Deis protesters picket Department of Education
January 20, 2012
BETWEEN 3,000 and 4,000 parents, children, teachers and principals of disadvantaged schools protested loudly, with music and hundreds of home-made, multi-coloured banners outside the Department of Education yesterday, against proposed cuts to teacher numbers.
Though Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn has described as a “mistake” the announcement of cuts to Deis (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), and had ordered a review of the plan, protesters demanded a complete, irrevocable reassurance the cuts would not happen.
Some 428 teaching posts were to be cut under measures announced in December’s Budget.
Among those who addressed the crowd from the front of the Pro Cathedral was Gearóid Conarain, whose youngest daughter, Pippa Ní Conarain (9), is a pupil at Scoil Santain in Tallaght.
“We are not having these cuts. We are asking for a full shift back. We will not go away,” he said.
Noreen Flynn, president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, said if “this Government wants to show its commitment to children it should take away the tax loopholes that the wealthy enjoy”. The money raised should be used to educate and provide jobs for young people. Tax those who can afford it,” she said.
Michelle Mallon, a mother with children in Scoil An tSeachtar Laoch in Ballymun, addressed the crowd, saying the children at the school “really need the support” they had got.
Marie O’Grady, with children in St Enda’s Primary School in Whitefriar Street, said children there would not make it to secondary school or college without such supports.
“Our children don’t have loans with banks. Our children don’t have property developments. Our children don’t play golf. So why do they have to pay for the mistakes of bankers and developers?”
In the crowd was Wilhelmina Maher, whose two children attend Our Lady of Victories Infant National School in Ballymun. “At the moment they have third and fourth class together because of a shortage of teachers. I am very worried about what the cuts would mean.”
There were banners from schools in Darndale, Fairview, Cherry Orchard, Jobstown, Ballyfermot, Ballymun, Coolock, Artane, Pimlico, Tallaght, Finglas and Clondalkin.
Children held up placards including “What’s the Story Rúairí?”; “Hey, Rúairí, leave us kids alone”; and, “What would Jim Larkin say?”
IRISH TIMES
Chance for adults to learn cupla focal
January 19, 2012
WITH BARACK Obama’s battle cry ‘Is Feidir Linn’ becoming the catch phrase of last year, more and more people are looking to learn (or rather re-learn) the cupla focal.
With that in mind, a parent in Scoil Aonghusa school in Drogheda is starting a new course open to anyone who would like to start from scratch or just refresh themselves if it has been a while since you spoke as Gaeilge.
‘Is Féidir Liom’ is a comprehensive Foundational Course in Irish for adults which has been under development and ongoing testing for over ten years,’ says Deirdre Kearney, who recently took the training course to run the classes.
‘It is aimed at interested adults who are absolute beginners in Irish and the approach is simple, enjoyable, just the right pitch and not overly ambitious.
The classes start on Thursday January 26th, from 8pm to 10pm and cost €80 for the eight week course.
‘Our main aim is to provide support for parents, grandparents and other carers in helping their children with Irish at home,’ says Deirdre, who has three children in the school (4th class, 3rd class and senior infants) and is a fluent Irish speaker.
’ The course points at patterns in Irish so that participants gain a basic understanding of the language.’ The venue is Scoil Aonghusa, at Sunday’s Gate, and the cost includes a course book and dictionary.
‘Information about the content and structure of the course is available on the supporting website www.isfeidirliom.ie and there is a booklet which can be downloaded in sections for each week or all at once under the ‘Audio Pages’ drop-down menu,’ adds Deirdre.
‘It is written in English and the audio pages are there to help with Irish pronunciation.
”Is Féidir Linn’ begins with ‘Is Féidir Liom’!
Drogheda Independent
North West Réalt Uladh competition
January 19, 2012
Schoolkids from across the North West are to take part in the Réalt Uladh Irish language competition which will be held at LYIT, Letterkenny, on Saturday, February 18.
The event boasts participants from Derry, Donegal, Antrim and Tyrone.
“Without a doubt, our acknowledgement, sincere thanks and congratulations must go to all of the parents, teachers etc., who help prepare the children and young people so magnificently for their competitions”, said Caitlín Conluain, Stiúrthóir Réalt Uladh.
“They are enriching our culture, music and heritage by keeping spoken Irish alive.”
Réalt Uladh consists of thirty competitions which cover the full spectrum of poetry recitation, reading, writing, drama and singing.
The competitions take place through the medium of Irish and are open to children and young people of all abilities (bun-ghrád and ard-ghrád), from pre-school to P7 and Year 8 class.
The aims of Réalt Uladh are to provide children with the opportunity to improve their Irish, give them the confidence to speak Irish, to obtain fluency in the national language and to experience the diverse aspects of Irish culture.
Primary school children can take part in all 10 competitions within their School Class Category. There is a beginners and advanced stage in the different poetry recitation categories. The categories are Pre-school, P1-P7 and Year 8, which will be held in eight different rooms at LYIT.
For further information or to download a Réalt Uladh 2012 entry form, log on to: www.realtuladh.com or contact Caitlín at caitlin.conluain@lyit.ie or on Tel: 087-3232326. The closing date for all entries including postal and e-mail entries is Friday, January 27.
