In the shadows of managerialism: a qualitative study of teachers’ experiences teaching about Northern Ireland’s recent past

Much has been written in the academic literature about the teaching of, or failure to teach, controversial and contested issues related to Northern Ireland’s recent past; to date, however, little attention has been paid to the role of managerialism in teachers’ decision-making. Drawing on qualitative data from post-primary teachers of History and Citizenship in Northern Ireland, this paper explores how these teachers actualise the Northern Ireland Curriculum and their approaches to teaching young people about communal difference and division in a context of managerialism. The study reveals that teachers of History and Citizenship find themselves in a tug of war between their values and commitment to the socially transformative goals of the Northern Ireland Curriculum and the managerialist principles which dominate school culture. Findings suggest that a teacher’s biographical experiences of growing up in a divided society matter in that they can, to an extent, engender a compliant disposition or foster a more agentic disposition to resist managerialism. This paper has significant implications for education policymakers, Initial Teacher Education, and Continuing Professional Development programmes in divided societies. It illuminates the necessity of equipping teachers with opportunities to understand the impact of managerialism and to engage in critical self-reflection regarding “who they are” and why these matter for the subjects they teach and how they teach in divided contexts. Such measures are essential for restoring education’s social purpose and realising the transformative potential of both education and educators.