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 – From Foundations to Future Directions: The Evolution of Oral Corrective Feedback in Irish Immersion Education.
AUTHORS – Sylvaine Ní Aogáin, TJ Ó Ceallaigh & Caitríona Ní Mhurchú
Irish immersion primary schools have experienced significant increases in popularity since the early 1970s. Notwithstanding the myriad of celebrated benefits associated with immersion education in Ireland, it must be acknowledged that while immersion students can achieve near-native-like proficiency in relation to their L2 receptive language skills, a similar standard in L2 productive skills is regarded as less likely (Baker & Wright, 2021). With this, immersion students’ L2 has long been described as “linguistically truncated, albeit functionally effective” (Genesee, 1994, p. 5) implying that immersion students appear to communicate effectively but oftentimes, through inaccurate language use. Researchers speculate strong correlations between shortcomings in immersion students’ L2 acquisition process and the underestimated importance of the need for students to attend to and engage with the minority language during subject-matter and theme-based instruction (Tedick & Zilmer, 2020). Optimal language learning in immersion education is claimed to require careful attention to form within a meaning-driven context of specific content instruction (Tedick & Lyster, 2020). Research maintains, however, the nature of immersion teachers’ experience with attempting to intertwine form-orientated and meaning-orientated pedagogy in immersion is complex, important to study, but yet to be understood (Ó Duibhir, 2018).
Oral Corrective Feedback (OCF) may be described as an approach which supports students to notice and attend to their oral linguistic inaccuracies. Research suggests that OCF has the potential to support the integration of both language and content instruction which is regarded as a key component of effective instruction in immersion education (Ó Ceallaigh et al., 2019). While research in the field of OCF has gained much momentum among researchers and educators in the Irish immersion context over the past two decades, a comprehensive literature review of all such studies and their findings is yet to be conducted. One could argue that such a review is crucial to the future development and direction of OCF practices in Irish immersion contexts, both from a theoretical and practical perspective. The current paper aims to provide a literature review of studies that focus on OCF within the Irish immersion context. In doing so, the paper will define OCF, discuss the rationale for its inclusion in immersion pedagogy and provide a brief overview of the current international literature regarding OCF. Following this, studies investigating OCF within the Irish immersion context over the past two decades will be systematically reviewed and analysed. Findings from each study will be synthesised in an attempt to ascertain exactly what is known from extant studies in the Irish minoritised language context. The findings from the literature review will then be compared with those of international studies in an effort to unveil future directions of OCF policy, practice and research in Ireland.
https://doi.org/10.70092/IJE.50.02
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
TITLE – An international perspective on additional assessment components: Considerations for Senior Cycle redevelopment in Ireland
AUTHORS – Zita Lysaght & David Millar
This paper examines the implications of introducing Additional Assessment Components (AAC), as part of school-based assessment, within the ongoing redevelopment of Senior Cycle (SC) education in Ireland. Guided by the Government’s vision of equity and excellence for all, current reform seeks to diversify curriculum pathways, broaden assessment approaches, and reduce pressure associated with the traditional high-stakes Leaving Certificate (LC) examination. Although AAC was envisaged initially as comprising teacher-designed, school-based components contributing at least 40% of final LC grades, responsibility for its administration has since been transferred to the State Examinations Commission, underscoring the challenges of enacting reform within a system historically dominated by external terminal examination.
Drawing on international evidence, the paper explores how jurisdictions including Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ontario, and Queensland have integrated AAC alongside external examinations. Although these jurisdictions differ substantially in governance structures, moderation arrangements, and levels of trust in teacher professional judgement, all provide insights into the opportunities and tensions associated with hybrid assessment systems.
The analysis is informed by semi-structured interviews conducted with key stakeholders in late 2022/early 2023. Three broad questions guided the research: how AAC are experienced in schools and classrooms; the extent to which they are viewed as authentic and appropriate approaches to assessing learners; and what lessons may be drawn for Irish SC reform.
Findings indicate that, while AAC can support broader construct representation, flexibility, and authenticity in assessment, they also generate challenges relating to workload, moderation, public confidence, equity, curriculum fragmentation, and assessment literacy. Across jurisdictions, tensions persist between formative and summative purposes, particularly where AAC contribute directly to high-stakes certification outcomes. The paper concludes that successful implementation of AAC in Ireland will depend not only on technical design, but also on coherent governance, sustained professional learning, clarity regarding teachers’ roles, and careful balancing of innovation with traditions associated with the LC and progression to higher education.