Vote now.
Vote often.
Vote for your past , your party
and your friend.
Vote because it's free
(although some disagree)
and the house next door
is empty like an Irish bank vault.
Vote because you have
nothing
else to do
other than queue
for the handout
from the hand that's getting smaller
by the minute, hour, day.
Vote as you wave goodbye
to tommorow's world
and the neighbours you played
cowboys and indians with
too well.
Vote for the pension.
Vote for education.
Vote for health and wealth
and procrastination.
Vote for spin and garda drivers.
Vote for change.
Vote for stability.
Vote.
Then close your eyes and pray.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Education Now.
I can't write about Shakespeare this evening. There's too much other stuff on my mind. It is as though Ireland has been thrown back into the dark days that were the 1980's. People are leaving the country in droves, the government is in turmoil, the IMF have arrived and for those of us who are fortunate to still have a job, the stark reality of recession was brought home to us when we opened our pay checks this month.
The world of education is being affected too. This is what I wish to write about because right now, I feel this is a very important debate to have. Prior to reading this, you should cast aside your opinions of public servants. I know that we are the lucky ones. We get paid loads, have lots of holidays and can make up the terms of our employment as we go along. That particular discussion is for another day. For now, I want to focus on education and how we are educating our young people at the moment.
Let's get one thing straight right from the beginning. The Leaving Certificate (L.C.) and the Junior Certificate (J.C.) examinations are nowhere near as testing as they used to be. When I sat the Inter Certificate Exam as it used to be called I actually had to know things. I had to remember lines from The Merchant of Venice while being able to recognise the various parts of a sentence. In Leaving Cert, I was expected to able to write an essay on the merits of being part of a European project while being able to write a serious dissertation on the poetry of Yeats or Kavanagh.
Students who sit the Junior Certificate English exam later this year will be able to get by knowing the Court Scene from The Merchant of Venice. They need only be familiar with ten or eleven poems and are awarded 75% of the total marks for material they see for the first time on the day. The theory behind this is that it is more important to evaluate something than learn something. To a point, I agree. It is important to be able to evaluate and there are members of the teaching profession who encourage their students to learn pre-written essays for the J.C. and L.C. in order to improve their reputation. However, what we are currently failing to do is to teach students the importance of hard work and application. If 75% of any exam can be awarded for stuff you really didn't have to study, then the exam is flawed and failing those who sit it.
In Leaving Cert, students can reduce the number of poets they have to study and the new Comparative question is a joke. Imagine, marks are awarded for writing down where a text is the same or different to another text! Should that not be on the Junior Cert? Shakespeare can be reduced to a summary if done through this particular question and any teacher worth their salt is now taking this approach with students who would find the going tough otherwise.
It is sad to say this, but we have reached a point where many students who don't really put in the effort expected of them by their teachers still manage to pass the Leaving Certificate and, in my opinion, this is wrong.
What about Maths? Have you heard of Project Maths? I am not a Maths teacher but from what I have heard, this is yet another example of lowering the expected level required of students in order to pass. Our students are not being well served by this approach. Industry, or any other section of the economy, will soon realise that our young people have not been taught how to apply oneself to a difficult task. That is why on this blog I have chosen this subject.
Were I to write an essay entitled If I were Minister for Education the main points would be as follows.
1. Completely redesign the system from top to bottom. Currently, the whole education system lacks a process of 'joined-up' thinking. The curriculum at primary level is developed without thought to the demands of the secondary system. Students arriving in second level today find the transition quite difficult. In response to this, secondary school develop induction programmes which are all well intentioned and very worthwhile. What a shame, though, that the gap between the two systems isn't closed so that the transition is far more natural in the first place. This, by the way, does not mean that we have to further 'dumb-down' the system!
2. We need to revert to the three Rs. Old fashioned as it seems, the three Rs are very important. We read a lot today about the IT industry being the future, but actually I believe that communications is going to be the main area of growth in the future. Everything is done through communication of one sort or another. Devices such as the iPad etc. merely seek to improve the ways in which we communicate. Look at what I am doing! Communicating! If our children can't handle the basics as well as any other child in the world then, we are fighting a losing battle.
3. It's time to return to rote learning. Again, this won't be a very popular idea among the academics of this world but the fact is that in life we learn first and understand later. Imagine a child burning their hand on a hot stove. They learn quite quickly not to do it again without knowing the science behind it. Schooling is the same. As a child develops, the emphasis at the early stages should be on learning and as the get older the curriculum should develop to allow a certain amount of exploratory learning. It's how we did it in school and it works!
4. Principal Teachers should be just that, Principal Teachers! It is supposed to be the job of a Principal to look after teaching and learning in the school. Currently, Principals spend most of their time doing paperwork and the rest of their time dealing with a multitude of other tasks. Every school should have a Principal and Assistant Principal (replacing the title of Deputy Principal). Both posts should be paid the same and while one focuses on teaching and learning (including observing classes) the other should focus on the administration side of things.
There are other things that I would do but the post is getting too long and I feel better now that I have said what I wanted to say. You might not think it but, by and large, teachers are great people and students keep us all young. There is so much potential to do better and we don't seem to able to make the necessary changes.
