The Enactment of Key Skills - A Comparative Case-Study of Two Junior Cycle Schools in Ireland.

Abstract

There has been an emergence of competence and skills-based school reforms and frameworks in the last twenty years, especially in the western world. Although the terms “skills” and “competencies” have been around since the 1970’s, it was primarily associated with vocational learning and training. In recent years however, 21st Century Skills has been bookmarked by transnational organizations such as the OECD and UNESCO, as well as the EU, to meet the demands of our knowledge society and is used by a broad range of education institutions. Ireland is one of the countries at the fore front of skills-based learning. The Irish National Council for Curriculum and Assessment [NCCA] and the Irish Department for Education and Skills have participated in multiple international collaborations for the development of skills in educational policy and teaching. In 2015 an Irish school reform was initiated, bringing in changes to the National Curriculum for Junior Cycle (lower secondary) and a Key Skills Framework was introduced – a set of six generic skills. As an education system is only as good as its local actors, this study is set out to explore how two local Irish Junior Cycle have implemented the framework. This study uses a qualitative comparative design and is a multiple-case study. The primarily focus was on teachers and principals’ perceptions and knowledge. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The analysis has been guided by a qualitative content analysis as well as an ideational analysis based on two ideal types that were drafted using the analytical framework of this study. The main findings indicate that the generic skills of the Key Skills Framework are better suited to some subjects than others. Science in particular came through as highly accommodative for skills-based learning. Different Key Skills initiatives were present at the schools; software technology to assess the Key Skills and interdisciplinary subjects. Furthermore, participants identified three types of accountability within the use of Key Skills; personal, professional and public accountability. These findings point to a direction of post-bureaucracy in Irish education and are discussed thoroughly throughout the thesis.