An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta
Department of Education and Science
Subject Inspection of Irish
REPORT
St Killian’s Vocational School
New Inn,
Roll number: 71310P
Subject provision and whole-school support
Summary of the main findings and recommendations
Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in Irish
Subject inspection report
This report was written
following a subject inspection in St Killian’s Vocational School, New Inn,
Subject provision and whole-school support
The teaching and learning of Irish are served favourably in the timetable in St Killian’s Vocational School. The junior pupils have five periods per week and the senior pupils have six. These are all single class periods. The first year pupils are divided according to State Examination level, based on the results of tests which they sit after they come to the school in September. The lessons are concurrent from first year to Leaving Certificate. The pupils are encouraged to follow the higher course as far as possible into the cycle as appropriate. The management is to be congratulated for the provision and the support given to the teaching and learning of Irish. It is recommended that the practice of streaming first year pupils according to levels in State examinations so early in their post-primary schooling be reviewed.
Two teachers are engaged in the teaching and learning of Irish and they are both graduates of Irish. The teachers have experience of teaching both cycles. However, one teacher teaches the higher level only, and the other teacher teaches only at ordinary level from the first year through to Leaving Certificate. This practice should be reviewed to ensure that all the department teachers have the required experience and skills to enable them to teach to the various certificate levels. One of the teachers is a member of Comhar na Múinteoirí Gaeilge (Irish Language Teachers’ Association). The school management encourages and supports the staff to attend ongoing professional development courses. The teachers attended inservice courses organised by the Second Level Support Service last year.
The department has put
together a remarkable amount of resources, CDs and other teaching and learning
materials over the years. The resources comprise folders with notes, subject
matter for essays, examination questions, magazines and general information
useful for the courses that are being taught. This work is praiseworthy. The
two teachers have rooms of their own with storage space in each. The Irish
teaching team is to be praised for the amount of research
carried out in the resources provided for their pupils. These resources
are reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis. The list of resources that is
available for post-primary pupils on the website www.cogg.ie and the links on the Second
Level Support Service site for Irish at www.slss.ie
are suggested as reference points when resources are being further developed in
the future. A listening archive, of material recorded by the students
themselves about various topics, could be assembled. The school has good
information and communication technology (ICT) resources which have been
recently updated and modernised. The integration of ICT into the teaching and
learning experiences of Irish is limited, however. It is recommended that this
be reviewed in the current year. A coordinator has been appointed by the
Vocational Education Committee (VEC) in
A wide range of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities is organised for the students; including table quizzes, Seachtain na Gaeilge, creative writing competitions, Gaeltacht scholarships and trips to the theatre, as well as visits by well-known writers to the school. The students also take part in Gael-Linn radio programme competitions. A prize for distinction in Irish is presented during the annual special whole-school prize-giving. The staff is to be congratulated for diligence in promoting the Irish language both inside and outside the classroom.
Planning and preparation
The Irish teaching staff began the process of school developmental planning (SDP) last year, augmenting the informal planning that had been conducted until that time. The Irish staff meets formally five times a year. Minutes of formal meetings are recorded. Among the specific questions discussed are; choice of textbooks, streaming of pupils at the various examination levels, arrangements for examinations and cross-curricular and extra-curricular activities for the subject. The teachers also meet regularly on an informal as well as on a formal basis. The staff is to be congratulated for this cooperative approach. There is a coordinator for Irish in the school. It is suggested that this work be rotated so that more than one person would have experience and understanding of the responsibilities associated with the coordination.
Short-term curricular planning was of a high standard. In general, best planning practices were observed in junior cycle. The delivery of language functions and topics were planned for in an integrated across the language skills, as is advised in the syllabus. This approach is commended. The same thematic integration for curricular planning at senior cycle is also recommended. The Irish staff has not developed a departmental plan as yet. Their short-term plans could be used as a basis for developing a collaborative departmental plan. Details of the methodologies could be included, teaching and learning resources as well as the assessment modes to be used within certain time-frames. It would be advisable to liaise with the learning support team in order to plan strategies for attending to pupils with special educational needs.
The promotion of Irish and the standard of spoken Irish are mentioned as priorities for the current school year. It is recommended that the department devise an action plan for the subject which sets out practical steps to be taken in order to achieve identified priorities in a systematic way in the future.
Teaching and learning
Planning for all the lessons that were observed during the inspection was of a high standard. As a result of this, the lessons were structured, progressive and the majority of them were suitably paced. The teachers are to be strongly commended for their professional approach towards short-term planning.
The Irish language was used as a medium for teaching and learning and for all other classroom interactions. The teachers all graded the target language they employed. This approach is lauded as it avoids using the translation method too often. Some of the teachers directed the pupils’ attention to points of grammar as they arose during the lesson. In one case the teacher had chosen to focus on one formal grammar point. The teacher returned to this point again and again during the lesson. This teaching and learning technique is commended for the teaching of grammar and its extended use is recommended.
Students were not familiar with all the target language of the classroom, phrases like; ‘What is the Irish for that?’ ‘What does that mean? ‘I do not understand.’ ‘I did not get that answer.’ and ‘Do you agree with that answer?’ It would be advisable to think about what kind of vocabulary each year group needs for questioning, requesting, and for admitting to their difficulties in the target language during Irish lessons. This reference vocabulary could be written on posters and hung on the wall of the room and changed each term. In this way all year groups could incrementally learn a range of useful vocabulary each year.
