Voices, Values and Visions A Study of the Educate Together Epistemic Community and its Voice in a Pluralist Ireland Volume 1 of 2 By Carmel Mulcahy B.A. H.Dip.Ed. M.Sc. Dublin City University School of Education Studies Supervisor: Dr. Peter McKenna This thesis is submitted to Dublin City University in fulfilment of the requirements for a Ph.D. Degree July 2006 Declaration I hereby certify that the material which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others; save to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: — C a n d id a te Swords Educate Together National School Reflection As the sun shines kindly on the high and the low Let us love one another as we work, play and grow. May we be gentle and kind with helping hands For those from all countries and different lands. We respect what we have; we’re honest and true And we open our ears to all points of view. We nurture one another while learning and living, What we receive, we pass on in our giving. Like a seed that changes to a great oak tree We too can become strong, wise, full and free. Written by Alice and Paul Abstract The purpose of this doctoral dissertation is to explore the Educate Together sector, the multidenominational primary school movement in the Republic of Ireland. This multilevel exploration looks at the role of Educate Together in a pluralist Ireland, the challenges presented by the accelerated growth of the sector, the values that underpin the schools in the sector and in particular the relevance of what is termed the Core Curriculum. The background to the research is the prior work conducted with the sector in 1998. The work presented here is an account of the second phase of the research, which attempts to examine in greater detail some of the key issues that arose in the earlier work. Through a co-operative inquiry that involves a wide range of Voices within Educate Together, the research identifies a number of key issues that have arisen for the sector between 2000 and 2006. The work examines the concept of mixed schooling that underpinned the Irish National School system in the 1830’s, the gradual erosion of this system and its replacement by denominational schools and the emergence of the Educate Together sector in the 1970’s. Using a form of co-operative inquiry the research identifies the importance of Educate Together in an intercultural Ireland, the impact of this form of inclusive education on the children who attend the schools and the design and development of “Learn Together: An Ethical Education Curriculum for Educate Together Schools”. The final section of the research examines the impact of this curriculum at national and international level and in particular the strengthening of the relationship between the Colleges of Education and Educate Together. The study offers a unique insight into an important partner in Irish education. Acknowledgements During the course of this research I have received assistance and support from a wide range of people. In particular I want to gratefully acknowledge the wonderful support offered by the entire body of Educate Together: the Principals who are such an important part of the organisation and who contributed both individually and collectively to this work, the CEO of Educate Together and the entire staff who were always on hand with advice, copies of documentation and words of encouragement, the parents, teachers and patrons who formed a large part of the epistemic community at the Ethos Conferences and AGM's, the children, past and present who convinced me of the relevance of the research and in particular my co-authors of Learn Together, Paddie, Frieda and Mary. I wish to record my thanks to John Carr for his thoughtful interview and to all of the other interviewees including those from Trocaire and Comhlamh, whose work I could not use due to the constraints on the size of this work. During the course of this research I met with several of the staff members in St. Patrick’s College of Education and Mary Immaculate College of Education. I am certain that the relationships nurtured during the research process, will continue to develop into the future, thus furthering the links between Educate Together and those responsible for the training of teachers. I wish to record my thanks to my colleagues in Education Studies in Dublin City University and in particular to my Head of School, Dr. Gerry McNamara for facilitating me in the writing up of this dissertation and to Dr. Peter McKenna, who has been an excellent mentor and guide over the duration of this process. Thank you for your patience. Finally I want to thank Tony, Rory and Donal Mullins who have displayed infinite patience and given absolute support in particular over the last year. To those three I say: ‘I ’m b ack !’ iii Dedication This work is dedicated to my late father, Michael Mulcahy who gave me a thirst for knowledge at a young age and who always believed in me, to my partner Tony who convinced me that I was capable of this work, who first introduced me to Educate Together and who is the centre of my life and to my late colleague and dear friend, Stephen Byrne whose memory has guided me from a distance to complete this work. ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................................I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ II DEDICATION ...........................................................................................................................................IV LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF APPENDICES .....................................................................................................................IX CHAPTER 1 VOICES, VALUES AND VISIONS .............................................................1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 1.2 C h a l l e n g e s f o r E d u c a t io n .....................................................................................................3 1.3 R e s e a r c h B a c k g r o u n d ..............................................................................................................7 1.4 R e s e a r c h A i m s ................................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 2 THE NATIONAL SCHOOL SYSTEM ...................................................12 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................12 2.2 T h e K il d a r e P l a c e S o c ie t y ...................................................................................................13 2.3 L o r d S t a n l e y ’s C ontribution t o t h e N a t io n a l S c h o o l Sy s t e m .................15 2.4 P r o b l e m s o f Implementation .............................................................................................21 2.5 D enominational R e a c t io n ................................................................................................... 24 2.6 T e a c h e r T r a in in g .......................................................................................................................26 2.7 P o st P o w i s ...................................................................................................................................... 28 2.8 F u t il e E f f o r t s a t Rationalisation ................................................................................29 2.9 E d u c a t io n a n d T h e Ir is h F r e e St a t e ............................................................................. 31 2.10 T h e 1937 C onstitution a n d E d u c a t io n ......................................................................33 2.11 S trengthening t h e L in k s B e t w e e n C h u r c h a n d St a t e ....................................35 2.12 C o n c l u s io n .................................................................................................................................. 37 CHAPTER 3 A NEW VOICE IN IRISH EDUCATION .............................................38 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 38 3.2 T h e Se t t in g u p o f t h e F ir s t M ultidenominational S c h o o l ............................ 39 3.3 T h e D a l k e y S c h o o l P r o j e c t ............................................................................................... 41 3.4 G r o w t h of S e c t o r : 1981-1998 .............................................................................................48 3.5 F r o m S c h o o l s to S e c t o r : E d u c a t e T o g e t h e r 1 9 8 3 -1 9 9 8 .................................. 49 3.6 S l o w d o w n in G r o w t h o f S e c t o r .......................................................................................58 3.7 N a t io n a l P a t r o n a g e ...............................................................................................................61