Pupils, parents, teachers have their say on a new Leaving Certificate
Conversations are underway in schools about how Senior Cycle can be improved, writes
We don’t expect each school to reach an absolute consensus and we are encouraging schools to report difference where it occurs
As the school year begins, so too does a national conversation about how Senior Cycle can deliver a better educational experience for all students, one that will equip them with the skills for the challenges they face in an uncertain world.
Earlier this year, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) announced plans for a Leaving Cert reform process and work on it is now getting underway in schools.
For the first time, the NCCA has gone for a review that involves students, parents and teachers on the ground. It is an extra layer to the usual working through of ideas in NCCA consultative committees, representative of the education partners, such as teacher unions, school management bodies, parents’ organisations and employers.
NCCA Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Barry Slattery, says that, traditionally, schools come most strongly into focus at the implementation stage of curriculum development, but this latest approach involves schools at a much earlier stage.
He says they “favour this combined approach of working directly with schools and through our NCCA structures as we believe it is vital that the advice which emerges from the review has stakeholder support and is based in the reality of what schools are doing and can do.
“There will be considerable debate and deliberations in schools. This is an important part of the process. We don’t expect each school to reach an absolute consensus and we are encouraging schools to report difference where it occurs, as it is important that all views are heard and considered.”
Schools put themselves forward for participation and 41 were selected, covering a cross section of rural/urban, single sex/co-educational, large/small, fee-paying/publicly-funded, religious/ multi-denominational patronage. They will have much in common and will bring to the table the diverse strengths and needs of individual students, whether they are pupils of a fee-paying school in south Dublin, a small rural school or a DEIS school in a disadvantaged urban community.
NCCA staff are working with schools to facilitate the discussions.
Before the summer break, the 41 schools were provided with research on Senior Cycle in other jurisdictions, including the UK, France, Finland and Queensland, Australia.
What that told us was that Senior Cycle reform is on the agenda around the world and that there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ — what works well in one education system may be inappropriate elsewhere.
Nonetheless, there are ideas out there worth exploring. In Ireland, where senior cycle is dominated by entry to higher education and the strict measure of CAO points needed to squeeze through the gate, there may be interest in how other education systems accommodate a wide range of career pathways.
The first phase of the consultation, which runs over the next six weeks, is focussing on the purpose of senior cycle, how inclusive it is and how it is serving the needs of students up to 2030. It will explore the various Leaving Cert programmes, including Transition Year. At their different sessions, teachers, parents and students will be asked to consider a series of questions with prompts to help give focus to their discussions. They will cover areas such as what’s best about Senior Cycle, what are the main challenges relating to it and whether it is inclusive of all backgrounds, talents and abilities.
As an example of how the discussions will be prompted, a question on how to ensure Senior Cycle helps all students to achieve their full potential comes with a cue pointing out that 13pc of the population have a disability, 20pc experience deprivation and 12pc are from non-Irish backgrounds with skills in multiple languages.
Crucially, every group will be asked whether the NCCA has missed anything.
Pupils from second year up will have an opportunity to have their say, with questions tailored to allow them to reflect their experience of the system to date. The ‘student voice’ process will involve NCCA staff visiting a school for a day and working with about 50-60 randomly selected, but representative, pupils, including 10 second/third years. After a 90-minute introductory discussion, teasing through the questions in small groups, the main points will be summarised. Some 30 students will then be selected for a deeper 50-minute discussion.
Schools will write up reports on the various discussions and the student sessions will also be audio recorded. All that material will be sent to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) for analysis.
The findings will go to a national seminar in November. After that, there will be a second round of discussions in schools, another seminar in February, leading to a final advisory report in June.