Greetings from Ireland!
Active Methodologies for
Active Citizens
The Irish Experience
Conor Harrison,
National Co-ordinator,
Civic, Social and Political Education, Ireland
Reykjavik, Iceland 29th May 2006
Citizenship Education
in the Irish Curriculum
Structure to In-service Events
 Understanding Dimension
 Course Content, Concepts
 Skills Dimension
 Active Learning Methods
 Action Projects
 Formative Dimension
 Opportunities to Reflect
 Co-Facilitated by Practising Teachers
 Inspire confidence, ‘doability’
Citizenship Education in the Irish
Curriculum

Primary Education


SPHE (Social, Personal
Upper Secondary Education

and Health Education)
 SESE (Social,
Environmental and
Scientific Education)

Lower Secondary
Education

Senior Cycle


Transition Year Modules
Social Education (Leaving
Certificate Applied)

Social & Political Education
(Short course, Full course)

3rd Level Education
Political Science
 Sociology
 Anthropology

Junior Cycle
 CSPE (Civic, Social and
Political Education)

Lifelong Learning

One of the six priority areas
Education for & through Citizenship
“Citizenship is doing
our share to make our
community and
country a better
place.”
A L Steele
“The essential task of
citizenship is not to
predict the future, it is
to create it.”
Foróige
Civic, Social & Political Education:
Lower Secondary Education





Core curriculum
One 40 minute class
period per week or
equivalent
70 hours over 3 years
Students should
undertake 2 Action
Projects
Assessed as part of the
Junior Certificate
Civic, Social and Political Education:
 is a course in Citizenship based on Human Rights
and Social Responsibilities.
 aims to develop active citizens who have
- a sense of belonging to the local, national, European
and global community
- a capacity to gain access to information and structures
- an ability and the confidence to fully participate in
democratic society.
 is concerned about issues at personal, local, national and
global levels.
 promotes the development of knowledge, concepts, skills,
attitudes/values, as outlined in the syllabus, through active
learning methods.
Based on 7 Concepts
Rights & Responsibilities
Human Dignity
Democracy
CITIZENSHIP
Law
Development
Stewardship
Interdependence
Education for Democratic Citizenship
within the Council of Europe
 Teaching essential knowledge
 Developing skills
 Developing attitudes
 Undertaking action
 Emphasis on participation and on Active
Learning Methods
Getting the Balance Right
Action
Methodology
Content
Education Education
about
for
Citizenship Citizenship
Education
through
Citizenship
Active Learning Methodologies
Two Key Approaches

Active Learning

Taking Action
“A student must be able to do more than “know
about” what s/he is studying.”
Active Learning Methods
W e tend to
rem em ber....
Our level of
involvement
Experience & Learning
Reading
20%
Hearing Words
30%
Looking at Pictures
Verbal
Receiving
Watching a Movie
Looking at an Exhibit
50%
Watching a Demonstration
PASSIVE
10%
Visual
Receiving
Seeing it done on location
Participating in a Discussion
Giving a Talk
Doing a Dramatic Presentation
90%
Simulating the Real Experience
Doing
ACTIVE
70%
Doing the Real Thing
EXPERIEN
CE AN D LEARN
IN Gof Texas, Austin
Centre for Teaching
Effectiveness,
University
Learning Theories





Visual/Auditory/Kinesthetic
Left Brain/Right Brain
Multiple Intelligences
Co-operative Learning
Constructivism
Visual/Auditory/Kinaesthetic Learners

Visual Learners
Prefer to see information

Auditory Learners
Prefer to hear information

Kinaesthetic Learners
Learn best by doing, touching,
making
V
A
Tape Work
Visitor in the
Classroom
Oral Presentations
Displays
Videos
Demonstrations
K
Make a Model
Peer Teach
Worksheets
Project Work
LEFT Brain









Language
Linearity
Logic
Number/Maths
Sequence
Words of a Poem
From whole to parts
Phonetic reading
Unrelated Facts
RIGHT Brain









