From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

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From Leaving Certificate to Leaving School
In other schools, the selection of subject levels involved consultation
with teachers and, in some instances, parents. In Fig Lane, a form was
sent out to the family and students ‘talked to parents and teachers’ (Fig
Lane, middle-class coed school). For other students, the Maths teacher
played a role in providing advice which students were happy to accept:
If they didn’t think you could do it they’d always advise you not to
do it. Even when I was in honours, like the teacher advised me that I
should go down to pass but I knew that anyway so I just took the advice
and went down to pass … I just realized there wasn’t much
point myself, it was a weak point, Maths, for me. (Park Street, boys’
school, mixed intake)
Chapter Four will provide further discussion and evidence on the take-up
of subject levels in the actual exam and will explore the association between
higher level take-up and academic performance.
2.4 Teaching and Learning
In this section, we explore student views on good teaching, the type of
teaching methods they experience, the pace of instruction in their classes,
their take-up of private tuition, and the potential impact of the Leaving
Certificate exam on their experiences of teaching and learning.
2.4.1 Teaching Methods
Sixth year students were asked about the frequency with which a range
of teaching methods were used in their class. Figure 2.10 shows significant
differences across Leaving Certificate programmes in the use of
teaching methods. As in fifth year, LCA students are more likely to report
the frequent use of group-work and project-work in class than LCE
and LCVP students. LCA students are also more likely to report that
their teacher explains things well and that they themselves are allowed to
express their opinions. In contrast, LCE and LCVP classes tend to be
characterised by teachers doing most of the talking, by teachers reading
from the book, by practising previous exam papers and being given
homework.