APrimarySchoolTeachersResponsetoBetterLiteracyandNumeracyforChildrenand

YoungPeople
DearSir/Madam,
Ihaverecentlyreadthedraftplantoimproveliteracyandnumeracyamongour
studentsandImustconfessthatalthoughthereweresomeareasthatweretobe
commended,othersectionsoftheplanwereveryworryingtomeasaprofessionalinthe
classroom.
IwelcomewithopenarmstheideaoftheprovisionofincreasedContinuous
ProfessionalDevelopmentintheareaofliteracyandnumeracy.Ifeelthatthissuggestion
wouldbeofgreatbenefittomanyteachersandtheywouldbegladtoembarkuponsucha
course.Therearealwaysnewandmoreeffectivemethodsdevelopedofhowtoteachin
theseareasandalthoughmanyteachersareeagertoimproveinthisarea,theopportunities
forCPDarenotalwaysreadilyavailable.Furthertothis,Icommendtheproposaltoredraft
theEnglishcurriculum.Thisdocument(althoughobviouslywellmeaninginitsintent)is
verydifficulttoworkwithandasateacheritisquitedifficulttodecipherfromitexactly
whatyouaresupposedtobeteachingateachstage.
IalsofeelthathighlightingtheupskillingofECCEpractitionersisasignificantly
positivemove.Thisareaplaysahugepartinchildrensearlylearningexperienceand
researchhashighlightedthatearlychildhoodisasignificantperiodformanychildrens
developmentandcanhaveconsequencesupontheirachievementsineducationlaterinlife.
However,therearealsomanyaspectsoftheplanthatgivemereasontoworry
aboutthedirectionthatoureducationsystemistaking.Whendiscussingeducational
reformorchange,itisvitalthatyouconsiderexactlywhatkindofcitizensyouwantto
createforourcountry.Doyouwantcreativethinkerswhocanexpressthemselveswell?
Doyouwantpeoplecapableofcriticalanalysisandproblemsolving?Doyouwantpeople
withaninterestintheworldaroundthemandwhocareabouttheenvironment?Doyou
wantpeoplewhoarepassionateaboutequalityandcareaboutothers?Extrapolatingfrom
thisplanwouldleadmetoconcludethatwedonotwantanyofthesethings.Instead,our
solefocusistobeoncreatingcitizensthatareliterateandnumerate.Indeedtheplanitself
statesWehavetosayclearlytoteachersthatwewantthemtoemphasisethedevelopment
ofliteracyandnumeracyaboveallotheraspectsofthecurriculum.

