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THE STARTLING RATE at which the Irish school system is falling behind was highlighted in last December’s OECD’s PISA report:
Also multinational heavyweights, such as Craig Barrett of Intel, John Herlihy of Google and Ray Stata of Analog Devices are no longer lauding the Irish educational system. They are speaking frankly of its serious deficiencies. They highlight their frustration in having to look abroad for the talents they require in Ireland, such as communication skills, understanding of interpersonal relationships, mastery of modern European languages, entrepreneurial skills, and common sense.
Studies, by Calvin Taylor of the University of Utah and others, have long established that the typical formal examination is capable of assessing only some one-quarter of those attributes that contribute to a person’s success in later life. Formal examinations are good for measuring mathematical and linguistic competence, but are less likely to detect those human characteristics associated with success as a citizen, an employee or a parent.
Because of Ireland’s narrow assessment system there is little scope for recognising or fostering such valuable characteristics as reliability, determination, entrepreneurship, intuition, common sense, sensitivity and consideration for others; characteristics vital for personal success and the well being of the community.
In 1972, when we were admitting the first 100 students to NIHE, Limerick from the group of over 1,000 who applied, we decided that, in addition to requiring achievement in the Leaving Certificate, applicants would be expected to submit an assessment by their teachers. The following is an extract from my diary3 for the year in which Limerick’s NIHE began admitting its first students:
Friday 7 January 1972
LIMERICK: A day designing student application forms. The Leaving Certificate alone does not identify communication ability, involvement in classroom activities, pursuit of independent study, critical and questioning attitude, personal responsibility, and consideration for others. Our form required teachers to give ratings under these headings.
The response told us that teachers had little difficulty in providing the assessments we required. Their judgement played a key role in the admission of what turned out to be an exceptional group of pioneering students.
In this we were reverting to an earlier era when educators were expected to focus on nurturing those personal skills and values that contribute to healthy and stable society, success at work and a caring family life. The narrowness of the Leaving Certificate curriculum and the tyranny of the CAO points-based system have produced a situation that neither fosters nor rewards those human characteristics that society most needs and employers cherish.
Many of the countries with the world’s best school systems rely, not on a centralised Leaving Certificate type examination, but on the continuous assessment of pupils by their teachers.
Finland and Sweden both have long-established school-based assessment systems utilising a wide range of open-ended tasks and challenging classroom-based assignments. Such school-based assessments, embedded in the curriculum, are often cited as an important reason for the high levels of educational achievement in those countries.
School-based assessment has been the standard mode of assessment in Canadian schools for many years with teachers taking responsibility for all assessment processes and judgments at the school-level.
New Zealand also has a long history of school-based assessment and has developed a wide variety of teacher support materials.
It is fortunate that Ireland now has a capable, experienced and determined Minister for Education in Ruairí Quinn, who can be expected to see the merit in decreasing the dominance of the narrow, centralised Leaving Certificate exam and phasing in school-based teacher assessment, based on practice in those countries that have the world’s best school systems.
Ed Walsh returned to Ireland in 1970, a young man in a hurry, to set up an institute of education. He found a decaying mansion on a riverside site, gathered talented young people and secured funding from the World Bank and European Investment Bank to build what became the University of Limerick.
He is the author of the memoir recently published by The Collins Press, Upstart: friends, foes and founding a university. For more information, see edwalsh.ie.
Studies mentioned in this article:
Taylor, C. W. (1968). Cultivating new talents: A way to reach the educationally deprived. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2, 83-90.
Taylor, C. W. (1986). Cultivating simultaneous student growth in both multiple creative talents and knowledge. In J. S. Renzulli (Ed.), Systems and Models for Developing Programs for the Gifted and Talented (pp. 307-350). Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.
