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Only a third of the respondents felt that this English history was important in Key Stage 1.
58% of respondents regarded British history as important in their own teaching. Only 44%
regarded it as important at Key Stage 2 and 42 gave this rating for Key Stage 1. Scottish and
Welsh history ratings were comparable, if slightly lower than those given for an Irish
dimension. However, the main impression given is that most respondents did not regard
regional diversity as important. The reasons for the overall differences between primary and
secondary responses need some explanation. It can reasonably be speculated that it reflects
differences in subject expertise. It could also reflect different approaches to the curriculum
between respondents working in primary and secondary contexts.
What were perceptions of multicultural and Irish dimensions in the primary school case
studies? Table 9 shows virtually no evidence of links between multicultural and Irish
dimensions in Case Study 4. Similarly, in Case Study 5 only nine out of 48 believed that both
multicultural and Irish dimensions had at least some importance within Key Stage 2 in their
schools. The overwhelming majority felt that a multicultural dimension had some importance
but did not consider this to be the case for an Irish dimension. Over half of Case Study 4 and
approximately a quarter of Case Study 5 respondents did not consider either multicultural or
Irish dimensions important within their own teaching or in either key stage. This suggests that
primary respondents felt less strongly about these dimensions than those in the secondary case
studies.