Literacy Education in Irish Secondary Schools: Strategy and Assessment
This paper examines the literacy curriculum in secondary schools in Ireland, with particular attention to the national literacy strategy outlined by the Department of Education and Skills through 2020. Drawing on frameworks from Peregoy and Boyle, and Gottlieb, the paper describes the aims of literacy education, assessment methods — including self-assessment, review sheets, and standardized testing — and classroom teaching strategies such as experiential learning, visual aids, and Socratic questioning. It also addresses practical challenges such as mixed-ability classrooms and the tension between advancing stronger students and supporting those who are falling behind.
- Introduction: Ireland's National Literacy Strategy: National strategy, policy context, and differentiation approach
- Aims and Assessment Methods: School literacy aims and assessment tools described
- Core Literacy Subjects and Learning Goals: Reading, writing, grammar, and language arts covered
- Classroom Expectations and Curriculum Standards: Grade-level expectations and teacher-set criteria
- Teaching Methods and Student Engagement: Socratic method, visuals, and experiential learning
- Challenges in Mixed-Ability Classrooms: Gap between advanced and struggling students
- Policy, Marking, and Review Practices: Standardized marking, review sheets, and vocabulary work
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- Grounds its discussion in real policy context by citing the 2011 Minister of Education speech and the Department of Education and Skills' national literacy strategy, giving the paper institutional authority.
- Balances theoretical frameworks (Peregoy and Boyle on differentiation; Gottlieb on assessment) with practical classroom description, showing how policy translates to daily teaching.
- Honestly acknowledges limitations — particularly the validity and reliability issues with self-assessment — rather than presenting the curriculum uncritically.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses a policy-to-practice structure: it opens with the national strategy mandate, then traces how that mandate shapes school-level aims, assessment design, and daily instruction. This layered approach — policy → aims → methods → challenges → solutions — is a sound organizational technique for applied education writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by situating Ireland's literacy curriculum within a national policy framework. Subsequent sections address assessment aims and tools, core subjects, classroom expectations, teaching strategies (including Socratic questioning and differentiated instruction), mixed-ability challenges, and finally marking and review practices. The conclusion is embedded in the final section rather than separated, which keeps the paper focused on practical description throughout.
Introduction: Ireland's National Literacy Strategy
The literacy curriculum in secondary school in Ireland is based on a strategy of language-related lesson modifications, identified by Peregoy and Boyle as effective methods of ensuring that differentiation occurs in the classroom. This strategy allows for the use of "visuals, concrete objects, direct experience, and other nonverbal means to convey lesson content" alongside the main lesson taught by the teacher (Peregoy, Boyle 86). In practice, this is consistent with what students experience in school: differentiation is a central part of the cycle, as much of what is centered on literacy is tied directly to experiential learning, the use of visual aids, and the expression of ideas from readings through nonverbal means such as drawings, videos, or performance in the classroom.
At the same time, there is notable urgency among literacy leaders and proponents in Ireland to do even more for literacy students in schools, as demonstrated by the speech delivered by Minister of Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn in 2011. Quinn emphasized that "more and better services" need to be provided in schools through a "key commitment on the development and implementation of a national literacy strategy" based on a "public consultation process" that would provide a national strategy on literacy through 2020 (Quinn 5). Quinn assured audiences that ample funds would be earmarked for the development of this strategy, with the primary aim being "to ensure that teachers and schools maintain a strong focus on literacy… within a broad and balanced curriculum" (Department of Education and Skills Press Release). This paper discusses what that strategy consists of in practice.
Aims and Assessment Methods
No strategy is effective without specific aims and methods of assessment, as Gottlieb has indicated. The aims in school are for students to develop an appreciation and enjoyment of literacy that includes reading and writing, a sense of how language is communicated in both written and oral forms, comprehension skills, an understanding of grammar, and the ability to write for specific audiences. These aims are considered essential in the arena of literacy education.
The methods of assessment used include self-assessment, a process whereby the learner engages in reflection and provides — in written or oral form — a review of what he or she has learned in class. A second method is assessment for learning, which is based on the use of criteria and rubrics provided by the teacher so that students know what is expected of them and what they must achieve in order to demonstrate that learning has taken place. This method includes review sheets, formal evaluations (tests and exams), and written portfolios.
Core Literacy Subjects and Learning Goals
The subjects deemed important to literacy-focused classes include reading, writing, speaking, grammar, and language arts skills such as rhetoric and debate. Each of these is given equal weight, and no single subject is preferred over another. The overarching goal is for students to come to regard literacy as important so that, when they graduate from secondary school, they will continue to learn independently.
Works Cited
Department of Education and Skills Press Release. Education.ie, 2011. Web. 1 June 2016.
Gottlieb, M. Assessing English Language Learners. CA: Corwin Press, 2006. Print.
Peregoy, S., Boyle, O. Reading, Writing and Learning. MA: Pearson, 2013. Print.
Quinn, Ruairí. "Address to the Delegates at the National Adult Literacy Agency AGM." 2011.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.