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course. Overall, the impression given was that this interviewee had some broader values but
that these were overshadowed by pragmatic considerations associated with curriculum
pressures within the school.
What ‘fuzzy generalisations’ emerge from the perceptions of the secondary school Heads of
History in the second mini case study? All of the five interviewees taught Ireland as their
Modern World Study within the School History Project at Key Stage 4. The overwhelming
consideration of four out of five of the interviewees was the intention to develop an Irish
dimension at Key Stage 3 in order to support work at Key Stage 4. Although league tables and
examination results were not explicitly mentioned it seems reasonable to assume that this had
some impact. The second interviewee for example replaced a Modern World GCSE course for
more able pupils with the School History course on the assumption that this would help them
to meet senior management targets. One interviewee also considered that Ireland provided an
easier Modern World Study for their pupils than the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is interesting to
note that several interviewees considered that the GCSE Modern World Study related to
Ireland was challenging and that two of them addressed this issue in their coursework.
Overall, most of the interviewees in this case study were influenced by pragmatic
considerations when they developed an Irish dimension at Key Stage 3.
There was some variation in the way in which different interviewees constructed the past.
Although all of the schools indicated that they taught multicultural history and some referred
to anti-racist history, these dimensions were not always strong features of their history
courses. At the same time links between an Irish dimension and multicultural and anti-racist
history were not very clear.