Seanad debates
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Junior Cycle Reform: Motion
10:30 am
Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit anseo. Ba mhaith liom a rá ar bhonn pearsanta gur iontach liom an bealach ina bhfuil a chuid Gaeilge ag feabhsú agus ag forbairt. Is iontach an dúshlán a thug sé, agus go maire sé é. However, I am disappointed that the Minister for Education and Skills is not here. I do not suggest that the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, is not an able substitute. It shows his latitude that he can jump from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to the Department of Education and Skills. Maybe he knows something we do not.
I second the motion and I strongly support the arguments made by my colleague, Senator O'Donnell, on this issue. I commend her efforts to ensure this point of concern does not fade into the background among other questions as we reform the junior cycle of our State examinations. As I said in September 2013 when a similar motion was before the House, I broadly support the new framework being assembled for the junior cycle and believe the more "innovative and creative approach to learning" it aims to provide is to be welcomed. Having said that, I share Senator O'Donnell's concern for the future of a robust and effective history course as a core subject at junior certificate level. I do not see the position of history in schools as solely about learning lessons from our past. I think history is an essential tool in understanding who we are. Therefore, I do not believe it should be reduced to such an extent that it becomes a box-ticking exercise. The reforms that have been proposed with regard to history will make it possible for many students to bypass any comprehensive learning in this area. It will not be taught under the curriculum in a systematic way. I believe this will have implications for how well we can measure learning in this area across our students, as structure and content will vary depending on the decisions taken within individual schools.
In March 2013, Professor Diarmaid Ferriter referred to the downgrading and bunching together of subjects deemed to be of lesser importance under the proposed reform. While it is absolutely true that key skills such as literacy, numeracy and oracy are essential learning for young students, surely a detailed understanding of our collective past should also be a priority for our students to understand, know and value. When Mr. Gerard Hanlon, who is the president of the History Teachers' Association of Ireland, addressed an Oireachtas joint committee in June 2013, he spoke about "an entitlement to history" that would not be provided for under the proposed framework as it stood. I agree with this sentiment and have concerns that this decision could have serious implications further down the line in the areas of research and expertise. If we limit the exposure of our young students to learning in-depth history, what will happen to the number of people taking the subject to leaving certificate level and at third level? In 2013, approximately 53,000 students sat the junior certificate history examination and slightly more than 11,000 students sat the leaving certificate history examination. Is it possible that the syllabus is overladen with content? Just 50% of schools currently require students to take history as a junior certificate subject. It has already been downgraded and we are suggesting that it be downgraded further by being moved from being a core subject to a discrete subject. If students are not engaged in the study of history from the beginning of post-primary education, they will not have an opportunity to develop an affinity for it. What impact will this have on the numbers who move into this field in a professional capacity?
Dublin is already starting to come alive with preparations for the 1916 centenary next year. I am looking forward to those events and to seeing what the natural cultural institutions have planned. I anticipate a real coming together and an understanding of what we need to commemorate and celebrate in our Republic as we celebrate and acknowledge the part played in its foundation by an event that truly defines our nation. I would hate to think that 20 or 30 years from now, a generation of Irish citizens will not know who Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera or who were the seven signatories. Such a generation would have much less appreciation of the significance of this type of event. I would hate for future generations not to be given an opportunity to feel the pride, connectedness, understanding or disillusionment that we might all feel arising from our understanding of history. When Professor Ferriter spoke last April about the programme for the 1916 commemoration, he noted that a real opportunity to reverse the plan to drop history as a core junior certificate subject had been missed. He referred to this as "inexcusable".
The proposed new framework is a complex educational package and time needs to be afforded here for real scrutiny of it. As policy makers, we need to listen to our teachers if we want an education system that is fit for purpose. It is clear that the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, listened to the teachers recently when she reconsidered how subjects should be marked and evaluated. There is a precedent. We can all agree that we want to equip our children with the key skills and learning they need to live full and rewarding lives. To this end, it is imperative that we do not actively and knowingly fail to provide them with the tools and opportunities they need to develop cognitive competencies beyond what we are categorising as "key skills". If history as a subject is posing difficulties in classrooms and for teachers, we should develop the curriculum and improve the resources. We should not brush it under the rug or lose sight of its true value. If history is no longer a core subject, over time there will be a diminution in its status and ultimately in its psychological relevance to students. It is an amazing coincidence that at a time which is a golden age for the study of Irish history, there is a dearth of new vision, new ideas and new ideology.The former Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, took a positive step to encourage greater success in mathematics. We need a similar imaginative response to the teaching of history. We must sow the seeds of an enlightened citizenship based on understanding the present through a knowledge of history. This is what the poets of 1916 took from 1798, namely, history as a way of interpreting rather than knowing the past. I am proud to support this motion.
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