There was a celebration of International Integrated Education Week (IIEW2013) in the Long Gallery at Stormont on Thursday, 7th March 2013. IIEW is an annual event where integrated schools have the opportunity to come together and this year, the event had an international flavour. Children from around the world joined our local integrated schools in celebrating the work of their schools in promoting respect and reconciliation through education, through the use digital technologies and social media (Facebook and Twitter).
The theme for this year’s Integrated Education Week is ‘Me, We, Our World’ and children and young people have been sharing their experiences of how they have been reaching out to other countries and embracing cultural diversity. Throughout the week, schools have been posting messages of support and pictures of their IIEW events on Facebook and twitter, thus sharing their learning experiences locally and globally. Tweets have been sent to the hashtag #IIEW2013 showing support and encouragement for integrated education from pupils, parents, teachers and other organisations.
The guest of honour was Patrick McGrath of i-Teach, who highlighted the use of digital technologies to link the progressive work from integrated schools with the wider world.
Trevor Lunn, MLA, hosted this event which included a drama ‘Connected’ especially written for the occasion by Andrea Grimason and performed by pupils from Blackwater Integrated College. The guests were entertained by a steel band from Bangor Central Integrated Primary School and a choir from Priory Integrated College.
Rowandale Integrated Primary School, who recently won an incredible £25,000 in the Wicksteed Playscapes’ Win a School Playground competition, gave a presentation on social media. Julie MacCartney from Saints and Scholars IC shared how her school uses digital technology effectively to communicate globally with other schools and meet the requirements of the NI Curriculum in ICT.
The international dimension grew out of last year’s inaugural Integrated Peace Education Conference, which was held in Belfast in March 2012. Teachers from Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia and Cyprus gathered together to consider the model of integrated education in Northern Ireland and to discuss their experiences and challenges in developing integrated education in their own regions.
The conference ended with a declaration that, from 2013, the first week in March would be designated International Integrated Education Week.
A delegation from NICIE is visiting Macedonia for an international conference as part of IIEW on 9 & 10th March.
You can follow IIEW2013 at #IIEW2013 or click on our website https://www.nicie.org/iiew2013/
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For further information or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson please contact Noreen Campbell, Chief Executive Officer at (028) 9097 2910 or via email to ncampbell@nicie.org.uk or Louise McIvor, Communications Secretary, lmcivor@nicie.org.uk tel: (028) 9097 2910.
Notes to the Editor
1. In Northern Ireland, about 93% of children attend schools which are either exclusively or predominantly Catholic or Protestant. The first integrated school, Lagan College, opened in 1981 with 28 pupils. There are currently 62 integrated schools in Northern Ireland, 20 second level colleges and 42 integrated primaries, educating over 21,000 pupils.
2. A recent Ipsos Mori poll found that almost 90% of the population support Integrated Education and more than 90% believe that Integrated Education is important for promoting a shared and better future and promoting mutual process.
3. Integrated schools are co-educational, accept children from all levels of ability and social backgrounds and practise a child-centred approach to teaching methods.
4. Established in 1987, The Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) is a voluntary organisation that was set up to develop, support and promote Integrated Education in Northern Ireland. The underpinning principles of Integrated Education is that by bringing Catholic, Protestant and children of other faiths together in a shared learning environment, they can learn to understand, respect and tolerate their differences. For more information please visit www.nicie.org
