The Irish Times - Education

Noticeboard

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:23:59 GMT

An educational round-up

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

An insider’s guide to education

Ireland cannot afford to be seen as an innovation-free zone

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:Expect some interesting clashes between the Government and our new European commissioner ahead, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Talk Back

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

The ban on after-hours parent-teacher meetings is a mistake, writesJIM MOORE

The mocks unplugged

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

What study tips can help maximise your performance in the mocks and what can we learn from the experience of last year’s students? In his final article on the mocks,BRIAN MOONEYhelps you to make the most of the exams and gives a guide to six more subjects

Memories of a maverick teacher

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE:THEY CAME from near and far. About 60 past pupils of different ages and backgrounds – from students who had recently left school to middle-aged CEOs – all crammed together in a south Dublin classroom to witness the final lesson of a teacher who had meant something to all of them, writesGRÁINNE FALLER

Talkback

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:07:41 GMT

Schools' attitudes to disability must change, writesANN HEELAN

Let's stop all the posturing about student charges and 'free' fees

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:07:41 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:It’s time for politicians to get real on the issue of third-level fees and provide proper funding for higher education, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Including all in the learning experience

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:07:41 GMT

Holy Child, Sallynoggin, Dublin, provides more support for special needs students than any other school in the city, topping the recentIrish Timeslist. Principal Eileen Morris is determined that inclusion permeates the ethos of the school, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

The mocks 2010: an essential guide

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:07:41 GMT

How important are the forthcoming mock exams? And how can you use them to boost your points in June? In the first of two articlesBRIAN MOONEYexplains how the mocks can help you

Noticeboard

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:09:17 GMT

A round-up of this week's Education events

Teachers' pet

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:09:17 GMT

An insider's guide to education

Subjects at a glance

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:09:17 GMT

Maths, English and Irish for the mocks

Has Ireland dropped the ball on attracting international students?

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:43:10 GMT

The foreign student market is a big money spinner for many countries; Ireland is well-placed, but some self-inflicted wounds have done serious damage to our ability to attract students, writesGRAINNE FALLER

Noticeboard

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:50:55 GMT

A roundup of education events

Talk Back

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:50:55 GMT

Competitiveness is key to Ireland’s future, writesBRIAN MOONEY

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:50:55 GMT

An insider’s guide to education

Without warning, Batt kills off delicate, 102-year-old NUI

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:50:55 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:I THINK I should confess something: I have never really understood what the National University of Ireland is all about. Well, I am not a graduate of the NUI and have never worked for it or its constituent colleges, so I suppose it’s been easy to see it as one of those mysteries that surround us and which is more attractive when you don’t try too hard to understand or explain it, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Gaffney's big school project

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:50:55 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE:Principal Eamonn Gaffney wanted RTE’s fly-on-the-wall series ‘The School’ to convey a full, rounded picture of Irish schools. The series was hailed as groundbreaking, but critics say the cost to the students of St Peter’s in Dunboyne, Co Meath, was too high.LOUISE HOLDENreports

Noticeboard

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:35:00 GMT

A look at what is going on in education this week

Talk back

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:35:00 GMT

Education was the big loser in the boom, writesBRIAN MOONEY

From addiction to education

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:35:00 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE: KARL KILMARTINhas taken a rocky road to college. The former heroin addict has worked hard to beat his addiction. He is now taking a degree course in business management. Louise Holden reports

Extreme weather and that sense of disorientation

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:35:00 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:Admit the obvious: there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that Ireland will ever get the hang of bad weather, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Returning to learning: mature students talk to Eoin Cunningham

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:35:00 GMT

A look at those returning to education

Mature reflection as older generation considers college

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:35:00 GMT

A new army of mature students is heading to third level in record numbers. But who are these new students? And what are their dreams and aspirations, asksGRAINNE FALLER

Talkback

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:08:34 GMT

The gender gap is alive and growing in Irish education, writesBRIAN MOONEY

End of year report shows need to try harder

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:08:34 GMT

All levels of the education sector have felt the chill of recession this year as things have gone from bad to worse. Fasten your seatbelt for a bumpy ride back through 2009, writesSEÁN FLYNN, Education Editor