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as per usual Ed Walsh confusing ‘education’ with ‘production of human resources for American multinationals’
Agree. In Finland, which Ed sites, nobody takes a state exam till 16 and they’re channelled into different schools to prepare for college and workplace. Also in Finland when their PISA position fell a number of years ago they refused to listen to the clamour from business and got on with trusting their teachers.
I’m not sure that he is in this article, Páid. He usually does and I’d be among the first to suggest that he either be put out to grass or simply ignored as a old has-been trying to justify his pension. But on this occasion, I think he’s arguing for assessment to be broadened beyond purely academic pursuits, and I’d have to agree with this. I’d go much further, in fact, and suggest that achievements and certification gained in non-school or in-school extra-curricular activities should be given recognition in whatever eventually replaces CAO: essentially a crude, narrowly based academic points system. Young people all over the country are involved in a broad range of interesting activities and in many of them achieve a significant level of expertise. Along the way, especially in many out-of-school activities, they gain massively useful social and life skills which, while perhaps ‘valuable’ to employers, are, more importantly likely to make their lives easier and, perhaps, society function more like a society rather than a random collection of self-obsessed individuals.
What has changed in recent years is people’s attitude to education. We had a high ranking all those years ago because students and their parents valued education. That has changed. Students that have supportive backgrounds with parents who take an interest and push them to achieve in school always do very well. There is a higher percentage of parents that do not do that anymore. In the Celtic tiger a good Leaving Cert was not required to get a job or get good money. The amount of parents that don’t even bother to attend parent-teacher meetings anymore shows this lack of interest. If they have this attitude then it is easy to see how their children lack interest also.
Where are the parents in all of this? The kids that work and do well are the ones who have parents who care. Too many free handouts. Why would anyone want to educate and improve themselves if there is an easy fallback. For example why should council tenants be excluded from the property tax? Many of them are working like everybody else. People won’t value education if there are easy alternatives.
‘parents who care’ is not the opposite of ‘parents who receive handouts’
‘council tenancy’ is not equal to ‘easy fallback’
This comment is full of lazy and cruelly inaccurate assumptions. An education teaches people not to make assertions without evidence. It’s a good lesson.
Nobody should be illiterate in this day and age, it’s an absolute disgrace. And the government are cutting funds……
@ jumpthecat. I would love to see you teach for a while and see how you get on. There is a huge amount of work in teaching that goes unrecognised. When teachers walk out the door at 4pm they don’t leave their job behind. It’s always on going. The job has become much tougher in recent years as children have less and less respect for authority. It’s also considered to be in the top most stressful jobs.
The fact that UL/NIHE dud not introduce humanities courses until the late 1990s in indicative of the ‘do what I say, not what I did’ attitude of this columnist. Under the spell of big business he would have us turn our schools into factories for the production of clones without a creative bone in their bodies.
You’re confusing a real degree with a fluffy Arts degree with only 8 hours of lectures a week.
Engineers, scientists are more creative than someone who does English, History, Politics, etc!
Real degrees create problem solvers, that’s creative and use creative thinking.
Someone with a 3 years Arts degree with 8 hours a week doesn’t add any value to society.
People who study literature and history are less creative than engineers and scientists? Apologies it took so long to reply, I was laughing my ass off for the last half hour. And by the way, we teach science in schools too…
I am a language teacher and believe you me we can be creative too! We need to adapt to all the different learning patterns there are because in a class of 30 you will encounter 30 different pupils with 30 different learning ways.
I never had only 8 hours a week but after 15 years teaching I still go to the training and I also engage with other teachers and share all our creativity so we can offer the best!
I do not know what you do for a job but spend a day in the shoes of a teacher and you will see how creative we must be!
Yours,
Joe Roddy.
Easy to see that your degree taught you ALL the social graces! I’m sure you can add and subtract, but I wonder how good you are with humans?
@Joe I suppose you would ahve us all live in some sort of Gathika. You ignore the distinction between aesthetic creativity and cognitive creativity. You need to take a leaf from Steve Jobs….the future this the “intersection between technology and the liberal arts”….But seen as liberal arts degree are useless in your opinion, you’ll have no problem not sending your kids to school to be taught how to read and write by one of those ‘fluffy’ degree people.
