Dr Norman Richardson
General Information
Teaching Responsibilities
- Teaching BEd (Primary/Post-primary) – part-time as required
- Shared Education courses
- Occasional Lifelong Learning courses
- Other responsibilities
- College Choir and musical ensembles
External Interests/Community Service
- Centre for Educational Studies at the University of Warwick: Associate Fellow
- NI Council for Integrated Education: Professional Associate
- European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education (EFTRE): Board Member for Northern Ireland; UK Treasurer; Executive committee member
- Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education (AULRE): Executive Member
- Christian Education/RE Today: Board Member & Trustee
- Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum: Membership Secretary
- Community Relations in Schools (CRIS): Board Member & Trustee
- International Seminar on Religion, Education & Values (ISREV): Member
- Greek Journal of Religious Education: Member of International Board
- National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE): Member
- Irish Centre for Religious Education: Member
- The Corrymeela Community: Member
- The Counterpoint Choir: Musical Director
Research Interests
- Inclusive Religious Education
- Human Rights issues in religion and education
- Diversity and community relations in education
- Integrated Education in Northern Ireland
- Collective Worship in UK schools
Background & Qualifications
- Teacher in two London secondary schools (1969-1972)
- Teacher in two Northern Ireland schools – post-primary & primary (1973-1983)
- Peace Education Officer – Churches’ Peace Education Programme (1983-94)
- Research Associate, Queen’s University Belfast (1994-7)
- Lecturer at Stranmillis University College (full time: 1997-2014; post-retirement: 1997 to present)
- Certificate in Education – London: 1969; BEd – Stranmillis College: 1983; MA(Ed) – Queen’s University Belfast: 1992; PhD – University of Warwick: 2012
- Kohl International Peace Prize (Chicago): 1989
- MBE for services to education and the community: 1999
Research & Scholarship
Recent publications
Journal Articles
Eaton, P., McKenzie, L., Richardson, N. & McCracken, O. (2015) ‘Teachers’ Reflections on Community Relations and Diversity: A Northern Irish Perspective’. In The International Journal of Diversity in Education, 16:1.
Greenwood, R., Richardson, N. & Gracie, A. (2017) ‘Primary Humanities: A Perspective from Northern Ireland’. In Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, 45:3 (309-319).
Magennis, J. & Richardson, N. (2019) ‘A “peace” of the jigsaw: the perspectives of early years professionals on inclusion and diversity in the context of Northern Ireland’ in Education 3-13 (publication pending).
Book chapters
Richardson, N. (2013) ‘Media and Religious Conflict – Experiences from Northern Ireland’. In Pirner, M. & Lähnemann, J. (eds.), Media Power and Religions: The Challenge Facing Intercultural Dialogue and Learning, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang (pp.73-84).
Richardson, N. (2014) ‘Religious Education at schools in Northern Ireland’. In Rothgangel, M., Jackson, R. & Jäggle, M. (eds), Religious Education at Schools in Europe: Part 2 – Western Europe, Vienna: V & R Unipress
Richardson, N. (2016) ‘Issues and Dilemmas in Religious Education and Human Rights: Perspectives on applying the Toledo Guiding Principles to a divided society’. In Pirner, M., Lähnemann, J. & Bielefeldt, H. (eds), Human Rights and Religion in Educational Contexts. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing
Richardson, N. & Hunter, A. (2018) ‘Educational Perspectives on School Collective Worship – Beyond Obituary’, in Cumper, P. & Mawhinney, A. (eds.) Collective Worship and Religious Observance in Schools. Oxford: Peter Lang
Hunter, A. & Richardson, N. (2018) ‘Collective Worship in Northern Ireland’s Schools’, in Cumper, P. & Mawhinney, A. (eds.) Collective Worship and Religious Observance in Schools. Oxford: Peter Lang
Book
Richardson, N. (2014) Sharing Religious Education: A brief introduction to the possibility of an inclusive approach to Religious Education in Northern Ireland, Birmingham: RE Today Services
Conference proceedings and papers
- Institute of Education, University of London 2014: Division, diversity and vision – challenges for religion in education: a case-study from Northern Ireland
- DIDAR (Didactics of Dialogue & Reconciliation) 2014 (Copenhagen, Denmark): Education & Religion in Northern Ireland – Challenges and Opportunities
- BERA 2015 (Belfast): Religious Education as Peace Education
- REDCO NETWORK 2015 (Klingenthal, France): Religious Education in Harbour Cities
- American Academy of Religion (AAR) 2015 (Atlanta, USA): Religious Education in public schools in a contested society
- ISREV 2016 (Chicago, USA): Issues & dilemmas in RE and Human Rights
- EFTRE 2016 (Vienna, Austria): Workshop on teaching controversial issues in RE
- UCC COPENHAGEN 2017: Reformation, Revolution, Reconciliation? – Catholics, Protestants and the Reformation in Ireland; also: Barriers, Bridges and Education
- AAR 2017 (Boston, USA): Religion, schooling and conflicting nationalisms
- HARINGEY SACRE 2018 (London): Workshop: controversial issues in RE
- AULRE 2018 (London): Religion, schooling and conflicting nationalisms
- ISREV 2018 (Nuremberg, Germany): Options for Collective Worship in UK schools
- SCOTENS Project – Religions & Beliefs in Changing Times 2018 (Limerick, Ireland): Diversity, Division, Religion and Education – A Perspective from Northern Ireland
- EFTRE 2019 (Dublin & Belfast): Co-organiser & presenter: Introduction to Religion and Education in Northern Ireland
- JOINING-UP 2019 (Ballycastle – CRIS and the Corrymeela Community): Education and Reconciliation – Reflections on the Journey
- IESR (Institut Européen en Sciences des Religions) 2019 (Paris, France): Division, diversité et controverse: enseigner la religion dans les écoles d’Irlande du Nord (presented in French)