Budget cuts a pleasant surprise - they weren't as big as we feared

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:08:34 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:LAST Wednesday afternoon in Dublin city centre I stopped, with a number of other passers-by, at a shop that had a television where we could see Brian Lenihan giving his Budget speech. As every new item was disclosed I was able to hear a number of choice expletives from my fellow watchers, no doubt as each of them contemplated their new financial circumstances. The man next to me said: “and I’ve just bought a new Mercedes.” Yes, I felt really sorry for him. Totally, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Alexandra College's very modern model of a modern major principal

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:08:34 GMT

PROFILE:In her years running Alexandra College in Dublin, Marian Healy has never shied away from thinking big – or confronting controversy, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

Noticeboard

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:08:40 GMT

Education notices

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:08:40 GMT

An insider’s guide to education

Talk Back

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:10:08 GMT

Special needs enrolment should be taken seriously, writesBRIAN MOONEY

A perfectly general question leads to surprising point-blank answers

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:10:08 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:What we want from education may differ from what we expect – or what we need, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

'A celebration of difference united behind a humbling credo'

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:10:08 GMT

Blackrock College has just launched a new book to celebrate its 150th anniversary. There is a public fascination with the south Co Dublin school, but Blackrock shrugs off criticism, quietly thriving on its own unshakable sense of self, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

The welfare of the child is what school attendance officers are all about

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:10:08 GMT

It’s the success stories of getting kids back to class that keep school attendance manager Michael Doyle going in what can be a very difficult job, writesGRÁINNE FALLER

Noticeboard

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:59:47 GMT

History Lecture at Alexandra CollegeThe annual Ardilaun Lecture in History will take place today at 4pm in, Alexandra College, Dublin 6.

An insider's guide to education

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:59:47 GMT

TEACHER'S PET:There may be trouble ahead . . . Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe will brief the the education correspondents at about 5pm tomorrow, just after Brian Lenihan unveils the Budget.

Talk Back

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:26:13 GMT

The feeder schools lists represent a rare triumph for parents, writesSEáN FLYNNEducation Editor

Call me a fusspot, or simply German, but the rules of language do matter

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:26:13 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:Me, myself or I? Unlike Janis Joplin, I’m driven to get the grammar right, insufferable pedant notwithstanding, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

How saving the Junior Certificate can keep teenagers focused

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:26:13 GMT

Any move to abolish the Junior Certificate is dangerous and daft. Students and parents need an exam which will concentrate the mind, argues ‘The Irish Times’ guidance expert

Here's the proof that you can teach an old educator new tricks

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:26:12 GMT

PROFILE:IT WILL be a fraught Christmas in Cork this year, but at least two people will be celebrating. Mary and Frances Hurley, mother-and- daughter teachers from Christ King Secondary School, will graduate next week with first- class honours from the MEd programme in UCC. It’s been quite a journey for Mary, from the death of her husband two years ago to the reinvention of her teaching life two years away from retirement, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:20:41 GMT

An insider's guide to education

Noticeboard

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:20:41 GMT

A roundup of education notices

An end to academic excellence?

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:20:40 GMT

LOUISE HOLDENexamines the prospects for the Junior Cert exam. Is it the beginning of the end?

Five years at third level may prove too costly,

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:37:24 GMT

TALKBACK:Though not widely known, the Bologna Declaration could play a central role in your future, writesBRIAN MOONEY

Let's get the facts first on dumbing down at second level

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:37:24 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:Recently I was at a dinner and was sitting with several businesspeople. Well, to be honest, they were all businessmen, but that’s a subject for another time, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Getting into medicine: a user's guide to the HPAT

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:37:24 GMT

MEDICAL education has been transformed by the Health Profession Admission Test (HPAT), which allows all Leaving Cert students with more than 480 points to apply for medicine, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

Here for the holidays? Not when there are 28 other reasons to be a teacher

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:37:24 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE:Short working days, long holidays – don’t teachers have the life? Recent controversy over the difference in hours, holidays and professional assessment between Irish teachers and those in the UK only serve to add fuel to that fire, writesGRÁINNE FALLER

Noticeboard

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:20:58 GMT

History Lecture in UCD

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:20:58 GMT

An insider’s guide to education

Academics can hit the X Factor with an appreciation for pop culture

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:54:44 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:EVERY Saturday evening in our house a hush descends upon the place as one member of my family focuses closely on an event of real cultural significance. I am, of course, referring to the BBC’sStrictly Come Dancing, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Dynamic leader in the eye of a Junior Certificate storm

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:54:44 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE:FOUR years ago, when then education minister Mary Hanafin dismissed a proposed overhaul of the Leaving Cert as a “Rolls Royce option”, many wondered if the department and the curriculum review body were on the same page. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and its chief executive, Anne Looney, seemed at odds with the establishment in general and the minister in particular, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

Noticeboard

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:51 GMT

Education notices

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:51 GMT

An insider’s guide to education

Talk Back

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:51 GMT

More adults than ever are looking at college courses

Is Hugh Brady the Michael O'Leary of education?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:51 GMT

UCD president Dr Hugh Brady is one of the most powerful figures in Irish education. Interviewed this week, he talks about his constant (and controversial) quest for excellence

Noticeboard

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:03:40 GMT

A round-up of upcoming education events

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:03:40 GMT

An insider's guide to education

Talk Back

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:03:40 GMT

IN THE second of my articles directed at those considering applying to the CAO for a place in college in September 2010, I am going to deal with the new Higher Education Access Route, directed at those applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds, writesBRIAN MOONEY

Ireland's future depends on continued investment in research

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:03:40 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:In the US, China, India, Germany – all countries that have been negotiating the recession with some success – investment in research and innovation has increased, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Fifty years of revolution and evolution

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:03:40 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE:Street protests, ego clashes, court cases, imprisonment, money woes – the USI has had many ups and downs in its five-decade history, writesGRÁINNE FALLER

How Nintendo can boost your child's performance in maths

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:03:40 GMT

The Nintendo DS is often viewed with suspicion by teachers and parents. But new research suggesting Nintedo can be good for your kids is changing attitudes, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

Why I've joined Madonna, President Obama and 14 popes on Twitter

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:15:31 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:QUESTION: WHAT do I have in common with Barack Obama, Madonna, Sarah Brown (Gordon Brown’s wife), the entire Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour Parties, Stephen Fry, and 14 people who claim to be the pope? Answer: we’re all on Twitter. Maybe you’re reading this and you still don’t know what Twitter really is; and by now, because just everyone is talking about it, you’re embarrassed to admit that. Fear not, I’m here to help, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Life at the heart of Harvard

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:15:31 GMT

Harvard retained its place as the world’s number one university in the latest world rankings. But what’s it like to study there? And what are their students like? It’s the most exciting, stimulating, life-changing place, writesROSITA BOLAND, who spent a year as a student there

A personal interest in creating and fostering international academic links

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:15:31 GMT

He’s a New York Jew who speaks fluent Irish and is an expert in the anthropology of Irish Catholicism. Now, he’s making international connections for NUI Maynooth, writesGRÁINNE FALLER

Noticeboard

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:39:10 GMT

Resources for Teachers of Irish to Adults and Students

Teacher's Pet:

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:39:10 GMT

An insider’s guide to education

Routes into college for those with disabilities or learning difficulties

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:39:10 GMT

TALK BACK:TODAY MARKS the beginning of this year’s CAO application season, for those considering college in 2010.

Transition Year is an experience worth digging deep for

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:53:54 GMT

TALK BACK:MANY HARD-pressed parents are being forced to ask fundamental questions about their child’s schooling, writesBRIAN MOONEY

'Cosy and privileged' - the view of Irish teachers across the water

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:53:54 GMT

I’M AN Irish teacher who has been in Kent since 2001 I work almost 1,300 contracted hours a year – over 500 more than the Irish contract, according to OECD figures, writesKEVIN O’BRIEN

'Nobody had given any thought to the higher education sector'

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:53:53 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:The ink had barely begun to dry on the revised Programme for Government before confusion crept in, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

McCarthy report clears way for a renegotiation of teaching contracts

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:53:53 GMT

We have a school system where teachers are seldom assessed, excellence goes unrewarded, mediocrity is tolerated, and the indolent find sanctuary. It is high time for a new teaching contract, writes the former president of UL,DR EDWARD WALSH

Coup for UCD as new chair of politics opts for a timely homecoming

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:53:53 GMT

AS A boy, the new Chair of Politics at University College Dublin (UCD) played around his father’s desk at the university, writesMARY MINIHAN

Noticeboard

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:36:01 GMT

Education notices

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:36:01 GMT

An insider's guide to education