What has changed in the curriculum in the last few years to cause this drop in standards?
Honestly, I’d say reality tv :) when I was doing my Leaving Cert 11 years ago, Big Brother was in its first year and we were only beginning to text. Nowadays it’s cool to be stupid and false and want to be famous. I had an employee last year who wrote reports in text speak. OMG :)
in my opinion nothing has changed… but a lot needs to be changed to cater for students, many of whom have very complex needs. 25% teenage males are functionally illiterate, that is unbelievable.
There used to be 40 or so countries in OECD, now there are seventy five. Our position has only changed because some (smaller often) nations have joined the survey.
Could it be that so many non english speaking students are in the system and the teachers are having to spend extra time with these children with little or no extra support to help them, ???
Well I’ve noticed a few things that are different since I was in school. Times tables have been replaced by ridiculous magic squares. They were drummed into us as kids and rightly so. Secondly the dependence on calculators. There are people coming out of schools who can’t do even the most basic maths without fetching a calculator. Then there are the new log tables, though cheat tables would be a more appropriate title. They have all the formulae which in the past we had to learn off. For maths we need to get right back to basics. Other improvements that could be made are the removal of compulsory status for Irish. If children want to study it fair enough but those who don’t would be far better concentrating on subjects in which they have an interest. There is also a need for the teaching of a foreign language in primary school. Most students on the continent learn English from a young age, if we want to compete we need to have similar talents in ours.
We did have a foreign language programme in primary schools. It was cut in the budget. The destruction of education continues. Keep up.
We did ??? What for half an hour a day ! The rest of the time a teacher struggles to have her/himself understood by the few ,and in the mean time the rest of the class is held back , by the few who do not speak English . So going back to my original comment… an influx of non english speaking children in our schools has caused a downward spiral to our previously excellent system…
As someone finishing postgrad first semester exams today I can agree that a change is needed as to how we can assess people over the duration of study. Exams merely show that trend mapping and short term memory are beneficial, but afterwards easily forgettable.
Assessment based work is a lot better than end of year exams. Assessments take time to complete, with many hours of research and writing. You remember more from this way. I can remember the information I learnt from my assignments from last year in college but can’t remember the questions that I was asked in the end of year exam.
I am a Very Concerned Parent. Everyone needs to play their role. There is a lack of Emotional Intelligence on everyone’s part. The government are too absorbed with bailing out Banks. Teachers are just about coping with all the cuts and from my experience I feel teachers would get more out of their students if they used positive language towards them. I am aware of how much work teachers do outside of teaching hours. There are some very good psychologists who give talks to parents and teachers on this. I have educated myself on how to speak with my children by reading books, talking with psychologists and watching talks mostly on the net. I’m by no means perfect! Unfortunately alot of parents have not done this and then they wonder why their child is acting up. Their should be more psychology taught in teacher training. Our ed system is not good. To me it’s archaic. I feel even if the system is not going to change we could do more work on our own Emotional Intelligence to make the best out of a bad situation. Praise our students and if they do something negative praise them more so they can only rise from it! REMEMBER Everyone is good! It’s our behaviours that can fault us sometimes! Pro Finland Ed System!
While you raise some valid points the idea of praising kids for doing something negative is a bit strange. “Thank you little Johnny for telling me to feck off when I asked you to stop running around the classroom. Aren’t you a great little boy”.. Really??!!!!!
@D Carr LOL. I understand. I would use the following language for the example you have given:
Using a firm voice but not shouting “Johnny at this moment your behaviour is not good and I won’t allow you to speak to me like that again. Next time I want you to try and make a better choice. I know you are a good boy Johnny and thank you for listening to me”.
Giving the child the choice gives them responsibility to make their own decisions. Kids should be allowed to make decisions and it is key to growing up healthy.