Iamnotdismissingtheimportanceofliteracyandnumeracyinanyway.Ofcourse,
thesearevitalskills.Theymustbeattheheartofthecurriculumandindeedtheyare.
EnglishandMathstogetheraccountforjustunderathird(orjustoverathirdintheinfant
classroom)ofalltimeallocatedforsecularinstructionwiththeremainingtwothirdsdivided
amongninesubjects.Theyareclearlyalreadyheavilyprioritisedintimeweightingandany
workingteacherwilltellyouthatasitis,muchofthediscretionarytimeisusedinthese
areasanyway.Howeverwemustaskourselves,isitthebestthingforthepupilsand
studentsinthiscountrytodiscriminateevenmoreinfavourofthesetwosubjects.Atthe
endoftheday,weonlyhavethechildrenintheclassroomforsomanyhoursperdayso
somethinghasgottogiveifwearetodothis.
Oneareathattheproposalissinglingoutforeliminationisdrama.Asateacherin
theclassroomeveryday,Ifeelthatitisanextremelynarrowmindedandshortsighted
suggestion.Asidefromthecreativeandexpressiveimportanceofdramaactivities,it
overlooksthehugecontributionthatdramamakestoliteracy.Muchresearchhasbeen
publishedontheimportanceoforallanguageinacquiringliteracyskills.Indeed,somuchso
thatitisnowastrandunitofourEnglishcurriculuminitsownright.Dramaisoneofthe
mosteffectiveareasinencouragingthedevelopmentoforallanguage.Thisisespecially
pertinenttochildrenwhoarelackinginconfidencewhenitcomestospeakingaloudinfront
oftheirclassmateswhetherbecauseofability,EALstatusorsomeotherreason.
Inmyclasseveryday,thereisaboywhodoesnotcontributevocallytolessons.He
willseldom,ifever,raisehishandandreallymustbepushedandencouragedforananswer.
Howeverinthedramalesson,whenhe(andindeedtheteacher)isinrole,hiscontribution
increaseshugely.Heiseagertodiscusstheissuesandtalktowhatevercharactersthe
teacherortheotherchildrenarepretendingtobe.Thisisfurtherevidencedthroughthe
PUPPETSprojectresearch(Naylor,Keogh,Downing,MaloneyandSimon,2005)wherebya
teacherroleplayingwithapuppetencouragedshychildrenandthosewithspecialneedsto
expressthemselvesmoreduringclasstime.Weredramatoberemovedfromthe
curriculum,thiswouldbeahugelosstochildrenwholacktheconfidencetoexpress
themselvesinotherclassroomsituations.Perhapstheproblemisthatsometeachersdo
notfeelconfidentenoughtoengagewitheducationaldramainthiswaybutthatishardlya
validreasontoabandonthedisciplineentirely.Rather,itcallsforanincreaseinCPDinthis
areaandinparticularonhowtousethedramalessontoencouragechildrenwhoare
lackingconfidencetospeakout.
Anotherareaoftheproposalthatiscausingmesomeconcernisthehugeemphasis
uponassessmentandevaluationthatseemstobeunderpinningalmosteveryareaofthe
plan.Undoubtedly,settingtargetsandassessmentisavitalpartofclassroomlifehowever
onemustscrutiniseexactlywhatandhowyouareassessing.Theplandoesnotseemtobe
seekingtoassesscriticalthinkingskills,theabilitytomakegooddecisions,thecapacityto
interactwellwithothersoranyoftheothernumerousfacetsthatareessentialtocreating
goodcitizens.Insteadthefocusisagainonliteracyandnumeracy.
Iamhugelyworriedthatthisistobecomethepredominantfeatureofclassroom
life.Inthefirstinstance,itcouldchangetheverynatureofeducationasitisimplemented
inschools.Itwouldnolongerbeaboutencouragingchildrentorealisetheirfullpotentialin
anurturingenvironmentwhereindifferencesareacceptedandcelebrated.Insteaditwould
bemuchclosertoabusinessstylemodelofeducationwhereinchildrenaremerelyvessels
whoseonlyobjectiveistomasterastrategysothattheycanreachthenextliteracyor
numeracytarget.Dowereallywanttocreatemindlesstargetachievingrobotsforchildren?
Indeed,dowereallywantmindlesstargetsettingrobotsforourteachers?
Althoughthisplanisfocussedverymuchontheachievementsofthechildrenand
studentsinliteracyandnumeracy,wemustnotforgettoexaminewhatitmeansinthe
widerworldoftheeducationsystem.Again,therelentlessfocusonassessmentand
documentationislikelytohaveanegativeimpactuponthesectoratlarge.Theplanmakes
referencetotheuseofassessmentstrategiesinternationallyandundoubtedlyoneofthe
systemsmostdrivenbyassessmentandtargetsettingistheUKsystem.Yetthe
achievementoftheirstudentscertainlydonotfaroutweighIrishstudents,withtherecent
PISAresultsconfirmingthatintheareasofliteracyandnumeracy,thetwoaremoreorless
comparable(496to494inliteracyand487to492inmathematics)despitethefactthatthe
UKspendsmoremoneyeachstudentseducationeveryyear.
Howeverthereisonebigdifferencebetweentheeducationalsystemsinthetwo
countries.TheUKhasamassiveissuewithteacherturnover.AsofJanuary1
st
2010,theUK
had404,600qualifiedteachersunder60yearsofagewhowerenolongerworkinginthe
classroom.Toputthisincontext,therewerejustover500,000stillactiveinschools.Byfar
themostcommonreasonstatedforleavingtheprofessionwasthedemandingworkload.
Atthemoment,weareluckyinIrelandinthatahighpercentageofourtopgraduatesare
attractedtoteachingasacareer.Howlikelyisitthatthiswillcontinueifwemakethejob
moredemandingandlessrewarding?Theeffectonourteachingpopulationcouldbetragic.
Forgettingthewasteofresourcesandmoneythatitwouldbetotrainthesepeoplewho
leaveafterjustafewyears,thinkoftheexpertisethatwouldbelosttofuturecohortsof
students.Nodoubt,teachingisajobwhereyoucontinuetolearneachyearyouwork.To
loseteachersthenjustastheyarebeginningtogainexperienceistrulyacatastrophicloss
foroureducationalsystem.
Finally,therelentlessfocusonliteracyandnumeracyseemstobeevenmore
manifestwhenevaluatingthesuccessoftheDEISprogramme.Thisprogrammewas
designedtoreduceeducationaldisadvantageandpromoteinclusioninourschools.The
onlypositiveachievementmentionedintheplanisthatmanyschoolshavebeensuccessful
inraisingthescoresofthosewhoareperforminglesswellatliteracy.Itdoesnotplaceany
importanceonthefactthathundredsofchildrencannowconcentrateinclasswithout
hungerpainsbecausetheygetbreakfastintheschool.Itdoesnotplaceanyimportanceon
thefactthathundredsofchildrencancompletetheirhomeworkinasafe,calmspace
becausetheschoolprovidesahomeworkclub.Itdoesnotplaceanyimportanceonthefact
thathundredsofchildren(forthefirsttime)arereceivingahealthyluncheverydaybecause
oftheSchoolLunchesScheme.Instead,theemphasisisonlyuponplaceduponliteracyand
numeracy.Thesearenodoubtimportantbutitisimperativethatwealwaysrememberto
lookatthewidersocietalpicture.
Inconclusion,althoughtheplanhasmentionedsomepositiveaspectsthatwould
benefittheeducationalcommunityandconsequentlythepupils(i.e.increasedCPDfor
teachers,upskillingofECCEpractitionersandredraftingtheEnglishcurriculumatprimary
level)therearealsoareasoftheproposalthatraisehugeconcernsforme.Irealisethatthe
planhasbeendesignedwiththesoleintentionofraisingliteracyandnumeracylevelsbut
beforeweimplementanyreform,wemustexaminetheeffectthatitwillhaveinallareas
notmerelytheonewearestrivingtoimprove.Assuch,Ifeelthatmanypartsofthisplan
havetobereexaminedandalteredinviewoftheawfulconsequencestheycouldhaveon
thefuturecitizensoftomorrowandtheeducationalsystematlarge.

Miselemeas,

CeceliaGavigan
BalbrigganETNS