Forcing teachers to assess their own students for Junior Cycle certification will “corrupt” the education system, opening the door to undue influence and grade inflation, said teachers.
Delegates at the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland congress agreed to a motion that the union would set a policy of “not assessing students” for the Junior Cycle framework, and will campaign against the reforms.
They stopped short of calling for strike action. However, an emergency motion for English teachers – the first staff members due to come under the new scheme – was being considered by the union’s central committee last night and may go before delegates today.
Vulnerable
Fintan O'Mahony, Waterford, said the union needed to issue members with a directive not to teach the new curriculum and, "if it's necessary to ballot members again to get into that position", it should be done. Otherwise, he said, "English teachers will be picked off, the most vulnerable first", including those in temporary positions or younger staff. "Once we start teaching the new course it will be only a small step to assessing it," he added.
Also supporting stronger action was Noel Buckley, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, who said the union needed to commission research, like that by science teachers against the new curriculum, to show why the reforms were a mistake.
“Anecdotal evidence holds no weight” with the Minister or governing agencies.“I am sick of this Minister knocking rote learning. How do you master a language? How do you master mathematics?”
“Talk is cheap,” he continued. “If you want to change things you need to go on strike and until you do that we are all wasting our time. We need to show we have serious spine.”
Open to corruption
Susie Hall, a former president of the union, said the reforms would allow "children of wealthier, better-connected parents" to do even better while children from disadvantaged backgrounds would fall further behind.
“It’s no good leaving it to head office. Get stuck in in your own school,” she told delegates. “Teachers are standing up for fairness and the only remaining uncorrupted area of Irish life.”
Deirdre MacDonald, Wexford, said the move would create “huge potential for bullying” and pressure from boards of management seeking higher grades. “Can you imagine, you will be assessing your colleague’s child, your neighbour’s child, your sibling’s child, your own child, your principal’s child. Now that is real pressure.”
Little value
In a similar vein, Eddie McCarthy, Fingal, warned that "the nod, nod, wink, wink, 'whose your daddy or mammy?' culture is rampant in other Irish institutions" and was in danger of being transferred to education.
He said Mr Quinn’s reassurance that the process would be properly monitored was “laughable”, given the State’s record of regulating institutions such as banks and the Garda.
Bill Lonergan, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, said when the Minister described the Junior Cert as a low-stakes exam “to me that is another way of saying it’s of very little value”.
He warned it would be a precursor of what would happen in the Leaving Cert.