Speak to Johnny one to one and ask him how he is feeling. Usually when a child is being aggressive or upset there is something behind it. They don’t need to be pushed down. They need to be empowered and nurtured.
I just love my children , teach them to have respect and manners and to do their best ! .I have a daughter who teaches in college … my son is also very successful having a first class hons degree , my other son is doing his leaving cert next june , and my youngest son will be bought up the same way . Love and understanding , no nonsense tolerated , my way ! I believe most people would be the same … Love !
That’s like telling some one you are a good person ,but the act you committed is wrong ! Where does that stop ? You are a good person but you should not hit / rob/ burgle/ murder…….. Where is the line drawn.
Sure the rest of the country is broken. The education system might as well join the party.
@ Joe. I have an English degree, and I might add that I had a lot more than 8 hrs a week in lectures. I found your comment highly offensive. Don’t be intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity. In other words you are talking through your xxxx
Teachers should not get the 3 month paid holiday and should concentrate on educating our children rather than doing grind nixers to add to their overpaid job.
It’s not rocket science. It’s probably just science.
Teachers don’t get a paid 3 month holiday. They get paid for 9 months work but it’s spread over 12 months.
And what would you regard as a fair wage? And if you think teachers have three months off in the summer, you’re stuck in the last century.
@ jumpthecat. I would like to see u teach for a while and see how easy it is. There is a huge amount of work to be done outside of teaching class time that is never recognised as part of the job. Where a lot of people who work a 9 to 5 job can leave their work behind when they walk out the door teachers can’t do that. It is a very demanding job, especially in recent years. A lot of children nowadays have very little respect for authority of any sort. And it is not a well paid job anymore. There have been plenty of pay-cuts in the last two years that saw pay being cut significantly. It is also considered to be in the top most stressful jobs.
here here niamh well said!
jumpthecat, your talking bolly ox, that’s a prime example of an over used exhausted silly argument usually spoken by ill informed naive students. i went out with a teacher, a very dedicated one at that and the amount of extra curricular work that is done is huge, ……. and yes it was science!
They get paid over the summer, every two weeks of the full year.
@ jumpthecat We don;t get three months paid holiday. Wish we did. What we get is a salary which is paid over 12 months – that suits the government because it gets to hold on to a part of our salary for longer and therefore keep the interest that accrues from it. We get paid for 22 hours class contact 167 days a year. The number we are paid is good by international standards. But when adjusted for PPP it is actually pretty abysmal. WE are 32nd out of the top 33 countries in the OECD for government investment in education so the entire system is running not he quality of the teachers which has made us 15th internationally in science. *(see my comments below about Ed Walsh being selective with literacy and numeracy).
I would love to concentrate on education your children but you must know – because you are interested – that the new Junior Cycle will mean only 1720 hours class contact for children compared to 3000 odd at present. Go run that by Mr. Ed above.
You forget the non permanent teachers who do the same number of hours and do not get paid during the holidays but per hour. They usually even tend to do more as they need to get to know the class and readapt to every class.
There are a very small minority of teachers who do not spend a lot of time preparing and correcting but the majority works hard and give 200% to their job because that’s why they became teachers in the first place. How many years teaching have you got behind you?
@Sandrine
If there is a small amount if teachers not doing their jobs properly should that not be dealt with? Maybe more teaching training or advice them about an alternative career that would suit them better and train them towards that. Usually when someone is no good at job they aren’t happy either and this reflects on the students.
That’s why they introduced the surprise inspections in school. I think the problem lies with what do you do with teachers who don’t perform? No solution at the moment if the teacher is permanent. I think it should be compulsory for teachers to attend further training every year and if they don’t they can be sanctioned – but I don’t think the unions will see it that way!
Constant CPD sounds lovely. When would you propose we do it? And who’d pay for it?
