Table Of ContentOther titles in the series
OSTERRIETH p. er aL Improving Education for Disadvantaged
Chüdren
Some Belgian studies
PANTING. A Mole Cricket Called Servol
An account of experiences in education
and community development
in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies
RUTLAND
STREET
Written for the Bernard van Leer Foundation
by SÉAMAS HOLLAND
Principal Officer
Department of Education
Ireland
Published for the Department of Education
Ireland
and the Bernard van Leer Foundation
The Hague
BERNARD VAN LEER FOUNDATION
THEHAGUE
and
PERGAMON PRESS
Oxford · New York · Toronto
Sydney · Paris · Frankfurt
U.K. Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hill Hall, Oxford
0X3 OBW, England
U.S.A. Pergamon Press Inc., Maxwell House, Fairview
Park, Elmsford, New York 10523, U.S.A.
CANADA Pergamon of Canada, Suite 104, 150 Consumers
Road, Willowdale, Ontario, M2J 1P9, Canada
AUSTRALIA Pergamon Press (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., P.O. Box 544,
Potts Point, N.S.W. 2011, Australia
FRANCE Pergamon Press SARL, 24 rue des Ecoles, 75240
Paris, Cedex 05, France
FEDERAL REPUBLIC Pergamon Press GmbH, 6242 Kronberg-Taunus,
OF GERMANY Pferdstrasse 1, Federal Republic of Germany.
Copyright ©1979 Bernard van Leer Foundation
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photo
copying, recording or otherwise, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
First edition 1979
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Holland, Seamas
Rutland Street. (Bernard van Leer
Foundation. Publications).
1. Compensatory education - Ireland -
Dublin
2. Nursery schools - Ireland - Dublin
1. Title 11. Ireland (Republic). Ministry of
Education III. Series
371.9 '67 LC4096.1/79 40354
ISBN 0-08-024264-2
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
William Clowes (Beccles) Limited, Beccles and London
Note on the
Bernard van Leer Foundation
From its earliest beginnings as a philanthropic body concerned with
supporting a range of humanitarian activities, the Bernard van Leer Found
ation has had at the heart of all its actions the exploration of ways in
which education can help realise man's inborn potential and the special
relevance of this idea to the educational needs of the disadvantaged.
The expression of this concept is necessarily dynamic and continuously
changing.
In 1966 the Foundation became an operational institution; and its
subsequent interventions aimed to discover how, in conditions of adversity,
educational innovation could contribute to individual and social develop
ment. In responding to activities that contribute to the creation of oppor
tunities for the deprived, the Foundation had to be prepared to take
risks and invest its resources in experimental actions beyond the capacities
of the established authorities.
Over the years it has built up a core of professional experience and
expertise. Since the early seventies this has been increasingly brought to
bear on its world-wide project network, where possible, enriching it
and diversifying it. The present trend is towards involvement in projects
with major national bodies whereby it is expected that a formative in
fluence can be exercised on a policy and planning level to bring the special
requirements of the disadvantaged within the purview of general educa
tional provision.
In its continuing concern with early childhood education, the Found
ation acts in accord with the directions indicated by much current research;
nevertheless it does not depend on the outcome of such research to
VIII
vi Rutland Street
validate exploratory moves into new spheres of activity. By 1978 there is
clear evidence that to consider the young child in isolation from his
family and community does not make sense, if long-term educational
gains are to be realised. A significant number of the Foundation's current
projects are now active in helping the school to acknowledge the import
ance of parents as crucial partners in the educating of their children; in
making school and community more accessible and more responsible to
each other; and in enabling communities through a variety of collabora
tions, to help others.
It is an important Foundation objective that the work of successful
projects should be disseminated and replicated both nationally and inter
nationally. This monograph exemplifies one aspect of the way in which
the Foundation seeks to explore the fundamental problem of liberating
the disadvantaged child from the restrictive pressures of a variety of
constraining environments.
List of Illustrations
Plate 1 The Rutland Street schools - old and new, Junior and Infant
- with new apartments in foreground.
2 Rutland Street boys, the cUentele of the Pre-school Educa
tional Project.
3 The children and the environment, old and new.
4 The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, adjoining the Rutland
Street schools and original tenement blocks.