Forms and patterns
Spatial manipulation
Dimension
Synthesis
Images and patterns
Rhythm and Music
Tune of a Song
From parts to Whole
Imagination
LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL
How can I bring in numbers, calculations,
logic, classifications, or critical thinking skills?
INTERPERSONAL
How can I engage students in
peer sharing or co-operative
learning?
INTRAPERSONAL
How can I evoke personal
feelings or memories, or give
students choices?
NATURALIST
How can I draw in/evoke the
world of nature?
Adapted from
Howard Gardner
SPATIAL
How can I use visual
aids,
visualisation,
colour,
art
or
metaphor?
LINGUISTIC
Planning for
Multiple
Intelligences
How can I use spoken or
written word?
MUSICAL
How can I bring in music or
environmental sounds, or set key
points in a rhythmic or melodic
framework?
BODILY-KINAESTHETIC
How can I involve the whole body or use
hands-on experiences?
Gardner proposed
a change in emphasis…..
from
How clever is s/he?
to
How is s/he clever?
The Learning Experience
VAK
Multiple Intelligences
Motivation
Left/Right Brain
Learning Styles
Student
Constructivism
Methodology
Attitude
Style
Ability
Teacher
Resources
Subject
Interest
Level
Relationships
Expectations
Teaching Strategies
Learning led
Exam driven
Why Active Learning?






To support memory
To experience learning at a
deeper level
To problem solve
To encourage discussion
To engage pupils
To develop critical
thinking/reflection
Making Lessons Memorable
“Knowledge, for most people, has
a very short sell-by date. Unless it
is used very quickly it goes off.”
Charles Handy, The Hungry
Spirit, 1997, p217
“Experience plus reflection is
the learning that lasts.”
Charles Handy, Myself and other
more important matters, 2006, p43
“Lessons should be hard to forget”
Student
Review/Reflection
“Trying to learn
without reviewing is
like trying to fill the
bath without putting
the plug in.”
Mike Hughes, Closing the
Learning Gap, 1999, p54
The Role of the Teacher
 Creative
 Motivator
 Listener
 Choreographer
 Facilitator
 Empowerer
“The student is empowered and becomes the expert”
Active Learning - General
Roy Watson-Davis, Creative Teaching Handbook,
Teachers’ Pocketbooks, Hampshire, 2004
Gordon Dryden & Jeannette Vos, The Learning
Revolution, Network Educational Press, Stafford,
2001
Paul Ginnis, The Teacher’s Toolkit, Crown House
Publishing, Carmarthen, 2002
Mike Hughes, Closing the Learning Gap, Network
Educational Press, Stafford, 1999
Mike Hughes, Strategies for Closing the Learning
Gap, Network Educational Press, Stafford, 2001
Mel Silberman, Active Learning: 101 Strategies to
Teach Any Subject, Allyn and Bacon, Needham
Heights, 1996
Active Learning - Citizenship
CDVEC Curriculum Development Unit,
Citizenship Education Teaching and
Learning Resources (CD-Rom), CDVEC
CDU, Dublin, 2005
Council of Europe, COMPASS: A Manual
on Human Rights Education with Young
People, COE, Strasbourg, 2002
United Nations, Teaching Human Rights,
OHCHR, Geneva, 2003
Save the Children, Participation: Spice it
Up, Save the Children, Cardiff, 2002
John F. Kennedy
“One person can make a
difference and every person
should try.”
“Vision without action is a
dream. Action without vision is a
waste of time. Vision with action
can change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
The Starfish Story
A young lad was walking down a deserted beach
after a major storm. He was astonished by the
number of starfish that the storm had washed up on
the beach. He thought that there was nothing he
could do because there were so many.
In the distance he saw a frail old man. As he
approached the man, he saw him bend over, pick up
a stranded starfish and throw it back into the sea.
The young lad gazed in wonder as the old man,
again and again bent over, picked up stranded
starfish and threw them from the sand to the water.
He asked, ‘Why do you spend so much energy
doing what seems to be a waste of time?’ The old
man explained that the stranded starfish would die if
left in the morning sun.
‘But there must be thousands of starfish on this
beach alone!’, exclaimed the young lad. ‘How can
you make a difference?’ The old man looked at the
small starfish in his hand and, as he threw it to the
safety of the sea, he said, ‘I made a difference to
that one, didn’t I?’
Fond memories of …
Iceland, May 2006