Speaking of Schools: Talking Education in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, education is never just about exams and schools. It's about identity, politics, belonging, and how we build shared futures. Yet the stories we tell about education, often miss crucial voices and perspectives.

This panel brings together a journalist, researcher, teacher educator, and school leader to ask the questions that matter: How is education being narrated? What narratives are we missing? And how can we talk about education in ways that are more honest, more inclusive, and more constructive?

Drawing on integrated education, curriculum reform, student wellbeing, and post-conflict identities, panellists will explore how language shapes policy, how media coverage affects schools, and why the conversation itself is part of the solution.

This event is for educators, policymakers, journalists, researchers, students, and anyone who cares about education in Northern Ireland.

Panellists:

John Walshe – Education Journalist and former Special Adviser, Department of Education

Dr Anne Devlin – Research Officer, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)

Dr William Kitchen – Lecturer in Mathematics, Stranmillis University College

Sandra Patterson – Head of Geography and A2L Co-ordinator, Ulidia Integrated College

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Host or Publisher Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics