John Milliken

Strategic Management in Education: the Organization, Dynamics and Structure of an Education Sector John Milliken

Due to the level of political violence over a thirty-year period in Northern Ireland, there have been numerous calls for change in the educational system to allow Catholic and Protestant children to attend the same schools (e.g. Fraser, 1974; Heskin, 1980; Spencer, 1987). There are perhaps two separate issues. The first is whether or not the claims for the effect of integrated education are valid, and the second is whether the system that has developed has done so in the most effective way and almost regardless of the first issue. This research deals largely with the second issue and has considered integrated schools through an organisational lens using strategic management literature. The research identified the nature of the relationship between the various stakeholders in the integrated ?sector? and found that there is a lack of awareness of commonality or diversity between the schools. This has resulted in a weak sectoral identity and a lack of synergy. The research findings suggest that the integrated education movement has reached a cross-roads in its development and requires appropriate strategic management for future development, growth and maybe even survival!