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People have come and gone through England and Britain over quite a long period …
That xenophobia is not new. I wanted to put in those quotes … those really anti-Irish
quotes to kind of illustrate a theme about multiculturalism today. The Irish do actually
disappear from the story when I get into the 20 th century, but I suppose what I was
trying to say is a sort of mini version of ‘Invaders and Settlers’ and how people have
been tramping across this land for a long time.
This perception clearly sets Irish migration in the context of anti-racist history, although it is
unfortunate that it failed to explore more issues faced by the Irish community. The
interviewee said that the Key Stage 3 textbooks which they had produced, had all included
some Irish history. The interviewee also noted that their work for the BBC had helped to
develop an Irish dimension as part of an attempt to promote Four Nations History:
In our initial efforts to cover British history we did make an effort to cover Wales,
Scotland and Ireland. Have we made an Irish history series? We have done something
certainly on Cromwell and Drogheda.
The interviewee said that an Irish dimension could provide an interesting dimension as part of
the developing interest in teaching about the story of Empire. Indeed, the BBC schools’
programme, which they were planning around the theme of Empire, was going to start with
looking at Wales, then Ireland, before looking at developments in the 18 th and 19 th centuries.
Finally, the interviewee was a regional cluster leader for the GCSE pilot. They were
optimistic about this curriculum development in that it demonstrated that some teachers were
prepared to experiment in areas where resources were not readily available within an
educational climate that discourages innovation. However, the interviewee was in the early
stages of developing the course, and when asked about whether the medieval core unit would
focus on British as opposed to English history, they replied that they had not considered
resources for it as yet.
I don’t think there was consciously a feeling that it would give opportunities to deal
with Britain as an island through which people passed. But I have no doubt that