The first phase of in-service teacher training for the revised primary school curriculum has begun and will be completed by January of next year. So far, 20 out of the 21 education centres around the State have given the two-day introductory course to about 5,000 primary-school teachers. The introductory course is intended as an overview of the curriculum changes and also focuses on the approaches and methodologies behind the changes.
The course comprises six sessions, which encompass the structure and language of the curriculum documents, the changed emphasis in the curriculum, teaching strategies and how the curriculum has evolved from the 1971 version. The course is practical and allows teachers to try out the new ideas in workshops.
The primary teachers' union, the INTO, said it is pleased with the introductory course. The Department of Education has set aside six days for in-service training, which the union had asked for, in order to give teachers a proper grounding in the revised curriculum. Catherine Byrne, assistant general secretary of the INTO, says feedback from teachers who have attended the introductory course has been positive, particularly with regard to the tutors who gave the course and the actual curriculum.
However, Byrne said there were "major questions about resource implications". She says adequate equipment and material to ensure the child-centred approach of the curriculum is vital. There should be no large classes during implementation, and principal teachers should be freed up from classes to help introduce the curriculum, she said.
According to Byrne, about two-thirds of principals teach full-time, leaving no time to conduct the implementation of the revised curriculum into their schools. "The onus of bringing in the curriculum will fall on principal teachers," she says, and adds that principals are at "straining point". Byrne says that unless these vital resource needs are met the revised curriculum will not be introduced successfully.
MARIE O'Dea, vice-principal at St Joseph's Primary School in Navan, Co Meath, who last week attended the introductory course, echoes these sentiments: "You would need a lot of resources. For example, you can't teach the maths course without the proper material. The class sizes will also have a big influence on bringing in the curriculum."
O'Dea also has praise for the tutors who conducted the introductory course, saying they were particularly helpful in advising teachers on which parts of the revised curriculum's 23 books they should start off with. She stresses the importance of teachers having the in-service days to learn about the revised curriculum. "We need every one of these curriculum days because there is a lot to be done. It won't come overnight."
But O'Dea says the new curriculum is exciting and will ultimately benefit both teachers and pupils. "I have tried one or two things with my class and they loved it." The INTO said it hopes that the financial support such as the Infant Education Grant and the Science Grant, which were provided this year for new equipment for the curriculum, will become annual provisions for schools. Byrne says that, in particular, learning in the infant classrooms is equipment-based.
The introductory course is the first of four in-service courses on the revised curriculum planned for the 1999-2000 teaching year. After the introductory course, teachers will have a planning session, organised by each school, where they will go over what was outlined in the initial course. They will also start planning for the introduction of the curriculum, which will take place in September of next year.
Starting from next February, there will be a two-day in-career development on the English curriculum for schools and on the Irish curriculum for schools. Schools will take one day afterwards to plan for the introduction of the English or Irish curriculum. Training will be ongoing over an estimated five-year period, during which teachers will be given subject-specific courses.
