Teaching Matters: Prof Tom CollinsSchooling evolved historically out of the recognition that there were societal requirements for knowledge and expertise which could not be met by other systems such as the family and community.
The beginnings of universal primary education in the first half of the 19th century in England and Ireland reflected the requirements of an industrial society for mass literacy. In addition, schooling introduced or further developed other key disciplines necessary for the effective functioning of an industrial society. These included punctuality, following instructions and an appreciation of the concepts of specialisms and standards.
Today in Ireland we expect different things of schooling. A child entering primary school this year is likely to remain in full-time education until the year 2022. If education is about envisaging and preparing for the future, we know little enough about the world these children will emerge into.
How should the education system respond to such a uncertain context? Dealing with the challenges of the present is difficult enough. Anticipating and planning for future ones is even more daunting.
It is self-evident that if we do not know what the future holds, the education project should be one of preparing children to respond to the unknown.
This is a profound challenge to the education system, accustomed as it is to operating from a position of superior knowledge and certitude.
However, what we can be sure of is that the education system must now move away from a focus for preparing children for a life of work to one which is concerned with preparing them for a life of learning. This changed focus transforms the purpose of early life education.
As the focus of education shifts from one of lifelong work to one of lifelong learning, each of the education sectors must move somewhat from a focus on what is learned to one which is more concerned with the learner's capability for learning, disposition and motivation for learning and readiness to move to the next learning stage.
The foundational importance of the pre-school years for readiness to learn through life, though well established in the literature, is only slowly being realised in the institutional provision of pre-school education in Ireland. This is despite the emergence of the overwhelming body of research showing the pivotal significance of effective early intervention in the educational development of the pre-school child, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
At primary level, curriculum changes introduced incrementally over recent decades, and enabled by the abolition of the Primary Certificate in the late 1960s, have allowed for the development of a child-centred curriculum which appears to be highly effective in engaging the children in multifaceted ways in their own learning. The sector, however, is not without strain. While pupil-teacher ratios have consistently improved over the years, many of the additional staff have been deployed in much needed, but specialist one-to-one services. Class sizes, therefore, have remained worryingly high.
There is a strong educational case for tackling this issue. Furthermore, there is some anecdotal evidence that as post-primary looms from fourth class on, the focus of the primary syllabus begins to shift to the more traditional 3Rs where concern for the child's ability to handle the predominantly cognitive agenda of second level begins to take precedence.
Second-level education in Ireland has functioned within a clearly defined policy framework that is a transparent points system which rewards students on the basis of performance in the Leaving Certificate. The sector operates, therefore, within clearly defined parameters where the purpose is clear and unambiguous - to maximise points gained. Career choice, mediated through the third-level applications system is determined by achievements here and, theoretically at any rate, the student's life course is now laid down.
At a time of rapid change where old certainties no longer hold true, assumptions such as these are poorly grounded. In a context where insecurity is the norm, such long-term determinism can strait-jacket students and limit their ability to adapt and respond to new situations and unanticipated threats and to find new solutions to problems we cannot yet even envisage. For such situations creativity, imagination and lateral capabilities are the essential attributes.
The challenge which this presents to second-level education arises from the fact that this sector has traditionally been seen as the end of education. Compulsory education ends at 16 years. The terminal examination at the end of post-primary is referred as the "Leaving" Certificate. The characteristic urgency of second level, then, arises from a historical commitment to make sure the student got everything needed to sustain them for the rest of their working lives.
This of course patently no longer applies. More than 60 per cent of the cohort now go on to post-school education and this figure continues to rise. Many more will return to education on and off throughout their lives. There is now no reason why their futures should be predestined by achievements at second level. For this reason, addressing their current developmental needs is likely to be the best way of preparing them for their future lives.
Prof Tom Collins is head of education at NUI Maynooth
