21 minute read
Irish education at a crossroads
report education and skills Education at a crossroads
Ireland boasts more third-level graduates than the EU average, but the Oireachtas has been told that second-level education is not equipping students for the future. With the immediate threat to the sector of Covid-19 still looming, Irish education finds itself at a pivotal crossroads.
‘Bold’ action is needed to halt the failure of the Leaving Certificate to prepare Irish students for the challenges of the future, the Oireachtas’ Joint Committee on Education has been told. Emer Smyth of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) told the committee that the focus on exams in the Irish education system is having a “significant negative effect” on both teaching and learning.
“The exam-focused approach is seen by students, parents and teachers as leading to rote learning, with a focus on memorising material at the expense of authentic understanding and a neglect of the development and assessment of broader skills,” Smyth said. “Exam marking schemes have become a key driver of student engagement in exam preparation. Levels of stress tend to escalate in sixth year with students finding their schoolwork even more difficult. Many students, especially female students, report feelings of strain and loss of confidence in sixth year.” Smyth was speaking to committee as it considered submissions around the topic of Leaving Cert reform, a topic that has defined Irish second-level education for over a decade now, culminating in the first of the modern Leaving Cert reform measures in 2012, when maximum points achievable were increased from 600 to 625. In its current form, the Leaving Cert is having a “pernicious” impact on the learning and lives of young people, Anne Looney of Dublin City University told the committee, with Tom Collins of Maynooth University adding that it was “stacked against poorer students and less well-resourced schools”.
Speaking on the challenge facing those working to reform second-level education, chairperson of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs Tony Donohoe told the committee: “We’re trying to prepare young people, who will still be in the workplace in 2070, 2075, so it’s impossible to predict. It is not a precise science. Who would have predicted the pandemic, for example, and its impact on digital skills?”
The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has said that there is “more to progression beyond senior cycle than just CAO points and higher education” and pledged to reforming the Leaving Cert so that it works for “all” students in the coming years. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD told the committee that the “current system does not prepare a student for life beyond education”, “does not teach students about financial literacy, digital skills, sex education, or climate skills” and that “such skills would help our students transition to the thirdlevel system or employment”.
Credit: Merrion Street That third-level system turns out a significant number of graduates greater than the EU average according to recently released Central Statistics Office (CSO) data. A CSO study conducted in 2020 found 58 per cent of 25–34year-olds in Ireland to have a tertiary level qualification, compared to an EU average of 41 per cent.
More than half of people in Ireland aged between 25 and 64 were found to possess a third-level qualification, 53 per cent in total, reflecting the steady increase of participation in the third-level sector over time. Whether this acts as vindication for the Leaving Certificate system or a validation of the criticism that it simply facilitates progress to third-level without equipping students with required with skills, however, would likely depend on a given viewpoint. Further CSO data for 2021 shows the 25-34 age group continuing to have the highest levels of third-level education qualifications, with three in every five possessing a tertiary qualification. Regionally, these rates can differ, with 61 per cent of people in Dublin aged 24-64 having a qualification, a rate that drops to 44 per cent in other areas.
A possible explanation for the education system’s focus on getting students to third-level could also be seen in the data: women were shown to be three times more likely to be employed if they possessed a third-level qualification; men aged 25-64 with a qualification had an employment rate of 90 per cent compared to 38 per cent for those without a qualification.
Two-thirds of school leavers between 18-24 were found to be economically inactive in 2021, compared to 35 per cent of others in the same age bracket, pointing to the possibility that reform of the Leaving Cert and third-level system may well depend on reform of an economy that demands its workers have third-level qualifications.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic has created more urgent problems for the education system once again, with masks now introduced for primary school children and primary school aged children accounting for 19.6 per cent of all Covid cases. With demands for increased ventilation that does not sacrifice heat during the winter months in schools, the Department of Education and Minister Foley have found themselves under increasing pressure as the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation calls for increased protection for its members, such as the return of contact tracing.
