New Junior Cycle History explained
Studying History is all about studying change, teaching and learning in Junior Cycle is about to change. Junior Cycle Reform will allow for new ways of learning about History and a broader range of historical skills to be assessed.
The study of History at Junior Cycle will enable students to see the relevance of the past in the modern world and to engage more meaningfully in current local, national and international issues. Students will learn about interesting human experiences in the past and how they have impacted on and shaped the world we live in today.
The new History course follows a subject Specification which has a greater focus on developing skills needed for life beyond the classroom and teachers will encourage students’ enjoyment of History as they follow three strands of learning: Strand 1: The Nature of History, Strand 2: The History of Ireland and Strand 3: The History of Europe and the wider world. Strand 1 focuses on History as a discipline.
It helps to develop historical skills and will focus on developing students as historians. It will also further their historical knowledge by introducing them to interesting historical topics and time periods and providing students with a ‘big picture’ vision of the past. Strands 2 and 3 enable students to engage with these skills through the study of historical personalities, issues and events from both Ireland and the wider world.
Some of the new areas all students will be learning about will be:
■ the consideration of contentious or controversial historical issues;
■ the appreciation of their cultural inheritance;
■ the development of historical judgements based on evidence;
■ the investigation of a museum, library, heritage centre, digital or other archive or exhibition;
■ the identification of the causes, course and consequences of the Northern Ireland Troubles;
■ the examination of the significance of the Irish Diaspora;
■ the explanation of how the experience of women in Irish society changed during the twentieth century;
■ making connections between local or family history and national and international events;
■ debating the idea that the 1960s was an important decade on the island of Ireland and in the wider world;
■ the evaluation of the impact of conquest and colonisation on people;
■ the exploration of the significance of genocide, and of the Holocaust and the exploration of the contribution of technology and innovation to historical change.
For the full text of the Junior Cycle History Specification, please visit www.curriculumonline.ie.
Students will complete one Classroom Based Assessment (CBA) ‘The Past in my Place’ towards the end of second year and another CBA ‘A Life in Time’ in the second term of third year. Once the second CBA is completed, students will complete a written Assessment Task (AT). This will focus on what they have learned and the skills they have developed during CBA 2. This Task is undertaken in normal class time and will be sent to the State Exams Commission (SEC) for marking. The Assessment Task will account for 10% of the overall mark in the final examination. Students will sit a final History examination in Third Year. The exam will consist of one examination paper of two hours’ duration at a common level. It will be set and marked by the SEC And reported on in the students’ JCPA (Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement) along with the CBAs.
The Thomas Francis Meagher Foundation and the Parliamentary Education Officer have created some very supportive suggestions for teachers on the potential to align the foundations resources to complement the Learning Outcomes of the Junior Cycle History Specification. The significance of the Irish Diaspora and the inclusion of the need to appreciate why historical personalities, events and issues are commemorated, are two obvious complementary connections. The Junior Cycle History Specification provides teachers and students with new and deeper opportunities also to link our local, national and international history and the work of the Thomas Francis Meagher Foundation is a welcome development, as Cicero wrote: “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?”
You can get more information on our work at www.jct.ie, our website aims to support schools in their implementation of the Framework for Junior Cycle and provides
information for teachers and general information on the new Junior Cycle. There is a History specific section on this website.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) website www. curriculumonline.ie is where you will find key documents such as the specification for History.
You can contact us by email: History@jct.ie and you can follow us on Twitter @jcthistory. The JCT History Team