Civics Revisited? An Exploration of the Factors Affecting the Implementation of CSPE in Five Post-Primary Schools.

Civic, Social and Political Education, or CSPE, was introduced into Irish post-primary schools in 1996. The nineteen nineties are looked upon as a period of great innovation in Irish education. One of the prime aims of CSPE is the promotion of active and participative citizenship. CSPE is a new curricular initiative, which requires the teacher, a key agent of change, to deliver this programme of civic education at classroom level. Firstly, this study reviews the literature associated with educational change in order to get an overall picture of the challenges facing those who must implement change at classroom level. It then reviews the literature associated with a renewed interest in civic education in the final decade of the twentieth century and presents a history of civic education in Ireland. This study explores the factors that affect the implementation of CSPE in five post-primary schools. Five research sites were chosen. The researcher explored the attitudes, perceptions and opinions of both teachers and students to identify and explore any factors which militate against the successful implementation of CSPE. The research instruments employed by the research included a CSPE Teacher questionnaire, a CSPE Teacher interview and a series of focus group interviews with both current and former students of CSPE. . The research findings are presented in chapters four, five and six and the analysis of the data collected occurs in chapter seven