Both the Government and NPHET had previously insisted that schools were safe zones during the pandemic; with that now evidently untrue, the onus will be on the Department to protect staff and students while avoiding a return to the lost hours of education seen in 2020 and the first half of 2021.
Curriculum change: What is and what might be
Last year, in eolas issue 43, we introduced the work of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in an article titled ‘Crafting curriculum and assessment for this generation and the next’. Since then and despite the tumultuous challenges of Covid-19, we have been progressing our consultative and developmental work across early childhood, primary and post-primary education in support of the Department of Education’s Statement of Strategy 2021–2023.
In this article, we’re putting the spotlight on curriculum developments in support of greater curriculum alignment and continuity across primary and early childhood education. We begin by outlining the consultation process on proposals for a Redeveloped Primary Curriculum before moving onto the rationale and the process for NCCA in updating Ireland’s Early Childhood Curriculum Framework.
Primary
What children learn and how children learn in primary school is changing, and we are asking the public for their views on the proposals published in the Draft Primary Curriculum Framework. The current Primary School Curriculum is 22 years old, and since it was launched in 1999, Ireland has changed considerably. Primary schools are more dynamic and busier than ever, and teachers and principals respond to a greater diversity of children and families. There have also been many policy developments such as universal preschool education, and the publication of a number of strategies which have specific actions related to the primary curriculum. In addition, society has growing expectations of the purpose of a primary curriculum reflecting, to some extent, changes in societal values, globalisation, technological advancements, and commitments to sustainability, social cohesion, and inclusion.
Taking all of this into account, we need to ensure that the primary curriculum continues to do the best for children, especially when we think of how children born this year will begin primary school in 2026 or 2027, start their working lives in the 2040s and retire in
the 2080s/2090s. All of this creates an important opportunity to think about the purpose of a primary curriculum when we think of the years ahead.
As well as using research information, we have worked directly with schools and preschools to develop the draft framework. This has included working with a network of 60 schools, called the ‘Schools Forum’, consisting of different types of primary, post-primary and preschools from across the country. The public consultation on the Draft Primary Curriculum Framework is looking at the main changes proposed for the primary curriculum. These include:
• supporting transitions between primary school and the home, preschool, and post-primary school;
• introducing seven key competencies from junior infants to sixth class to enable children to adapt and deal with a range of situations, challenges, and contexts in support of broader learning outcomes;
• using five broad curriculum areas for junior infants to second class that support subject-based learning from third to sixth class: language, mathematics, science, and technology education, wellbeing, arts education, and social and environmental education. The curriculum will continue to include the Patron’s Programme of the school which can be religious education, ethical and/or multibelief education;
• having more focus on physical education (PE), social, personal and health education (SPHE) and digital learning, along with the introduction of modern foreign languages (from third class), technology, learning about religions and beliefs, and a broader arts education;
• giving schools more flexibility to decide, with some guidance, how their time is used across the school day and week. For example, a school might decide to allocate some time to a project or initiative in their local community; and
• promoting learning experiences that involve children being active, interacting, collaborating with each other, thinking creatively and problem-solving, and feeling a sense of belonging in their school. Taking account of the pandemic and the challenging circumstances in schools, consultation on the Draft Primary Curriculum Framework was re-designed into two phases. Phase one took place from February to December 2020 and focused on engagement with national stakeholder organisations and groups, while phase two, open from October 2021 to February 2022, prioritises working with teachers, school leaders, the general public, parents and, importantly, children.
Early Childhood
Now turning our attention to early childhood, we have initiated an updating of Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework, which is now 12 years old. The framework supports adults in providing appropriately challenging, motivating, and enjoyable learning experiences within nurturing relationships for children from birth to six years. Early childhood is a time of being and becoming, a time which provides important foundations for children’s learning and for life itself. Aistear is underpinned by twelve principles and unlike the curriculum used by schools, it describes learning and development using four interconnected themes: well-being, identity and belonging, communicating, and exploring and thinking. The framework can be used in a range of settings, including day care, playgroups, naíonraí and preschools.
