The Irish Times - Education

Teacher's pet

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:30:18 GMT

An insider's guide to education

Talk back

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:30:18 GMT

Standards in our universities are closely monitored, arguesDR PADRAIG WALSH

Noticeboard

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:30:18 GMT

Irish Primary PE Conference:The annual conference of the Irish Primary PE Association takes place in Mary Immaculate College Limerick on Saturday, March 20th from 9.30am to 5pm. For information and an appliction form visit irishprimarype.com or contact Cliodhna@irishprimarype.com

There is a contradiction between policy and practice on innovation

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:30:18 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG: We need to be spending more, not less, on innovation if we want a sustained economic recovery, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

At a glance Leaving Cert subjects

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:30:18 GMT

Maths:Less than 20 per cent take this subject at higher level as many students fall back to ordinary level when the pressure builds up in sixth year.

Be calculating in your choice of subjects but don't neglect maths

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:30:18 GMT

What subjects are best for the Leaving Cert? How can you maximise your CAO points? Should you take higher or ordinary level? The following is an essential guide to subject choice for the Leaving Cert, writesBRIAN MOONEY

Top honour for former rail worker

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:30:18 GMT

Former train driver Owen Dinneen, UCC’s graduate of the year, tellsGRAINNE FALLERhow he put himself on track for a first-class honours degree

Talkback

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:58:41 GMT

There’s no logic to abolishing VECs for just €3m of savings, says MICHAEL MORIARTY

Focus on core problems and stop worrying about grade inflation

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:58:41 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:There are many things undermining our education system but grade inflation is not one of them, writes FERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Students abandon property-related courses as interest in science picks up

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:58:41 GMT

The latest CAO figures released yesterday give a fascinating insight into how the class of 2010 sees its job prospects, writes SEÁN FLYNN

Online teacher training goes the distance

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:58:41 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE:Paudie O’Neill gave up a high-flying career as an engineer to train to be a primary teacher and online training allowed him to manage the change, writes LOUISE HOLDEN

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:42:46 GMT

An insider's guide to education

Noticeboard

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:23:45 GMT

This week's teaching roundup

Noticeboard

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:58:00 GMT

A round-up of education news and events

Teachers' pet

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:58:00 GMT

An insider's guide to education

Talkback

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:58:00 GMT

Redesign courses for the unemployed, saysBRIAN MOONEY

It's time for some optimism and self-confidence to sort out the mess

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:58:00 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:Cynicism and sarcasm are darkening the national mood but they’ll do nothing to sort out our problems, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

The strange case of Citywest, 750 Saudi students and the disputed contract

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:58:00 GMT

There was much fanfare when a new college, Citywest Institute of Education, unveiled ambitious plans last month to bring 750 Saudi students to Dublin. But the Saudi ministry for higher education deny all knowledge of the deal. What’s going on?

Changing lives through music

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:58:00 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE:Sister Bernadette Sweeney, principal of St Agnes Primary School in Crumlin and star of RTE’sMusic Changes Lives, hits all the right notes in her approach to education, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

Noticeboard

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:33:06 GMT

Education notices

Teacher's Pet

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:33:06 GMT

An insider’s guide to education

Talkback

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:33:06 GMT

Novel ways to focus on education helps break social disadvantage, writesBRIAN MOONEY

Toys for boys? Confessions of a lifelong gadget fan

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:33:06 GMT

PRESIDENT'S LOG:I love my iPhone. I have two Kindle e-book readers, a few iPods and I shall be the first in the queue when they start selling the iPad, writesFERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

Saying no to special needs?

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:33:06 GMT

While Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe insists all children with special needs will be cared for, parents and teachers are nervous about job cuts among special needs assistants

Alliance still firm even after 50 years

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:33:06 GMT

EDUCATION PROFILE:It’s not just the language that draws 4,000 students a year to the iconic Alliance Francaise building on Dublin’s Kildare Street. They come to absorb a bit of French culture on Irish soil too, writesLOUISE HOLDEN

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