One student, one vote: democracy at work in the classroom

A boat that “raises all tides” is how one secondary school principal describes an innovative programme aimed at enhancing student engagement by giving children a say in what they want to learn about.

The Negotiated Integrated Curriculum initiative sees teachers inviting students to help construct their learning journey by negotiating a curriculum around their expressed personal and world concerns.

The programme, run by a team from the University of Limerick under Dr John O'Reilly, is being piloted at Coláiste Mhicíl in Limerick, where 28 first-year students have had a 40-minute weekly class since the beginning of the year.

"The purpose of the programme is to see how students react when they are asked what they want to learn about," says PhD student Joanne Fitzpatrick who is involved in leading the programme at the school.

She admits the initiative – previously piloted at Gaelscoil Sheoirse Clancy and Galvone National School, both in Limerick – is more challenging at postprimary level than in primary schools, where there is a naturally integrated curriculum. But CBS secondary school has already signed up to run NIC again next year.

“This is an innovative way of learning, where the students vote on a theme they want to learn about, based on concerns they have,” says Fitzpatrick.

Water charges was the theme chosen by the first years at CBS, which they studied in other classes, from examining water meters in technology class to learning about methods of payments in business studies.

“We looked at things like where water comes from in geography, and did experiments in science examining how much water we use when we brush our teeth,” says student Josh Meehan (12).

“We also did questionnaires asking people what they thought of water charges. At the start I thought this is really bad, a new tax for my parents, but then I learned that we are one of the cheapest in Europe, so that changed my opinion.”

Deep engagement

Suzanne Browne, one of the teachers championing the initiative at CBS, admits she was surprised at how engaged the students became. "There were a lot of areas it fed into, so instead of starting with chapter one and going all the way to chapter 30, we could pick out different areas of the curriculum and apply them to what they were studying at the moment, so they were still studying the curriculum but in a way more relevant way," says the German and business studies teacher.

“I went into it with my eyes closed. I thought: they are only 12, what are they going to know? But I find now as a teacher we don’t give them enough benefit for the knowledge they have.

“In the old curriculum you teach them in a particular way; you don’t allow them to lead the learning. I have found, in both my business and my German classes, that they lead the way. They ask me, ‘Can we do that chapter now?’ So it’s kind of a process we have learned. We are still doing the curriculum but they are choosing it so they are more inclined to go on with it.”

Tom Prendergast, principal of Coláiste Mhichíl, sees the NIC initiative as a departure from a model where the teacher is the only person responsible for disseminating information to one where the student must go out and find the information

“One of the unexpected byproducts was how the programme aided the transition for our students from primary to secondary, especially when they are working in groups. They are not sitting in a classroom as passive learners but they are engaged, they are leading the learning, and the skill set they have is broad.

“Ultimately as a teacher you want your students to be engaged . . . They are not teaching anything different, the curriculum sits there, but you might just change the sequence.”

Strength of idealism

Prendergast sats there will be challenges, but that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has been supportive in how the school manages the programme. "The challenge is to bring this to more teachers. It is possibly a little bit idealistic, but I think it's good to be idealistic. I would like to get to a stage where we use this more and more.

“For me, NIC is a boat that raises all tides. It raises student engagement, it improves student attainment, reduces teacher fatigue – the teacher is no longer the only disseminator of information. It also helps build socialisation skills, and aids the transition from primary into secondary school.”

If junior cycle reform goes ahead, John O’Reilly is keen to develop NIC into short courses. “At the very least we will do so within the existing restrictions, but ideally, if it becomes possible to deliver on short courses within the new framework, then we will.

“The students have shown they are more than capable of embracing that opportunity to actually design their own short course. That would give enough time in the curriculum for them to thoroughly engage with issues like this to the depth that they are clearly capable of.”

Among those at a recent parents’ night to showcase what has been achieved so far through the NIC programme in CBS was Ger Halbert, education officer with the NCCA. She believes that while the NIC shows important themes that would suit a short course, it is only the beginning of a process.

The new junior cycle, she adds, will give schools much greater autonomy to develop their own short courses. “We are really interested in schools taking developing something really meaningful for their particular students.”

In this pilot, “the learning is meaningful, but just as important is the process. This has been negotiated every step of the way, so there will be massive buy-in from young people.”