Remarks to the Irish Primary Principals Network
25 January 2013
A Dhaoine Uaisle, is mór agam an deis a bheith agam a bheith libh anseo inniu. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le Líonra Príomhoidí Bunscoile Éireann as ucht an cuireadh labhairt libh ar maidin agus gabhaim buíochas libh go léir as an gcuireadh sin.
[Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to have the opportunity to join you all here today. I would like to thank the Irish Primary Principals’ Network for their invitation to address you this morning and all of you for that very kind welcome.]
If a roomful of adults was asked to recount their memories of their days in primary school, I have no doubt that all of them would have strong and enduring recollections of that period in their life. For some, the question would awaken happy memories of friendships formed, talents nurtured and new interests awoken.
For others, for a variety of reasons, their primary schooldays might be recalled differently, some may recall of sense of boredom, disengagement and a longing to be somewhere else. And of course there are yet others for whom recalling their primary schooldays will always awaken memories of fear, anxiety, a sense of exclusion.
In so many ways the values of a society inform the atmosphere of education at any particular time. My own inclinations are very much with those who see the educational space as having to have its own integrity, its special tasks, its autonomy as a space of learning respected. The school setting is not solely the instrumental setting for socialization. It is the space where the time for personal development and creativity takes place. As a sociologist when we would teach about the role of school in socialisation I found it important to make the distinction between schooling and education.
In so many ways for our young people, their confidence, character and ability to respect and value themselves is formed and developed during those all important early years of their lives. The achievement of good mental health and the building of positive self esteem and problem-solving abilities amongst young people must happen in their primary years of education and the school environment has a critical role to play in promoting that positive mental well-being.
Many, many adults can remember the kind or perceptive or interested teacher; the gifted educator who, while respecting a child’s wonderment guided them in the right direction, encouraged their interests and motivated them to reach their potential.
I have spoken of such a teacher – William Clune who taught me in a single room school in Co. Clare. If a child got sick he would bring them home on the bar of his bicycle. He had so much compassion for his pupils. Some adults looking back will, perhaps unfortunately, recall much so more quickly the insensitive remark which stifled creativity; or gave a sense of feeling small, or ignorant or not worth bothering about.
For all of us, our primary school days will have left a legacy; a footprint on the landscape of our lives; memories and experiences which continue to influence us long after we walked out of the school gates for the very last time.
As President I have had the opportunity to visit many schools where the teachers in modern conditions are bringing a freshness to their performance and compassion too. These young men and women are realising that the strut of a false efficiency must never be traded but at great cost for the rewards that come from striving to be a good and thoughtful teacher. I congratulate them all for that.
The importance of education to the social fabric of our society has been underlined, for instance, by the recent NESC report Why Wellbeing Matters. In recent years we have, perhaps, been too ready to measure our strength as a country in narrow and purely economic terms and there is always the danger of leaning on the educational system and practice in a narrowly utilitarian way. Quantification and measurement are important, maybe particularly so at times of austerity; but it is in such times too that the baseline qualitative essentials must be protected. However a country’s well being is so much more than its economic performance. The ability of people to relate as one equal citizen to another to value our shared health and the natural environment is a proper aim of education and a true measure of a country that has the mental well being of its citizens as its concern.
I read with the greatest concern this morning your President’s findings from a survey of principals that 1 in 5 principals are reporting more pupils arriving at school hungry, in 2013, in our Irish Republic. The Irish people do not want this as I know from my own many visits to such places as St. Munchin’s in Limerick where 500 children are fed every day. They are feeding children so that they are not hungry and so, can learn. It is the wish of Irish people that no child go to school hungry.
The primary school is the foundation of our education system and our school principals have a critically important role in our work, as a society, to attain a truly inclusive citizenship based on participation, equality and respect for all. School Principals have a major influence on young minds and they give examples of personal and social values through word and deed.
Whether our adult citizens look back through rose-coloured spectacles or through tears, every School Principal by now acknowledges, I am sure, that a pedagogy of care is better than a pedagogy of fear and that there is no place for authoritarianism in any of our school settings, that have become more democratic through participation of parents, children and the community, and that an empowering and nurturing approach to the education of our young people is the most important factor in enabling our children to become independent minded, yet socially informed and responsible, democratic citizens who will not be afraid, who will be encouraged to question, to think critically and to envision the possibilities and the means to a better and fairer society.
Principals, teachers, and parents know that a school is not simply an educational institution; a building where classes are held and tests are administered. The school setting is a place where our children interact, socialise and develop, gain confidence in their abilities; broaden their horizons, at different paces which we must recognise; learn to feel secure beyond the safe confines of their family life; a place to embrace their individuality whilst also respecting the norms around them and the individuality of others. Our schools are, however, places of vulnerability, and for some children, oases in a world of family pressures, conflict, stress and all the consequences of unemployment, exclusion and the disastrous results of the failure of the speculative reliance on unregulated markets which is affecting not only Ireland but over all of Europe and so many places of the world.
School should be a place where pupils have the possibility and encouragement to forge strong friendships, discover new and exciting truths, and create many happy memories. Literacy and numeracy are, of course, extremely important but in our efforts toward the acquisition of these crucial skills for participation we must also ensure that our children are equipped to lead full, rewarding and useful lives on their own ethical terms.
