This book examines educational policy at primary, secondary and university level in Ireland from the foundation of the State to the present day. Primarily an attempt to set policy within a historical context, the book draws together compelling research on the evolution of key changes in topics as diverse as the use of corporal punishment, the evolution of skills policy in post-primary settings and the development of the universities in the post-1922 period. The book includes detailed analysis of more recent policy initiatives and changes in, initial teacher education, curriculum change, and special and inclusive education and will be of interest to those working in the various fields, students and the general public. It presents detailed discussions of change in the Irish education system, demonstrating how policy initiatives, particularly since the early 1990s, have brought about significant transformation at all levels. In doing so, the book also demonstrates that the origin of change often lay in earlier developments, particularly those of the mid-1960s. Policy development is closely linked to external factors and influences and chapters on academic selection and teachers¿ recollections of policy, for example, set developments within the wider historical context employing the views and recollections of teachers so that the influence of change on day-to-day practice is revealed.

Brendan Walsh is Associate Professor of Education at the School of Policy and Practice, Dublin City University. His primary research interests are the history of education, policy and initial teacher education, and he has published widely on these topics.

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Primary curriculum policy development in Ireland 1922-1999: From partisanship to partnership.- Chapter 3. Curriculum in context: evolution of Irish curriculum policy and practice.- Chapter 4. Denominationalism, secularism, and multiculturalism in Irish policy and media discourse on public school education.- Chapter 5. Two roads diverged: Policy shifts in second-level Religious Education 1998-2020.- Chapter 6. Post-Primary In-career Teacher Professional Development in Ireland.- Chapter 7. Old ribbons, new bows: the historical development of internal improvement processes in Irish schools.- Chapter 8. Vocational education, rural Ireland and the nation state 1930-1960.- Chapter 9. Key Milestones in the Evolution of Skills Policy in Ireland.- Chapter 10. Whose right(s) is it anyway? A review of Policy and Practice(s) in Inclusive Education in Ireland.- Chapter 11. "A normal and useful method of class control?" Policy on corporal punishment in Irish schools: c1974-1985.- Chapter 12. The Evolution of Academic Selection in Northern Ireland.- Chapter 13. Irish school science curricula 1831-2020.- Chapter 14. DR. T.J. O'Connell's contribution to Irish Education Policy 1922-1957.- Chapter 15. 'Universities and Colleges': higher education and the Independent Irish State, 1922-1945.- Chapter 16. Aspects of education policy and the work of secondary teachers in Ireland 1965-2010.