Curriculum Change and Reform, with Particular Emphasis on Senior Cycle Reform
Jake Fleming G00393472 , Joey Laverty G00378790 & Liam Murtagh G00393389
Introduction:
The topic of this poster is the learning outcomes of the curriculum and assessment
module, specifically learning outcome 1, 4 and 5. Below are the detailed description
of the outcomes:
• LO1: Demonstrate an appreciation of the role of curriculum studies in teachers’
professional development.
• LO4: Demonstrate an understanding of contemporary debates about curriculum
developments and initiatives in second-level education.
• LO5: Critically appraise schools as organisations and learning communities.
LO 1 - The Importance of Teacher Development
Professional teacher development training helps teachers improve their time
management and organization skills through becoming better at their planning skills.
Having improved these skills, it allows the educator to become more efficient
ultimately and allows them to spend extra time to focus on the students other than the
paperwork.
Teachers are seen by students to be experts in their subjects and should have the
answer to any related questions. Professional development programs allows the
teachers to broaden their knowledge in their subject areas.
Professional development training enable educators to pursue further in their career,
these programs allows the teachers to become the students again allowing them an
opportunity to step out of their routine to receive professional help development their
talents and aspires them to pursue educational leadership positions which leads to
guidance from other experienced leaders to become improved effective leaders for
the future.
Individuals who engage in programs and training build connections with other
educators which allows different opinions and methodologies to be shared to widen
their own knowledge and expertise in their subjects.
Contact
Group E
Jake Fleming, G00393472@atu.ie, (087) 632 8520
Joey Laverty, G00378790@atu.ie, (086) 348 2190
Liam Murtagh, G00393389@atu.ie, (083) 864 4469
LO 5 - Schools as organizations
Schools are recognized as organizations and learning communities. Professional learning communities is very much in
vogue in today's world. To create a professional learning community, we now focus on the learning rather than the
teaching. The professional learning community model ensure that students are taught but to ensure that they also
learn.
This shift from focusing on teaching to the focus on learning has profound implications for schools and the results
students get. The learning community has come to a critical point, On one hand we have the well-known to those who
have witnessed other well intentioned school reform efforts. It is common that enthusiasm often gives way to
LO 4 - The Senior Cycle Reform
confusion with regards to the fundamental concepts driving the initiative.
On the 29th of March 2022 minister Norma Foley announced her ambitious plans for a
reimagined Senior Cycle of education for post-primary students. Her beliefs for this
are to empower students to meet the challenges of the 21st century, to enrich the
student experience and build on what’s strong in our current system and to embed
wellbeing and reduce student stress levels(DepartmentOfEducation,2022). From
September 2023, students will take leaving certificate Irish, Math and English Paper
1's at the end of 5th year and the marks for paper 1 will be added to the marks
awarded for paper 2, which students will take in the June of 6th year. The NCCA has
undertaken a review of this.
In my opinion this can reduce a lot of stress for students in exam years as students
will not have an awful number of hours during exam periods in June. This will relieve
students of a lot of pressure as they won't have exam periods of 6-7hrs a day during
the exam periods in June
Conclusions
Through dealing with the module learning outcomes, we encounter a wide variety of learning and by the means of this
poster we encounter half of the learning outcomes addressing them critically and praising their value to the curriculum
and assessment. With the aid of this poster, we broaden our knowledge and encourage everyone to allow yourself to
gain strength in knowledge from this poster. Thank you all for taking the time to read this poster.
References
• S.Mulgrew,2022,SECIrishIndependant,
https://www.independent.ie/news/revealed-two-thirds-of-leaving-cert-2022-students-want-hybrid-exams-41246849.html
• EducationBeureau,2022,TeachersProfessionalDevelopement,
https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/teacher/qualification-training-development/development/cpd-teachers/index.html#Header
• R.Troy, 2022, Norma Foley, https://www.roberttroy.ie/index.php/2022/02/07/results-in-leaving-certificate-2022-will-be-no-lower-than-in-2021/