Let's hope that the next generation get it right.
The world of education is being affected too. This is what I wish to write about because right now, I feel this is a very important debate to have. Prior to reading this, you should cast aside your opinions of public servants. I know that we are the lucky ones. We get paid loads, have lots of holidays and can make up the terms of our employment as we go along. That particular discussion is for another day. For now, I want to focus on education and how we are educating our young people at the moment.
Let's get one thing straight right from the beginning. The Leaving Certificate (L.C.) and the Junior Certificate (J.C.) examinations are nowhere near as testing as they used to be. When I sat the Inter Certificate Exam as it used to be called I actually had to know things. I had to remember lines from The Merchant of Venice while being able to recognise the various parts of a sentence. In Leaving Cert, I was expected to able to write an essay on the merits of being part of a European project while being able to write a serious dissertation on the poetry of Yeats or Kavanagh.
Students who sit the Junior Certificate English exam later this year will be able to get by knowing the Court Scene from The Merchant of Venice. They need only be familiar with ten or eleven poems and are awarded 75% of the total marks for material they see for the first time on the day. The theory behind this is that it is more important to evaluate something than learn something. To a point, I agree. It is important to be able to evaluate and there are members of the teaching profession who encourage their students to learn pre-written essays for the J.C. and L.C. in order to improve their reputation. However, what we are currently failing to do is to teach students the importance of hard work and application. If 75% of any exam can be awarded for stuff you really didn't have to study, then the exam is flawed and failing those who sit it.
In Leaving Cert, students can reduce the number of poets they have to study and the new Comparative question is a joke. Imagine, marks are awarded for writing down where a text is the same or different to another text! Should that not be on the Junior Cert? Shakespeare can be reduced to a summary if done through this particular question and any teacher worth their salt is now taking this approach with students who would find the going tough otherwise.
It is sad to say this, but we have reached a point where many students who don't really put in the effort expected of them by their teachers still manage to pass the Leaving Certificate and, in my opinion, this is wrong.
What about Maths? Have you heard of Project Maths? I am not a Maths teacher but from what I have heard, this is yet another example of lowering the expected level required of students in order to pass. Our students are not being well served by this approach. Industry, or any other section of the economy, will soon realise that our young people have not been taught how to apply oneself to a difficult task. That is why on this blog I have chosen this subject.
Were I to write an essay entitled If I were Minister for Education the main points would be as follows.
1. Completely redesign the system from top to bottom. Currently, the whole education system lacks a process of 'joined-up' thinking. The curriculum at primary level is developed without thought to the demands of the secondary system. Students arriving in second level today find the transition quite difficult. In response to this, secondary school develop induction programmes which are all well intentioned and very worthwhile. What a shame, though, that the gap between the two systems isn't closed so that the transition is far more natural in the first place. This, by the way, does not mean that we have to further 'dumb-down' the system!
2. We need to revert to the three Rs. Old fashioned as it seems, the three Rs are very important. We read a lot today about the IT industry being the future, but actually I believe that communications is going to be the main area of growth in the future. Everything is done through communication of one sort or another. Devices such as the iPad etc. merely seek to improve the ways in which we communicate. Look at what I am doing! Communicating! If our children can't handle the basics as well as any other child in the world then, we are fighting a losing battle.
3. It's time to return to rote learning. Again, this won't be a very popular idea among the academics of this world but the fact is that in life we learn first and understand later. Imagine a child burning their hand on a hot stove. They learn quite quickly not to do it again without knowing the science behind it. Schooling is the same. As a child develops, the emphasis at the early stages should be on learning and as the get older the curriculum should develop to allow a certain amount of exploratory learning. It's how we did it in school and it works!
4. Principal Teachers should be just that, Principal Teachers! It is supposed to be the job of a Principal to look after teaching and learning in the school. Currently, Principals spend most of their time doing paperwork and the rest of their time dealing with a multitude of other tasks. Every school should have a Principal and Assistant Principal (replacing the title of Deputy Principal). Both posts should be paid the same and while one focuses on teaching and learning (including observing classes) the other should focus on the administration side of things.
There are other things that I would do but the post is getting too long and I feel better now that I have said what I wanted to say. You might not think it but, by and large, teachers are great people and students keep us all young. There is so much potential to do better and we don't seem to able to make the necessary changes.
Let's hope that the next generation get it right.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
An old friend
I have just spent a few minutes reading the old posts. It's quite amazing the number of spelling mistakes you don't spot while you're typing! It's also funny to listen to your own voice from the recent past and suddenly realise how much you have changed.
I am older now but I am not rushing to change the profile!
Soundings has returned to the bookshelves recently and has done remarkably well. I hope to dust down my copy over the next few days and start recording my thoughts again. I like this public diary thing. Public, and yet no-one reads it! The best form of privacy.
I wish the world a Happy New Year,
On our return we will look at Shakespeare!
I am older now but I am not rushing to change the profile!
Soundings has returned to the bookshelves recently and has done remarkably well. I hope to dust down my copy over the next few days and start recording my thoughts again. I like this public diary thing. Public, and yet no-one reads it! The best form of privacy.
I wish the world a Happy New Year,
On our return we will look at Shakespeare!
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