Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “That Seanad Éireann” and substitute the following:
“notes that:

- the framework for a new Junior Cycle includes English, Irish and Mathematics as compulsory subjects for all students, due to the importance of those subjects in developing literacy and numeracy skills;
- contrary to recent commentary, History is not currently a compulsory subject for all students at Junior Cycle level. Despite this, over 90% of students continue to study History at this level;
- data from the Post-Primary Longitudinal Study, carried out by the ESRI, found that a greater degree of subject choice led to greater student engagement at Junior Cycle level;
- the new framework for Junior Cycle gives flexibility and autonomy to schools, who are best placed to identify the needs of their students; and
- the importance, within that framework, of the mandatory statements of learning which must be achieved by all students, including that each student 'understands the importance of the relationship between past and current events and the forces that drive change' and 'understands the origins and impacts of social, economic, and environmental aspects of the world around her/him';

- and

Is confident that the position of History as a subject is secure, and that History will continue to be studied by the vast majority of students at Junior Cycle level.”.

I congratulate the Independent Senators and particularly Senator O'Donnell on bringing this important motion to the Seanad on the position of history in the new junior certificate syllabus. I believe history is a core in the new junior cycle and therefore I have proposed our amendment which I hope can be supported by everybody.

This morning I spoke to Dr. Padraig Kirk and wished him well in his new position in charge of the implementation of the new junior cycle programme. Dr. Kirk is the former CEO of County Louth VEC and is a person of immense qualities and an excellent choice for this task. I have no doubt he will be a big success. During our conversation we discussed the position of history in the new junior cycle and he referred to the 24 statements of learning that are at the core of the new programme, in particular the one included as part of the amendment. These statements provide the basis for schools to plan for, design and evaluate their junior cycle programme.

The school syllabus must ensure that all statements of learning feature in the programme for all junior cycle students. Therefore, if the statements of learning are at the core of the junior cycle programme, a fortiori history is already at the core and does not need to be reinstated. To quote from Flann O'Brien's At Swim Two Birds, "the conclusion of your syllogism... is fallacious, being based upon licensed premises."

There seems to be a gene in our psyche that wants us to make things compulsory in the belief that a specific object will be achieved by these means. It is, I believe, very much a socio-religious, psychosomatic construct and historical in origin. It is a top-down approach to learning and culture, which is more about control than learning. In this context many of us can remember the raiméis that passed for history which was taught in our schools for many years and which was clearly biased in favour of the dominant ideology of the time. I would rather watch a film about Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins than listen to the fanatical, declamatory cosmology of a Christian Brother of years gone by.