“The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) today demanded that the conditions of service of new teachers must be protected from further attack. The union was speaking on the afternoon of a march of student teachers from all over the country to Leinster House …” (more)
[Teachers’ Union of Ireland, 22 February]
“On February 20, 2012, following the presentations from An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD, and the Vice President of China Xi Jinping at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin, the Irish Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn, TD, hosted the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Professor Yang Ke of Peking University, China, and Dr Sean Rowland of Hibernia College, Dublin, at the Department of Education and Skills. This academic joint venture will see the two institutions collaborate to provide postgraduate education in Medicines Development and Regulatory Sciences across China and South East Asia …” (more)
[Irish Press Releases, 20 February]
“My article on podcasting for chemistry has hit the shelves and has made the cover of Education in Chemistry. They have put it online too for free so …” (more)
[Michael Seery, Is this going to be on the exam?, 22 February]
“I read a short guide by Educause Learning Initiative on the idea of a ‘flipped classroom’. The flipped classroom is ‘a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed’. An example is given, where students were assigned to watch some short lecture videos at home and complete a short quiz at home …” (more)
[Pardon My Ignorance, 21 February]
“WHAT EDUCATION REFORMS/IMPROVEMENTS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND? ‘I want to see a proper debate about how the Irish language is taught, starting with primary school. Either we equip teachers with a proper standard in the language to start with, and get them to teach it better and more, or we stop the farce …’” (more)
[Irish Times, 21 February]
“A chara, – In correctly praising Finland’s education system, Ivan Yates (Opinion February 2012) neglects to mention that ‘compulsory’ Finnish and Swedish are central to primary and post-primary education there. Students are also expected to, and do, learn two additional languages …” (more)
[Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh, Irish Times, 21 February]
“… The concept of ‘learning outcomes’ is a good example: a concept that completely misunderstands the process of learning by assuming that when you dress inputs as outputs something profound will happen. Learning should engage and stimulate the learner, and the result may (and in an ideal world will) be something unexpected …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 21 February]
“I’ve put more than one child through the Junior Cert and I have one more waiting in the wings. I must admit that I am following the reform process with trepidation …” (more)
[Irish Times, 21 February]
“Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Census for School Report by Barry Hennessy. This programme featured the second of a two-part interview with practising poet and retired primary school teacher and principal, Gabriel Fitzmaurice …” (more, mp3)
[Inside Education on 103.2 Dublin City FM, 20 February]
“In 1990, after seven years of teaching at Harvard, Eric Mazur, now Balkanski professor of physics and applied physics, was delivering clear, polished lectures and demonstrations and getting high student evaluations for his introductory Physics 11 course, populated mainly by premed and engineering students who were successfully solving complicated problems. Then he discovered that his success as a teacher ‘was a complete illusion, a house of cards’ …” (more)
[Craig Lambert, Harvard Magazine, Mar-Apr issue]
“Sir, – Ivan Yates’s opinion piece (Education Today, February 14th) made a lot of good, and spurious, points, but it was disappointing in one major respect. The entire focus was on the teaching side with not one mention of the student population …” (more)
[Greg Foley, Irish Times, 20 February]
“The ICT sector should link up with Irish secondary schools that have no access to IT innovation by offering work placements, according to Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn …” (more)
[Irish Times, 20 February]
“Schools would no longer be allowed to discriminate against gay, lesbian and bisexual teachers under new legislation published today (19th February) by Fianna Fáil’s Seanad Spokesperson on Education and Skills, Senator Averil Power …” (more)
[Fianna Fáil, 19 February]
“Ireland’s hope to cultivate a Knowledge Society actually starts with ensuring teachers can play an active role in it. That’s a big hurdle because it means empowering digitally literate teachers …” (more)
[Bernie Goldbach, Inside View from Ireland, 18 February]
“Thousands of teenagers who use Eircom’s online study tool StudyHub have had their registration details hacked, with the theft of user names and passwords …” (more)
[Dan Buckley, Irish Examiner, 18 February]
“My doctor used to have pictures of his kids on his surgery wall and it occurred to me, during a consultation, that they must be very healthy. Well that is what you would expect I think? One would expect them to have a healthy lifestyle and generally not to go short on medical care …” (more)
[Kevin Denny: Economics more-or-less, 18 February]
“And now, a message from the Minister for Education for boys and girls everywhere. Ruairí Quinn received a letter recently from 11-year-old James Culhane, asking him to ban homework …” (more)
[Irish Times, 18 February]
“Countries that invest more in their teachers have better education outcomes than those who do not, according to an OECD study published today …” (more)
[RTÉ News, 16 February]
“I have a confession to make. I have been going to the wrong university lectures. That is, classes in which I’m not enrolled. I know, I know, I’m a terrible student. I should be doing as little work as possible, drinking and partying. But instead, I’m learning. And what’s worse, learning stuff I shouldn’t even be learning. Shame on me … (more)
[Lu-Hai Liang, Guardian, 16 February]
“A chara, – There is, of course, merit in some of the 10 changes recommended by Ivan Yates for Irish education (Education Today, February 14th) but unfortunately whatever merit there is, is undermined by the author’s underlying view that the role of education is to serve the needs of the so-called free market …” (more)
[John Glennon, Irish Times, 16 February]
