Uunions don’t strike lightly. In the past 30 years, secondary teachers withdrew their services during three different disputes, all relating to pay and conditions. That teachers are today locking out over 330,000 students over education policy indicates a real depth of concern.
All agree that reform of the junior cycle is necessary. Both ASTI and TUI, representing 27,000 second-level teachers, have backed elements of the revised plan set out by Minister for Education Jan O'Sullivan. But the issue of school-based assessment has proved a sticking point.
Teachers want to maintain external assessment, saying the plan would transform them into “judges” rather than “advocates” for their students. But reformers say this rhetoric is part of the problem. The junior cycle shouldn’t be seen as a linear journey towards a state exam that signals success or failure, but a process of exploration and discovery that nurtures real-world skills.
School-based assessment is the norm in many EU countries, although the British Tories are pushing for a return to terminal exams rather than course work at GCSE level, the Junior Cert equivalent. Yet the current proposals came from a lengthy consultation under the auspices of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. Virtually all other stakeholders back them. While teacher unions' may have important insights, there are other vald ones too. Nor can they have a veto on education reform.
Negotiation is key. Ms O’Sullivan could help matters by bringing clarity around resourcing – her officials have conceded that the current moratorium on filling middle-management posts in schools is “unsustainable” and much of the anger surrounding these reform stems from understandable concern about additional workload and organisational strain.
The unions, though, have to move too. By making school-based assessment non-negotiable, they are closing the door to compromise. A system of externally monitoring teachers’ grades – as happens in Scotland – could go a long way to safeguarding standards.