Irish educational policy in the 1960s: a decade of transformation
2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 43; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/0046760x.2014.930189
ISSN1464-5130
AutoresBrian Fleming, Judith Harford,
Tópico(s)Irish and British Studies
ResumoAbstractA decade of transformation that emerged following a period of inertia and insularity in Irish education, the 1960s is widely regarded by scholars as representing a paradigm shift in education policy. Marked by a more interventionist, strategic policy approach, this period resulted in significant democratisation of education, particularly at post-primary level. Based on an analysis of key primary sources, many of which are here examined for the first time, this article argues that this step change in policy, the impact of which should not be underestimated, would not have been possible without the deep-seated commitment of a number of politicians and policy advisers committed to the democratisation of post-primary education.Keywords: Irish educational policy1960sdemocratisation of post-primary schoolingkey politicians and policy advisers Notes1 John Coolahan, Irish Education: Its History and Structure (Dublin: Institute of Public Administration, 1981).2 Tony Fahey, 'The Catholic Church and Social Policy', in Values, Catholic Social Thought and Public Policy, ed. Brigid Reynolds and Sean Healy (Dublin: CORI Justice, 2007) 143–163; J. H. Whyte, Church and State in Modern Ireland (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1980).3 Seamas O'Buachalla, 'Church and State in Irish Education in This Century', European Journal of Education 20, no. 4 (1985): 353.4 Joe Dunn, 'Education, Religion and Cultural Change in the Republic of Ireland', in Christianity and Educational Provision in International Perspective, ed. W. Tulasiewicz and C. Brock (London and New York: Routledge, 1988), 89.5 Richard Breen, Damian F. Hannan, David B. Rottman and Christopher T. Whelan, Understanding Contemporary Ireland (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1990), 29.6 Paul Pierson, 'The Study of Policy Development', Journal of Policy History 17, no. 1 (2005): 34–51.7 Tom O'Donoghue and Judith Harford, 'A Comparative History of Church–State Relations in Irish Education', Comparative Education Review 55, no. 3 (2011): 315–41.8 Judith Harford, 'The Emergence of a National Policy on Teacher Education in Ireland', Journal of Educational Administration and History, vol. 41, no. 1 (2009): 45–56.9 Timothy J. White, 'Modelling the Origins and Evolution of Postcolonial Politics: The Case of Ireland', Postcolonial Text 3, no. 3 (2007): 6.10 Ibid., 2.11 Denis O'Sullivan, 'Cultural Strangers and Educational Change, The OECD's Report Investment in Education and Irish Educational Policy', Education Policy 7, no. 5 (1992): 445–69.12 Lecture to the New Educational Fellowship, 1934, Tawney papers, British Library of Political and Economic Science, 17/1, 21.13 Gary McCulloch, Educational Reconstruction: The 1944 Education Act and the Twenty-First Century (London: Routledge, 1994), 6.14 Sally Tomlinson, Education in a Post-Welfare Society (Buckingham: Open University Press, 2005).15 Brian Simon, 'The 1944 Education Act: A Conservative Measure?', History of Education 15, no. 1 (1986): 31–43.16 Irish Times, March 31, 1944.17 Ibid.18 National Archives of Ireland (NAI), Department of the Taoiseach (DT), S13529.19 Fianna Fáil was founded in 1926, elected to government in 1932 and continued in office for 16 years. It formed a government again in 1951 and served to 1954, and commenced another 16-year spell in government in 1957. Originally a somewhat progressive party, it moved to the right in the latter part of the 1930s. It became a catch-all party and claimed to be a national movement. Essentially a centre-right party, it provided single party government during this period when in office. It espoused the case for equality of educational opportunity but did little about it until the 1960s.20 NAI, DT, S12891.21 NAI, DT, S12891B.22 Diarmaid Ferriter, Judging Dev (Dublin; Royal Irish Academy, 2009), 282–3.23 Seamas O'Buachalla, Education Policy in Twentieth Century Ireland (Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1988), 357.24 Áine Hyland and Kenneth Milne, Irish Educational Documents, vol. 2 (Dublin: Church of Ireland College of Education, 1987), 19.25 NAI, DT, S6510.26 NAI, DF, S18/47/33.27 NAI, CAB, 2/9.28 Ibid.29 Seán Lemass (1899–1971) was the youngest member of de Valera's first cabinet when appointed to the department of industry and commerce in 1932. He was a member of every Fianna Fáil cabinet thereafter, serving as a minister and as Taoiseach for a total of 28 