Caroline McGowan PhD Candidate, TU Dublin Unreasonable expectations that DEIS schools can ‘solve’ complex societal problems. A progress report on a collaborative, cross-curricular intervention around food and cooking in an inner-city school. 1
Contents of the Presentation • Genesis of the research • The fieldwork and expected outputs • Case study DEIS Band 1 school • Profile of the case study area • What DEIS schools are expected to deliver • Designing an integrated curriculum module • Covid 19, school closures and calculated grades • Unmasking the systemic ‘unfairness’ of the school system. 2
Genesis of the Research This presentation reports on a collaborative intervention invited by the Parents’ Council and staff of an inner city DEIS GaelScoil to TU Dublin Cathal Brugha Street doctoral programme. The main identified school needs were nutrition and food knowledge. Additional requirements centred on a need for compensatory and cross-curricular pedagogical practices to achieve DEIS learning targets. 3
The Fieldwork & Expected Outputs A Single Case Study using collaborative enquiry methods with the Principal and class teacher to develop: 1. An Edu- Care Integrated ‘Food and Care’ Programme with Two Food and Cooking Modules delivered to 4th, 5th and 6th classes in one session per week. 2. Care for Some Lunch? It’s More Than Just Food, A Pilot Hot 4 Lunch Experience every Friday for the whole school 3. A ‘Food Book’ – Project Based Learning by the children 4. A Pedagogical Guide for teachers to replicate the module.
The Case Study Band 1 DEIS Gael Scoil • • Formerly Scoil Colmcille 1927-1983 The ‘Model School’ has 276 pupils in the senior school • • 3 teachers, 65-110 average numbers Original Teacher Training College and Model School • Teaching through Irish 1831 • Teaching through English 5
Few Primary Schools No Green Spaces 6
Post-Primary schools 10 7
Multiple and Cumulative Disadvantages in the Case Study Area – which aspects??? Homelessness? Temporary accommodation? • Lone parents? • Household income? • Crime stats? • Drug prevalence? • Spaces to play and socialise? • 8
Statistics Render Disadvantage Faceless Scoil Chaoimhín Scoil Chaoimhín 9
Educational Attainment Scoil ChaoimhÍn 10
Dublin 1 23% 3 rd lowest after D10 and D 17 11
What can DEIS schools achieve? • DEIS was introduced in 2007 to address the educational needs of children from disadvantaged communities (3 to 18 years). • A prerequisite for inclusion in the DEIS Programme is a school’s commitment to target setting for numeracy and English literacy, to monitoring progress and to measuring outcomes. 12
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DEIS ‘advantages’ • 20 in junior classes, 24 in top classes (26 in Non-DEIS) • Administrative principals • Access to the School Meals Programme • Access for staff to a literacy/numeracy support service and to literacy/numeracy programmes through the teachers professional support services • Access to homework clubs/summer camps assisting literacy and numeracy development • Access to Home-School-Community Liaison services ( including literacy and numeracy initiatives involving parents and family members) NOTE: access to does not imply right to 14
Imbalance in DEIS Food Poverty Homelessness (lack of sleep, space, loss of friends, lack of emotional support) 15
‘ Children learn in contexts… and the spaces , places and people they come into contact with have a deep influence on their development ’ (Hayes, O’Toole and Halpenny, 2017). 16
Revising the primary curriculum NCCA is reviewing and redeveloping the primary curriculum for the first time since 1999. 'The redeveloped primary curriculum will support schools in working towards the creation of inclusive learning environments which teachers can interpret locally and which allow for variations in children’s learning needs .’ (NCCA, 2020). 17
7 Discrete Primary Curriculum Areas Social, Arts Environment al Physical Primary and Scientific Education Languages Social, Religious Personal and Mathematics Education Health Education 18
Integrating curriculum areas for the research fieldwork Move away from the time-on-task paradigm to a compensatory paradigm 19
SESE - Geography Where food comes from e.g. garden, the supermarket, another country, Local food, The garden and growing. Nature and our food, caring for SESE - History Art - Visual Arts the environment. Food miles. Drawing from observation or Understanding of Irish foods/local . memory of foods, events History of Irish foods. Food heritage, experienced during the module . Food and farming, SPHE Making decisions about what to eat, Edu - Care Primary Language -Languages nutrition and health. Practising a life skill (cooking) Caring for yourself/others and Discussing of ideas, giving opinion, Integrated relating to others through food. The journal writing, writing up recipes dining/eating experience. Taking time to reading food labels, packaging and ‘Food and Care’ enjoy food. ingredients. Growing vocabulary Programme through ingredients and processes. Using words with real life application. Book design skills. Photography. SESE - Science Natural Environment environmental awareness, energy and cooking foods Mathematics Seasonality of foods, winter and Measures - Cooking times, setting the oven temperature, cost of summer/autumn foods. Observing food products, value for money, eating nutritious food for less, changes while cooking and baking. weights, measures and sequences in relation to food recipes, costings, shopping, money management. 20
Compensating for 4 domains of developmental needs Home Works 2018 21
Belonging, Mattering, Counting Edu-Care Integrated (Food and Care) Programme Affective Practices 5 th Domain Children's Affective Needs 22
The Module in Action 23
Leabhar Bia 24
Current Research Stage: Evaluation of the Fieldwork • The findings from the evaluations will be used in together with other elements below to inform the Pedagogical Guide for teachers Guiding Pedagogical Theories Class Plans Resources Principles Guide 25
Unexpected Aspects • Covid lockdown and school closures Discourses about standardised Leaving Cert. • results and unmasking advantage/disadvantage and ‘entitlements’ in the education system. 26
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School closures affected disadvantaged students much more severely, study shows School leaders fear digital divide will widen achievement gap, ESRI research says Fri, Jun 26, 2020, 00:00 Irish Times ‘ 28
Big Question ‘ Educational institutions alone cannot Are DEIS eliminate social class inequalities as schools a site of reproduction, the generative site of social class agents of injustices rests on economic rather change, both, than educational relations’ or neither? (Lynch, 2018) 29
A Socially Inconvenient Truth - No Equality of Opportunity? 30
Sunday Independent 13 September 2020 31
A Socially Inconvenient Truth – Schools maintain the system ? 32
Míle Buíochas Caroline McGowan 33
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