Teaching on the Other Side: how identity affects the capacity for agency of teachers who have crossed the community divide in the Northern Ireland educational system

The ethnic separation of the school system in Northern Ireland along Catholic and Protestant community lines limits opportunities for daily cross-community interaction between young people. Recent research has shown that, whilst the deployment pattern of teachers is largely consistent with this divide, a small proportion of teachers has diverted from the community-consistent path and are teaching in a school not associated with their own community background. Narrative interviews with a purposive sample of these cross-over teachers has provided rich insights into their experiences. The research presented here explores the extent to which these cross-over teachers felt able to reveal and engage their ethnic identity in their teaching. A mixed pattern is observed; whilst some had endeavoured to hide or disguise their identity, others had embraced their otherness and were consequently better placed to achieve agency in their practice.