An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta
Department of Education and Science
Subject Inspection of History
REPORT
St. Patrick's College
Gardiner’s Hill, Cork
Roll number: 62730N
Date of inspection: 14 March 2006
Date of issue of report: 22 June 2006
Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in History
Subject Provision and Whole School Support
Summary of Main Findings and Recommendations
This subject inspection report
This report has been written following a subject inspection in Saint Patrick’s College. It presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning in History and makes recommendations for the further development of the teaching of this subject in the school. The evaluation was conducted over one day during which the inspector visited classrooms and observed teaching and learning. The inspector interacted with students and teachers, examined students’ work, and had discussions with the teachers. The inspector reviewed school planning documentation and teachers’ written preparation. Following the evaluation visit, the inspector provided oral feedback on the outcomes of the evaluation to the principal and subject teachers.
The board of management of the school was given an opportunity to comment on the findings and recommendations of the report; the board chose to accept the report without response.
As a voluntary secondary school, in keeping with the Rules and Programmes for Secondary Schools, St. Patrick’s offers History as a compulsory subject in junior cycle. Each class group has an allocation of three single periods per week and these are generally well spread across the days of the week and in a mix of morning and afternoon slots on the timetable. This is very satisfactory. Three teachers currently operate in junior cycle, with another teacher available but not currently timetabled for History.
The school has introduced a compulsory Transition Year in recent times and it is very encouraging to see the commitment that has obtained to timetabling History as a core subject within this year. This is very much in keeping with the broad aims of Transition Year, in terms of facilitating social studies and local studies. As the school plans to introduce a degree of subject pre-selection into Transition Year in the future, it would be of tremendous benefit to the broader education of students if a historical and social studies element could be retained as a core feature of Transition Year, regardless of whether an optional ‘History’ class is formed as well.
Owing to reduced student numbers in recent years and the year gap caused by the introduction of Transition Year, there has not been a fifth or sixth year class in History since the inception of the revised Leaving Certificate syllabus. This is unfortunate but has been hard to avoid up to recently. Some factors suggest that this situation may be rectifiable in the coming years. Firstly, the school has a number of teachers qualified to teach the subject to Leaving Certificate level. Secondly, and to its credit, it has also supported the attendance of teachers at in-service training for the revised syllabus even while there has not been a senior class at the school. The offering of History as a core element in Transition Year should be a further boost to possible uptake in fifth year, although this may not be helped if a form of subject pre-selection is introduced as anticipated. Most encouraging of all, perhaps, is the fact that intake levels in the present first year, as well as anticipated levels for next year, suggest that a viable senior History class could be a reality within the next two to three years if uptake levels reflect national trends.
Despite the absence of a Leaving Certificate History class, the school is commended on the manner in which it has facilitated an open subject choice for students entering fifth year up to now. No fixed bands, for example, have prevented students from opting for Leaving Certificate History. The school is also anxious to restore a regular senior class and has been pro-active in engaging a visiting speaker from UCC’s Schools Liaison Committee to speak with third-year and Transition Year students. It remains to be seen whether the planned imposition of a degree of subject pre-selection on Transition Year students will hamper senior History uptake. However, the commitment of management and History personnel to make students aware of what the revised senior syllabus involves is applauded as an important support to student subject selection.
The school has facilitated a small library in a prefabricated classroom, with a nice selection of books which suit junior and, in some cases, senior students who might wish to undertake research studies. If a senior class in History emerges in time, it is suggested that the stock of books might be productively updated, resources permitting. Another useful option would be the sourcing of some relatively inexpensive periodicals, such as History Ireland and BBC History, the latter being a source of material which could have a wide range of uses in junior classes as well.
