Physical Education in Irish Schools, 1900-2000: A History

by Conor Curran, Richard Holt (Editor), Matthew Taylor (Editor)

Overview

This book is the first major examination of the history of physical education in Irish primary and second level schools in the twentieth century. Set within the context of major international developments in the subject, it examines its state in these schools prior to the partition of Ireland in 1921. It assesses the reasons why physical drill’s status was reduced in the Irish Free State’s primary schools in the mid-1920s and accounts for the failure to fully implement the Sokol system in the following decade. Despite the efforts of a number of educationalists and those in the media to draw attention to the subject’s neglect, it was not until the late 1960s that concrete action was taken to provide compulsory physical education in what had become the Republic of Ireland. However, following the foundation of the National College of Physical Education in 1973, problems remained, with the country’s schools still lagging behind those in many other European nations in terms of curricular time given to the subject by the late 1990s. In Northern Ireland, treatment of physical education was more closely aligned to developments in other parts of the United Kingdom, but progress was also slow in many schools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789978421
Publisher:	Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers
Publication date:	01/18/2022
Series:	Sport, History and Culture , #11
Pages:	514
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr Conor Curran (School of Education, Trinity College Dublin) has published extensively on the history of sport and society in Ireland. This is his fourth monograph and is the result of an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship he was awarded in 2017.

Table of Contents

Contents: The Development of Physical Drill in Primary Schools in Pre- partition Ireland – Physical Training in Pre-partition Ireland’s Second Level Schools – Reduction and Disorganisation: PE in Irish Free State Schools, 1922–1937 – False Dawns: PE in Independent Ireland, 1938–1953 – Towards a Specialised Training College: PE in Northern Ireland, 1922–1953 – A Slow Struggle for Recognition: PE in the Republic of Ireland, 1954–1965 – Towards the Troubles and Beyond: PE in Northern Ireland, 1954–1972 – A Temporary Transformation: PE in the Republic of Ireland, 1966– 1973 – A Difficult Period: PE in Northern Ireland, 1973–2000 – Struggling Along: PE in the Republic of Ireland’s Primary Schools, 1974–2000 – Unfulfilled Expectations: PE in Second Level Schools in the Republic of Ireland, 1974–2000.

Editorial Reviews

«Though - for better or worse - a part of every child’s school experience, physical education has been marginalized in histories of education to date. This comprehensive and scholarly study places the subject at the interface of the state’s relationship with its citizens.» (Professor Dilwyn Porter, Emeritus Professor of Sports History and Culture, International Centre of Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University Leicester)

«This comprehensive monograph makes a much needed contribution to the literature on the status of physical education within Irish schools throughout the twentieth century. Curran’s book fills a gap within the historiography of both Irish education and sports history and constitutes both a lucid introduction and an original and challenging advancement to the debate.» (Dr Kristian Naglo, Senior Researcher in Social Sciences at the German Sport University, Cologne, Germany)

From the Publisher