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felt that the National Curriculum and QCA schemes either directly or indirectly acted as
constraints on the development of an Irish dimension, although it does not appear to have
impacted upon their own perceptions. One interviewee also indicated that they had limited
opportunities to influence the work undertaken by other teachers in the school. This raises
issues about their opportunities to develop Irish and anti-racist dimensions together with
wider issues about the role of a subject co-ordinator.
How far is it possible to identify common trends between the three case studies? Clearly the
context and composition of the Birmingham History Mentor Case Study, the Head of History
Case Study and the Primary History Co-ordinator Case Study made each of them distinctive
from the rest. Can they provide a basis for making ‘fuzzy generalisations’ about the
significance and nature of an Irish dimension in the history curriculum? What did the case
studies suggest about an Irish dimension at Key Stage 3? The first case study included an
eclectic range of responses to an Irish dimension at Key Stage 3. However, most interviewees
indicated that it formed part of their history curriculum. In several cases the focus of the
curriculum remained Anglo-centric but some interviewees went some way towards including
it within British, multicultural or anti-racist constructs. The responses to Case Study 2
differed in that most interviewees developed an Irish dimension in order to support their work
at Key Stage 4. Although some interviewees drew out British, multicultural or anti-racist
features to their study of Ireland none of them exceeded what had been achieved by some
interviewees in the first case study. The primary responses to Case Study 3 provided evidence
of an Irish dimension although with possibly one or two exceptions responses compared more
with Case Study 1 than Case Study 2. Overall, there was evidence of links between an Irish