Abstract

This paper draws on C. L. R. James’s theory of a colonial education and W. E. B. DuBois’s theory of double consciousness to analyse the contradictory implications of an anglicised model of prep school education in Ireland. In particular, it pays close attention to two features of this education. First is its inflating and over-valuing of just about all things British with the corresponding de-valuing of things from the colonised territory, in this case Ireland. Second is the importance of sports or games in this approach to education. More specifically, it was the relation between sports and character building that the model emphasised. Therefore this paper examines closely the experiences of students attending Headfort School, a prep school in Ireland in the light of James’s account of his experiences as a student at Queen’s Royal College in Trinidad and Tobago.