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decision to focus on teaching Irish history. The interviewee’s approach towards teaching the
Modern World Study indicated a positive attitude towards teaching this challenging course to
pupils:
Some of the students do it remarkably well and then other pupils … say when they are
nearly at the end of it, ‘I still don’t understand.’ But I would say, ‘That is natural for
some people. Finish your homework and then read it back’… and then the penny
drops. It needs going through the process; it’s almost learning by doing.
It is interesting to note that the interviewee considered that in the past they had used
coursework that had been too demanding. In recent years coursework had been made more
manageable. The main constraint, which this interviewee faced, was the fact that the history
department did not have anyone with sole responsibilities in this area while they had wider
school responsibilities. This affected opportunities for curriculum development but did not
appear to have influenced the current organisation of the department. The overall impression
provided was of a highly efficient but pragmatic approach towards teaching an Irish
dimension.
The third interviewee taught in 11-16 urban girls’ school, located in a large northern city.
They indicated that the school had a multicultural intake including pupils from the local Irish
community. Although they indicated that an Irish dimension was important at Key Stage 3,
when answering the questionnaire during the interview they said that it had some importance.
The interviewee did not give particularly strong reasons for teaching an Irish dimension. They
said that the background of the pupils was also important and that it also supported antiracism.
Nevertheless the way in which they supported the last assertion was somewhat vague:
I would say that part of the reason why we teach it is that it enables us to teach about
the news so that we can relate it to modern times.