Heurism in science teaching in Irish schools, 1878-1924

Abstract

Introduction: The period 1878 to 1924 encompassed by this thesis was one in which profound educational changes which began with the Intermediate Education (Ireland) Act and ended in 1924 with the establishment of the present Department of Education in the new Republic occurred. During this period the teaching of science changed from 'mere bookwork' to widespread heuristic or practical instruction in the schools of Ireland. The agency responsible for this change was the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, led by two great innovators, Sir Horace Plunkett and Mr. T.P. Gill. The Department was established mainly as a result of the findings of the Recess Committee (1898), in which both Plunkett and Gill played such an important role. This new Department was given the responsibility of taking charge of the grant system, which previously benefited this country through the Department of Science and Art based in South Kensington, and it also received substantial funding directly from the Treasury in London. During the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction's existence, from 1900 to 1922, school laboratories were not only built but they were also equipped with the aid of substantial grants. Science teachers were trained over the summer holidays in a particular method of science instruction, which is called the heuristic method.