Irish secondary school system in an international context?

gaiscioch

Would anybody know of comparative studies on the Irish secondary school system? I'm aware of the PISA studies on Maths, Science and Reading among 15-year-olds.

I'm more interested in best practice internationally across all facets of school life, and seeing a study of Ireland within that framework. If no such study which includes Ireland has already been published, is there one which compares a number of other countries' respective education systems?

I'm interested in finding answers to questions such as: what practices are most effective in enriching the experience of education, the relative success of mixed ability classes v. streamed classes, the comparative costs-results ratio of each system, the impact of class size on how various subjects are learned, the role of culture, examples of education systems being radically overhauled successfully to incorporate another country's best practice, and so on. Thanks.

dambarude

Have you access to an academic database? It would be difficult to review that information without such access, and it is unlikely that you will find all or even a few answers to those questions within one journal article.

Some of your questions would be answered, or partially answered, in OECD reports. You'd get some statistical information at least.

The NCCA often releases reports on international trends prior to curricular reform. This has been done recently in the case of the new primary language curriculum.

unknowngirl!!

With access to an academic database I would suggest the following papers / studies...

Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers (OECD, 2003)
Charting our Education Future: White Paper on Education (1995)
Education for a Changing World: Green Paper on Education (1992)
Report on the National Education Convention (1994)
Review of National Policies for Education: Ireland (OECD, 1991)
Teacher education in Ireland and Western Europe: A comparative analysis (2001)
Teachers Matter (2005)

Coolahan would be an academic to focus on...

Happy reading!

unknowngirl!!

gaiscioch wrote: »

I'm interested in finding answers to questions such as: what practices are most effective in enriching the experience of education, the relative success of mixed ability classes v. streamed classes, the comparative costs-results ratio of each system, the impact of class size on how various subjects are learned, the role of culture, examples of education systems being radically overhauled successfully to incorporate another country's best practice, and so on. Thanks.

BTW the above mentioned papers and studies are only a starting point. You could write 10 PhDs with those research questions...

jonseyblub

Just to let you know too that if you are a member of the teaching council you have free access to a lot of the educational journals. Just log on and there is a link to it within the site

gaiscioch

Excellent resources; thanks very much. I had never been aware of the journals available on the Teaching Council website. Very useful.

Reflecting about how class sizes are impacting teaching I recalled Quinn's comment about class sizes not being important so I wanted to know where he got that from. The only thing remotely like it that I came across was by Kevin Denny of UCD: “There is a great deal of research on educational production functions in schools, that is what characteristics of schools give rise to good academic performance by young people. A major focus of this literature is class size and there is much to suggest that the benefits from smaller class sizes are not huge. On the other hand, teacher quality is generally seen to be important …” (although Denny seems to be referring to 3rd level. I have no more online access to that paper).

I was sort of hoping somebody had already written a catch-all "What we're doing wrong...and what we're doing right" book evaluating state policy at second level. If not, it needs to be written when people like Quinn can get away with making claims like the above regarding class sizes and make cutbacks without looking at the consequences of similar cutbacks in other states.

ustazjoseph

Google Hattie He's a new zealander who has done some interesting meta analysis. He tend to be much quoted by the right because he says that class size is not the biggest issue. Actually he finds that the quality of relationship and feedback to be key factors.
It's an interesting area.

Subutai

ustazjoseph wrote: »

Google Hattie He's a new zealander who has done some interesting meta analysis. He tend to be much quoted by the right because he says that class size is not the biggest issue. Actually he finds that the quality of relationship and feedback to be key factors.
It's an interesting area.

The thing that's important to remember is that while Hattie's effect size studies show that Class Size isn't important in and of itself, it is still important because the strategies that have the highest effect sizes (e.g. High Quality formative feedback; Whole Class interactive teaching; good classroom behaviour, etc) are often not possible to implement properly with large class sizes.

Class size is important because of how it influences teaching strategies, feedback quality, classroom management, etc. It is not, however, important in itself. Lowering class sizes won't magically make students perform better, but it will give teachers the ability to create an environment in which they will.

ustazjoseph

Subutai wrote: »

The thing that's important to remember is that while Hattie's effect size studies show that Class Size isn't important in and of itself, it is still important because the strategies that have the highest effect sizes (e.g. High Quality formative feedback; Whole Class interactive teaching; good classroom behaviour, etc) are often not possible to implement properly with large class sizes.

Class size is important because of how it influences teaching strategies, feedback quality, classroom management, etc. It is not, however, important in itself. Lowering class sizes won't magically make students perform better, but it will give teachers the ability to create an environment in which they will.

Absolutely- management and ministers like to quote him without looking at the big picture. school and national culture and practice also apply.
Also how we measure and what we measure is relevant. rote memory tests and multiple choice exams are not the same as group projects and in dept original analysis. an A in one is not the same as an A in the other.