The prospects for development of information technology in the teaching and learning of History have been strongly enhanced in recent years at the school. A very well-appointed computer room, substantially equipped through the support of teachers, parents and former students at a fundraising event, offers modern equipment with broadband internet access. In addition, the teachers currently involved in History have all enrolled in an ‘ICT and History’ course, under the auspices of the National Centre for Technology in Education, as a follow on from in-service training which some have attended. This is an outstanding commitment by both school and staff to ICT development. Some History classes have already seen the deployment of the school’s portable data projector in the foyer for illustrated teaching of junior year groups and there is every reason to expect that the aforementioned initiatives will enable teachers to build on this in the future.
The school has a de facto History department but formal meeting times have been limited thus far to roughly once a year. The degree of informal collaboration which has occurred, with just three teachers active in History currently, is also valuable, with the sharing of ideas, resources and joint involvement in ICT training being evidence of this. An openness to discussion and sharing of ideas was also very evident during the inspection visit. In anticipation of a move to more formal structure for subject departments, it is suggested that possible issues for discussion within the History department, if time is made available, could include the feeding back to all teachers of the core points arising from Leaving Certificate in-service, in terms of content, methodology and available resources. Teachers are already agreed on the desirability of establishing a regular senior cycle dimension for the subject, which can assist learning and teaching of History at all levels. In years where there may be a Higher Diploma in Education student in History on staff, her/his inclusion in any formal meeting structure would also be beneficial. Another issue which teachers are likely to consider more in the future is that of developing strategies for mixed-ability teaching, given that the school has moved more in that direction with first-year classes recently.
Individual planning and preparation by teachers was satisfactory. In syllabus-driven lessons visited, it was clear that teachers were well aware of the material that needed to be covered, including what required particular emphasis, and all were teaching material appropriate to the year groups and the time of year. In Transition Year, it was very good to see the preparation of materials with a local emphasis, allowing students to deal with events which could be relevant to Leaving Certificate in time but with the focus very much on local, visual and student-friendly matters. The incorporation of a visit to Collins’ Barracks into the theme currently being covered is applauded as another vehicle for enriching students’ awareness of historical issues. Some very good examples of teacher-generated handouts were also seen, including archival and notes-based material, as were some very thorough, structured lesson notes geared very specifically to the learning needs of a particular class group.
As a further support to History teaching, membership of the Cork branch of the History Teachers’ Association of Ireland has been recommended. Even if it is only possible to attend some of the branch meetings, and mindful that some of these may deal exclusively with Leaving Certificate issues at present, membership of the branch is heartily encouraged as a support mechanism and an opportunity to share ideas and concerns with a wide circle of other History teachers. Membership also entitles teachers to a copy of the magazine Stair and access for teachers and students to a number of other useful events during the academic year.
While the classes visited ranged considerably in size and between mixed ability and special groups, the general atmosphere which obtained in all was supportive of learning. Teachers adopted a warm, positive approach to students and the overall quality of teacher-student interaction was very high. Touches of humour were employed on occasion, as were pleasant references to students’ and teachers’ ancestors and home places, while some homework monitoring seen was done on a one-to-one basis with very supportive teacher comments helping to set the tone for the rest of the lesson. Where required, very sensitive and helpful support was given to a student whose first language was not English. Although some lessons took place in pre-fabricated buildings and no teacher had a base room, the degree to which classrooms themselves were orderly, with good desk provision and layout, clear sight lines to the board and occasional visual stimuli on the walls also helped to create an atmosphere conducive to learning.
Despite the obvious shyness of some students, it was good to see the degree to which teachers overall managed to engage them in lesson development from the outset. Sometimes this was done simply by patiently teasing out issues from previous lessons with the class but more often, it came through in question-and-answer sessions which delved into the objectives of the new lesson. This was particularly effective where the questions were not too generalised and were directed at a mixture of ‘volunteer’ and ‘conscript’ answerers, so to speak. Where possible, teachers clarified or reinforced answers given by students, linking the responses to issues with which the general student body could associate. Examples included the comparison of information gleaned on feudalism to what the students knew of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and comparing a possible Napoleonic invasion of Ireland to the GAA’s ‘back door’ system. These were simple but effective tactics to help deepen students’ thinking on the responses they were giving. Students were encouraged to ask their own questions too, with even the occasional ‘eccentric’ question being handled very well and in good humour by the teacher.
