Teachers tell us how they approach the freedom of transition year

Eamonn O'Sullivan

Skerries Community College,

Co Dublin

"The English team at Skerries works to create a transition-year programme that will keep the students interested and give them a chance to explore aspects of the language that are not part of the Leaving Cert curriculum.

"We have developed a module on etymology which the students particularly enjoy. The origins of words are of interest to us all, because they tell us something about where we came from and how our lives have shaped the way we communicate.

"I talk to the students about the early roots of the English language, the Greek alphabet and how our own alphabet developed from that and the influence of other languages on our own. The students then undertake an etymology project of their own. We give them plenty of freedom to choose whatever subject interests them. They always choose very imaginatively from their own experience of language.

"Some of the projects our students have chosen include the origins of Dublin rhyming slang, the language of Tupac Shakur [ right], French words in the English language and the roots of clichés and idioms. The exercise is particularly interesting for students, because it prompts them to reflect on the words they use and where they have come from. Much of their language is entirely new, drawn from media, computer terminology, music and international slang that they pick up through film and popular culture.

"Every year I learn new words from the students as we examine the latest developments in the language we speak.

"Other projects that we have undertaken in transition-year English this year include a pantomime which the students are writing, producing and directing themselves. Last year the transition-year students produced their own version of Sean O'Casey's Juno And The Paycock. They performed it in the local theatre and it was a sell-out on both nights.

"Transition-year English students at Skerries are also heavily involved in debating. Last year they reached the Dublin finals of the Mental Health Association's public-speaking competition.

"Of course transition year is an ideal time for students to study literature for its own sake, away from the pressure of exams. Every year the English team selects a number of poems, plays and novels with a modern twist for students to enjoy in transition year.

"While we stay away from Leaving Cert texts, this study of a wide range of texts is excellent preparation for the comparative- studies question on Leaving Cert paper 2."

Send your thoughts on teaching in transition year to lholden@ irish-times.ie