Anseo.net - If I were the Minister for Education

The NCCA are doing some interesting work in the background trying to restructure the curriculum given the number of demands on our time. Everyone knows that it's impossible to fit everything into the…

As if the 1999 English curriculum wasn't bad enough, the new Primary Language Curriculum did the unthinkable and was even worse. In this episode, I discuss why we have the new Primary Language Curric…

In this final part of this episode on small schools, I finally come to some conclusion around saving small schools. I take all the evidence I've built up over the month and see if anything that anyon…

In part 3 of this episode on the future of small schools, I analyse the Small Schools Symposium and lament what might have been. However, a newspaper report following the symposium gives me and small…

In last week's episode, (http://anseo.libsyn.com/we-need-to-talk-about-small-schools-part-1) we explored the history of small schools in Ireland and in this episode, we're looking at research. By the…

In the first of a two-part episode, I'm going to examine small schools. After a very disappointing Symposium on Small Schools, I want to really talk about small schools and how they are slowly but su…

It's no news to teachers that there aren't enough places for children with additional needs in specialised classes. If you have autism, there are almost 1,000 classes in Ireland, but it's nowhere nea…

The government are thinking of forcing schools to open classes for children with autism. In this episode, I'll explore why this is a bad idea but also give some advice for schools that might choose t…

In soccer, everyone needs to know their position. One basic rule is that you can really only play in one position. In this episode I follow a yard time game of soccer and wonder what role does the un…

Social Media. What could possibly go wrong? The Teaching Council has recently  issued advice to teachers on their use of social media. I am going to try and argue that if I were the Minister for Educ…

Teachers often tell me that they aren’t great on technology. I never understand this because in all aspects of their life, they use technology all the time. In this episode, I want to explore how we …

In this episode, we look at all the things we lost in the recession then examine one thing we gained - Croke Park Hours! This leads into a conversation on non-contact time in schools before asking wh…

On this week’s news show:

1. More calls to remove sacramental preparation from schools
2. Surprise, surprise - standardised testing causes stress
3. The prinicpal who encouraged his parish to vote Fianna Fai…

In this 13th episode of If I were the Minister for Education, I try to unravel the complex web of our pay scale. I also have a go at the union, rightly or wrongly, about their role in the two-tier pa…

On this week’s news show:

1. The principal who robbed over €200k from his school
2. Tusla wrecks another School Completion Programme Project
3. Why the Catholic Church wants to take back Communion
4. The INTO h…

Ireland is the only secular country in the world where more then 2% of their primary schools are single-sex. How did this happen? The answer won't surprise you. Also, is there any truth to the notion…

I've decided to separate the podcast into 2 - one for the weekly news (this podcast) and one for the "If I were the Minister for Education" bit. 

This week I:

• say goodbye to Paul Rowe as he announce…

The School Completion Programme is a scheme to prevent children from leaving school early. Up until recently, it was preventative in nature, but since Tusla have taken over it, you've guessed it, it'…

This is one of the shorter episodes of If I were the Minister for Education so I also take time to review the INTO Congress in 2019. 

• News: 0:40 
• Minor Works Grant: 12:26
• Congress 2019 Review: 22:57
…

I’m not sure when school uniforms became a thing in Irish primary schools but they’re certainly a thing now. There are very few schools (outside the Educate Together and CoI system) that don’t do uni…