Education reform can still become reality

THE points system that determines how school leavers get into college was described last year as the tail that wags the second level dog.

The analogy by National Association of Principal and Deputy Principals director Clive Byrne perfectly sums up what teachers, students and parents have known for a generation.

But it is not just the Leaving Certificate which drives the work that goes on in thousands of classrooms. Studies by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) have shown that the Junior Certificate takes up too much of the focus of those working with younger students.

Instead of being free to encourage personal development, creative and analytical thinking among students, teachers feel pressured to finish courses and to abandon interactive learning methods for ‘chalk and talk’ systems.

If colleges want a generation of innovative young people coming through, they must have been pleased when curriculum changes started in primary schools from the late 1990s. They have allowed schools to draw out creative talents, although there are concerns about packing too much into timetables.

ESRI senior researcher Dr Emer Smyth says, however, that, despite parental beliefs to the contrary, having too many subjects to study is not the biggest barrier to students. She recently told the Irish Examiner that the difficulties young people experience moving from primary school into second level have an enormous effect.

The other effect is the focus on the final exam, which is what the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has been looking to eliminate in its consultations on junior cycle reform. While recommendations have yet to go to Education Minister Ruairi Quinn, it is welcome that teacher unions and school leaders have so far given positive public responses to pronouncements that reforms must be introduced as soon as possible.

Apart from the demands of college bosses and employers for students and workers who can think for themselves, the focus is on personal development skills in areas like self-management, communication and creativity, as well as enabling young people to work with others and manage information.

Its draft junior cycle framework published in February features:

* A focus on literacy and numeracy.

* Improved scope for combining exams and other evidence of learning.

* Emphasis on teacher professional development.

It is a system that keeps certain aspects of the Junior Certificate but gives schools freedom to focus on particular aspects of courses and would allow students build up their qualification in smaller units than just the results of individual exams.

A key factor in its success may be the willingness of the teaching profession to swap reliance on the final exams for more assessments throughout the three years. This has proved an obstacle in the past where, for example, teachers are directed by their unions not to examine their own students in oral tests for Junior Certificate languages.

But with a small degree of flexibility, the full co-operation of all education partners could help turn dreams of a system more focused on students than exams into a reality.