An integrated future? Exploring young people's experiences of integrated education in Northern Ireland

While this aspiration remains central to the integrated ethos, a continued focus on ‘traditional’ divisions may neglect the increasingly complex dynamics between students from diverse backgrounds in post-Agreement Northern Ireland.

In the context of a renewed policy drive to enhance the development of integrated education, it is useful to consider how its mission is understood by those currently enrolled in the sector. Deploying intercultural education as a conceptual lens, this study explores young people's experiences of integrated education within two schools – one grant-maintained and one transformed – to ascertain whether the stated aims of the ethos are reflected in their understanding of integrated education.