SVP petitions minister to set up schoolbook rental scheme [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 20 May 2011
THE St Vincent de Paul is to meet with the Minister for Education in the coming weeks to try and convince him to help families who are struggling to cope with the cost of schoolbooks which it has branded "crazy and unnecessary".
According to its estimates, by the time they leave school, a family with four children could have spent as much as €3,200 on secondary schoolbooks alone, that most of the time can’t even be reused.
The SVP said the constant flow of unnecessary new editions means that families are forced to keep forking out for new texts, while tonnes of books end up being dumped.
A petition has been set up at www.svp.ie/books, to call on Ruairi Quinn to set up an effective book rental scheme.
"Ireland is one of only a few European countries to make even the poorest pay for books. It’s a shocking burden on hard-pressed families," the SVP said.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
Schools 'should embrace interactive learning' [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 20 May 2011
Children may be able to take advantage of the benefits offered by videogame-based learning if such technologies are embraced by schools.
This is according to lecturer at the Waterford Institute of Technology Dr Patrick Felicia, writing in the Irish Independent, who said that while many countries in Europe now use interactive media in the classroom, it is not as common in Ireland.
"I strongly believe that more Irish schools and universities need to embrace this new method," he said, noting that the fun and educational content of games can help children better "experience" a topic they are studying.
Dr Felicia added that teachers could find these tools help motivate their pupils, which will boost their performance.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Expert advises schools to adopt US framework on bullying [educationmatters.ie]
- Published: 20 May 2011
A principal once commented that every school has problems with bullying - whether it knows it or not. There is no doubt that this is the case.
There are so many different types of bullying that can take place in the environment of a school that it can be difficult to keep track. Furthermore, the politics of dealing with the issue can be extremely difficult for any Principal or Board of Management.
The Department of Education & Skills defines bullying as “repeated inappropriate behaviour whether by word, by physical action or otherwise, directly or indirectly applied, by one or more persons against another person or persons, which undermines the individual person’s right to personal dignity”.
Full Story: www.educationmatters.ie
Irish parents warned over new craze of Facebook kissing pages [irishcentral.com]
- Published: 20 May 2011
Irish parents are being warned about the latest craze where high school students are uploading images of themselves kissing each other onto the Internet.
Third level students started the trend called 'shifting’ pages, which has now been picked up by school-goers
Students take pictures of their peers kissing and them upload them to Facebook before other users name and shame those involved.
One Facebook page set up by students from a County Longford high school has received almost 300 ‘likes’.
The National Parents Council has now called on Facebook to impose stricter privacy measures following images of young people being intimate.
Full Story: www.irishcentral.com
Is school bad for kids? [Independent.ie]
- Published: 19 May 2011
Is school bad for kids? "Yes!" says creativity expert Ken Robinson in his highly entertaining and compelling talk, ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity?’
At first glance, killing creativity might not seem a big deal – so what if kids don’t waste time painting and singing? But, looking closer, creativity is defined as “the abil¬ity to transcend traditional ideas, rules and patterns and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods and interpre¬tations” it becomes harder to dismiss its importance. Could a lack of creativity underlie the current global disorder and how can we possibly find a way out of this mess without meaningful new ideas and methods?
So, who is this Ken Robinson? He has been a busy man: professor of education at Warwick University; government adviser; international speaker; author of two books and numerous reports; and a major collector of academic gongs, including a knighthood in 2003. He is described as an expert in creativity and innovation, but, first and foremost, he is a skilled, engaging educator whose pas¬sion is contagious.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
