A quiet revolution – International influence, domestic elites and the transformation of higher technical education in Ireland 1959–72

Abstract

The upgrading of higher technical education which began in the 1960s marked the most influential intervention by the Irish government in the third-level sector since the establishment of the independent Irish state. A series of reforming initiatives extended educational opportunity and transformed the status of technical education at higher level. International pressures undoubtedly proved influential in stimulating policy change. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) encouraged far-reaching reforms through its critical evaluation of educational facilities for technical training in Ireland. But educational reform was not imposed by international agencies on a reluctant corps of national politicians and officials. International influences dovetailed with changing attitudes toward technical education within the Irish political and official elite. Leading politicians and public officials showed an increasing awareness that the previous neglect of technical education was untenable in an era of economic development and educational expansion. It was a timely combination of international scrutiny and domestic political re-appraisal, which triggered a radical restructuring and expansion of higher technical education in Ireland.

Keywords:

• policy change
• international influence
• reform
• expansion
• higher technical education

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the collaboration of former public figures and officials who shared their recollections, especially Dr. Patrick Hillery and Mr Tony Ó Dálaigh. I also wish to thank Dr Ciara Breathnach for her comments on the text.