Schools together: enhancing the citizenship curriculum through a non-formal education programme

In divided societies education for diversity, often introduced via the combined approaches of civic education, citizenship education and community-relations activity, is advocated as a core element of the school curriculum. Its delivery, through formal and non-formal educational approaches, has been routinely recognised as an opportunity for interactive learning, offering intellectual, social and emotional advantages to all involved. From its roots in the non-formal youth sector, the work of the Spirit of Enniskillen (SOE) Trust now encompasses formal partnerships with schools through a 'dealing with difference together' programme involving groups of sixth-form students (17-18 years) in a programme for citizenship education as a complementary and/or supplementary option to the subject area of Local and Global Citizenship. Based on a developmental evaluation of the Schools Together programme, this paper presents a case study of a collaborative schools-based programme for diversity in Northern Ireland. In particular, it outlines the unique characteristics of collaboration between the formal and non-formal education sectors; highlights the intrinsic value of such programmes for capacity-building and sustainability in schools; and identifies the contribution of such initiatives to educational reform and wider social change.