Minister for Education Joe McHugh is considering reinstating history as a core subject. Two education observers offer the case for and against
Through various ministers the NCCA has remained in place, and, indeed, has carried out some very valuable work, particularly on the curriculum and the assessment of the various State examinations.
Yes of course that was all very important and very interesting. But much more than that, it is only by studying history that we learn who we are, where we have come from, what our antecedents were like, what led to the various major movements, both nationally and internationally, in history, and, more importantly, what is to become of us in the future.
In that way many more students will carry it on into Leaving Cert, and so will enjoy at that level a marvellous discovery in the mind of all that has been and all that can be. I’ll retain my last cheer for when Joe finally confirms he has reviewed the proposal from the NCCA, and he has disagreed with its proposal, and has decided to keep history as a core subject at Junior Cert level.‘There’s no evidence that making any subject compulsory supports the quality of learning“Draw what you see, not what you think you see” is advice an art teacher would give a beginner.
In curriculum design we tend to make the same mistakes. We are so familiar with what we think a school programme should look like that we don’t question the “embedded symbols”. But the alarm expressed at the “dropping” of history betrays a deficit in accuracy, in evidence and in the process of adolescent learning.
What the NCCA is trying to do at Junior Cycle is to set out a national framework, guided by clear statements of learning, within which schools and teachers will have some professional discretion.
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