IPPN

Published: 28 March 2011

GOVERNMENT plans to tackle falling literacy levels can only be achieved if schools are properly staffed and funded, a teachers’ leader has claimed.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) president, Jack Keane, also warned against over-reliance on testing as he called for greater focus on developing students’ motivation, self-esteem and social skills as well as their academic abilities.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has made one of his priorities in his new job the development and implementation of a national literacy strategy, including the setting of targets by each school. A draft national literacy and numeracy strategy, launched by Mr Quinn’s predecessor Mary Coughlan last November, is strongly focused on reforms of how primary and second-level teachers are trained, including extending the length of degree courses.

But Mr Keane told an ASTI seminar on curriculum development that, while a national literacy plan is welcome, it must be based on sound policy, evidence-based research and international best practice.

"It must also take into account the current strengths of the Irish education service and the resource limitations experienced by schools following more than two years of education cutbacks," he said.

He said literacy and numeracy test results can provide useful information for teachers and schools, particularly at crucial times such as when pupils transfer from primary to second level, but tests themselves do not improve literacy.

"They have little value if the resources are not available to schools to address literacy issues effectively. Pressures on teachers to improve literacy test scores could lead to ‘teaching to the test’, which would have a negative impact on teaching and learning," Mr Keane said.

Mr Quinn told the Dáil last week that he intends to give principals and teachers greater autonomy to obtain the required learning outcomes, with a particular focus needed on literacy. International test scores published in December showed the reading ability of Irish 15-year-olds fell more than in any other developed country between 2006 and 2009 and are now below OECD averages.