Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

SCHOOL EXPERIENCES AND LEARNING PROCESSES AMONG LCA PARTICIPANTS 61up your confidence, you know, life experience and you know, it was great, it wasgreat now. (Barbara, 23, completed LCA, employed)The development of computer skills and the time spent on ICT werealso seen as positive aspects of the programme:What did you like the most about the programme?Computers, I was never good at computers but I got good at them there like.(Donal, 23, dropped out of LCA, apprentice)Social education emerged as another popular subject in the interviews.Many of this group responded to learning about contemporary social,political and environmental issues and enjoyed the freedom given to themto work on individual projects:I used to love social studies, it used to be about real things you know. It used to bejust things that I wanted to learn about more than anything. (Sarah, 21,completed LCA, employed)They brought us to, you know, Drink Aware, like AA meetings and all, to seewhat goes on, you know. … I remember going to one that was about people whowere all on heroin years ago like and they were trying to get off it and they were ina programme and were getting better, they were obviously getting better like youknow and they told us about their experiences for a task, you know, it wasbrilliant, learned a lot from that like, you know. (Andrew, 21, completedLCA, apprentice)Most of the young people in our study had experienced difficulties incoping with more academically orientated subjects during the junior cycle.However, the content of, and approach to, some of these subjects in LCAwas seen as rekindling their interest and engagement:English was good as well, I learned a lot more in English than I did in the firstthree years of school. (Andrew, 21, completed LCA, apprentice)Like with the French now, we done the French project and … like it was Frenchfashion, French food, all about France and then the whole school was able to comein and see what we were after been doing. …We enjoyed that because it was aboost. (Mary, 22, completed LCA, home duties)During the interviews it emerged that many respondents began toengage with schoolwork during the LCA. For many, a curriculumcombining vocational and general education changed their view of schooland allowed them more freedom in how and what they learnt. Instead ofstruggling with their subjects, respondents found that they were not‘dreading’ certain subjects or school in general:Say in Leaving Cert you would be dreading going into the classes, whereas therewas no dreading going to school with the LCA like. (Mary, 22, completedLCA, home duties)The minute I started fifth year it was just I didn’t mind getting up in the morningyou know that kind of way. … Before it was just like, you know, write, write,