Chair in Shared Education for Peacebuilding and Social Justice

The need and the demand for social cohesion and intercultural dialogue have never been more urgent. Shared education aims to reduce prejudice and foster mutual understanding through inter-group engagement, having developed in a society still emerging from a long history of inter-group conflict. The approach is rights-respecting, underpinned by values of equality and respect for difference, and has been shown to have clear potential for building more positive inter-group relations in other divided contexts.

The work of this Chair

The Centre for Shared Education, led by Professor Joanne Hughes MBE at Queens University Belfast, advocates shared education as a model for promoting inter-relations through education. This model accepts the existence of schools divided on ethnic or religious lines as understandable and legitimate expressions of difference in divided and plural societies whilst at the same time adopting a critical-reflective approach.

The Chair seeks to promote collaboration with the aim of delivering educational benefits to learners and promoting the efficient and effective use of resources. The key principles of their work include promoting equality of opportunity, good relations, equality of identity, respect for diversity and community cohesion.

The Centre delivers its vision through three core strands of interlinked activities: research (examining the processes and outcomes of shared education); intervention (assisting in the development and delivery of shared education interventions in schools); education and training (developing and providing training and resources for shared education).

About the Chair Lead

Professor Joanne Hughes is Director of the Centre for Shared Education at Queen’s and has led more than 20 research projects on the theme of shared education. In 2019, her work was recognised in a Queen’s Anniversary Prize, awarded to Queen’s University for Shared Education, and she has advised Government Officials and Ministers internationally on the development of policies and interventions to promote good relations in schools.

From 2010-2014 she was editor of the prestigious British Educational Research Journal and has served on the Executive Council of the British Educational Research Association from 2012-2017. In 2019 she was appointed to the international Learner Research Network Advisory Board.

More information about the Chair Lead