This article investigates the position of environmental education in the primary school curriculum over the past 150 years in the Republic of Ireland. The extent of how wider social, political, and cultural developments influence the way in which teachers and learners experience environmental education can be seen through the curricular changes.…

Drawing on archival material and oral testimony of former students, this paper examines the lives and experiences of women in Catholic primary teacher training colleges in Ireland in the period 1922-1974. It commences with a brief overview of the historical context in which these colleges emerged, situating their development within the…

The launch of a Computer Science curriculum specification in upper secondary schools in Ireland in 2018 was a landmark and a historic development in Irish education. Addressing the historical policy decisions adopted towards establishing the specification, this paper presents an analysis of developments from the 1970s as revealed in key policies…

By the time political independence was achieved in the 1920s in Ireland, its national education system over the previous century had been underpinned by imperial ideology and values. In the early 1920s, curriculum planning was influenced by the post-revolutionary and post-war context and, unsurprisingly, placed an emphasis on building nationhood…

Reviewing the historiography of education provides insights into both the past and present of this growing area of research across the UK and Ireland. In the nineteenth century research reveals a close association with national identities. These were often Whig histories that celebrated the present and emphasised the progressive nature of…

In recent years, there have been valuable studies of medical education that have highlighted the importance of shared educational activities and the changing image of the student. Less attention has been paid to how masculine ideals were passed on to students and how educational and extra-curricular spheres became sites for the maintenance of…

This paper reviews the work of four early radical educators: the cultural nationalist Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Asia's first Nobel Laureate; Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), Cambridge mathematician and philosopher; the Irish educationalist and insurgent Patrick Pearse (1879-1916) and Leonard Elmhirst (1893-1975), co-founder of Dartington Hall…

A challenge for historians of education is to explain the ways in which the development of education has been a gendered process. The literature tends to focus on primary and secondary schools; the role played by religious orders; the experiences of female teachers; ideological influences on curriculum; and the preparation of young girls for their…

There are ongoing initiatives in curriculum development and implementation in Ireland and internationally in order to enhance the educational experiences and outcomes of learners. This article is the first historical longitudinal analysis of primary school curriculum development and implementation in Ireland from the 1890s to the 1990s. The…

This publication focuses on some of the unique characteristics and challenges concerning the provision of education in prison, including: the emergence of an informal curriculum; language tuition in prison; access to higher education; the availability of library facilities; digital literacy; civic engagement and social (re)integration; and prison…

Some recent studies have suggested a significant bottom-up or parental component to recent movements for autochthonous minority language-medium education (MLME). This study takes MLME as the outcome of interest and seeks to explain trends in Irish-medium education (IME) in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since 1920--a unique…

This literature review explores the historical development of information and communication technology (ICT) in Irish postprimary/secondary schools and examines how the education system has responded to the various ICT initiatives and policy changes. The review has found that despite national policy and significant ICT initiatives, it appears that…

This article reviews the development, since 1900, of Irish educational history, with particular attention to the views and contributions of four historians: Timothy Corcoran, P. J. Dowling, J. J. Auchmuty, and D. H. Akenson. (SJL)

An examination of service delivery in early childhood education in Ireland reveals that the lack of a national policy has led to a great variation in services, little possibility for assessing and regulating quality, and a very limited choice for many children and their families. This article describes Ireland's system for early education…

This book compares the teaching methods of Europe with the United States as related to the development of geography education and the problems of geography education in U.S. schools. The book comprehensively discusses and evaluates the history of geography instruction, tracing that history from the time of the Greeks and examining influences up to…