Smiles all round as Irish higher-level is plain sailing
June 8, 2012
Students at the all-Irish Coláiste Daibhéid in Cork City were pleased with the first Junior Certificate Irish papers.
All 40 of the city centre school’s Junior Certificate candidates took yesterday’s higher-level exam, said deputy principal Richel Ní Longaigh.
Bronagh Ní Tornáil from Blarney said Paper 1 in the morning was “grand”, and thought the listening test at the beginning was particularly easy.
“I was nervous going in but it was grand afterwards, once you get in there everything is fine,” said Bronagh.
Her classmate, Aoife Nic Ruairí from Douglas, was also pleased with the morning’s higher-level exam, but felt Paper 2 in the afternoon might be a bit more stressful.
“It’s going to be harder alright, but it should be okay because we’ve been learning through Irish.
“It definitely gives us an advantage on other students,” she said.
So much so, in fact, she thought Irish Paper 1 was easier than the equivalent English exam on the first day of the Junior Certificate 24 hours earlier. One exam she was not looking forward to, however, is history next week.
“There’s so much writing and learning involved,” she said.
For Dean Ó Torpa, yesterday morning’s Irish Paper 1 was also plain sailing “There’s more pressure in the afternoon. The poetry particularly is harder,” he said.
But the teenager from Mahon was glad to have the first couple of exams behind him. “I thought English was okay as well.”
After all the pressure and build-up, said Bronagh, starting the Junior Certificate was like sitting any summer tests.
“There’s so much pressure on us to do well in the Junior Cert but when you get there, it’s just like another test,” agreed Dean.
Both he and Aoife must wait until the music exam on Wednesday week, June 20, before the Junior Certificate is over.
But Bronagh has a much quicker sweep, as she finishes next Thursday after her science exam.
All three have 11 subjects to take exams in, but students starting the Junior Certificate course in two years should have no more than eight exam subjects, an idea that this group welcomes.
“It’s a better idea, then after Junior Cert you can choose your other subjects for the Leaving,” said Bronagh.
A more immediate change, taking effect this year, is the allocation of 40% of marks for Leaving Certificate Irish to the oral test, instead of the 25% previously given to it.
“We’re learning everything through Irish already so we’ll hopefully have an advantage over everyone,” said Dean.
www.irishexaminer.com
Unexpected Irish Questions cause confusion
June 8, 2012
Trapattoni, Justin Bieber and Jedward provided topical but “challenging” questions in the higher level Junior Cert paper, one teacher felt.
For those listening to the higher level aural tape, there were a couple of “tough, bordering on unfair, and unexpected questions”, according to Robbie Cronin of the ASTI and Marian College, Dublin. “One question was to write down the title of the Réamhaisnéis na hAimsire – the weather forecast. My students were surprised and couldn’t answer it,” Mr Cronin said, adding the news item about the Young Scientist also caused confusion.
The reading comprehension pieces centred around an Irish teenage radio station, Raidio Ri- Ra, and Justin Bieber, which provided topical but challenging questions, said Mr Cronin.
However, the ASTI’s Richie Mac Liam from Chanel College, Dublin 5, felt the comprehensions were not as “straightforward” as in other years.
He said the comprehension question was still asking pupils to put answers in their own words, even though they wouldn’t get more marks than if they repeated what was in the text.
Mr Cronin said a glossary should have been provided for certain difficult words – such as ‘ craoladh sealadach’, meaning temporary broadcast. The choice of essay topics – featuring the Irish soccer team – were heralded as good and topical.
In Paper 2, the unseen prose question was described as “challenging but student- friendly”.
A broad glossary was provided for difficult words in the poetry section which underlines the unfairness of using similar difficult words in paper one, Mr Cronin argued.
Overall, most teachers agreed that the ordinary level paper did not appear to cause any major difficulties.
www.independent.ie
Being a true Belieber pays off academically
June 8, 2012
Junior Cert Irish: For once, the hours spent mooning over teen idol Justin Bieber weren’t a waste of time.
Being a true Belieber paid off academically as the singer played a starring role in yesterday’s Junior Cert higher level Irish paper 1.
The exam was well received by students discussing it on social networks. The higher level exam featured comprehension pieces about Bieber and Raidió Rí Rá, a teen radio station that runs throughout Seachtain na Gaeilge.