Indeed as Patron of the Association for Creativity and arts in Education I am aware of the many innovative and inspired teachers we are fortunate to have in schools throughout the country. There is no week I have not seen them in action. Teachers who do so much work to promote the development of our children’s creativity and imagination, now more than ever, we need inventive and resourceful citizens and original and emancipatory thinkers; citizens who will be unafraid to question the kind of world we inhabit and the kind of shared future we wish to craft, new dynamic answers to those questions. Acknowledging the role of the good teacher in all of this is so important.
There can be little doubt that school principals currently face many different and new challenges as they seek to guide their schools in a direction which will ensure that all its pupils feel comfortable, valued, accepted and secure. Even without the recent difficulties of our country we have evolved and have been changing rapidly in recent years and the economic, social and cultural backgrounds of pupils attending Irish schools has also changed considerably, and we are the richer for it as we make together a new tapestry for our shared future.
Our society has become a vibrant and multi-cultural one. Family structures and households have become increasingly diverse in their make-up and all of these children of these diverse compositions are equally important. Schools have now become an important resource in fostering understanding and acceptance of differing family backgrounds, cultures and traditions between young people; ensuring their pupils learn to respect those differences while also fostering a sense of the school as a community working together to achieve common goals.
The societal role and responsibilities of schools have broadened considerably and our schools are now often required to respond to family break ups, child abuse and other social issues. As a consequence school principals must now deal with, in addition to the Department of Education, many external agencies including social services, psychological services, the Garda Síochana and health officials. The challenge to our public administration, from the highest level to the front line of classrooms must be to be able to flexibly respond to the new circumstances that arise so as to ensure that education at a time of austerity is still the qualitative one that serves our people.
New and sophisticated technology now competes for pupils’ attention and may assist them but has also led to the increased current danger of deeper and more far reaching bullying of vulnerable children; bullying which often extends far beyond the boundaries of the school grounds blurring the demarcation line between where the school principal can and cannot become involved. I am glad when I am out visiting schools, to hear people speaking of the importance of ensuring that no child is ever pushed to the margins.
There can be no doubt that, in a modern and multi-faceted society, the School Principal must often walk a very fine line indeed; a line which, while recognizing and respecting parental rights and responsibilities, must always put the child first by guarding the welfare of the pupils in their care. This, and the many other challenges presented to us in a contemporary and rapidly changing society, present school principals with an increasingly complex environment in which to ensure that the school experience remains a relevant and positive one for the vast majority of their pupils. I have every confidence in the deep compassion, ingenuity, and instinct to solidarity of our people, in their resilience; and I recognize it in the many principals, assistant principals, and teachers I have met and that I continue to meet.
This complexity in the educational setting of modern times, but also the innovative responses are reflected in the wide range of experts, coming from many different perspectives, who will participate in this conference as speakers and facilitators; underlining the multi-disciplinary approach which is now an essential part of education policy formation.
We are fortunate to have, in this country, many many dedicated Principals and teachers, and parents’ organizations who take a deep interest; people who not only discharge their duties to a very high standard but who also become involved in a wide array of extra curricular activities for the benefit of their pupils. On my second day in office in November 2011 I saw hundreds of children sing in the All Ireland Schools Choir competitions in Derry. Their dedicated teachers were there with encouragement and I thought may these teachers always be free to do these activities that are much more important than any exercise in quantification.
Without the dedication, commitment and generosity of our teachers many children would not be able to partake in sporting activities, choirs and drama productions, after school clubs, local community work and so many other activities which can awaken undiscovered interests; build a spirit of teamwork and co-operation; and prepare children to become active participants in their communities and societies in later life.
It is my wish, as Patron of the Association for the promotion of creativity and the arts in education that teachers be allowed to deliver their generous talents to these activities and that no bureaucratic requirement ever impedes their capacity to do so.
Mar focal scoir, let us acknowledge again that as a society, we owe a strong debt of gratitude and appreciation to the Irish Primary Principals’ Network. By providing Principals and their Deputies with valuable opportunities to share experiences, discuss new ideas, move those ideas from proposals to reality while providing support to each other as they carry out their day to day roles, the Primary Principals’ Network is an enormously important resource in ensuring the constant improvement of our education system which we should continually remind ourselves is a ‘peopled’ system and not just a paper system.
The title of this Conference ‘The Future is Now’ underlines not only the importance but also the promise of working together towards a future in which every school’s atmosphere, culture and conditions will enable an education system that maximises the potential and realises the full possibilities of the next generation of active citizens to be sustained. In these challenging times, this is a very apt theme and it is imperative that we all plan so that our primary education is capable of meeting the needs of our children and society today and into the future, the needs of citizens who will take ethical charge of their lives together.
Finally, I would like to thank you all once again for welcoming me here today. I know you have been working your way through a varied and highly interesting programme. I am privileged to have been preceded by Fr Peter McVerry, whose work I great admire. I would like to wish you every success with the remainder of your Conference and with the important work you undertake each and every day to ensure that an increasing number of this country’s children will truly be able to look back on their schooldays as being amongst the best day of our lives.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir.