Diary of a schoolteacher: If only we could teach kids something that they want to learn [Independent.ie]
- Published: 13 October 2010
I always thought that I was a lone madman, working on my own to expose the foibles of the Irish education behemoth but, no, just reading the education pages over the last week or two has brought it home that it's just not me who believes the current Leaving Certificate format is a steaming pile.
One expert describes the exam as a "blight on education" and then another claims that around a quarter of students become disengaged and disenchanted as early as their second year in secondary school. As if this wasn't enough, a few other authoritative voices added to the chorus, claiming that when Irish kids reach college their tutors have to reprogram them to get them to think for themselves instead of regurgitating received knowledge, and that it's all just a "stultifying points race".
This is all good stuff because it means that there is now a cohort of Irish education experts who have actually been in a classroom recently and seen for themselves the kind of learning apartheid that we operate.
One of them mentions the students with money and motivation who are ideally placed to take on the Leaving Cert and get on to a decent course in a good college.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
