The Transition Year Programme

By Ultan MacGabhann

One of the the features of the Irish educational system has been its stability, its continuity. Over the last thirty years since the abolition of second level fees, little has changed in the running of our schools and examinatiojn system. This has possibly been one of its strenghts; many countries have suffered from a lack of public confidence in their education systems as a result of reforming them too quickley. Ireland on the other hand depended heavily on its essentially classical or traditional curriculum and examination system, which has developed slowly since the late 19th Century.

The abolition of secondary school fees in 1967 allowed larger numbers of children to enter the secondary system, thus providing this enlarged work force. However, while the numbers involved in the system exploded over the following years, the curriculum at second level stayed very much the same, any changes came about slowly and after much debate.

High levels of unemployment, particularly among young and underqualified school leavers, resulted in more students staying on in school for longer; rather than leaving at 15 most were now stsying on until they were 17. Employer groups were demanding that schools take on a greater vocational role. A greater element of training for employment would have to be accommodated alongside the traditional classical curriculum. Futhermore, the types of employment available has changed rapidly in recent decades; the senior cycle would have to respond to those changes.

A number of reports pointed to the urgent need to radically overhaul the senior cycle, to deal with the many divergent needs of the growing and diverse student population. Faced with these pressures the National Council for Curriculum and Assesment set as their central policy that "The senior cycle curriculum should be viewed as a single entity and designed to cater for up to 90% of the age range 15 to 18 years." It was in this context that the Transition Year programme was set, and should be judged. It is part of a complex review and development of the senior cycle. It cannot, and was never intended to deal with all the complex issues involved, but it plays its part in the solution.

As I see it TYP tackles a number of problems. First, it is recognised that Irish students tend to sit the Leaving Certificate at too early an age. Often students are 16 or 17, while students in most other European countries are over a year older. It is felt that this year is an important factor n terms of maturity, and the ability to cope with the pressures of the Leaving Cert. The year also deals with the overly classical curriculum of the senior cycle, with the curriculum focusing on other areas of learning not included in the Leaving Certificate but which may be of value to students in later life. The insertion of TYP after the Junior Certificate was also in recognition of the fact that students need time and a little help to move into the more complex and concentrated curriculum of the senior cycle. It gives students time to make up for some lost ground over the preceding years, and introduces them to some of the topics and ideas of the Leaving Certificate.

How important is the Transition Year in all of this? Probably a little too early to say, but a number of points are clear; TYP was the first serious curriculum development to be left entirely in the hands of those who would teach it. It drew on the experiences of teachers to a greater extent than ever before. The success evidenced by the recent inspectors report can only encourage further developments along these lines. Indeed much of the development of the New LCVP and LCA, is in the hands of teachers. This also allows the curriculum to be adapted to local conditions.

If we judge the Transition Year divorced from the rest of the senior cycle, or if it is allowed develop without schools taking on board the other changes envisaged, its results will probably be negligible. If however the reforms to the Senior Cycle as a whole are taken on board, our school system will be better prepared for the world of the 21st Century.

Mr Ultan MacGabhann was the co-ordinator for Transition Year in Moyle Park
from its inception in 1992 until 1999. He continues to teach
information technology in Transition Year.