Teaching contentious topics in a post-conflict society: voices from educators

In post-accord societies, young people's experience of conflict is not lived, but narrated through stories and silences embedded in their social ecology. Within this ecology, educators are key socialization agents in adolescents’ microsystems, shaping orientations towards peace and developing critical consciousness by engaging students with divisive issues. Guided by the Ecological Systems Theory (EST), we investigated educators’ perspectives on the barriers and facilitators of teaching contentious topics in Northern Ireland (NI). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 educators teaching post-accord adolescents. Thematic template analysis identified factors influencing the delivery of contentious topics across ecological layers. We identified three central themes that crossed multiple ecological systems. First, educators reflected on barriers in navigating interpersonal challenges, including pressures from students, parents, and communities; challenging confrontations; the need to appear impartial; and adapting teaching methods and resources to protect pupil wellbeing. Second, facilitators included employing pluralistic approaches to developing open-mindedness, such as challenging entrenched beliefs through presenting multiple perspectives, fostering critical thinking with a gradual approach, and drawing on personal relevance. Third, participants highlighted the importance of an environment that facilitates teaching, including adequate time to “linger” on contentious topics and school-level that enable collaboration and confidence. By situating educators’ voices within EST, this research highlights how microsystem interactions, mesosystem relationships, and macrosystem cultural identities, all shaped over time, affect the teaching of contentious topics in Northern Ireland. These findings contribute to broader discussions on peace education, trauma-sensitive pedagogy, and epistemic approaches in post-conflict settings.<br/><br/>