While Aistear is only 12 years old, much has changed in Ireland since 2009 and this impacts on children’s lives. These changes include a society that is now more socially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse; developments in national policy such as First 5: A Wholeof-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and Their Families, as well as curriculum and assessment developments. New research, particularly research on babies, continue to raise awareness and emphasise the critical importance of this period in a child’s life. Given these and other changes, it is timely that we update Aistear to ensure its continued relevance and impact in enhancing quality curriculum provision for our youngest children. This is an opportunity to revitalise and update the framework by incorporating learning from practice and research with the overall aim of enhancing children’s lived experiences in Ireland. Public consultation on updating Aistear is taking place over two phases. Phase one began in May 2021 and is ongoing to gather responses to two key questions:
• What is working well with Aistear?
• What might be enhanced or updated?
Children are at the heart of Aistear, and a strand of the consultation is dedicated to gathering the views of babies, toddlers, and young children. This is being undertaken by a team led by Maynooth University. Additionally, a team from Dublin City University Institute of Education is conducting a literature review to update the research base for Aistear’s themes.
The findings from these activities will be used to develop proposals for updating Aistear, and these will be the focus for Phase 2 of the consultation which will be initiated later this year.
Conclusion
Curriculum is central in ensuring continuity and progression in children’s learning within and across early childhood and primary education. Highlevel, sectoral consultations, such as those described in this article, don’t happen often. The aim of our consultative processes is to hear the views of all stakeholders, including children, on how future curriculum frameworks in both the early childhood and primary sectors can best support children’s learning, development, and wellbeing. The findings from both consultations will influence each other and thus ensure that there is strengthened curriculum policy alignment across early childhood and primary education which supports appropriate learning experiences for children.
You’ll find details on how you can have your say on the NCCA website at https://ncca.ie/en/updates-andevents/consultations/
T: 01 661 7177 E: info@ncca.ie W: ncca.ie
PROFILE:
Established following Orders of Dáil Éireann and of Seanad Éireann on 31 July 2020 and 16 September 2020 respectively, the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science agreed its Work Programme in January 2021.
In conducting its work, the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science informs debate and examines matters pertaining to the education system, including early education, primary, secondary, further education and training, and higher education. Simultaneously, it examines matters relating to research, innovation, and science. Meanwhile, the Dáil Select Committee on Education was established by order of Dáil Éireann on 31 July 2020. The Select Committee is responsible for considering legislation relating to both the Department of Education and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, as well as proposals contained in any motion, estimates for public services, other matters as referred to the Select Committee by the Dáil, annual output statements, and relevant value for money and policy reviews.
COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
Clerk to the Committee:
Tara Kelly
Chair:
Paul Kehoe
FINE GAEL
Vice-chair:
Fiona O’Loughlin
FIANNA FÁIL
Deputies:
Rose Conway-Walsh
SINN FÉIN
Alan Farrell
FINE GAEL Carol Nolan
INDEPENDENT
Jim O’Callaghan
FIANNA FÁIL
Pádraig O’Sullivan
FIANNA FÁIL
Marc Ó Cathasaigh
GREEN PARTY
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
SINN FÉIN
Senators:
Aisling Dolan
FINE GAEL
Eileen Flynn
INDEPENDENT
Rónán Mullen
INDEPENDENT
Pauline O'Reilly
GREEN PARTY
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin
LABOUR PARTY
KEY POLICY AREAS
Key policy areas identified for examination by the Joint Committee are divided into three categories. 1. General: progress on the implementation of
Sustainable Development Goals set out in the United
Nations 2030 Agenda; requirement for a Citizens’
Assembly on the Future of Education; addressing discrimination of minority communities facing exclusion from all levels of the Irish education system; decent work for people working within each level of the education sector; progress on the implementation of relevant recommendations within the Report of the
Oireachtas Special Committee on Climate Action; the impact of Brexit on Irish education; and the adequacy of the Department of Education’s Digital Strategy. 2. Primary and secondary level: Implementing protocols for at risk students and staff; school bullying and mental health repercussions; homework in primary schools; school completion, and home school community liaison; educational disadvantage; special needs provision; Leaving Certificate reform; the RSE Programme; the Retention of Records Bill; the relationship between the education system and child and youth mental health; the future of Irish language education; a new modern languages in primary schools initiative; school patronage at primary and post-primary level; class sizes and the pupil/teacher ratio; introduction of a healthy eating programme; reducing school costs; the School
