*Education and change in South Africa and Northern Ireland

This is a period of profound social and political change in both South Africa and Northern Ireland. South Africa is coming to terms with the ending of apartheid and the beginning of a new, inclusive democracy for people of all races. In Northern Ireland, the signing of the Belfast Agreement led to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly, where past enemies now work together in government. The new focus is on inclusion, to replace the exclusionary practices of the past. Education systems played a crucial role in the creation and maintenance of past divisions: through racial stratification in South Africa; through religious stratification in Northern Ireland. They are now required to play an equally crucial role in the construction of new national identities, through the "reprogramming" of the nation.;This research seeks to understand the changes that are taking place in the education systems of South Africa and Northern Ireland in relation to past practices, present debates, and future aspirations. Through the analysis of archival materials, policy documents, and interviews with key education activists in South Africa and Northern Ireland, I investigate the different responses to the legacies of segregation in the current climate of hope for lasting change. I describe the discrepancies between the discourses and the practices of educational change. Through a comparative analysis of South Africa and Northern Ireland that highlights alternative means of crafting "cultures of inclusion," I examine the differences in response to change. In South Africa, policy makers and educationalists in South Africa use the language of cultural difference to construct new national identities by reference to the past. In contrast, policy makers in Northern Ireland use the language of cultural diversity to construct new national identities by reference to the relationship between the "two traditions." I highlight the dangers of each approach in relation to the reiteration of practices of exclusion.