"Hi" from Cillian
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- Category: The Vice-President/Academic Officer’s Blog – Cillian
- Published on Tuesday, 12 March 2013 12:34
So this Blog... that I haven’t updated it at all until today.
Firstly, A HUGE well done to the mens hurling team for reaching the final of the Fitzgibbon cup; a great achievement. Well done lads!!!
Well done as well to all who ran in the SU elections last week. It was great to see the enthusiasm that people brought with them during the week. All three changes to the constitution were passed. The updated version of the constitution is available online.
There is plenty on this week for Seachtain na Gaeilge. Unfortunately we didn’t even win a spot prize last night at the Tráth na gCeist, won plenty at last week’s Fairtrade table quiz though so we won’t hold a grudge. Traid Factor in Bobby Byrne’s on Wednesday should be good fun!
The MICS Awards are coming up soon. This is a great opportunity for college societies to get recognition for their work during the year.
Some Youtube Videos = Destress
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- Category: The Vice-President/Academic Officer’s Blog – Cillian
- Published on Friday, 09 December 2011 13:55
Between exams, studying and assignments as well as the haunting thoughts of the effects of the budget, it's a fairly stressful time. With that said, I just thought I'd write this short blog to remind people to take a break now and again from your work or you will stress and burn yourself out.
I just thought I'd compile a short list of videos worth watching that will raise a smile and relieve some of the stress, if only momentarily....
What next for the new generation of BEds?
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- Category: The Vice-President/Academic Officer’s Blog – Cillian
- Published on Monday, 17 October 2011 14:47
We're now at a stage where the new four year BEd programme is being developed. Mary I, like all other colleges who offer Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes, now finds itself in a position whereby it must broadly commit to the criteria and guidelines set out by the Teaching Council (a document you can download here) by October 31st or else the college might not be granted a four year BEd.
There are a range of criteria and guidelines that the college must sign up to, from increased TP to an increased Gaeltacht placement, a 15:1 student – staff ratio and more of a focus on Literacy and Numeracy across the board as well as numerous other requirements. There are several elements that the Teaching Council want included and many of them are much needed as the current incarnation of the BEd has been in existence since the 1970s.
One of the interesting aspects of the requirements is the question over the inclusion of the Arts subjects. As it stands, if there is to be involvement of the Arts subjects it must fall under the 20% discretionary time which the Teaching Council has allocated and time where students can develop "specialisms". This 20% cannot, however, be dedicated to the Arts subjects.
There are many sides to the debate on whether or not Arts should be included and I wonder is the Teaching Council's imposition of the Arts involvement idea? Should the inclusion of the Arts not be something that each college should be left to decide upon, as opposed to the Teaching Council imposing it? Surely the Colleges of Education lead the field when it comes to ITE? Should the colleges who employ the leaders in this area not be the ones to decide on this?
There seems to be mixed opinions on the inclusion of the Arts in the BEd. I've asked my friends who graduated from the BEd here their opinions on it and there are mixed responses. Some say it was an escape from the Education modules and it also gives them more Postgraduate opportunities. Others say it gives them a greater chance to be a subject leader in their school.
Saying that, there are others who see the Arts as a waste of time and they cannot see the benefit of the Arts when it comes down to teaching in the classroom. Would it not benefit college students more to spend all of their time on Education modules as this is the stuff that they will use first hand in the classroom? Some feel it puts more pressure on you when you're in college as you're worrying about Arts assignments instead of focusing on other work.
Coincidentally, at the most recent meeting of Class Reps, one Class Rep asked about the review of the BEd that is taking place at the moment, which both Mairead and I are involved in. The Class Rep stated quite clearly that she thought Arts should be included as it gives graduates more opportunities, postgraduate and others, as well as helping Government initiatives such the Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative where it makes sense that teachers with a degree in a language be the driving force behind them.
As it stands, there may be some involvement of the Arts but not to the extent there is in the current three year programme. Graduates will not have a double degree as they do at the moment. This ultimately comes down to the strict conditions laid out by the Teaching Council.
What do you think - should the Arts be included or not? Should the Teaching Council be the ones deciding on this or should it be the individual colleges?
Noel
The Government Need To Think Carefully
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- Category: The Vice-President/Academic Officer’s Blog – Cillian
- Published on Friday, 11 November 2011 09:15
It has been quite a while since I posted anything but I've now found a spare minute to write something, while listening to the sounds of Declan O'Rourke.
What a mental few weeks it has been as well. We've had everything from a Halloween Ball, Graduation, Mary I Factor and a ministerial visit, with another on the way on Monday (Nov 14th).
My Second First Hello!
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- Category: The Vice-President/Academic Officer’s Blog – Cillian
- Published on Friday, 16 September 2011 16:28
Hello everyone!
Noel here, your MISU Vice Prez/Education Officer for this year!
Sorry for the delay in posting my first blog. As you can imagine, it has a been crazy couple of weeks, between Orientation Week and Freshers' Week and just the general madness of the start of the College Year which comes with the first few weeks.