Building Programme and Energy Efficiency Upgrade
Pilot Programme; feeder schools and school catchment area challenges; provision, content and delivery of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and Continuous Professional Development (CPD); and school transport for 2021. 3. Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on further and higher education institutions; reopening colleges and future funding reforms; rising accommodation costs; a National Student Accommodation Strategy; expansion of technological universities; higher education’s ability to acquire and retain international research funding; the apprenticeship model; future funding of higher education; future of ERASMUS; reforming scientific and innovation research models; developing pathways to further and higher education for STEM talent; reviewing Innovation 2020; establishing a National Innovation Council; the Higher Education Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme in the Technological University/Institute of Technology sector; progress on New Decade, New Approach commitments on higher education provision in the north-west; supporting a north-south programme of research and innovation; a proposed Connaught/Ulster Alliance in Higher Education; progress on measures to challenge sexual violence and harassment in higher education; education challenges facing asylum seekers and those in direct provision; a new literacy, numeracy and digital skills strategy; National Strategy for Further Education and Training; and engagement between higher education institutions in Ireland with Chinese universities.
RECENT REPORTS
Recent reports published by the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science include: 1. The Work Programme 2021: Outlining the Work
Programme of the Joint Committee on Education,
Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for 2020. 2. The Report on the Impact of Covid-19 on Primary and Secondary Education: A compilation report examining the safe and sustainable opening of schools; 2020 Leaving Certificate calculated grades and 2021 Leaving Certificate preparations, and other issues such as the use of reduced timetables in schools; cyberbullying and educational disadvantage. 3. The Annual Report 2020 of the Joint Committee on
Education, Further and Higher Education,
Research, Innovation and Science: A report outlining the procedure and role of the Joint Committee, including the minutes if its proceedings for the period between 30 September 2020 and 31 December 2020. 4. The Report on School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: A report covering the nature and impact of bullying on mental health, the nature and impact of cyberbullying on mental health, developing a whole school and community culture, and international evidence and best practice. 5. The Report on the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Higher Education Authority Bill 2021: A prelegislative overview and assessment of the General Scheme of the Higher Education Authority Bill. 6. The Report on Visit to Cork and Limerick,
Thursday and Friday, 25 and 26 November 2021:
A report covering the Joint Committee’s delegation study visit to Cork Centre, Munster Technological University, and Technological University of the Shannon.
The Covid context
For almost the last two years, the world, the country and education and training have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. QQI was well served during this challenging time by a focus on the integrity of the National Framework of Qualifications and confidence in the quality and reputation of the qualifications included in the framework.
The value of collaboration and engagement was highlighted during the pandemic when all partners – further and higher education institutions, institutional and learner representative bodies, funding agencies, IT service providers, the Department, and the Minister – worked together to provide a system-wide response to the challenges posed by Covid-19.
We prioritised the importance of analysing the impact of measures taken to maintain and improve the quality of education and training for the benefit of learners. This was never more important than when QQI was called upon by government to undertake an analysis of the steps taken to maintain the quality, integrity and reputation of further and higher education when the institutions offering these services were physically closed in March 2020.
Quality and qualifications in Ireland: A collaborative approach
Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) is the state agency responsible for promoting the quality, reputation and integrity of Ireland’s further and higher education and training system. Chief Executive Officer Padraig Walsh outlines the importance of strategic partnerships in the development and delivery of the organisation’s direction and priorities for the next three years.
