Social change and education in Ireland, Scotland and Wales: Historiography on nineteenth-century schooling

This paper presents a summary and analysis of historiography on social change and education in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with particular reference to nineteenth-century schooling. The nineteenth century is identified as the period during which Ireland, Scotland and Wales developed distinctive systems of schooling that reflected not only their relationship to Westminster but also significant contemporaneous economic and social change. This paper identifies research which has treated this period, offering brief analytical commentaries on some key works. Thereafter, the paper provides a discussion of developments in educational historiography in Ireland, Scotland and Wales and points to lacunae in research. The aim of the paper is to create the basis for comparative work, and to identify areas that demand attention. The comprehensive set of references is therefore a product of this paper, and not a by-product as is often the case with endnotes to academic papers. 1 1 Scholars are referred to in this paper by their full names, excepting in a few instances where scholars write using initials and surname.