An important feature of lesson development seen was the use of localised examples and events to develop student engagement. Naturally, these were more readily, though not exclusively, afforded when the topics being covered were of an Irish background. Very interesting anecdotes about local commercial families, rebels and war-time spies, as well as locally-based examples of serfs escaping to medieval towns for a year and a day and even the contrast between what could be seen from a classroom window today and in Famine times are examples of this local focus. Given the historical nature of this school’s environs, and the importance of making material relevant to students, the emphasis on deploying local material in this way is heartily endorsed.
In the majority of lessons seen, teachers used the board very well as a support to topic development and student retention. Sometimes, unusual or foreign words were placed on the board as they came up and were broken down to assist student understanding. Some very clear diagrams were generated, making sense of historical class structures, and any text placed on the board was in language and handwriting with which students could engage. Students were encouraged in these classes to take notes of the key points. This should never be underestimated as a learning strategy, simply in that board use and note-taking add both visual and active dimensions to the otherwise oral messages being given, assisting student learning. Note taking was never engaged in ad nauseam, which is applauded, and the possibility of developing a note-making ethic in students, where they make notes spontaneously rather than by direction, is worthy of consideration too, as this encourages them to be active in their learning and to think critically. The checks which teachers made, to ensure that everyone was ready before the board was cleaned or to ensure through oral questions that students fully grasped what they were noting, were very good supportive strategies seen.
It was refreshing to see how little textbook reading was utilised during lessons. In some, it was not employed at all, with the central emphasis being on discussion, explanation and questioning. While there were times when the visual stimuli, such as drawings, maps and photographs which textbooks contain might have complemented what was being covered in class, it was appropriate that textbooks were used as a support to student revision, to assist in homework tasks etc. but that mere reading from them was not a significant feature of any lesson. Interaction with students near the end of lessons showed that a very good focus on the topic for study had been retained, as well as a good understanding, without recourse to textbooks.
Whole-school policies on assessment are satisfactory. All classes sit formal tests at Christmas and summer, with slightly more low-key class tests at the October mid-term and prior to Easter. The policy of sending four reports annually to parents/guardians is evidence of very thorough communication of progress and achievement levels, complemented by annual parent-teacher meetings for all year groups.
Some very valuable assessment strategies have been identified within History. Oral questioning and the monitoring of homework have already been mentioned but, so too, the commitment of teachers to formative assessment was self-evident in many of the students’ copies examined. The emphasis in such assessment has been on encouraging and supporting student efforts, which is applauded. The practice in most classes of ensuring that students maintain separate homework and notes copybooks is a very sensible one, and the good practice, in one class, of encouraging students to write in the question as well as the answers when doing homework should assist revision later. Very thorough correction of students' examination papers has also been evident.
A good range of homework questions has been employed, ranging from short-answer questions to longer, ‘People-in-History’ questions in junior classes. This is very satisfactory. Given the mixed-ability nature of some classes and the fact that others are within education support contexts, it is also worthwhile extending the visual focus previously discussed into some homework tasks, to include drawing exercises, stimulus-driven comprehension questions, examples of which have been seen deployed very effectively. It has also been suggested that the use of the Junior Certificate marking strategy, built around ‘Significant, Relevant Statements’, in marking some of the longer homework tasks could also be used occasionally in helping students to identify what good ‘history-writing’ involves and how to build an answer to maximum effect. The possibilities for developing student project work in Transition Year have already been identified at the school and certainly deserve to be persevered with in coming years as well.
The following are the main strengths and areas for development identified in the evaluation:
As a means of building on these strengths and to address areas for development, the following key recommendations are made:
Post-evaluation meetings were held with the principal and with the teachers of History at the conclusion of the evaluation at which the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.