years before he retired in 1966. See John Horgan, Seán Lemass: The Enigmatic Patriot (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1997).30 T. K. Whitaker, Protection or Free Trade: The Final Battle (Dublin; IPA, 2006), 8.31 Dermot Keogh, Twentieth Century Ireland (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1984), 220.32 John A. Murphy, Ireland in the Twentieth Century (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1975), 137.33 Breen et al., Understanding Contemporary Ireland,1990, 35.34 T. K. Whitaker, Interests (Dublin: IPA, 1983), 9.35 Tom Garvin, Preventing the Future: Why was Ireland So Poor for So Long? (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2004).36 John Walsh, The Politics of Expansion: The Transformation of Educational Policy in the Republic of Ireland, 1957–72 (Manchester: Manchester University Press), 2009.37 Dáil Debates, vol. 159, col. 1494, 19 July 1956.38 Whyte, Church and State in Modern Ireland, 21.39 Tom Inglis, Moral Monopoly: The Catholic Church in Modern Irish Society (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1987), 211.40 Of those who started primary education about one in five did not reach and sit the terminal examination.41 T.J.Mc Elligott was born in Cork and was a graduate of University College Cork. He started his career in 1936 and over the next 30 years taught in a wide range of secondary schools. Over a 25-year period from the mid-1950s he wrote a series of insightful articles on Irish education which were carried in the Irish Times. He was also the author of a number of books on the subject.42 Irish Times, August 20, 1953. Copies of the Irish newspapers are available for consultation in the National Library of Ireland and on digitised archives maintained by the publishers.43 Fine Gael was formed in 1933 as an amalgamation of Cumann na nGaedhael (which served as a conservative government for 10 years following Independence in 1922) the National Centre Party and some independent deputies. It was the largest group in two inter-party governments (1948–1951 & 1954–1957). Espoused equality of educational opportunity but did little about it. A party of the centre-right but moved somewhat to the left in the 1960s.44 J.J . O' Meara, Reform in Education (Dublin: Mount Salus Press, 1958).45 Ibid., 6.46 Ibid., 13.47 Irish Times, May 21, 1958.48 Irish Times, May 24, 1954.49 Irish Times, June 6, 1955.50 NAI, DT, S17255/62. Cacoethes scribendi translates as an incurable itch to write.51 In January 1962, the representative body for the Catholic schools run by lay people changed its name to the Federation of Irish Secondary Schools, whereas formerly it was known as the Federation of Catholic Lay Secondary Schools.52 Federation of Irish Secondary Schools, Investment in Education in the Republic of Ireland with Some Comparative Statistics (Dublin: The Federation, 1962).53 Irish Independent, May 12, 1962.54 Ibid.55 NAI, DT, S12891 D/1/62.56 Irish Times, February 14, 1964.57 Quoted in Eileen Randles, Post-Primary Education in Ireland, 1957–70 (Dublin: Veritas Publications, 1975), 56.58 Ibid.59 Tuairim, Irish Education (London: Tuairim, 1962), 4–5.60 Walsh, The Politics of Expansion.61 O'Connor joined the service as a 21-year-old in 1931. He was promoted to Principal Officer in 1956, and Assistant Secretary in 1965. At that stage he was assigned responsibility for the newly formed Development Branch in the department whose function it was to promote the expansion of educational provision. He served as Secretary of the Department of Education from 1973 to 1975.62 Tony Ó Dálaigh, private secretary to successive ministers during this period, in a contribution to a conference, November 12, 2012.63 O'Callaghan joined the Department as an inspector in the Technical Instruction Branch in 1955. As such he would have direct experience of the deficiencies in the provision of education throughout the state.64 Aine Hyland and Kenneth Milne, Irish Educational Documents, vol. 2 (Dublin: Church of Ireland College of Education, 1992), 555.65 Ibid.66 The other members of the group were Martin O'Donoghue, a Trinity economist, Bill Hyland, a statistician on secondment from the World Bank and Pádraig Ó Nualláin, of the Inspectorate. Two officials of the Department, Charles Smith and Áine Hyland, acted as Secretary and Researcher to the Group.67 Walsh, The Politics of Expansion, 66. Of the 14 members, only one was a clergyman.68 Within the primary sector, 8000 pupils of a total of 55,000 did not complete to sixth standard and, of those that did, 3000 failed to attend the terminal examination. The geographical disparity was highlighted by examining the cohort of population between 13 and 17 years, with 