canada, where it has been shown that school choice is shaped by parental income and education level (Davies & Aurini, 2011).…”