This is the first published historical analysis of the development of infant education in Ireland. It spans the period from the opening of the Model Infant School in Marlborough Street, Dublin, in 1838 to the introduction of the child-centred curriculum for infant classes in 1948. A study of early childhood education in Ireland in this period provides an understanding of how the child, childhood and the early years of school were viewed by society. Child-centredness had become a feature of educational practice in Europe in the early eighteenth century and was developed further by Rousseau, Pestalozzi and Froebel. How it manifested itself in schools in Ireland is critically explored in the book through an examination of key reports, as well as through new original primary source material not previously in the public domain. The curricular content, pedagogical approaches and organisation of infant schooling reveal much about the attitudes of those in authority to the youngest children and their educational needs. Interviews with kindergarten advisors, national (primary) school inspectors, lecturers on early childhood education, teachers of infants, and adults who were students in the early decades of the twentieth century provide further insights and enhance our understanding of policies and practices of the time.

Contents: Early Childhood Education: A European Perspective - New Educational Thinking on Early Childhood Education: An Irish Perspective - A New Concept of Schooling and Wilderspin as a Transformational Individual - State Endorsement of Child-Centred Principles of Education: A National Curriculum Created to Promote a Gaelic Revival 1922-1947 - Reclaiming Child-Centred Infant Education: The Revised National Curriculum of 1948 based on Child-Centred Principles in the Irish Free State and Beyond - Child-Centredness and the Catholic Church - Child-Centredness and the Curriculum in the New Irish State - Child-Centredness and Irish Society.

Maura O'Connor is a Lecturer in Education in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin, where she specialises in Early Childhood Education. She has worked as a primary school teacher and school principal. She has written numerous articles on early childhood and care in Ireland and has presented at several national and international conferences. Her research interests include early years teaching and learning, the history of education in Ireland and childhood studies.

«This significant book is the first published historical analysis of the growth and development of infant or early childhood education in Ireland. [T]his scholarly text is essential reading for all of us with an interest in early childhood education.» (Anne Fay, InTouch)

Rethinking Education. Vol. 4
Edited by Marie Martin, Gerry Gaden and Judith Harford