ASTI: Schools need a reforms ‘breather’
Changes to the Leaving Certificate cycle should not be made in the near future due to deteriorating” working conditions for teachers, uncertainty around Junior Cycle reform, and general underfunding of education.
That is the warning in independent research, commissioned by the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), examining the ongoing review of senior cycle education. The study by Brian Fleming argues that major curriculum changes at senior level should not be introduced until “inadequate” resource levels are addressed.
The research comes as the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is due to host a national consultation forum today on its progress reviewing the senior cycle to date. The NCCA review, which began in late 2016, is now in its third phase.
Public consultation on proposed reforms is to continue until November 1. The study warns against “side-lining” teachers during the policymaking process, while at the same time making them responsible for the successful implementation of any reforms.
“Teachers’ work is becoming increasingly intensified, with teachers expected to respond to greater pressures and comply with multiplying innovations in conditions that are at best stable and at worst deteriorating,” the report states.
Some of the conditions affecting teachers include unequal pay structures for those who entered the profession after 2011, limited capacity in schools, and the ‘casualisation’ of contracts, according to the report. There is also a limited supply of teachers, and there has been limited restoration of promotional opportunities for those in the field.
With the NCCA expected to present its proposals on the senior cycle to the Minister for Education in early 2020, it is unlikely that these factors will have changed, the report adds. It will also be too early to take in the full effects of the Junior Cycle reforms, which began to be implemented in 2015, the report argues. I said:
The outcome from the Junior Cycle reform will still be very uncertain [in early 2020]. We will not even have a comprehensive review, much less an evaluation by then.
While reforms of the senior cycle are required, schools are also in need of a ‘breather’ from the current patterns of ongoing changes and additional workloads, the report adds.
“A break of three years would allow schools to focus on how the Junior Cycle reform is unfolding and for a rigorous independent evaluation to be initiated.”
ASTI president Deirdre MacDonald said: “Teachers must be treated as key stakeholders at all stages of education policy development.
“Their concerns must be listened to and addressed. They are the ones with the professional experience to understand what issues, including implementation issues, may arise.”
She also called for a comprehensive review of the Junior Cycle framework to be undertaken prior to the development of any senior cycle proposals.
The NCCA review process to date has included collecting feedback from teachers and parents in collaborating schools, consultations with almost 2,500 students, email submissions, and 1,854 online responses.