A very good variety of effective methodologies and techniques was used during the inspection. In the poetry lessons observed the teacher integrated the theme of the poem with a piece of modern music. The music and the theme of the poem were discussed and the students got the opportunity to display their knowledge of the poem and to use their oral language skills. During whole-class work the students constructed their own understanding of the poem with the guidance of the teacher. A recap of the subject matter already covered was done in pairs or in groups. There were prepared sheets for these group tasks and a reporter was nominated beforehand. The teacher went around the classroom and attended to the needs of the groups and supported the students’ learning. A substantial debriefing session was conducted in which the students got the opportunity to display the learning achieved during the tasks. This was an example of good practice, in which there was a balance between the teacher’s input and the activities of the students. It is recommended that this practice be more widely used.
Most of the lessons ended with questions from examination papers, questions that were pertinent to the subject just completed during the class periods. In one class, revision was assigned on different aspects of the syllabus based on the main theme of the poem which had been discussed during the lesson. This practice, of assigning homework integrated according to a chosen theme is commended.
In other classes clear questioning was used to carry out revision of a prose story and the terminology pertaining to the theme of school. The very good preparatory work carried out ensured that the questions were at a suitable level for the students. In one class the students gave good natural answers to the questions that they were asked. In the other class, where questioning techniques were employed as the principal method for teaching and learning, the pupils answered questions on five paragraphs of a story based on pre-prepared notes. It would be advisable that when revising a piece of prose, a portion of the story would be chosen and the students arranged in pairs according to their ability or to facilitate peer learning. In that way, the teacher’s talk will be minimised and the students will get the opportunity to practise both their listening and speaking skills.
The white boards and the overhead projectors were used profitably during all the lessons. This method was effective in reinforcing the vocabulary or phrases that had only been given orally, as is good practice.
The Irish teachers have their own base rooms and a motivational print-rich environment had been created in them. There was an archive of CDs of listening material in one room and authentic magazines on display. All teachers had effective classroom management skills. There was an atmosphere of mutual respect and enthusiasm for learning in each lesson observed during the inspection. The teachers knew their students well and this added to the teaching and learning encounter. In general, there were high expectations of the learning and of the behaviour in each class. The students were always positively reinforced for the standard of their attempts and for their opinions.
Assessment
The school has developed a draft policy for homework and assessment this year. A comprehensive homework diary was introduced this school year. The class teacher monitors the diary and parents or guardians sign it regularly. Praise is due to the management and teachers for this project, which supports homework as part of the process of teaching and learning in the school. A random sample of the diaries that were reviewed showed that homework was regularly given but that there was an overemphasis on writing and on learning in the task assigned. It was reported that the students doing certificate examinations were set listening texts for homework. In one lesson homework was set on poetry, an essay topic and preparation for the oral examination based on the same theme. These strategies are laudable. It is recommended that variety across all language skills be included in the task assigned for homework as this reinforces student competence in all skills instead of giving prominence to one skill only. The homework is often taken down bilingually. The teachers are to be commended for using the recording of the homework as a source for teaching and learning.
The limited amount of developmental corrections was evident in the copybooks reviewed during the inspection. It was reported that the correction of substantial pieces of writing is done regularly and that the students rewrite the correct version of what they wrote originally. These corrections are used as a diagnostic assessment tool, and further lessons are taught based on the analysis of the students’ grammar and spelling errors. The staff is to be congratulated for this approach because it gives students personal clarification of their errors as well as explaining basic mistakes that are very common at the various levels. It is suggested that this diagnostic analysis could sometimes be used as a remedial lesson with the students correcting errors on their own or in pairs. The development of testing oral Irish competence is an articulated priority of the Irish department this year. It is suggested that a mock oral examination be used as part of students’ experience of summative testing in the target language, and that a cumulative mark for participation in Irish in class be awarded as a part of their continuous assessment. It would be beneficial to highlight this mark for oral language in the reports that are sent home. It is recommended that guidelines agreed to by the Irish teachers for homework, for the process of correction and for assessment, be outlined in the departmental plan. The senior pupils are set monthly tests, and the results are sent home. The school is designing a computer package at the moment, which would give the teachers in the school access to the students’ results and to their progress. The senior students' learning-styles are assessed and they also undergo a multi-intelligence survey, so that the teachers are aware of their strengths and their weaknesses. This approach is strongly encouraged and the possibilities of assessing the junior students in like manner should be explored. Summative tests are held four times a year for all the students in the school and a report is sent home on the basis of these tests.
Some of the teachers foster organisational skills through the recording of the learning by systematically keeping different parts of the courses in separate areas of the copybooks. This practice is noteworthy.
Summary of the main findings and recommendations
· The teaching and learning of Irish get favourable provision in the school.
· The department has developed resources, and teaching and learning aids to a high standard.
· Short-term curricular planning was of a very high standard.
· There was a variety of very good teaching methodologies and effective strategies employed during the inspection.
· The school has in place some good arrangements for assessment and homework which are being regularly revised and updated.
The following recommendations are made, in order to build on these strengths and to address areas for further development:
· Recommendations are made about a review of the way the first year students are streamed; teachers who teach at one examination level only; and an increase in the integration of ICT into the learning experiences of the pupils in their study of Irish.
· It is recommended that a departmental plan be developed collaboratively based on the short-term plans and that the compilation of an action plan be part of that work.
· It is recommended that each lesson seeks to achieve a balance between the teacher’s input and the activities of the students. It is also suggested that teaching and learning strategies would be discussed as part of cooperative planning.
· It is recommended that guidelines be specified, taking the above recommendations into account, for the homework, for the correction process and for assessment in the department plan.
Post-inspection meetings were arranged with the Irish teachers and with the principal, where the draft-decisions were presented and discussed.
Published April 2009