This week will mark the end of the Leaving Certificate exams for more than 50,000 students. They will doubtless greet the end of a gruelling two and a half weeks with a combination of exhilaration and exhaustion. Much of that is down to the fact that success owes as much to stamina as it does to intellect.
If the Leaving Cert is supposed to provide a broad assessment of aptitude and ability, it is failing. Many aspects of the high-stakes system discourage independent thought, fail to foster critical thinking and do not result in a rounded education. At third level, there is increasing evidence that many “spoon-fed” students are arriving into college without the necessary skills and are struggling with independent learning.
The gap between the skills students learn and those employers need is becoming an increasingly serious issue. The World Economic Forum estimates that, due to advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, the top competencies required for work success will be creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking.
Some modest reforms are due to be introduced to the Leaving Cert this year, such as a new grading system. But they do not go far enough. Junior cycle reform offers a template for the kind of change needed in an era where the ability to memorise facts and figures is no longer so important. The reformed junior cycle, even in its much-diluted version, embraces the kind of modern teaching, learning and assessment methods which are overwhelmingly supported by educationalists. It aims to foster skills such as creativity, team-working and managing information. If successful, similar changes are likely occur at Leaving Cert level over the coming years.
However, just one in three schools will be in a position to deliver the junior cycle changes. That is because they are either fully or partly staffed by members of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) which has directed members to refuse to engage in any training linked to the reform – though the vast majority of its concerns have been addressed.
If the union maintains this position, children in ASTI schools will lose marks linked to classroom-based assessment. In addition, their teachers will not have benefited from in-service training for the reformed curriculum. The union’s resistance to compromise is now delaying long-overdue progress and threatening the quality of education. It should not be allowed to hold much-needed educational reform hostage.
Yet there is still much to be positive about across the wider system. We have a culture of learning and a respect for education. Teachers are well trained and educational outcomes place us high on international league tables. But the world is changing fast and, already, we have much catching-up to do.