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produced by the school related to their curriculum. For this reason the following analysis will
consider perceptions each teacher held about the history curriculum before looking at how
interviewees worked with Ireland in Schools.
Case Study 1: The Nottinghamshire Co-ordinator and three Heads of History
This group consisted of a cluster co-ordinator and three teachers from different schools. The
group included another teacher, but since they did not produce any materials their perceptions
have not been included. All of the interviews took place during March 2004. The perceptions
of the co-ordinator will be considered before considering the perceptions of individual
teachers, given their pivotal role in establishing the group.
The co-ordinator established the group during the time that they had been seconded to teach
PGCE History students in the School of Education at Nottingham University. Although they
had returned to teach in school, the group continued to meet at the university. The interviewee
had the role of Training Co-ordinator in their school which served a predominantly white
community in an urban context. Although the interviewee taught history, they were not in
charge of the history department in their school. Ireland was taught as the Modern World
Study at Key Stage 4, and the interviewee had been able to enhance it by introducing
materials from the Ireland in Schools Group. However, an Irish dimension was not taught at
Key Stage 3. The interviewee said that the Key Stage 3 curriculum was dominated by English
history. They felt that some reference was made to black, multicultural history and anti-racism
through teaching about the Slave Trade, Martin Luther King and the Holocaust.