49% of that group in post-primary education in Cork. The corresponding figure in Donegal was 30%.69 More than one-third of the cohort went no further than primary school. Of those who did less than 30% completed the Leaving Certificate.70 Source: Áine Hyland. Hyland was at that time researcher to the group.71 Irish Times, August 6, 1966.72 Irish Times, April 8, 1965.73 DÉ (Dáil Eireann the lower house of the Irish parliament), 15/06/1966, vol. 223, c. 580.74 Randles, Post-Primary Education in Ireland, 213.75 DÉ, 7/07/1966, vol. 223, c. 2195.76 Horgan, Seán Lemass, 212.77 Irish Independent, July 7, 1966.78 Irish Times, July 7, 1966.79 Seán O'Connor, A Troubled Sky (Dublin: Educational Research Centre, St Patrick's College Drumcondra, 1986), 139.80 NAI, DT, 96/6/356.81 NAI, DT, 96/6/356.82 Irish Times, September 12, 1966.83 Hillery's first step in the reform programme was to announce the building of three comprehensive schools in 1963. Whilst the curriculum offered was practical as well as academic this was a step into the secondary school provision by the state, an area previously occupied by the churches. He carefully chose the locations in areas where there was no existing provision and described the initiative as a pilot project.84 Editorial, Irish Times, September 12, 1966.85 Irish Times, September 13, 1966.86 Horgan, Seán Lemass, 298.87 NAI, DT, 96/6/356,S12891F, a letter from Whitaker to Lemass, September 12, 1966. The Minister for Finance, Jack Lynch, was abroad at this time but it seems highly probable that Whitaker discussed the contents of his letter with him before issuing it.88 Ibid.89 Walsh, The Politics of Expansion, 190.90 Dermot Keogh, Jack Lynch: A Biography (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2008), 114.91 Horgan, Seán Lemass, 299.92 Brian Farrell, Chairman or Chief? The Role of the Taoiseach in Irish Government (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1971), 69–70.93 NAI, DT, 96/6/356.94 Walsh, The Politics of Expansion, 191.95 NAI, DT, 96/6/356.96 NAI, DT, 96/6/356.97 Ibid.98 Ibid.99 Ibid.100 Ibid.101 Ibid.102 Ibid. Letter from Lemass to O'Malley, Octoebr 17, 1966.103 NAI, DT, 97/6/638, S12891F, F11668.104 Ibid.105 Irish Times, November 29, 1966.106 O'Connor, A Troubled Sky, 146.107 NAI, 95/5/1, G.C.12/2. Cabinet minutes.108 DÉ, November 30, 1966, vol. 255, c.1890.109 DÉ, 30/11/1966, vol. 225, c.1885–1895.110 The upper house of Parliament in Ireland.111 SÉ (Seanad Eireann the upper house of the Irish parliament), 09/02/1967, vol. 62, c.1090.112 O'Connor, A Troubled Sky, 155.113 Randles, Post-Primary Education in Ireland, 1957–70, 254.114 Dublin Diocesan Archives (DDA), McQuaid Papers, AB8/B/XV/b/05.115 Peter Hebblethwaite, John, 23rd: Pope of the Council (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1984).116 William Conway, appointed a bishop in 1958. Became Archbishop of Armagh in 1963 and a Cardinal the following year.117 Louise Fuller, 'The Irish Catholic Narrative: Reflections on Milestones', in, Turning Points in Twentieth Century Irish History, ed. T. E. Hachey (Dublin; Irish Academic Press, 2011), 175.118 DDA, McQuaid Papers, AB8/B/XV/b/05. Letter from McQuaid to Bishop Roche, February 21, 1967.119 Walsh, The Politics of Expansion, 209.120 NAI, DT, 98/6/144, S12891F, notes taken at the meeting by Ó Raifeartaigh.121 Pádraig Faulkner, As I Saw It (Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 2005), 73.122 O'Connor, A Troubled Sky, 192.123 Ibid.124 Ibid., 153.125 Department of Education, Annual Report, 1967–1968. An additional 21,000 enrolled that year.126 Investment in Education, 176.127 O'Connor, A Troubled Sky, 192.128 J. J. Lee, 'Society and Culture', in Unequal Achievement, ed. F. Litton (Dublin: IPA, 1982), 12.129 Pádraig Ó Nualláin, Proceedings of a conference, TCD, November 28, 2012.130 Irish Times, June 6, 1970.131 W. J. Hyland, Education and Irish Society, 'With Special Reference to Informational Needs', Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland 22, no. 111 (1970–1971): 74.132 Ibid.133 Ibid.134 Source: Áine Hyland.135 Micheál MacGréil, Educational Opportunity in Dublin (Dublin: Catholic Communications Institute of Ireland, 1974), 56.136 Joy Rudd, Report on National School Terminal Leavers (Dublin: Germaine Publications, 1972).137 Thomas Kellaghan and Deirdre Brugha, 'The Scholastic Performance of Children in a Disadvantaged Area', Irish Journal of Education 6, no. 2 (1972): 133–43.138 Patricia Fontes and Thomas Kellaghan, 'Incidence and Correlates of Literacy in Irish Primary Schools', Irish Journal of Education 11, no. 1 (1977): 5–20.139 Irish Times, February 5, 1975.140 Irish Times, March 27, 1976.
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