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teachers who had been involved in its work. These included History teachers at secondary
level in a range of contexts, and several teachers who were primary teachers, although not
necessarily History Co-ordinators. There were no difficulties in getting responses from people
involved in this project.
The process of interviewing proved developmental in a number of ways. Everyone allowed
the interview to be recorded. With the exception of technical problems on two occasions,
which required summaries to be produced immediately after the interview, the use of a tape
recorder appeared to be effective in enabling the conversation to flow. In two cases there was
a significant discrepancy between the perceptions given in the questionnaire and what was
said in the interview but in general interviews extended the data beyond what had been
possible with the questionnaires. Indeed, some questions emerged as a result of interview
responses. For example the inclusion of an Irish dimension in the sixth form was highlighted
during the pilot study with one of the mentors at Birmingham. In other cases the scope of the
interview was extended by the previous experience of the interviewee. It was anticipated that
a historical dimension would be useful as part of the interviews with ‘movers and shakers’.
Some interviews with teachers revealed useful information about an Irish dimension by
delving into aspects of their life histories.
The context in which interviews took place does not appear to have been an issue. Most
interviews took place in schools and through direct personal contact, although in some
circumstances it was more convenient to interview the person by telephone. There does not
appear to have been a noticeable difference between direct and telephone interviews. In both
cases interviewees readily provided positive and negative perspectives related to the key issue