https://doi.org/10.70092/IJE.50
TITLE – Reading in the Years (1922-2026): Tracing Changes in the National Primary Curriculum for Literacy in Ireland
AUTHORS – Patrick Burke and Conall Ó Breacháin
How reading is positioned and conceptualised in the national curriculum gives insights into the relative priority given to literacy at a given moment in time. This article provides a close analysis of how English reading has evolved during four major curricular epochs in Irish primary schools. Though the focus is the past six decades, the curriculum still in place in the late 1960s dictates that the analysis begins with the National Programme of Primary Instruction instiga ted by the new Free State Government in 1922. We examine the later versions of this National Programme before turning to the ‘new’ Primary School Curriculum (1971), the ‘revised’ Primary School Curriculum (1999), and the Primary Language Curriculum (2015, 2019, 2025). The analysis provides the first account of how key aspects of reading – including word recognition and comprehension – have matured in their presentation over the course of the last 100 years of Irish curriculum. It also details the societal influences that have (and have not) influenced the recommendations for how reading might be taught in schools. The paper concludes with a discussion of how research, politics, and views of teacher professionalism have been presented in this time.
https://doi.org/10.70092/IJE.50.01
TITLE – Standing already in what comes next: Educational research between continuity, responsibility, acceleration and policy needs.
AUTHORS – Christian Christrup Kjeldsen
This paper is a lightly adapted version of a keynote speech that was delivered as part of the 60th anniversary conference celebration of the Educational Research Centre (ERC), which took place in January 2026. It reflects on the role of educational research institutions such as the ERC as custodians of institutional knowledge, and the tension in educational research between being able to contribute to longer-term societal understanding while also delivering insights that effectively support policy and practice in an evolving educational landscape. It also considers the importance of capacity building, standing capacity for flexible deployment, and effective data infrastructure systems to strengthen research responsiveness to emerging policy needs.
https://doi.org/10.70092/IJE.50.03
TITLE – Reflections on the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2011-2020: Evidence from TIMSS and PIRLS (2011-2023)
AUTHORS – Gráinne McHugh, Aidan Clerkin, & Dirk Hastedt
The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy Among Children and Young People 2011-2020 (hereinafter referred to as the 2011 Strategy) was one of the flagship policy initiatives of the Department of Education and Youth for much of the last 15 years. Amongst other aspects, it set out significant goals relating to initial teacher education, instructional time, parental involvement, assessment practices and use of standardised tests, use of large-scale assessment data for system-level monitoring, and major curriculum reform. The publication of a successor Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy in 2024 – covering the next decade up to 2033 – creates a follow on from the 2011 Strategy. It therefore seems timely now to look back over the 2011-2023 period to examine the extent to which progress towards a set of aims specified in the 2011 Strategy had been accomplished by its endpoint.
For this analysis, we draw on data from multiple cycles of two large-scale assessments: PIRLS 2011, TIMSS 2011, PIRLS 2021, and TIMSS 2023. These studies, which are conducted at Fourth Class in primary school, fulfil three key criteria for the current purpose: (i) they provide population-level data that allow generalisations to be made to the relevant population of pupils across the country as a whole, rather than just a sample; (ii) they provide comparable datapoints on key topics at either side of the lifetime of the 2011 Strategy; and (iii) they provide data relevant to the teaching and learning of both literacy and numeracy. Findings are presented under the six “pillars” alluded to in the 2011 Strategy and a subsequent 2017 Interim Review. Next, the findings are contextualised from an international perspective, highlighting common drivers for policy creation, approaches used when policymaking, and challenges that arise when trying to evaluate the effectiveness of policy. The findings and contextualisation inform a discussion on the changes and progress in the lifetime of the 2011 Strategy while considering the updated goals and objectives set out in the current Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024-2033.
https://doi.org/10.70092/IJE.50.04