“The pieces were topical but the questions were challenging,” said ASTI representative Robbie Cronin, a teacher in Marian College, Ballsbridge. He added that there should have been a glossary of terms for some of the more unusual words. “Féirín means present, for example, but the word most people would have for present is bronntanas,” he said.
Topical essay choices were good, according to Cronin.
Unfortunately, a minor error managed to slip past the exam proofreaders. “There was a question in the grammar section which was already answered,” said Cronin. “There was no gap for them to put in the answer. It wasn’t worth many marks but it shouldn’t really be happening.”
The listening comprehension threw up a few issues.
Some of the questions asked were “tough, bordering on unfair and unexpected”, Cronin said. “Students were asked to write down the title of the Réamhfhaisnéis na hAimsire [weather forecast] announcement. My students were surprised by this and couldn’t answer it.”
The new-look ordinary level paper was well received generally, although again it was challenging in parts. Comprehension passages about Jedward and Giovanni Trappatoni were topical but some of the vocabulary used was difficult for the level, according to Bláithín Ní Liatháin, who teaches in Kylemore College, Ballyfermot.
www.irishtimes.com
Irish language bodies welcome report
June 7, 2012
IRISH LANGUAGE organisations have welcomed the contents of an Oireachtas report which recommends that funding for the sector should not be subject to competitive tender.
The focus of the report, published yesterday by the Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht, was a funding model proposed by Foras na Gaeilge which would see an end to the existing grant-in-aid system to 19 Irish language promotion organisations that receive their core funding from the body.
Under the proposed model, the organisations would have to compete on a three-yearly basis for funds to implement schemes planned by Foras.
Critics say the new approach would result in a commercialisation of a sector that is community-based and would endanger the work and services offered by grassroots Irish language organisations.
Kevin De Barra, acting director of Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, described the report as “a positive step for the Irish language voluntary sector”. He said the organisations and Foras now needed to “co-operate together to undertake comprehensive research on the current work of the Irish language voluntary sector.
“All parties must work to come up with the best possible way forward for the sector, so that services can be provided to the public in the most efficient and effective manner.”
Donnchadh Ó hAodha, president of Conradh na Gaeilge, said: “Conradh na Gaeilge and Aontas Phobal na Gaeilge are recommending a system of partnerships to ensure the public gets value for money and a more efficient service by encouraging organisations to work together, not to compete against one another.
“It is a great boost to have the support of the Joint Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht for this recommendation.”
Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge and Conradh na Gaeilge have now called on Foras and the Ministers of the North-South Ministerial Council to incorporate the recommendations in any future discussions on a how the Irish language sector should be funded.
http://www.irishtimes.com/
Corn Ghlór na nGael na mBuachaillí
June 6, 2012
Stádas na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht: Scéim Labhairt na Gaeilge 2010/2011
June 6, 2012
Andrew McKimm: Leaving Cert: it’s an Irish renaissance as hostilities cease
June 5, 2012
An Englishman gave us back our flag — and now we are reclaiming our own language from extreme republicanism, writes Andrew McKimm
THIS year sees the launch of the revamped Leaving Certificate Irish Paper. It will be a markedly changed exam in which 40 per cent, instead of the former 25 per cent, is being awarded for the oral component of the test. This is the first major change to the Irish paper in about 15 years.
I asked Richard Barrett, who teaches Irish in Blackrock College, Dublin, what prompted such a significant shift in the examination of Irish. Does he see this trend as a kind of dumbing down of Irish by moving away from a more literature-based curriculum? Where is Peig in all of this? Is her legacy in danger of drowning somewhere off the Blasket Islands?
“Not at all — I see it as an entirely positive step and one that is very much in keeping with the modern healthy trends in the attitude of students to learning Irish nowadays,” he replies.
He proceeds in his measured, calm way, every point springing with clarity from a deep understanding and love of a language to which he has devoted a lifetime of teaching.
“There are four components to learning any language — listening, speaking, reading and writing. For far too long, the speaking part has been underplayed!”
I can’t resist the opportunity of playing devil’s advocate. What about the large number of people who claim that Irish is a dead and useless language and that it should be totally abolished from the curriculum? He sighs patiently as this is a question that he has to face almost every day.
“People say to me all the time that, after spending 13 years learning Irish in school, they can’t put two words together. I tell them that I beg to differ. Of course they can put two words together and usually quite a lot more. I can give them a quick vocab test and they can get it completely right. I can speak to them and they can understand me perfectly.”
