An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta

Department of Education and Science

 

Subject Inspection of Irish

REPORT

 

Beech Hill College

Monaghan

Roll Number: 72210Q

 

Date of inspection: 13 February 2007

Date of issue of report: 21 February 2008

 

 

 

This subject inspection report

Subject provision and whole school support

Planning and Preparation

Teaching and Learning

Assessment

Summary of main findings and recommendations

 

 

Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in Irish

This subject inspection report

 

This report has been written following a subject inspection in Beech Hill College (Coláiste Ard Feá) as part of a whole school evaluation. It presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning in Irish and makes recommendations for the further development of the teaching of this subject in the school. The evaluation was conducted over two days 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.

 

Subject provision and whole school support

 

The Irish department in the school was restructured since the beginning of the current school year. One of the Irish teachers was appointed to a post of responsibility to coordinate the duties of the Irish department as some of that position’s responsibilities. It was reported that a looser arrangement applied before that. There was a good record of the Irish department’s meetings to be observed in the departmental folder provided. Those accounts showed that definite aims were being clarified in order to implement improvements in the department and in the subject.

 

There was also a record of the minutes of those meetings together with copies of correspondence forwarded to the principal which drew attention to the Irish teachers’ requests and recommendations. The quality of those records was commendable. The following matters,  included in the matters discussed in the current school year, offer an indication of the Irish department’s attempts to implement improvements – ending the practice of forming foundation level classes at the start of the school year and focussing only on teaching higher level and ordinary level classes; each student to have a work folder for Irish henceforth; agreeing new timetable arrangements to serve the needs of higher level students in the junior cycle; gradually extending coordinated planning of work schemes to all years in the school; agreeing a procedure regarding the movement of students from one level to another; agreeing a policy regarding the arrangements made for students with exemptions from Irish. 

 

It was reported that four Irish department meetings are held formally during the school year and that other lunchtime meetings are held in teachers’ time in addition to these. It would be worth clarifying these arrangements in the departmental documents in order to confirm a plan of formal meetings at the start of the year. The matters mentioned above indicate how much the teachers are attempting to implement improvements and it is recommended that arrangements regarding meetings should be confirmed, as there was some uncertainty displayed regarding the current arrangements.  

 

There was a very high number of students granted exemptions from Irish in accordance with the provisions of circular M10/94. That very high number was a cause of concern for the Irish department and the management in that it greatly increased the difficulties in making appropriate arrangements for those students when Irish was on the timetable. It was reported that fourteen students with exemptions were still studying Irish. An Irish programme was already provided for foreign students on a limited residence scheme in the country. In other cases students with exemptions from Irish are accepted into the Irish classes on those days on which support programmes are not available for them.

 

The management supports a favourable allocation of time for the subject on the timetable. There are five periods in each year of the three years in the junior cycle but four in the case of classes for the Junior Certificate School Programme. There are three periods a week for Transition Year and for Irish classes in the Applied Leaving Certificate. Six periods are provided for Irish in fifth and sixth years.

 

The Irish department in the current school year recommended to management that the number of Irish classes in a particular year group which occurred in the afternoon should be changed. It was understood that the management acted accordingly when the timetable was restructured. The arrangements for time allocation of the subject are regarded as satisfactory and good arrangements operate to ensure that double classes do not apply.

 

The management has provided a good supply of resources for the subject in response to the Irish department’s requests. The Irish teachers are in charge of their own classrooms and therefore all the teachers have storage space for resources. In one of those rooms there is a data projector and computer with internet connection on which the Irish spellchecker ‘Gael Spell 3’ is available, as well as a television and video player. Each teacher has a radio and CD player. A supply of books has been purchased to develop the Irish language book collection in the school library. The school has also bought a complete series of good dictionaries for use by the students in the class.

 

The classrooms were well decorated with the students’ own displays and there were notices and attractive posters in Irish on the walls. One of those rooms was filled with attractive material which illustrated student participation in various competitions such as public speaking and drama in Irish.

 

There was also evidence of Irish-language activities held as part of European Day of Languages and as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge activities, including a quiz in Irish. It was understood also that certain students went live on air on Monaghan local radio to speak about the project they undertook during the year in the Irish class. All of these attempts to promote Irish in activities outside of the Irish class itself are to be commended.

 

Planning and Preparation

 

The allocation of levels of classes among the Irish teachers is an essential part of the planning and preparation for the teaching of the subject. That is, the teachers should know in advance what classes and levels each teacher in the department will be responsible for. It was understood that the school management allocates various teaching levels to the teachers in rotation as much as possible. It would be worth clarifying this approach more to provide a clear understanding that the same opportunity and responsibility would apply to each member of the department. Such an arrangement would mean that the Irish teachers would, in their turn, have higher level classes as part of the teaching programme.

