My son wants to do transition year – but is a ‘doss year’ a good idea?

My son’s school recently invited applications for transition year (TY). He wants to do it. However, given the disruption to his studies due to Covid, I’m unsure whether a “doss year”, as some call it, is a good idea. Have you any advice?

I fully understand your concern as a parent at the level of disruption your child has experienced over the past two years. School closures, staff and student absences arising from the pandemic have had a detrimental effect on teaching and learning. I can see why you may be reluctant to support your son’s application to undertake TY.

But as regular readers of this column will know, it is my strong view that a good TY programme is transformative in the development of a wide range of life skills. It introduces students to research and self-directed learning, away from the pressure of exams.

As a teacher all my life, it has been self-evident that learning is achieved and consolidated least effectively by sitting quietly studying a book – even though this, traditionally, is seen as central to success at Leaving Cert level. The more a learner interacts with the content of learning, the deeper will be their understanding of the subject matter and its retention in their memory.

Why aren’t we teaching pupils more about the EU?

---

My daughter is very environmentally aware, are there viable careers in this area?

---

My son isn’t interested in going to college. How can we change his mind?

---

My son is keen on studying English but I’m worried he’ll struggle to find work

---

Furthermore, in TY group discussions of a topic – following an initial presentation by a classroom teacher, or the allocation of tasks to the class to enable a presentation to be made by a visiting speaker – can give students a basket of vital life skills, central to future academic studies and in their working lives. Such visiting speakers can also provide TY students with life-changing insights into opportunities they may engage with in their personal/working lives.

Undertaking TY has enabled generations of 16- and 17-year-old children to go on to face the challenges of the two-year Leaving Cert programme far more effectively than they might without it. This is because many of the skills which the TY programme enhances are not normally associated with the traditional subject-based Leaving Cert.

The success of TY over the past 30-plus years has encouraged all those involved in the development of the primary and second-level education system – through the good offices of the National Council on Curriculum and Assessment – in embedding a skills-based approach within our schools. This is evidence by the reformed Junior Cycle programme, which has a subset of skills normally associated with TY during the first three years of second level.

If your son skips TY and progresses directly into fifth year, it risks undermining his development across a wide range of life skills. Some 75 per cent of all students participate in TY nowadays. So, he will also end up taking the Leaving Cert and entering college or the workforc a year younger and less mature than the vast majority of students across the country.

[ askbrian@irishtimes.com ]