He adds, “Thirteen years of studying anything doesn’t imply perfect knowledge. Does 13 years of studying maths mean that you’re going to get an A?
“It has been a trend for many years not to like Irish but, in fact, most people don’t feel that negative about it any more. People now have a greater sense of our history and are regretful of the fact that they don’t know more Irish.
“Parents keep telling me that they were ‘useless’ at Irish and didn’t like it. This of course makes it much harder to pass on to the next generation. Ironically, the young people whom I teach are the least hostile towards it — they just see Irish as being part of the system. In our school, we have Seachtain na Gaeilge which virtually every boy in the school gets involved in. The smarter ones opt for the ceili with the girls from Sion Hill next door.”
Ultimately does Richard think that attitudes to Irish have improved over the last 20 years? Did the boom —the era of the Fionns and the Saoirses — actually cause a proliferation of more than just that a cupla focail?
“Over the last 30 years, Ireland as a nation has matured and is not trying so hard to prove itself. Irish now exists as part of our heritage, and we accept it. The extreme Republican element in this country had hijacked both the language and the national flag. Ironically, it was an Englishman, Jack Charlton, who gave us back our flag and allowed us to wave it without being viewed as terrorists.
“The days of narrow-minded gaelgoiri being able to define ‘Irishness’ is gone and the language belongs to no political or religious tradition. In fact, some of the best performers in Irish nowadays are our immigrants.”
Apart from our newfound national confidence that started with The Joshua Tree and the discovery of Michael Flatley — both of which have reached their natural apotheosis in Jedward — Richard thinks that credit for our modern, more positive attitudes towards Irish lies with the governments of the last 40 years.
“Healthy bilingualism, which started as unwritten government policy in the Seventies, became de facto policy in the Eighties. Ireland is an English-speaking country and there is now no attempt to replace English with Irish, to pointlessly pit one against the other. The realism of the modern era has buried the ‘one-language nation’ approach.”
What about the reduction in the literature component in newspapers, does this mean that Irish as a literary medium is dying out?
Peig almost single handedly killed off my own admittedly fragile interest in Irish at school. It was only the genius of Padraic O Conaire (coincidentally a past pupil of Blackrock College) and his masterful short stories, Scothscealta, that saved it.
Richard shares my abject enthusiasm for Scothscealta and thinks that a great TV series based on O Conaire’s work has yet to be made.
Richard reminds me that things have moved on a lot since I was in school.
“Irish still has a thriving literary culture with a small but committed audience. The topics on the Leaving Certificate include crime, murder, drug addiction, abortion. The work of poets like Nuala Ni Dhomhnail is some of the most sensual you will read in any language.
“In fairness to Peig, she was the first to forsee that she was part of a dying culture on the Blasket Islands. ‘Ni bheidh ar leithieidi aris ann.’ (Our kind will not be seen again.) Peig can never be viewed as great literature but her book is a vital historical document, a window to the past,” he says.
It is thanks to Richard Barrett and many other teachers of Irish in this country that the Irish language is prevented from going the way of people of the Blaskets and becoming nothing other than a memory.
http://www.independent.ie/
New Course for Maths Teachers
May 31, 2012
The newly launched Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching (Part-time) aims to train out-of-field mathematics teachers over the next 3 years.
On Friday May 25th, the Minister of State for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock officially launched funding for the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching (Part-time) which aims to train out-of-field mathematics teachers over the next 3 years.
In 2010, the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL), based at the University of Limerick, drew attention to the systemic issue of out-of-field teachers of mathematics in a report which found that 48% of teachers teaching mathematics at post-primary level had no qualification in mathematics teaching.
Professor John O’Donoghue, Director, National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL) said:
“This decision represents an historic step in moves to reform post-primary mathematics.
“Ireland’s urgent need to raise science and mathematics knowledge and skills in order to serve critical national educational, economic and entrepreneurial needs is well documented.
“This programme will support teachers to focus on subject knowledge and practice that will impact student performance and stimulate interest in mathematics and science”.
Jointly accredited and designed by NUI Galway and UL, the programme will be delivered nationwide free of charge through a national consortium of higher education institutions and the Association of Teacher Education Centres in Ireland. Approximately 400 teachers will begin the course this autumn.
