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emphasised pragmatic motives for developing an Irish dimension in order to support work at
Key Stage 4. In year 7 pupils looked at how Cromwell has been interpreted at different times
in the past. In year 8 pupils examined Michael Collins. As a result the interviewee felt that:
When we start GCSEs the children have got some understanding of Irish history and
we need to do a brief recap on work they already know and understand - appreciate
that they could do more.
When asked about their perceptions of other aspects of the history curriculum they said that
they supported both skills and content but gave priority to the view that children should learn
about their past and put the world into this framework. When asked about different
dimensions at Key Stage 3 the interviewee indicated that English history was important,
Scottish history was given low priority and Welsh history was not mentioned. World history
was considered important and multicultural history was considered important but no reference
was made to black history or anti-racism. Overall, it is difficult to ascertain how far their
overall curriculum had moved away from an overall Anglo-centric focus, although their
treatment of Irish history helped to challenge it. The interviewee noted that their main
constraint was having to teach Key Stage 3 in two years and it seems probable that this may
have restricted their curriculum choices. An Irish dimension was taught as the Modern World
Study within the School History Project at Key Stage 4. The interviewee did not provide
specific reasons for teaching an Irish dimension at this Key Stage. They used texts by Walsh
(2000) and MacAleavy (1997) and people in the locality from Nationalist or Loyalist
communities. Pupils also collected newspaper portfolios during the course in order to support
their course. When asked about responses to the course they said that pupils never complained
about it while a number of parents indicated interest during parents’ evenings. Pupils had
some opportunity to pursue an Irish dimension at the end of year 12 when it featured within a
series of specialist interest activities, which were not directly related to their examination