Silver Spring, Maryland: November 9-- Principal Carole Goodman spent one week in Derry, Northern Ireland shadowing two schools and learning about the different culture in this little known, tumultuous country.

Although it is also a part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is a separate country from Ireland with its own currency and government. And, from the 1960’s until about ten years ago, Northern Ireland was experiencing a period of violence and civil war, known as the Troubles, between the Catholic Nationalists and the Protestant Unionists. While the Treaty of Belfast called for a ceasefire April 10, 1998, “[the Troubles] are still simmering underground,” says Mrs. Goodman. “There’s [still] a long-standing war going on.”

This period of turmoil and chaos has inevitably affected the schools, which are going through a process of rebuilding. St. Cecilia’s College, which is an all-girls, public, Catholic school that Mrs. Goodman visited, is now instating an arts focus, much like the one Blake has, to try to improve the school. The rules are also tightening up, with strict policies on uniforms, make-up and jewelry. Says Mrs. Goodman, “My sense is that for some of them, they didn’t see discipline in other parts of their lives, and in a way [the rules were] a relief.”

Some schools are even trying to overcome the religious tensions in the country by becoming integrated, meaning that they allow both Catholics and Protestants. However, “it’s a real risk to have your child in an integrated school,” says Mrs. Goodman. “It’s [considered] such a radical concept.” Mrs. Goodman shadowed students at Oak Grove College, which is an integrated and co-educational public school.

While some schools may be becoming integrated, the neighborhoods are not. Tensions from the Troubles still remain strong in the towns, with Peace Walls to separate the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods. These “walls” are, in fact, barbed-wire gates, which are closed and locked at 10pm every night. Such religious segregation seems extreme to an American, and as Mrs. Goodman says, “In the US, we don’t worry about religion, and we don’t think about religion. It’s not how we define ourselves.”

“It’s more about that racial divide [in the US],” says Mrs. Goodman. While racial struggles in America cannot begin to compare with the religious tension in Northern Ireland, there are still many clear similarities between the two. Mrs. Goodman adds, “Even when people look alike, they still find something to divide them.”

While tensions still exist, the towns of Northern Ireland, such as Derry are doing their best to put the past behind them. There are areas to commemorate and remember the violence that occurred for those 30 years with murals portraying and memorializing those that were murdered in the times of the Troubles. One mural in Derry depicts a St. Cecilia’s girl who was caught and killed in a machine-gun crossfire.

Overall, going to Northern Ireland to visit and shadow these schools has proved to be both educational and enlightening for Mrs. Goodman. “I walked out of there changed in many ways,” she says. “It just gave me a whole different perspective.”