The course will be a blended learning programme based on a part-time (2 year) university accredited professional diploma, delivered locally and through online modules. Google will support the flexible online delivery of the programme as the chief technology partner in the NUI Galway-UL Alliance led consortium.
The new programme is aligned with the national curriculum reform, Project Maths (2008-2015); the requirements of the Teaching Council as the statutory body for teaching in Ireland; and latest developments in innovative educational technology and mathematics education research. There will be specific provision for teachers in Irish-medium schools through a Dioplóma Gairmiúil sa Mhatamaitic don Mhúinteoireacht, supported by NUI Galway and Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, Gaillimh.
Under the NUI Galway-UL Strategic Alliance, a team from the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Applied Mathematics and School of Education, NUI Galway has worked closely with the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL, UL) to develop the new professional mathematics education programme.
Speaking of the announcement, Dr Tony Hall, NUI Galway, said:
“The principal focus of this unique new course is to enhance teachers’ mathematical content knowledge and their understanding of the subject of mathematics, helping to support the wider national reforms currently taking place in mathematics education in Ireland.”
The NCE-MSTL leads a national consortium of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) established for the purposes of delivering this programme.
The consortium includes: NUI Galway, University College Dublin (UCD), St Patricks’ College, Thurles; Institute of Technology, Sligo; Institute of Technology, Tallaght; Institute of Technology, Carlow; Cork Institute of Technology; Dundalk Institute of Technology; Letterkenny Institute of Technology; Waterford Institute of Technology.
The consortium also includes, through the NCE-MSTL, its founding partners in the Shannon Consortium: UL (lead), IT Tralee, Limerick Institute of Technology and Mary Immaculate College.
Commenting on the launch, Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn said:
“The provision of this course provides further evidence of my personal commitment, and that of my Government colleagues, to supporting maths teaching in post primary schools.
“We are providing over €2million to fund this course, and are making it available at locations across the country and free of charge, to maximise accessibility and participation.”
Minister Sherlock said:
“The teaching community has shown significant interest in this course since my announcement last September. I am pleased that the course will facilitate teachers who are working during the day, with convenient local and online access.”
Partnering with Google Ireland brings distinctive benefits to the programme, enabling the providers to maximize the blended learning opportunities for students and providing possibilities for use of portable and mobile computing to enhance mathematics teaching in Irish schools.
John Herlihy, VP and Head of Google in Ireland said:
“Government, industry and academia all agree on the need for more students to study Maths, Science and Engineering subjects at third level and on the need to produce graduates with strong analytical and problem solving skills.
“The introduction of a Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching is an important step in augmenting how we teach maths in our secondary schools.
“I believe that providing ‘out of field’ teachers with the specialised skills to teach maths in an enthusiastic and knowledgeable way will be a catalyst for more students pursuing maths based subjects at third level.”
The programme will be offered free to eligible teachers starting in September 2012. Places will be allocated on a quota basis by the Department of Education & Skills. The programme is closely aligned with the needs of out-of-field teachers of mathematics, Project Maths and the requirements of the Teaching Council.
Applications are being accepted by going to the UL website here.
Call the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL) on 061 234786 email info@nce-mstl.ie for further details.
EDUCATION MATTERS
Harkin launches Scholastic Languages 2012
May 31, 2012
At the launch of the Scholastic Languages Programme for 2012, Marian Harkin M.E.P. welcomed this opportunity for regional students.
She spoke of the importance of fluency in a European language.
“Most Europeans have at least two languages with many speaking a third. Now that Irish will be a working language of the E. U. since 2007, more and more people are learning Irish. I’m delighted to report that there are a number of successful Irish classes being run in Brussels right now.” She added that she felt such initiatives are a practical and positive step forward in the promotion and development of the Irish language.
Following eight years of success Scholastic Languages, a Carrick-on-Shannon and Sligo based initiative, is running two language camps this July in Carrick-on-Shannon and Sligo. It is offering the summer schools through a choice of either Irish or French for primary school and secondary school students in Sligo and Irish in Carrick-on-Shannon.
Primary school students actively participate in language classes in the morning and enjoy a wide range of fun activities through the chosen language in the afternoon. Scholastic Languages offer a new range of fun educational opportunities to regional students and to provide the confidence to communicate with greater fluency.
http://www.leitrimobserver.ie/
Aitheantas buan do Ghaelcholáiste Chill Dara
May 30, 2012
