Concepts of children and childhood are time-specific and linked to contextual issues such as social, economic, religious, cultural and political factors (James and Prout, 1997; Montgomery, 2009). The period from 1900 through to 1940 in Ireland witnessed a radical change in the conceptualisation of children and childhood as elucidated in the primary school curriculum and associated educational literature emanating from the era.

This presentation traces the evolution of the conceptualisation of childhood in Ireland from an educational perspective, particularly through curriculum documents, in the opening decades of the twentieth century. This is a valuable lens owing to the centrality of education in the lives of all children during this period and its use by churches and State for assimilation, socialisation and politicisation purposes. First, it examines the concept of childhood inherent in the Revised Programme of Instruction (1900). Ireland’s status as a colony of the British Empire resulted in the Revised Programme of Instruction (1900) being informed by international developments such as the New Education Movement (Selleck, 1968) and by progressive educationalists such as Pestalozzi, Froebel and Rousseau (Dickson et al., 2012). It stressed the agency of the child in the educational process and placed a strong emphasis on the development of reasoning and other critical skills. However, many elements of the ‘borrowed policy’ around the conceptualisation of childhood failed to gain traction in practice in schools in Ireland and were not introduced as envisaged by the policymakers.

This international influence was much reduced following Independence as Ireland entered a period of isolation and insularity vis-à-vis global developments. From 1922, the construction of childhood was primarily influenced by the heightened sense of cultural nationalism and the doctrines and ideology of the Catholic Church. The influence of the Vatican was apparent in terms of the Catholic social teaching and social doctrine through encyclicals such as Rerum Novarum (1891)and Quadragesimo Anno (1931). This dual nationalist and Catholic social doctrine envisaged a subordinate position for children in society, an emphasis on strict socialisation and ‘moulding’ into perfection, a passive role for children in the educational process and the need for adherence to rules and regulations. In reality, this conceptualisation resonated more with teachers and parents in Irish society than its predecessor.

The key research questions that this presentation sets out to answer are:

• What conceptualisation of children and childhood was inherent in the two curricula introduced in Ireland between 1900 and 1940?
• What were the key national and international influences that informed these conceptualisations?
• What was the effect of these conceptualisations on the educational experiences of children from this era?
• What residual legacies from this period still impact on the education system 100 years later?

The research is situated within a theoretical frame pertaining to the characterisation of conceptualisations of children and childhood advanced by Jenks (1996). This categorises such conceptualisations into two distinct codes - The Apollonian child and the Dionysian child. The Apollonian child was characterised by a focus on innocence and on the inherent goodness of the child, which was to be celebrated and elicited through discovery learning and sensory interactions. This view was inherent within the philosophy of the 1900 curriculum. The Dionysian view of the child was predicated on the stain of Adamic Original Sin that was inherent in the Christian worldview. This required a closed, defined curriculum for the child’s formation to be delivered through didactic methodologies to ensure that knowledge was conveyed and assimilated. From 1922, the new programme placed a greater focus on suppressing natural instincts and moulding the child in order to overcome his/her human frailties. 

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