1. To boldly go where no man has gone before…… Anne Looney NUIG Summer School 2006

2. 2 NCCA Planning  Plan of work –Short-term planning and tracking –Financial Management System –Annual Report  Strategic Planning on a three-yearly cycle –Next plan 2006-2009 –Currently in development –Environmental analysis

3. 3 The Terra Incognita  Globalisation –People –Ideas –Resources  Marketisation –Commodification –Individualisation –Accountability

4. 4 The world according to Ruth… I learned over the course of the year that doing well in the Leaving is about learning the formula for each exam and practising it endlessly. I got an A1 in English because I knew exactly what was required in each question. I learned off the sample answers provided by the examiners and I knew how much information was required and in what format in every section of the paper. That's how you do well in these exams.

5. 5 ‘There’s no point in knowing about stuff that’s not going to come up in exams’  I knew that my best hope for getting the points I needed was to take the entire suite of Leaving Cert business options. I couldn't do this at Rathgar High so I asked my parents to send me to the Institute of Education.  I learned over the course of the year that doing well in the Leaving is about learning the formula for each exam and practising it endlessly. I got an A1 in English because I knew exactly what was required in each question. I learned off the sample answers provided by the examiners and I knew how much information was required and in what format in every section of the paper. That's how you do well in these exams.

6. 6  You can't get to grips with a huge subject like biology at school," Ruth says. "You can only select a few topics and learn them really well. If you want a deep knowledge of biology, that's what university is for.  I was always frustrated by teachers who would say 'You don't need to know this for the exams but I'll tell you anyway'. I wanted my A1 - what's the point in learning material that won't come up in the exams?

7. 7 The Terra Incognita…  The world of children and young people –Anxieties and concerns –The millenials –The case of ICT in educationF:\Prensky AIJS.pptF:\Prensky AIJS.ppt  E learning Nordic 2006 –What’s the story here?

8. 8 Navigating the change….  The case of the Primary Curriculum Review –Teacher template study –School Case study  Data from teachers, children, parents and principals –Showed that the curriculum envisaged may not always be the curriculum implemented… –Doh!!!!

9. 9 Methodologies General findings  Collaborative learning  Active learning  Authentic learning (using environment)  Information Communication Technology (ICT)  Higher-order thinking Positive findings / areas identified for ongoing improvement:

10. 10 Methodologies Collaborative Learning  Dependence on owhole class instruction oindividual instruction  Limited time for opairwork ogroupwork otalk and discussion  I like working with other people better than working on my own because if you put two minds together you get more clever stuff and things like that.

11. 11 Methodologies When she also puts us into groups in Art, she doesn't want to use all the paint, she puts five at one table, five at the other table and one table might get the colour orange, the colour green and the colour blue. That is what we did for the sponge painting. We got rollers and rolled the paint on the object and then put it on the page, but we all had to use the same colour at the table. You couldn't change your colour.. cause that was your table and you had to stick with it!

12. 12 Methodologies Active Learning  Hands-on activities  Physical activities  Play and games Authentic Learning  Range of materials and resources  Real-world projects

13. 13 Methodologies Higher-Order-Thinking  Develop oral language  Express ideas, take risks  Understand problems  Use authentic resources  Actively participate in learning Enabling children to:  When doing written problems, it is hard to know if the child’s difficulty in doing the problems is caused by lack of understanding in maths or an ability to comprehend the written problem, or both.

14. 14 Methodologies Mathematics Opportunities for developing mathematical skills…

15. 15 A new focus on classrooms  The case of Mathematics and Gaeilge –Pedagogical issues –Using ‘coaching’ rather than ‘training’ –Starting the change process in the classrooms –Building on assessment for learning –Finding a mechanism to do this?

16. 16 Working with schools  Has changed how we view inclusion  The exclusive and inclusive continuum  Has resulted in a move towards more differentiated provision; even a level 2 qualitification  Challenges –Public rhetoric and organisational priorities –Itchy society –Change forces vs. Change processes

17. 17 The role of research in planning  Beyond swot and smart  Best evidence synthesis approach  Learning to read and interpret research findings –The ESRI study –The mathematics review –Reporting in Primary Schools –Science in primary classroom  Twenty Years in 2007….. –What should we ask? What should we celebrate?

18. 18 Schooling for the future….?  As casualty –Technicised –Standardized  As counterpoint –Schools as communities –Teachers caring, passionate, moral  As catalyst –Leader –Defining new roles, new relationships, new worlds