Abstract
In the Tao Te Ching, the philosopher Lao Tzu suggested that, ‘life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.’ It would seem that every book or article one reads these days begins by stating, in some form or other, that we in Ireland are living in a time of unprecedented change. Then again, we have always done so—this epoch no different to others. This book begins with such a statement, which appears to be the motivation behind the book—the shifting landscape of Irish identity, the current failing economy; the turn to primary education ‘as the panacea that could lead the nation out of its current troubles’; the departure or eradication of the traditional ‘grand-narratives’ of Irish society and the new post-modern condition.
The book fulfils a number of functions. Firstly, it acts as a ‘state of the nation’ regarding current scholarship and writing on various aspects of education. It forms an organized commentary on some aspects of the Irish educational landscape and as a reader on current practices and future hoped-for horizons; secondly, it outlines the high level of academic scholarship and research being undertaken in the various departments of Mary Immaculate College—a wealth of academic excellence of which the college should be rightly proud. Another function that I think the book fulfils is to place religious education and identity and Catholic schools into an integrated understanding of the Irish educational landscape rather than isolating it out. While in 1954, the Council of Education might have stated that, ‘of all parts of a school curriculum, religious instruction is by far the most important, as its subject matter, God’s honour and service, includes the proper use of all man’s faculties, and affords the most powerful inducements to their proper use,’ nowadays it is one subject among many, struggling for a place in the increasingly busy school timetable.
The book is divided into five parts, which each signal a particular trend in primary education today. It contains 15 essays and is topped and tailed by a foreword by Anne Looney and introductory and concluding essays by the book’s editors.
Tony Bonfield, Maurice Harmon and Elaine Mahon provide the two essays in the first part on Identity. Bonfield speaks about identity as ‘constructed, maintained and advanced’ by the 1999 Curriculum (in particular the History, Geography, and SPHE strands) and he sees diversity and pluralism as evident in the writing of the curriculum, along with the concept of interdependence, to which he devotes valuable word space in explanation. Much has been written recently about the identity and nature of Catholic Schools ever since the establishment of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism. Harmon and Mahon make a clear, insightful contribution, not only grounding it in current scholarship but also place it in the context of the policy documents on the Catholic Church—an often maligned and neglected source. They take the five ‘non-negotiable’ characteristics of Catholic schools, outline the philosophy, and comment on the reality of the ‘lived out experience’ of the philosophy.
The next section on Formation includes five essays. Anne Dolan reflects on teacher education both as academically based and in the formal and informal milieu of lifelong learning. She defines the concept in terms of teachers, and successfully creates a paradigm of teacher education which includes lifelong learning. Sandra Ryan and John Galvin suggest that the partnership between home and school is essential especially in areas of educational disadvantage, although they admit, ‘that this is easier said than done; moving from the rhetoric to a reality is an extremely difficult undertaking.’ In religious formation we often bemoan the fact that parents might not be as enthusiastic and committed as parish and school. What we sometimes forget is that this is often the case across all that the primary school attempts to do. Their theory is backed up by a description of two educational partnership programmes (one parent-driven, one teacher-driven) run in Limerick schools. In the following essay, Claire W. Lyons explores the concept of ‘emotional competence’ in terms of a teacher’s place in the classroom and their classroom management. No two autistic children are the same and they see the world differently from other non-autistic children. These are the basic factors that are at the heart of Anne O’Byrne’s discussion on how pre-service teachers are being prepared to meet the needs of autistic children in the mainstream primary school environment and how competent they are to do so, and she presents the findings of her study. Coílín Ó Braonáin similarly makes the argument for the inclusion of therapeutic play in Teacher Education, seeing it as an important facet of a curriculum which advocates an holistic approach. Using the writings and theories of Carl Rogers he defines what is required of pre-service teachers in promoting an openness to this type of methodology in the classroom.
There are three essays in the Policy and Practice section. Lyons outlines compulsory school attendance legislation from the 1892 Education Act (Ireland) to the Education (Welfare) Act from 2000—a period which often saw conflict between Church and State regarding the control of schools. Carol O’Sullivan’s essay should be read by every student teacher as a clear, balanced, and insightful introduction to the increasingly common occurrence of children of diverse cultural backgrounds in Irish primary schools, as ‘teachers are confronted with the tensions between meeting the needs of many different cultural groupings while endeavouring to prepare them to become active citizens.’ Dan O’Connell and Amalee Meehan discuss the Spiritual Dimension of the School Curriculum at both Primary and Post-Primary levels. The 1999 Primary School Curriculum sees the ‘spiritual’ as one of the dimensions of the child that it desires to nurture. This is a fact that is often lost in the debate on the place of Religion and Spirituality in the Primary School. The authors define what they mean by spirituality and how it relates to religious tradition. They address the often contentious issue of the spiritual lives of teachers and outline the Joining the Dots programme as a way to approach teachers’ spirituality. One particular aspect of this essay that I found pertinent was the implication of teacher spirituality for the Colleges of Education, as ‘it is not appropriate to think that pre-service teachers will be sufficiently prepared to foster the spiritual development of children in schools solely by attending Religious Education classes in college.’ Finally the nettle has been grasped!
In the fourth section on Diversity and Inclusion, the three essays all address various aspects of inclusion common in Irish education. Anne O’Byrne and Miriam Twomey outline the work being done at Mary Immaculate in partnership with the National Institute of Intellectual Disability at Trinity College. Patricia Kieran writes about the current status of Catholic managed Primary Schools in Ireland and how religious minorities are respected within this setting, and how the views of children need also to be respected in terms of opting out of religious education. She balances her arguments well and makes the case for alternative systems of education which better reflect the current socio-cultural profile of the Irish nation. Thomas Grenham situates the issue of pluralism in Irish primary education within globalization and sees schools addressing the issue of inclusivity through listening, collaboration, and empathy. He states, ‘Christian religious education in faith-based schools has an opportunity within its own worldview to engage various religious and non-religious perspectives and include them in the enrichment of the classroom.’
The final section deals with Transformative Education; Aislinn O’Donnell speaks about her experience of teaching philosophy to prisoners and ex-prisoners and about her interaction with the writings of Buber, Arendt, and Friere. Education in this context is less about how it might effect change in the behaviour of the student and more about opening up heart and mind. Ann Higgins and James G. Deegan offer stories of community consciousness as a way of seeing hope and narrative at the core of educational transformation. The book closes with Patricia Kieran’s concluding essay. She acknowledges the limitations of the volume—it couldn’t possible encompass every issue relating to education today—it is a snapshot. However it encompasses a considerable abundance in scholarship. It will start and continue more conversations than it will end. It will show future generations that we recognized the reality of change and were willing to engage with whatever that change presented to us with alacrity, and with a deep commitment to the life and learning of the Irish child.