Towards a Better Future

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Chapter Three: Curriculum country before the full curriculum was finalised and approved by the Minister. The 1971 curriculum was radically different from its predecessor, in terms of its philosophy, content and methodology. It provided a wide range of subjects and emphasised guided discovery learning methods. There was a greater focus on the Arts; Social, Environmental and Scientific Education, and Physical Education than had been the case in previous curricula. Flexibility was given to schools and teachers in the choice and balance of subjects and teaching approaches, and school-based curriculum planning was introduced (Department of Education, 1971). The aims of the 1971 curriculum were summarised as follows: ■ ■ To enable the child to lead a full life as a child To equip the child to avail of further education, to go on to live a full and useful life as an adult in society. The curriculum was based on a philosophy of education that incorporated the following five principles: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ The full and harmonious development of the child The importance of making due allowance for individual difference The importance of activity and discovery methods The integrated nature of the curriculum The importance of environment-based learning. The integrated nature of the curriculum was spelled out in Chapter II of the Teachers’ Handbook - The Structure of the Curriculum. The integration of the curriculum was seen ‘in the religious and civic spirit which animates its parts’ and the Handbook stated that ‘the separation of religious and secular instruction into differentiated subject compartments serves only to throw the whole educational function out of focus’. This emphasis on the integration of religious and secular instruction was to become controversial in subsequent years, but simply gave substance to Rule 68 of the Rules for National Schools (1965) which stated ‘Of all parts of a school curriculum Religious Instruction is by far the most important …. Religious instruction is …. a fundamental part of the school course, and a religious spirit should inform and vivify the whole work of the school’ (Department of Education, 1965). It is notable, however, that no effort was made in drafting the 1971 curriculum to ensure continuity between the primary and secondary school. If anything, the gap between the learning experience of pupils at primary and secondary level was widened by the introduction of the new primary curriculum, which emphasised a child-centred approach as opposed to a rigid exam-based curriculum at second level. During the consultation period prior to the introduction of the new curriculum in 1971, this anomaly was pointed out in a submission from the Teachers’ Study Group, but to no effect (Coolahan, 2016). — 25 —
Towards a Better Future: A Review of the Irish School System The Report on the Intermediate Certificate Examination, 1973-5 In 1970, a committee was set up by the Minister for Education to advise on the reform of the Intermediate Certificate Examination (ICE). The committee published an interim report three years later and a final report in 1975. The ICE report recommended that the centralised examination of pupils at the end of Junior Cycle should be discontinued and that a system of school-based assessment should be introduced. It envisaged a comprehensive system of moderation of school-based assessment by a ‘moderation and educational assessment service (MEAS)’, organised through groupings or consortia of schools. In addition, it recommended that support should be made available to teachers to ensure that they had the necessary skills to engage in a range of modes of assessment such as essay-type questions, objective tests, oral and practical tests and project and coursework assessment (Department of Education, 1975). No action was taken by the then Minister for Education, Richard Burke, on the ICE report and the examination-led Intermediate and Leaving Certificate programmes continued to dominate teaching and learning until the end of the 20th century. Curriculum and Examinations Board, 1984-1986 A decade later, the issue of curriculum reform, especially at second level, became a major national educational policy issue. In January 1984, the (interim) Curriculum and Examinations Board (CEB) was established by the newly-appointed Minister for Education, Gemma Hussey. Her intention was to set up the board as soon as possible on a statutory basis. The CEB, which was chaired by Ed Walsh, President of the then NIHE Limerick, was asked to make recommendations on a new unified system of assessment for Junior Cycle at second level as well as to undertake a review of the Leaving Certificate (CEB 1984). As the primary school curriculum was relatively new, was popular with parents, primary teachers and the Inspectorate, and insofar as evidence was available, seemed to be reasonably effective in achieving its aims, curriculum review and reform at primary level was not a priority. However, the CEB was concerned at the lack of continuity between the primary and second-level curriculum. One of its first actions was to set up a Joint Committee to review the curriculum for the compulsory school period (Infants to the end of Junior Cycle) with a specific brief to propose a framework for secondlevel Junior Cycle curriculum (building on the primary school curriculum). The Joint Committee consisted of more than forty members, including teachers representing the primary, secondary and vocational sectors, representatives of management bodies, as well as parents and business representatives. The first CEB consultative document, Issues and Structures in Education, published in July 1984, was outspoken and radical. The board proposed a fundamental reform of Junior Cycle curriculum, and a reformed system of assessment ‘which should permit the involvement of teachers as part of their — 26 —
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