Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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276. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment uses a child development model; and if so, if she will name the specific model or models. [25777/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) advises the Minister for Education on curriculum and assessment for early childhood education, primary and post-primary schools. This advice is generated in a highly collaborative manner and draws on extensive research and educational literature, and experiences of schools and early childhood settings. Information on the curriculum development processes and NCCA’s structures can be found on its website at www.ncca.ie.

The NCCA takes an evidence-informed approach with its research activity including, but not limited to, research in relation to specific aspects or areas of curriculum development; audits of curriculum provision in other jurisdictions; comparative studies locating Ireland in an international context; and consultations with teachers/practitioners, children/students, school leaders, parents, researchers and academics, wider stakeholders in the education system; and the general public. The research used to inform curriculum and assessment advice, as well as systemwide developments, also comes from longitudinal studies.

There are many theoretical perspectives on children’s learning and development, including Bioecological Perspectives; Sociocultural Perspectives; Meta-Cognition and Self-Regulation Perspectives; Attachment Perspectives; Motivation Perspectives; Cognitive Psychology Perspectives; Neuroscience and Neurocognitive Perspectives and Multiple Intelligences (including Learning Styles) Perspectives, with some more widely accepted or less contested than others. As Ring, O’Sullivan, Ryan and Burke (2018) remind us, When we learn different types of things, we employ different types of learning strategies or brain approaches; learning looks different and works differently depending on what is being learned (p8).The NCCA draws on multiple theories of learning and development in its curriculum and assessment work across early childhood, primary and post-primary education with these being articulated through curriculum components such as principles, statements of learning, key skills/competencies, examples of teaching and learning, and examples of student work to support enactment of the curriculum. In addition, the Council’s work draws on the field of curriculum studies in which understandings of the meaning of curriculum, including the important role of the teacher, have changed and evolved over time.

In the case of the ongoing work to redevelop the primary curriculum, research papers on many different aspects of curriculum and assessment, including theoretical perspectives on children’s learning and development, have been developed and are informing the current work on curriculum specifications. This research can be found at ncca.ie/en/primary/primary-developments/primary-curriculum-review-and-redevelopment/research-and-publications/

Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework is currently being updated. Again, much research underpinned the development of this framework between 2006 and 2009 (see ncca.ie/en/early-childhood/early-childhood-education-developments/the-development-of-aistear/), and extensive research is informing the proposals to update it (see ncca.ie/en/early-childhood/early-childhood-education-developments/updating-aistear/research-and-publications/).

In the case of post-primary curriculum and assessment changes in recent years, including the Framework for Junior Cycle, and new Leaving Certificate subjects such as Politics and Society, Computer Science and Physical Education, extensive research, consultation data and deliberation and discussion shaped the developments. For example, the longitudinal study carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) on behalf of the NCCA in the 2000s, provided significant insights into teaching, learning and assessment in the first three years of post-primary education and highlighted a number of challenges subsequently addressed in the Framework for Junior Cycle.

In the case of the new Leaving Certificate subjects, each was shaped by a body of research captured in a Background Paper and Brief published for public consultation. Curriculum audits, research reports/papers, background papers and briefs, and consultation reports informing curriculum and assessment developments can be found on NCCA’s website - Publications and Research | NCCA.

The NCCA’s work on curriculum and assessment places a strong focus on the principle of ‘inclusion and diversity’ which can be seen in changes in primary and post-primary education in the last decade. Guided by a mosaic of educational theories, this importance placed on inclusive curricula and assessment arrangements can be seen in the use of broad learning outcomes in curriculum specifications (supported by progression continua at primary level), the introduction of Classroom-Based Assessments which enable students to demonstrate their learning in a multitude of ways, and the policy decision to move to common level specifications in subjects other than English, Mathematics and Irish. NCCA’s development of Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes for junior cycle students has played a key role in ensuring appropriate curriculum and assessment provision for all young people at this stage of their education. The Council is now building on this work as it develops age-, stage- and developmentally-appropriate modules for young people currently studying the Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes and as they move into senior cycle. The first phase of these modules will be available for September 2024.

Work underway on the redevelopment of senior cycle builds on all of this in support of the Minister’s vision for ‘Equity and Excellence for All’. One of the actions set out in the Senior Cycle Review: Advisory Report (NCCA, 2022) and highlighted by Minister Foley in her March 29, 2022 announcement on senior cycle reform was the consideration of the range and form of appropriate materials to be developed and provided by NCCA to support schools’ work with curriculum components and to facilitate more flexible learning pathways through senior cycle. This work includes consideration of the design of curriculum documents and an extensive research paper on this will be published in due course informing work on the development of senior cycle subjects and modules.