 

An integral part of the professional development of every Irish teacher is gaining knowledge of all the syllabi as well as experience in teaching all levels. Appropriate preparation for this should be made at management level and at individual teacher level. It is recommended that management inform the teachers at the end of the school year which Irish classes they will have in their care in the following school year. Each teacher should make appropriate planning and preparation for those classes before the start of the new school year. Such an approach would help avoid the re-allocation of classes following the start of the school year.

 

The attitude of the teachers to the lack of in-service courses for Irish teachers and their interest in such courses was noted. The Irish department and school management are accordingly advised to avail of the support which will be available for Irish teachers under the Second Level Support Service regarding teaching and learning, planning and review strategies, as well as support for the Irish teachers’ proficiency in Irish.

 

Personal work schemes which the teachers prepared for their own classes were observed, which gave a good illustration of the type of work being implemented. The documents supplied and discussion with the teachers provided evidence that coordinated planning has commenced in the Irish department regarding the agreement of programmes for teaching and learning. A common work scheme was agreed for the first year and the effectiveness of that scheme was reviewed at the end of the school year. Work is continuing regarding the agreement of work schemes in Transition Year and fifth year and attention to the other work schemes is evident in the departmental documentation as work in progress. It is recommended that this work programme be completed and reviewed in order to implement amendments gradually.

 

Attention to the integration of various language skills is evident in the first year schemes – a commendable approach. Copies of extracts from the Junior Certificate Irish syllabus were attached to the schemes as a guide for topics and the work of the schemes was faithful to those topics. It would be worthwhile for all teachers to have copies of the schemes at each level in addition to the scheme for the level in their own care in any year in order to prepare well any student who might be considering changing levels for that change.

 

It would be worth including a clear reference in the plans to the development of conversational skills and paying appropriate attention to that work as an essential element of the work in all classes – as is seen in the aims of the various syllabi. The reference to conversation observed in the fifth year work scheme relates to composition work as it is to be performed on paper one of the Leaving Certificate examination. It would be worth also recording target language usage in the class in the work schemes.

 

It was understood that the computer room is available for Irish on request. It would be worth including the possibilities associated with an information and communications technology (ICT) item as part of the coordinating planning work so that there would be a common approach in this regard among all teachers. It would be worth including work of this type gradually and using appropriate websites which would present Irish to the students as part of contemporary life.  Links could also be established with students in another school to exchange e-mails. This would ensure that the students would have a common hands-on experience of Irish which would connect the subject with ICT technology.

 

It was understood that copies of television programmes were recorded from TG4 and that they are used in the classes from time to time. It would be worth including an account of these resources in the subject plan and making reference to their use during the year.

 

Teaching and Learning

 

Six classes were observed during the inspection – classes in first year, second year and fifth year. Four of those related to ordinary level and two to higher level – a ratio in keeping with the ratio in the school in general. Due to in-house examinations and other arrangements classes were not available in third year, Transition Year or sixth year.

Classes are divided from the start of the school year between ordinary level and higher level. The Irish department, with the active support of the principal, is to be commended for the decision, already implemented, not to start a foundation level class from first year onwards. It would be worth considering taking a next step and testing the possibilities of mixed ability classes in first year in order to present a challenge to students from the start. This policy could be reviewed at the end of the first term and division made according to level if necessary. Great cooperation would be required among the teachers in first year to ensure that the same programme was being followed in the same classes.

 

There was a small number of students in each class and there were fewer than ten students present in most of those classes. On request from the Irish department to the principal one of those classes had been divided into two groups from the middle of the first term in order to provide additional support. There are good advantages to ratios of that sort for promoting group work and pair work – an approach which was practised effectively in some cases.

 

It would be worthwhile for the teachers to consider sharing teaching methods so that they could visit each other’s classes. Also – especially with junior classes – teaching could be done in partnership for the sake of variety and for the sake of experience by putting two classes together and having the teachers doing different work. Such an approach would be possible especially in first year where mixed ability classes were concerned. Careful planning with each other would be required to achieve this.

 

The above recommendation is made arising from the various practices observed with classes in the same year. There was appropriate variety in class activities in one case where oral questions from the teacher were to be answered by the students about their own hobbies, then new vocabulary from that talk was written down and practised. Pair work continued under the teacher’s direction, reading aloud was done and practising the pronunciation of the words. These students were active and participating in the class activities from the start. These students were assigned appropriate homework as a reminder of what had been done in class. All of the class activities were well-ordered and arranged from the start and the teaching was highly commended. In the discussion which the inspector had later with the students they took an active part in the conversation on subjects which had not been prepared in advance.

 

In the other case the work was limited to aural comprehension work and to questions relating to the textbook. Those questions were not developed or tailored for the students themselves and their own affairs. The answers relating to the questions in the book were practised. There was no practice of spoken Irish with the students about common daily activities and it was not clear what the lesson’s aim was from the beginning nor what new material the students would have acquired by the end. The work set out for the students showed a lack of variety and it was not obvious that the students had a mastery of this material though there was evidence in copybooks that such work had been done previously.