A refocus on qualifications
As we worked over the past year on the development of our new statement of strategy, we sought to build on the priorities of previous strategies. Since our establishment, we have placed much emphasis on our quality assurance functions:
• the importance of agreeing new quality assurance procedures with our many further and higher education providers;
• the development of an integrated model for an institutional review of quality across the entire public higher education sector via the
CINNTE model; and
• the first-ever review of quality in our education and training boards.
Our strategic planning called for a renewed emphasis on our role in the qualifications system, both as the custodian of the National Framework of Qualifications and as an awarding body in our own right.
In 2019, we also received new powers through amending legislation:
• to widen the range of awarding bodies that can have their qualifications included in the National Framework of Qualifications;
• the power to regulate the provision of English language education on a statutory basis for the first time; and
• the authority to protect the integrity of education and training by highlighting the danger to academic integrity posed by the proliferation of global contract cheating services and so-called ‘essay mills’.
All these considerations fed into the development of QQI’s new statement of strategy.
A new strategic direction
Our new strategy is guided by a focus on four key priority areas:
Information
Better information on the progression pathways across and between further and higher education is vital for schoolleavers and for all those seeking learning opportunities. In our strategy, we commit to upgrading our information platforms and services – the introduction of a new corporate website; redevelopment and modernising of Qualifax, the national learners’ database; and positioning of the Irish Register of Qualification as the
authoritative source of quality-assured qualifications included in the National Framework of Qualifications. We will increase learner choice and opportunities by including more qualifications in the NFQ from other recognised awarding bodies and increased access to flexible and innovative micro-credentials.
Protection
The implementation of strengthened regulation to protect our learners will see QQI continue to work with the provider-led National Academic Integrity Network to promote and maintain awareness of academic integrity and the monitoring of those seeking to undermine it.
A statutory learner protection fund will provide security to learners in independent private education and training providers offering QQI awards. Tthe awarding of the International Education Mark to qualifying English language and higher education providers will provide greater confidence to international students coming to study in Ireland.
Development
Support for provider development will be enabled through engagement with community education providers to ensure that their learners continue to have access to education and training qualifications in the NFQ, and with the education and training boards to drive capacity-building for flexible and agile programme development. Specifically, we will facilitate increased autonomy and flexibility for mature independent providers of higher education by enabling them to pursue delegated authority to make their own awards.
Insight
Drawing on our extensive data and knowledge, we will publish authoritative analysis and insight of benefit to the wider tertiary education and training sector. Through our significant networks of peer agencies, we will continue to evaluate the experience of remote and blended learning, contributing to and influencing national policy.
In this year, the 10th anniversary of QQI’s establishment, we will reflect on the achievements of the past decade with a series of publications and events which will celebrate the successes to date and the challenges and opportunities in the decade ahead.
Partnership and excellence
None of these challenging objectives can be achieved without the enabling contribution of excellence and partnership.
Over the last year, we have been building organisational excellence through the recruitment of new staff to deliver on our new regulatory functions and investment in all our staff to develop an agile, engaged, responsive and motivated workforce. This will be underpinned by embedding sustainability in our work processes and facilitating more flexible work practices.
Finally, if there is one thing we learned during the past 20 months, it is the importance of strengthening strategic partnerships to create system change, whether through the efforts of the National Tertiary Education System Covid-19 Steering Group or the information provided by individual further and higher education providers and learner representative bodies that allowed QQI to analyse the impact of Covid-19 on teaching, learning and assessment.
We will continue with this spirit of collaboration through the establishment of the Irish Quality and Qualifications Forum to harness the concerted efforts of a multitude of actors to preserve the strengths of our existing systems and implement change for the better.
We hope that our many partners across the tertiary education and training system recognise themselves in our new strategy and we look forward to delivering on our common vision of an Ireland that offers diverse high-quality further and higher education opportunities and enables learners to reach their full potential through qualifications that are widely valued nationally and internationally.
Tel: +353 1 905 8100
https://twitter.com/QQI_connect
www.linkedin.com/company/qualityand-qualifications-ireland-qqi
www.facebook.com/QQIreland
