Sir, - The recent discussion regarding Senior Cycle Politics & Society, the points race and the narrowing of the Leaving Certificate curriculum (Unthinkable, February 9th) and the subsequent Inside Politics Podcast (February 16th) correctly identifies a systemic education issue but it overlooks the most practical answer for change: the pedagogical empowerment of our teachers.
The current Leaving Certificate examination process does indeed curtail critical analysis through open-ended dialogue for many teachers but we cannot solve this simply by swapping out key thinkers or removing terminal assessments.
We must move towards a model of critical pedagogy, where teachers are specifically trained and continuously supported to facilitate brave spaces rather than just safe ones.
A safe classroom often defaults to comfort and the avoidance of risk, whereas a brave space acknowledges that genuine intellectual growth in subjects like Politics & Society or English is inherently uncomfortable and requires the navigation of contentious topics.
RM Block
If a teacher feels that a deviation into a risky or complex idea will be viewed as a waste of exam preparation time, or worse, a professional liability, they will naturally revert to the sanitised safety of the subject specification.
We need a system that protects pedagogical autonomy and rewards the cultivation of student agency over mere content delivery. Until we invest in the teacher’s ability to manage high-stakes, open-ended inquiry, our classrooms will remain venues for performance rather than the “unthinkable” discovery the column rightly champions. – Yours, etc,
GERARD ELWOOD,
Newbridge,
Co Kildare.
