Building Civic Learning Infrastructure through School-Community Networks in Divided Urban Contexts

• In Event: Disrupting Hierarchies, Co-Designing Futures: Community-Centered Visions for Education Research and Praxis

Abstract

This paper examines two school networks in Belfast Northern Ireland, implementing whole-community approaches to advancing educational equity in contexts shaped by historical trauma, deprivation, and fragmented support. Informed by theories of school collaboration and communities of practice, it investigates how schools and community actors—supported by a Community Research Network and Queen’s University—co-develop place-based strategies to respond to educational inequalities. The qualitative study of a network of 11 schools in the Shankill area and 16 schools in South Belfast, explores how these partnerships support joint professional learning and local problem-solving. Findings highlight alignment between education and community sectors and how these networks evolve into civic learning infrastructures capable of reshaping school–community relations in pursuit of justice and equity.

Authors

• Gareth Robinson, Queen's University - Belfast

• Gavin Duffy, Queen's University - Belfast

• Amy O'Riordan, Queen's University - Belfast