I could understand ex-professor Ed Walsh’s taking a contrarian viewpoint if he actually knew anything about schools and how they operate. What underlines this is his congenital inability to look at and present the facts, the whole facts and nothing but the facts. Between 2006 and 2009 we maintained our rank in science (not of course that PISA is designed to be comparable across each of these surveys) – we were 15th in 2006 and 15th in 2009. IN fact, the 2009 represents an actual increase in rank because China and South Korea entered PISA and bumped every other country down, but we stayed where we where.
It doesn’t seem to have occurred to ex-professor Walsh to ask how come we improved in science but got worse in Literacy and Maths (I should point out that the literacy requirement needed to be able to complete the science assessment is harder than the literacy requirement needed to complete the literacy assessment!).
The fact is our falling rank (note, not falling performance) in literacy and mathematics is due NOT to schools or teachers, but to cut back in resources hours, SNAs etc and the fact that between 2002 census and 2006, our population increased by 10% and was composed mostly of little/non-english speaking eastern europeans. Their children did not have English as a first language but no mention is ever made of the impact this has on our PISA assessment.
TWO final points. Firstly, Finland only has one compulsory exam in 16 years of school education – at the end. Secondly, they choose and train their teachers well, pay them relatively better than most countries compared to other professionals, and they trust them.
@ Peter. You sound a lot like Mr Gradgrind from Hard Times at the beginning there :)
@Niamh – Sure…not my best phrase ever but as we are entering a period of mad standardized testing where the only thing that matters is ‘the facts’, it is important not to let people who have more time on their hands than sense used only those facts that suit their argument.
My teaching is fundamentally different !!
Speaking as a person in the secondary level education system, if you’re into STEM, you’re screwed, in particular computer science. Engineering is at least kind of covered in DCG, and I find science to be taught quite well. However, anyone wanting to do CS is screwed. We don’t do computer classes except in 1st and 4th year, and even then changing font colors seems to take hours to explain. Even if they taught a teeny bit of python , it might instill a tiny spark of interest.
It is ironic the scorn with which I heard a teacher address a student, almost ferociously.
“SolidWorks and CAD. Totally separate things.”
It made me want to stand up and say “That’s untrue.”
yeah, so basically what I’m trying to say is that we tout our high tech education, but in actual fact we’re in the stone age. I know what I want to do. But no, the backwards system just gives you the two fingers. I’m all for a broad curriculum, but doing so many subjects for my JC when I could be focussing on my German, Maths and Science is absolutely ridiculous. That’s why I get so infuriated when politicians and teachers stand up and hail the smart economy. It’s a lie and don’t tell me I don’t know. I’m the one in it, not you.
This all happened during benchmarking when educators got very good pay increases by the Irish tax payer. Yet, as usual with the public sector it was never linked to productivity or output.
So, what’s your point? Who negotiated it? It was up to the government to implement a different system but they did not. Don’t blame it on teachers as if they went begging the government…
@ Peter. I was being lighthearted! Hence the :) I never meant to offend and apologise if I did.
Duh….yeah….Sorry Niamh….my blood was still boiling…..must.calm.down.next.time.drEd.neighs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U – Sir Ken Robinson
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html – Sir Ken Robinson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeC6m6yLHyI – Dr. Tony Humphreys Author of “A Different Kind of Teacher” and “A Different Kind of Discipline”
Sure, the system is fecked… invest in computers and IT, why don’t ya..sorry no money, your not a banker or a developer or a TD…Feck the health system, give some glorified FG house boy another €50,000 becuse he’s “talented”…….feck special need kids,..sure who are they anyway..NZ doesn’t sleveens running the country, opposing giving bailouts to bankers one year and then giving them the country the next…..well newsflash there’s talented people in the Public sector as well as the private sector, and we’re paid to do, what we’re told to do..e.g. get teenagers throught a leaving Cet programme..
Instead of getting angry about this, we need to figure out ways to fix these problems
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