View - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

proved to be greater than expected and it was decided to undertake a large-scale document
analysis after the current thesis had been completed. Secondly, the decision to place the
‘movers and shakers’ to the last stage of the research related to the order in which the
interviews were undertaken. At the start of the research this chapter was due to appear before
the teacher perception chapters. The decision to place it last arose from the information which
some ‘movers and shakers’ provided about curriculum developments, such as Every Child
Matters (2003) and the GCSE History Pilot which emerged during the course of the research.
In retrospect it was naive to assume that the time at which different case studies were
undertaken would not impact on the responses provided. The response rates from the different
questionnaires also provides useful lessons for the future. The questionnaires, which were
immediately returned to the researcher, had a 100% response rate. Postal survey response
rates increased when permission was granted by respondents beforehand. The response rate at
conferences was lower than that obtained through postal questionnaires. Negotiating an
opportunity to collect in the questionnaires more effectively during the conference would
possibly increase the response rate.
A number of ‘fuzzy generalisations’ emerge from drawing together perceptions from all of the
case studies involving teachers, including those involved in projects. The values and priorities
of different teachers varied both within and between the different case studies, but it is
possible to identify some underlying threads from the responses as a whole. A high proportion
of the teachers who contributed to either the questionnaire or interviews indicated that they
included an Irish dimension in their teaching. In a number of cases it appears probable that an
Irish dimension was taught within an Anglo-centric vision of the past. Even where an Irish
dimension was considered important, this could reflect a range of different values and