The Réalt Uladh Office will also be open on Friday, January 27 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. to take entries or queries.
The entry fee is 3 euro per competition. Cheques should be made payable to Réalt Uladh.
For group entry fees, check www.realtuladh.com No late entries will be accepted. Everybody is welcome to attend and listen to the competitors.
Derry Journal
Rith 2012 ag teacht go Gaillimh
January 19, 2012
Traditional ways of teaching still prevail, says study
January 19, 2012
TRADITIONAL METHODS of teaching still dominate in Irish primary schools with relatively little group work or active learning, according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute.
The study concludes that female pupils and those attending fee-paying or Gaelscoileanna are more likely to experience more active learning in their classroom than other children.
The finding points out how the 1999 Primary Curriculum focuses on children as active learners. Despite this, it says “more traditional teaching approaches remain dominant.
Whole-class teaching continues to be commonplace, with much less use of active learning methods (such as group-work) than had been envisaged.”
Younger teachers, it concludes, are more likely to use more active methodologies in the classroom than more experienced teachers.
But more active teaching methods are much less prevalent in larger classes, indicating the constraints caused by class size.
The study also points to significant differences in how pupils spend their school day. Girls in single-sex primary schools spend more time on religious education, but their male counterparts in single-sex schools spend more time on physical education, history and geography.
Broadly, the nine-year-olds surveyed spent most time at school learning English, maths, Irish and religion. But the mix offered to pupils depended on the type of school attended.
There is large variation across schools, and within schools, in the time allocated to particular subject areas. This may mean that some students spend significantly less time than their peers on subjects such as mathematics.
More experienced teachers were much more likely to spend greater amounts of time on English, Irish and mathematics.
Pupils in Gaelscoileanna are more likely to experience a broad curriculum. The report points to “striking disengagement levels” among children with special educational needs. It also finds boys are more likely than girls to be disengaged and more negative about literacy-based subjects.
The report shows how children’s experiences of school vary quite dramatically depending on the school they attend and the teacher they have.
Dr Selina McCoy of the Economic and Social Research Institute said the report highlighted significant variation in the types of teaching and learning experiences primary school children have.
While this reflects schools and teachers adapting timetabling and teaching approaches to the perceived needs of different students, the report points to the need to balance this flexibility at the school level with ensuring that all children have exposure to varied subjects and methods. The report is based on data gathered through a wider survey about the lives and attitudes of nine-year-olds here.
The study finds nine-year-olds are broadly positive about school and their teachers. The Primary Classroom: Insights From the Growing Up In Ireland Study is published jointly by the institute and National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
Irish Times
Irish Language groups criticise new funding model based on tenders
January 19, 2012
Irish Language groups criticise new funding model based on tenders
A new funding mechanism being introduced by Foras na Gaeilge has been strongly criticised by the 19 Irish language promotion organisations that receive their core funding from the body.
Foras na Gaeilge, a North/South implementation body set up under the Belfast Agreement, has a role in advising the administrations North and South in matters relating to the Irish language.
It also channels state funding to Irish language organisations throughout the island of Ireland.
Following concerns in recent years over increased administration costs at the core-funded organisations, the Foras has been trying to replace the grant-in-aid system with a system of competitive tendering for funding.
Under the new system all the current core-funding would cease and the organisations, all of which are not-for-profit, would have to compete on a three-yearly basis in a quasi-market for funds to implement one of eight schemes planned by the Foras.
The affected organisations say this would result in a commercialisation of a sector which is currently community-based and that they will not be in a position to survive without State funding.
Conradh na Gaeilge general secretary Julian de Spáinn said the new approach would ensure that instead of working together, Irish language organisations would now be set in competition against each other.
Mr de Spáinn believes it could result in the destruction of the Irish language movement.
Under the proposed funding method, all language strategy would be decided by Foras and the role of the organisations would be to achieve objectives and targets set by Foras.
Mr de Spáinn said the organisations were “more than happy” to sit down with the Foras and Government departments to see how they could work together to achieve greater effectiveness.
He warned that the work and services currently offered by grassroots Irish language organisations would come under threat if the new funding system were introduced.
The 19 organisations which are affected by the change, including Conradh na Gaeilge, said in a statement this week that the introduction of the new funding model will have a “detrimental and irreversible effect” on the Irish language.
“Under the new proposals, Foras na Gaeilge would see organisations dismiss all staff whose positions are funded by Foras na Gaeilge”, the statement said.
“Overnight, years of experience and expertise would be lost. A contract worker could never gain as much experience and expertise. On top of this, the Irish language would no longer be seen as a viable career choice”, it warned.
The organisations are seeking to engage with Foras na Gaeilge to come up with a new work model which they say would benefit the language throughout the island and encourage the use of Irish “on an agreed and planned basis.”
SDLP spokesman for the Irish language Dominic Bradley called yesterday on both sides to negotiate. He said he had spoken to both sides and the dispute was an issue “of concern for the cause of Irish on the island of Ireland”.
