Towards a Better Future

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Chapter Three: Curriculum As shown in this diagram, documentation provided by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) includes a continuum (map) of significant milestones and detailed steps involved in children’s language learning and development - referred to as Progression Continua. The Progression Continua illustrate progression in learning from Junior Infants to Second Class. Each progression milestone is characterised by a number of progression steps. These steps describe, in more detail, what children’s learning and development look like as they move along the continuum. The outcomes and continua are complemented by examples of children’s work and support material to help teachers to make professional judgements about, and to support children’s achievement and progression across both languages (DES, 2015). The new Primary Language Curriculum was approved by the Minister for Education and Skills and will be implemented on a phased basis starting in September 2016. In 2016/17, the Oral Language strand will be implemented for Infants to Second Class. In 2017/18, the Reading and Writing strands will be implemented along with the Oral Language strand. From September 2018, there will be full implementation of all strands from Junior Infants to Second Class and from September 2019, implementation of Primary Language Curriculum for Third to Sixth Class will begin. In keeping with the new approach adopted by the NCCA, an interactive version of the new curriculum is available online. This includes an implementation ‘Toolkit’ to help teachers interpret the curriculum and to plan appropriately. A hard copy of the curriculum has been sent to schools and teachers will receive a USB stick containing ‘an extensive sample’ of the support materials and examples that are published online. The examples provided were developed by teachers and children, and show children’s language learning and development across the three strands and across a range of school contexts. These examples are linked to learning outcomes and progression continua, and are presented as short videos. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to support principals and teachers in the implementation of the new curriculum will be made available, facilitated by the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), over a three-year period. This will involve a combination of information seminars, workshops, classroom modelling, summer courses as well as website resources and publications. Work is also underway to revise the primary Mathematics curriculum. Two research papers on Maths at primary level were published on the NCCA website in 2014. A Development Group (formerly comprising Syllabus Committees) will shortly begin work on redeveloping the Mathematics curriculum for Junior Infants to Second Class, which will be available to schools from autumn 2018. While it is too soon to comment on the implementation of the revised Primary Language Curriculum, which was delivered in schools from autumn 2016, it is reassuring to see that final — 39 —
Towards a Better Future: A Review of the Irish School System version of the curriculum which was disseminated to schools and teachers includes much more detail than had been made available by the NCCA in the original specification. It would be reassuring to know that similar detail will be made available for the revised syllabi for Junior Cycle and for the Leaving Certificate subjects as they are finalised. The NCCA is also currently engaged in developing a syllabus for a new subject – Education about Religions and Beliefs and Ethics. The development of a curriculum in Education about Religions and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics was one of the key recommendations of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector (Coolahan et al, 2012). The Minister for Education asked the NCCA to undertake this task. In autumn 2015, the NCCA issued a consultation document on ERB and Ethics, and the consultation period closed in March 2016. It is understood from the NCCA that a ‘consultation report’ will be issued in early 2017. However, there is no indication as to what format this new syllabus will take or when it will be available for implementation nationally. The process of development has been slow. It has been four years since the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism recommended the development of this syllabus and it could be many more years before a new syllabus is available. As this chapter was being finalised in December 2016, the NCCA issued a consultation document on “proposals for structure and time allocation in a redeveloped primary curriculum”. The title of the document belies the radical and fundamental nature of the proposals. While two options for redeveloping the curriculum are suggested, either of the options are likely to have profound implications for teaching and learning in Irish primary schools for future generations. The proposals are based on recent research on children’s learning and development in their early childhood and “ The development of a curriculum in Education about Religions and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics was one of the key recommendations of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector ” primary school years. They also attempt to address the demands for “more” to be included in the primary school curriculum by providing a more flexible approach to time allocation. As regards the structure of the curriculum, two options are suggested – both of which move away from the existing model of four two-year stages (Infants; Junior; Middle and Senior). The first option would mean a move to a new three-stage model while the second option would use a two-stage model. The three stages of the first model would be (1) Pre-school (current Pre-school and Infant Classes); (2) First to Fourth Class; (3) Fifth and Sixth Class. In the first stage, the curriculum would be largely based on the Aistear themes; in the second stage, it would be based on curriculum areas — 40 —
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Towards a Better Future

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