Anxious, tech-savvy, diverse: A new primary curriculum aims to catch up with pupils of today

Is the school around the corner still the same? A new blueprint for the primary curriculum, to be published early in 2023, is driven by a recognition that the classroom has transformed since the last version was published more than two decades ago.

Today’s digital natives have ready access to the world’s information, family structures have changed and the classroom is more diverse than ever with different cultures, beliefs and abilities. Pupils are also more anxious and have a much greater level of identified additional needs.

Children born today are due to begin their working lives in the 2040s and retire in the late 2080s/early 2090s. They face the rising influence of artificial intelligence and global challenges such as climate change and sustainability.

The new curriculum, say policymakers, responds to these new challenges, changing needs and priorities, while building on the strengths of the 1999 primary school curriculum.

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[ Religion teaching time to be cut in new primary curriculum ]

Religion

Sweeping transformations have marked dramatic changes in religious practice and identity in the last two decades.

More than a third of marriages are civil rather than religious, while the last census figures indicate that about a fifth of families of parenting age describes themselves as non-religious. Yet, we have a primary education system where almost 90 per cent of primary schools remain under the control of the Catholic Church.

All this raises questions about the role of the State in ensuring that all children feel included in publicly funded schools.

Some reformers are keen to move faith formation outside the school day altogether, but this has been resisted by faith-based schools.

The answer in the new primary framework is a compromise: it advises that the length of time spent teaching religion be cut by half an hour a week, down from 2½ hours a week to 2 hours.

In addition, religion would be supported by a new curriculum on “religion, ethical and multi-belief education”, to give pupils a wider perspective on beliefs.

The changes are unlikely to go far enough to keep secularists happy, but policymakers say the move is driven by a recognition that school patrons have a legal right to deliver “patron’s programmes” in accordance with the ethos of their schools. The 1998 Education Act protects the right of schools to set aside time in each school day for subjects relating to the school’s ethos (though the legislation does not stipulate the amount of time to be allocated).

Wellbeing

As any school principal or teacher will tell you, there are rising concerns over the level emotional ill-health, anxiety and mental health problems in schools since the pandemic.

In recognition of this, a significant portion of the new curriculum — three hours a week — will be set aside for wellbeing.

This will involve boosting attributes such as being self-aware, resilient, acting responsibly and showing care towards self and others, having a sense of purpose and meaning and being persistent and flexible in solving problems.

Foreign languages

Even though about 20 per cent of students in Irish education are non-Irish nationals or from immigrant families, the emphasis at primary level has tended to focus on English and Irish only. That will change under the new curriculum with an hour a week dedicated to learning “modern foreign languages” from third class upwards.

In addition to recognising the linguistic diversity in Ireland today, the move to introduce foreign languages to the curriculum also draws on research which indicates that investing in an earlier start to foreign languages could positively affect the participation in languages being learned at post-primary level within 10 years.

Curriculum areas

The framework also envisages the replacement of individual subjects during the first half of primary school with broader “curriculum areas”.

This is a recognition that the current system of individual subjects — up to 11 — can be disjointed and doesn’t adequately cater to the fact that curriculum areas are interrelated and overlap.

The redeveloped curriculum envisages learning across five broad curriculum areas. They include: maths/science/technology; languages; arts education; wellbeing; and social, personal and health education (SPHE).

This is aimed at supporting connections across children’s learning. However, from third to sixth class, these curriculum areas will become more differentiated into subjects to reflect children’s growing awareness of subjects as a way of organising the world.

Flexible time

The reduction in time spent teaching religion and other reforms will give schools more “flexible time” — seven hours a month — to allow schools focus on priority areas of learning decided by individual schools.

This, for example, may include maths, literacy, languages, etc.

Each school decides how best to allocate this time to teaching, learning and assessment. The idea is to provide extended periods of in-depth learning in a certain area, or allow for planning and carrying out a project in the local area.

Key competencies

Daunting challenges such as climate change, sustainability, human migration and geopolitical shifts look set to confront our children. We might not know the answers, but we know that resilience, creativity, innovation and critical thinking will be key for future generations.

The curriculum seeks to equip children with the essential knowledge, skills, concepts, dispositions, attitudes and values which enable them to adapt and deal with a range of situations, challenges and contexts in support of broader learning goals.

These “capabilities” are presented as seven inextricably linked key competencies that are relevant from junior infants to sixth class. These include: being an active citizen; being creative; learning to be a learner; fostering wellbeing; communicating; being mathematical; and being a digital learner.

These will be embedded across all curriculum areas and subjects from junior infants to sixth class.

Sources familiar with the framework say it would promote stronger connections between children’s experiences in primary and their prior experiences in pre-school and with their later experiences in post-primary school.

What next?

So, those are the aims, at least. What happens next?

The 40-page blueprint, likely to be published Minister for Education Norma Foley early in 2023, sets out the planned structure and content of the next curriculum for primary schools.

The framework is accompanied by a separate report which emphasises the need for resourcing and investment in continuous professional development to ensure it is fully implemented across all schools.

This framework is the big picture: the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has envisaged completion of the development of all curriculum area specifications by summer 2026.

The speed of the rollout of the changes will be a matter for the then minister for education.

It is expected that the first children to be taught under the new curriculum will be born from 2021 onwards.

What will the school day look like?

The new primary curriculum includes a suggested time allocation to assist teachers and schools.

English: Three hours 45 minutes per week

Irish: Three hours per week

Foreign language: One hour per week

Maths: Four hours per week

Wellbeing: Three hours per week

Science/technology: One hour and 15 minutes per week

SPHE: Two hours per week

Arts: Two hours per week

Flexible time: One hour and 45 minutes per week

Religion: Two hours

• The time allocation, above, is for third-sixth class in an English-medium primary school. The time allocation is different for younger classes and Irish-medium schools.