There was room for compromise, Mr. Bradley said, as considerable savings could be achieved by the organisations in question and that these options should be explored further.
A spokesman for Foras na Gaeilge said the body was happy to sit down with the organisations at any time.
Breandán McCraith said the existing system was not sustainable and that Foras had no choice but to change the funding mechanism following a direction by the North-South Ministerial Council “and that is why we are taking this route”.
The Irish Times
Positive results for Gaelscoileanna in new ESRI Report
January 19, 2012
The latest report from the ESRI, published yesterday, is available to download here: The Primary Classroom: Insights from the Growing Up in Ireland Study
The report has some very interesting and positive things to say about gaelscoileanna, including:
From the Executive Summary
Ich 9: ..girls, those attending fee-paying schools, those attending gaelscoileanna and those in non-disadvantaged schools are more likely to experience active learning in their classroom than boys, those in English-medium schools and those in disadvantaged (DEIS) schools.
On the time allocated to subject groupings according to school characteristics:
Lch 21: Differences are also evident in terms of the language medium of the school. Not surprisingly, English-medium schools allocate more time to English and less time to Irish than Irish-medium schools, both Gaeltacht schools and gaelscoileanna. However, other differences are evident, with gaelscoileanna devoting more time to Drama, Music and PE than either English-medium or Gaeltacht schools (Figure 2.4). The pattern appears to reflect a broader orientation to the promotion of Irish language and culture in gaelscoileanna rather than language medium per se.
Factors influencing time allocation:
Lch 23 Even controlling for gender mix and DEIS status, students attending gaelscoileanna spend more time on PE, Drama and Music than other students.
Curriculum groupings:
Lch. 28: Gaelscoileanna are more likely than Gaeltacht or English-medium schools to provide a broad curriculum.
Teaching methods and class sizes:
Lch. 36: Children attending gaelscoileanna are more likely to be in classes of greater than 30 pupils, while girls attending single sex schools are less likely to be in large classes.
Ich 39: Children in gaelscoileanna are more likely to benefit from pair- and group-work than children in other school settings, as are children attending fee-paying schools. While in both the fee-paying sector and Irish-medium schools teachers place less emphasis on providing differentiated activities, they place a greater emphasis on hands-on activities, using play to facilitate learning and encouraging pupils to find things out for themselves. In contrast, they appear to rely less frequently on more traditional approaches like copying notes from the board.
Lch. 43: Teaching methods are found to vary by school characteristics. In keeping with the descriptive analyses presented above, teachers in girls’ schools are more likely to use more active approaches than those in boys’ or coeducational schools. In addition, teachers in gaelscoileanna are more likely to use active methods than those in English-medium or Gaeltacht schools.
Lch. 45: More active teaching approaches like pair-work, group-work and hands-on activities are all more prevalent among recently qualified teachers and decline in prominence with length of teaching experience. This is a significant finding and may signify an important shift in teacher training methodologies over time. There is also evidence to suggest that teachers take different approaches in different school and classroom contexts – with more active methods adopted in single-sex girls’ schools, fee-paying schools and gaelscoileanna, and more teacher-centred approaches in rural DEIS and urban band 1 DEIS schools.
Children’s engagement across school settings:
Lch. 49: Children attending gaelscoileanna are also less likely to report that they never like school, although again small numbers point to the need for caution in the interpretation of these results.
Children’s attitudes:
Lch. 57: Not surprisingly, children in Irish-medium schools are more positive about Irish than those in English-medium schools (see Figure 4.9), with the most positive attitudes evident among children attending gaelscoileanna. Interestingly, children attending Irish-medium schools, both gaelscoileanna and Gaeltacht schools, also have more positive attitude to Reading than those in English-medium schools. No variation is evident in attitudes to Mathematics by language medium of the school.
Lch. 59: Not surprisingly, children attending gaelscoileanna have more positive attitudes to Irish than those in English-medium schools. Interestingly, however, no significant differences are found between Gaeltacht and English-medium schools in attitudes to Irish. Finally, attitudes to the three subjects do not vary between DEIS and non-disadvantaged schools.
Lch. 61: As might be expected attitudes towards Irish are more positive among children attending gaelscoileanna, although no significant differences are found between Gaeltacht and English-medium schools in attitudes towards Irish.
Conclusion:
Lch. 62: Thus, children attending gaelscoileanna are more likely to experience a broad curriculum and spend more time not only on Irish but also on Music, Art and PE.
Lch. 62: It is of policy concern too that some groups of children, namely, girls, those attending fee-paying schools, those attending gaelscoileanna and those in non-disadvantaged schools, have greater access to the kinds of active methods which may engage them in learning. Couched differently, boys and children from disadvantaged backgrounds, groups with lower levels of achievement later on in the school system, are less likely to experience active and engaging settings for learning. The reasons for such differences are unclear from the data available here, but may reflect group-work and pair-work being seen as ‘easier’ to manage with more engaged groups of students.
Ceolchoirm saor in aisce! Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ
January 18, 2012
‘Cúis bhuartha’
January 18, 2012
Cúrsaí Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta le plé sa Seanad Dé Céadaoin
January 17, 2012
