A DEPARTMENT of Education report which found that 11 per cent of schools had weak Transition Year programmes seems to have been taken to heart by many of these schools.
A member of the Transition Year support team, which is made up of 14 experienced teachers on full time secondment, says that they all noted an increase in the number of requests from schools wanting to reshape the year fundamentally in the months after the issuing of the report.
Transition Year derives many of its strengths and its weaknesses from the fact that there is no set curriculum; each school offers what is essentially a unique experience.
Schools are faced with inventing their own curriculum. This can be a liberating experience for teachers who feel confined by the straitjacket of exams. Equally, it can be a frightening prospect.
However, Tom Hunt, principal of Ballyhale Vocational School, Co Kilkenny, notes that Transition Year is the only time when it is valid to try something and fail.
The evaluation of the Transition Year programme in 145 schools, carried out by the Department of Education inspectors, finds a consensus among principals, teachers and students that the Transition Year programme is a worthwhile initiative, allowing the school to engage in "genuine in school curriculum development, affording teachers the opportunity to break free of overly compartmentalised subject teaching, and giving pupils the space and time to grow in maturity and to develop in self confidence".
However, the report also finds that in a small number of schools little attempt was made to be innovative. These schools maintained a traditional approach to the curriculum, continuing strict subject compartmentalisation and ignoring the possibility of an interdisciplinary approach to learning.
This failure is attributed to the inherent traditionalism of some teachers involved, to the lack of structured co operation between teachers in some cases and to the lack of a clear and comprehensive mission statement for the programme. Schools should carry out regular assessment and evaluation of their programmes, the report recommends.
In a number of schools, the pupils had already decided on the subjects they would take in the Leaving Certificate before the start of Transition Year. This practice inhibits the possibility of programme innovation, gives an unwelcome exam orientation to the year and denies pupils the opportunity to "reflect, nature and develop in an open curricular environment devoid of direct or indirect examination pressure".
PARENTAL CONCERNS about Transition Year include the lack of conventional homework and the increased freedom at the crucial time when students are questioning authority. Some worry that it could be taken as a "doss" year by their children, or that they would lose regular study habits over the year.
The fact that Transition Year is compulsory in some schools worries parents who would prefer to bypass it; equally its non availability to all students in others bothers parents who feel their child needs the Transition Year experience.
On the question of homework, Eilish Humphreys of the Transition Year support team said at a recent meeting for parents that Transition Year is trying to promote more "activity based learning". This means that, "quite legitimately, homework might entail going down the road and interviewing an elderly person for a history project; or a student might have to bake brown bread or spend two hours at the local GAA club.
It is very important that parents monitor this to ensure it is done and liaise with the school, she says. In some schools, students keep a logbook which parents have to sign.
As to it being compulsory, she says that in some schools Transition Year is offered to all students, but that arrangements can usually be made if one or two students do not wish to do it.
In practice, however, many parents are finding that schools refuse to make these arrangements.
Other parents are concerned that their children can't get into Transition Year because of limited numbers. Humphreys says that selection is a matter for each school and it usually comes down to resources and facilities available.
Department of Education inspectors said that a "more vigorous effort should be made, where possible, to increase the meaningful involvement of parents in all aspects of the Transition Year programme, including the planning, delivery, assessment and evaluation." One proof of the seriousness with which the Department of Education is taking parental concerns is the recent initiative whereby Department representatives met parents at a series of 17 regional meetings to inform them of the changes in senior cycle.
At its annual convention, National Parents Council (Post Primary) delegates voted in favour of the NPC carrying out its own survey into the functioning of Transition Year.
Some parents at the meeting in Navan, Co Meath, expressed concerns about the difficulties of getting their children back to conventional study after a year full of excitement. Humphreys emphasises that the academic side is not neglected in favour of the "new and exciting subjects" (such as the Chernobyl project featured here) and that Transition Year is designed to provide a solid basis for Leaving Certificate.
However, the approach to the academic subjects differs from the traditional "chalk and talk" approach. Geraldine Simmie, who provides support for the Transition Year in the Limerick, Clare and south Tipperary regions, says that the Transition Year team has set up a maths initiative. The team asked teacher to send in suggestions for new and interesting ways to teach maths and will shortly fill an entire newsletter with these ideas.
"Suggestions include activity based learning. This could mean going to the local church and measuring its height, or doing an attitude survey in a local school or using cards and dice to teach probability.
"There must be an atmosphere of confidence building in the classroom. The junior curriculum maths is very difficult and most 15 year olds are turned off," Simmie explains.
MEANWHILE, Bord na Gaeilge is in the process of producing a package for Transition Year which should help teachers to inject some excitement into the learning of Irish. The pack will be ready this September.
The three aims of Transition Year are: education for maturity, with an emphasis on social awareness; education through experience of the adult and working life; the promotion of general technical and academic skills, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and self directed learning.
Most schools offer work experience as a means of experiencing adult and working life. A member of the Transition Year support team says that employers are often worried that they take students in but they don't quite know what to do with them.
"A little rethinking is being done as, clearly, the sheer numbers taking Transition Year are presenting challenges to employers. I think that we've got to realise that in some cases what we're talking about is work shadowing rather than work experience," he explains.
He says that schools should make sure students have realistic expectations: "Essentially, it's about experiencing an adult environment with a different time scale and order "he adds.
He is also concerned that some employers don't understand that it is fundamentally an educational experience and that no money should be involved. He has heard of students being paid up to £140 by well meaning employers, and he says that tends to devalue the experience of other students. The Transition Year support team would be keen to talk to employers.
The number of students doing Transition Year has increased steadily since 1994, when the six year senior cycle became an option for all students. The number of pupils beginning Transition Year next September is likely to exceed 27,500, the largest number ever Two new Leaving Certificate programmes - the Leaving Certificate Applied and the Leaving Certificate Vocational are also being offered in an increasing number of schools.
The changes in senior cycle mean that some schools will now be offering four senior cycle programmes for smaller schools, this probably will not be viable, so schools will have to opt for particular programmes.