 

In the case of other classes in the junior cycle pertaining to the same year group there was a much greater synergy in the teachers’ approach – even though different levels were involved. The teachers were very approving of the students’ efforts and they encouraged them to take an active part in the class above and beyond the questions given to them to answer individually. In one case a poem was presented and was used greatly to develop a discussion about related subjects. Questions were prepared on sheets as additional encouragement to analyse the poem. A copy of the poem was displayed on a screen throughout so that no time was lost in referring to it. Another case involved practising writing an essay about their own school but conversation was practised freely as well as part of that work.

 

The work in those two classes was ordered and organised from beginning to end and the students’ work in the folders was clean, neat and well-organised.

 

There was a great variety in the approach observed in classes of the same level, in the same year, in the senior cycle. One poem was presented in one of those classes and good use was made of that poem to ask questions about the places mentioned in the poem as well as the subject itself. In that way there was lateral development of the poem’s subject matter in addition to the theme of the poem itself. The poem’s vocabulary was well explained and the students were given the opportunity to understand and practise that vocabulary. Efforts were made throughout to encourage the students to respond to the subject matter of the poem.

 

In the other case the work related to an aural comprehension test and answering questions pertaining to the aural comprehension test. The subject of the aural comprehension was not developed in any way to enable the students to utilise this vocabulary in expressing themselves. It was not clear that the lesson had any aim apart from answering the questions relating to the aural comprehension. No discussion followed or was initiated about matters relating to the students themselves and the students were barely active in the lesson apart from answering individual questions. In such a case – where there was only a small number of students in the class – it would be worth practising a significant item of conversation with the students and making them active in the learning. Copybooks or folders were not available in the case of this class and it was noted that the number of entries in the homework diaries observed was very low in terms of registering homework for Irish. Care should be taken in writing in homework as a record for the students themselves of the class work.

 

The teachers used the target language throughout – a commendable approach. That talk was much more effective when it concerned the encouragement of talk amongst the students as opposed to mere repetition of the instructions to be read on the prewritten questions in the book. There was good practice in place in most of the classes observed and it would be to the  benefit of the subject in the school if these professional best practices were to be widened.  

 

Assessment

 

Great attention was paid to the assignment of regular homework in the homework policy registered in the Irish department documents, in order revise class work. This policy stated that a certain amount of homework was to be assigned by all teachers at the end of each class – both written work and vocabulary work to be learned. It was also mentioned that such work was to be observed at the start of the next class.

 

It is also recorded that students must keep their work in folders – both homework and class work. Students’ folders were observed in most of the classes. Those folders observed were satisfactory as regards the quality of work in them and that work was in accordance with the aims of the department’s homework policy. The teachers’ recognition of that homework could be seen in the folders and all teachers had records of in-house and class examination results.

 

It would be worth considering awarding some of the marks in the in-house examinations for the quality of the homework – especially in the case of the junior classes, as an encouragement to them to take care with that work from the start. The quality of class folders and homework observed should be verified for all classes.  

 

There is a written entrance examination in Irish for applicants for places in first year in order to organise classes according to higher level and ordinary level from the beginning. The feeder primary schools are consulted to give guidance as to the nature of that test. It would be worth reviewing this test and making it more appropriate to the new primary curriculum – including communication skills. By conveying the amended type of test to the primary schools, it would be reasonable to assume that there would be a greater focus on encouraging communication skills – a common aim of the primary curriculum and the Irish syllabi at second level.

 

The Irish department’s folder contained a comprehensive record of the students’ achievements in the subject – pertaining to entrance examinations, in-house examinations and certificate examinations. The statistics relating to the entrance examination in Irish illustrated the size of the challenge faced by the Irish teachers to raise standards. The statistics relating to Irish in the certificate examinations showed that the Irish department was succeeding in its efforts to give the students the self-confidence to attempt the examinations and achieve results commensurate with their abilities. The department’s efforts were validated by the fall in the number of students attempting foundation level – especially in the statistics relating to Leaving Certificate for the past three years.

 

The teachers who initiated this policy are to be commended for their efforts to enhance the standing of the subject in the school, to set a greater challenge for students in the subject and for giving the students a greater ability to attempt a greater challenge.

 

It would be worth considering setting the speaking of Irish as one of the assessment methods practised to assess students’ progress in the language from the start of first year. Since the number of students in the classes is low, for the most part, it would be easy to organise oral examinations – something the class teacher could do or another teacher could do by exchanging this work, if the teachers think that such an approach would be better to focus the students’ attention on the requirements of the spoken language.

 

 

Summary of main findings and recommendations

The following are the main strengths 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 teachers and with the principal at the conclusion of the evaluation when the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.