5 Rutland Street children in the project setting, Pre-school and
Primary School. In the background, the Church of Our Lady
of Lourdes.
6 Street life opposite the Junior School.
7 New pedagogical methods in application in the Pre-school.
8 The beginning of "science" education in the Pre-school.
9 Teacher workshop in action.
10 Project teacher explains her philosophy and method to other
Dublin early childhood teachers.
11 The community discussing the work of the project.
12 Involvement of mothers.
13 Map of Central Dublin project area.
VIII
Acknowledgments
Many people and organisations contributed to the development of the
project.
Special thanks are due to:
the Bernard Van Leer Foundation;
the members of the Steering Committee and, in particular, its Chairman,
Tomás Ó Cuilleanáin who played a major part in the project from its
inception;
Mrs. K. Day, Principal, and the staff of the Pre-school Centre;
Miss P. Cunningham, Principal, and the staff of the Junior School;
the Research Director, Dr. T. Kellaghan, for his unfailing interest and
guidance;
T. 0 Gillin, Department of Education, who had responsibility for,
among other things, the finances of the project;
the priests of the parish, particularly Very Reverend John Moloney,
P. P., Rathgar, who was School Manager during the preliminary stages
of the project and his successor. Very Reverend John Whelan, P. P.,
Newcastle;
the Eastern Health Board;
the Ministry of Education, Belfast;
the Local Education Authorities of Bristol and Liverpool;
Dr. D. F. Cregan, CM., former President, St. Patrick's College,
Drumcondra;
the children and their parents who gave the project the stamp of their
collective personality.
I wish to record my personal gratitude to:
Tomás t) Cuilleanáin, former Chief Inspector of Primary Schools, for
his unfailing support and advice;
ix
A ckno wiedgemen ts
Dr. T. G. 0 Muirghis, Divisional Inspector, for his wise guidance during
the writing of this book;
Dr. T. Kellaghan, Director, Educational Research Centre, for reviewing
the manuscript in its preliminary and final stages;
Dr. B. J. Greaney, Research Assistant, Educational Research Centre, for
valuable assistance with the section on evaluation;
Miss Maire Ó Neill, Typing Supervisor, Department of Education, and
her staff, for typing the manuscript.
Foreword
Initiatives in education are always to be welcomed, especially when they
involve cooperation at international level. This book describes one such
initiative. It is our sincere hope that it will be of value to everyone who is
concerned with what is going on in education today.
A strong positive relationship between the socio-economic status of
parents and the scholastic achievement of their children has long been
recognised. The children of well-off parents generally do better at school
than those of poorer parents. This phenomenon has been a major cause of
concern to educationists over the past twenty years. The rapid economic
progress made by Ireland during that period has served to bring into sharp
focus the plight of a number of Irish children who, because of the adverse
conditions in which they live, are unable to use the school system to
achieve their full intellectual potential. That children's life chances should
be limited by circumstances which are none of their making is, naturally,
a source of concern to all bodies interested in education.
The range of strategies developed in the United States to try to solve
the problems of the culturally disadvantaged caught the attention of
European countries. By the late sixties, hopes were high in Europe also
that the provision of suitable leaming experiences for young disadvantaged
children could have a crucial influence for their future development. It
was even expected that early educational intervention could be the giant-
killer that would eradicate many of the human and social problems which
have long beset society.
For these reasons, the Bernard van Leer Foundation got a ready hearing
when in 1968 discussions took place with the Irish Department of Educa
tion for the purpose of developing a joint intervention programme in an
÷/7 Rutland Street
area of Dublin city at high educational risk. The Rutland Street project,
which is the subject-matter of this book, was the outcome of these dis
cussions.
We are both very happy to have this opportunity of expressing our
thanks to all those who contributed to the very substantial effort involved
in the project. The association between the Department and the Foundation
has been marked by close cooperation, a willingness to face facts - even
the unpalatable ones - and an earnest commitment to the solution of this
most complex problem.
Whilst in practice it has not proved possible to extend the methods
developed by the Rutland Street Project as far as would perhaps have been
desirable in a more favourable economic climate, beginnings have been
made towards setting in motion the process of dissemination of this
important experiment.
October 1978
John P. Wüson Wülem Ç. Welling,
Minister for Education, Executive Director,
Ireland Bernard van Leer Foundation,
The Hague
