GMIT TUTORIAL PAPER TEMPLATE: PROFESSIONAL STUDIES (BELOW)

Name of Student: Trevor Burke

Article/Reading: Colm ORourke Teachers Bad Behaviour Just Let Quinn off The Hook

1. CONCISE SUMMARY OF READING

The Aim of the article was to set the picture wright in relation to what the real issue is in the Asti
conference dated 27-04-2014 with Minister Quinn. As the attention was misdirected due to some poor
and unacceptable behaviour of a small minority of offenders (Teachers). The publics attention was
misdirected away from the real issues.
That teacher would be better served to avoid poor unacceptable behaviour when putting their
argument forward. It was also clear from the reading that Colm was in agreement with the teachers in
relation to the junior cert reform issues and also in relation to teachers at national school level needing
honour maths as an entry requirement to college.
The main goal is that the awarding of grades must maintain its integrity for any state exam.
Key points

The Minister is entitled to respect.

Bad manners ended up being the publics focus not the serious issues on
debate.

It legs the minister off the hook when there is very serious and genuine
misgivings from all teachers about the new direction in education.

Colm states that suggestion from Minister Quinn, that national school teacher
will need honours maths as an entry into college is ridiculous suggestion. He
claims that Maths is only a minor part of the skill set they possess. Personality
more than maths is far more important.

He then gives the minister a few suggestions in relation to improvement to the

entry process into third level colleges. Like getting rid of the extra language
needed for entry into some of the universities, forcing students to learn a
language which they may never use.

He moves onto the subject of the junior cert reform he states that it is badly
needed. He has serious concerns about teachers marking their own students.

He states that second level is not the same as third level where the
teachers/lectures dont know that parents, He states you know the parent due
to extra curricula activities, parent teacher meetings ,bands and debating
societies .It would be very hard to mark down these students who they know
well and whose parents they maybe socialise with .

He makes the point that it is a national exam, and it is either important or not .If
it is , Then it must be done right he gives the example of the present junior cert
system with all its flaws it still stand up to outside scrutiny in terms of
independent marking.

He uses an analogy to explain the present junior cert form Its like throwing in
the ball, but nobody know the rules and how the game finishes. He explains
this is why the teachers are hostile.
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He again emphasises the importance of the integrity in the awarding of

grades must be protected.
He also states that students are doing plenty of projects at the moment and
are being marked by outsiders, why not continue this practice?
He also states his own option as a principle of a secondary school that inservice training is the most disruptive part of school life and it should take
place in Aug.
He finishes by stating a case for teacher being a little upset due to other issues
like cut in wages, pupil/teacher ratio, career guidance, special needs etc. has
left principles at breaking point putting time tables together.
He finishes up by stating that Minister Quinn is in fairy land and not up to date
with the reality of school constraints.

Conclusion of article
Colm makes it very clear that minister Quinn vison of education is quite unclear, having cut frontline
resources while doing nothing about inefficiencies. And now after last weeks he has lost the teachers as
well.

2. CRITICAL REFLECTION

I believe this is a very well written article he provides good points and argument in relation to the junior
cert reform and at the same time providing a solution. He clearly states the issues surround the
proposed marking scheme. The president of the TUI Gerry Quinn agrees with Colm in an article in the
independent The way the Junior Cert is currently marked, using external examiners, has all the benefits
of anonymity and objectivity. Maintaining objectivity in exams is so important for planning and for
preparing, students and parents for the Leaving Cert cycle. The main concern for teachers is around
marking our own students' work." (Smith, 2014)
The strengths of this article are that Colm ORourke is talking from experience being a secondary
school principle and a person of high profile in the country. He states that he wouldnt always agree
with the Asti only a few months earlier he had an article that stated Asti has no strategy, no endgame,
just a No vote Teachers are feeling increasingly angry about being hung out to dry by their union, says
Colm O'Rourke (O'Rourke, 2013) but on this occasion he is in fully agreement with their concerns
surrounding the teachers grading their own pupils.
I believe the article was logically structured and well written and the arguments put forward were
convincing and relevant to the title. The strength of the article was his ability to agree with junior cert
reform and provide a solution to the problems. His ability to understand both sides of the issue but yet
made his point clear.
There was one point Colm failed to mention the fact that, Minster Quinn understands the need for
reform but didnt see the consequences for the teachers, I believe this is due to him not having an
educational background. I believe that for you to become a minster for education you have to have
an educational background .It was clear that it was Mr Quinns down fall. Shamshad Ahmed Khan
believes Ministers must be educated and competent enough to manage important responsibilities.
Competence does not mean having an MBA degree. Competence means possessing the ability to
deliver (Shamshad, 2013). Khan would disagree with this point he believed as long as you are
competent in delivering you goals education is not important.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob believes. Ministers need management skills and leadership qualities. At times, in
depth technical knowledge becomes a liability rather than an asset as technical people tend to focus
on micro issues whereas ministers need to focus on broad policy issues (Ahmed, 2013). Ahmed points
out that knowledge in its self can have leaders focusing on the smaller issues rather than managing the
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bigger picture.
Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy states. For running ministries such as communications, economics, science and
technology, education, for example, it is crucial for a minister to have formally studied these
disciplines. (Dr Pervez, 2013). I would have to agree with Hoodbhoy that for certain disciplines you
have to have formally studied them.
The significant learning for me is providing a solution with an argument never just present an argument
without a solution. Never assume that your reader is familiar with the issues surrounding your topic.It
leave your articles open to criticism from professionals in that field. Part of learning to write effective
arguments is finding reliable sources(or other documents) that lend credibility to your position I believe
Colm ORourke being a principle give him the right to question what he believes is wrong and then give
his solution. It is important for me as a professional teacher have this skill set.
This article is very relevant to me as a student teacher as this is the hot topic in all the secondary schools
throughout the country. It is vital to know the pros and cons this this topic before Tp2.

3. LIST OF REFERENCES

Bibliography
Ahmed, B. M. (2013). Do ministers need technical knowledge to be effective? Pakistan:
hearld.
Dr Pervez, H. (2013). Do ministers need technical knowledge to be effective? Pakistan:
Hearld.
O'Rourke, C. (2013). Colm O'Rourke: Asti has no strategy, no endgame, just a No vote.
Dublin: Irish Independent.
O'Rourke, C. (2014). Teachers' bad behaviour just lets Quinn off the hook. Dublin: Irish
Independent.
Shamshad, A. K. (2013). Do ministers need technical knowledge to be effective? Pakistan:
Hearld.
Smith, A. (2014). The problem with the junior cert reform is that students may think teachers
are biased. Dublin: Irish Independent.

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