Local pupils present report on Irish language project

A CLASS of local students from St Philip the Apostle National School, Mountview, Dublin 15, have presented their progress on a unique Irish language project to a conference at Trinity College.

The young pupils were joined by parents and teachers on June 27 for the presentation on their action research project at the Learner Voice Conference in Trinity’s School of Education.

The proud students were the only representatives from primary school, and they made a fantastic presentation about their project

‘Is Tusa an Múinteoir’ (@Tusaanmuinteoir) which has received very positive feedback from third level institutions, the NCCA and the Department of Education Inspectorate.

From September 2014, Jane O’Connell and her 4th class students embarked on the action research project to empower students and their parents to engage with the Irish language.

During the autumn term, the children participated in peer tutoring in the Irish language classroom over 12 weeks. Along with exciting ICT activities to make our native language come alive, this prepared the students for their next task – tutoring parents!

The students took on the role of teacher for their parents over an eight-week programme in February and March. It was a fantastic success with a significant uptake from parents, and very positive feedback from students and parents alike.

Jane O’Connell moved to St Philip the Apostle Junior School at Easter to take up a new role as principal – this, however, did not stop the momentum of the project.

Over half the class signed up for a voluntary Gaeilge Club with their old teacher, and half the students opted for a further four week programme of student-parent Irish language tutoring.

When the opportunity to present at the Learner Voice Conference arose, the student and parent enthusiasm to participate was palpable and testament to their strong involvement in the project.

A graduate of French and Japanese, Jane O’Connell has always had a deep love for language learning as a primary school teacher.

Currently a part-time PhD student at the School of Education in Trinity College, she is researching how to engage students and parents in English-medium schools with the Irish language by facilitating a Vygotskian approach to language learning via peer tutoring and student-parent tutoring.

“I am thrilled with how engaged the students have been, and the support of their parents has created a unique project whereby the voice of the teacher, student and parents have created a learning approach to Irish language learning owned by all stakeholders,

? she said.

“I am really looking forward to analysing our findings over the summer to inform our next step. I am very grateful to Mrs Paula Dargan, principal of the St Philip the Apostle Senior School, who has supported the continuation of the project.

“I am really looking forward to bringing

‘Is Tusa an Múinteoir’ to St Philip the Apostle Junior School in my new role and believe that working closely with students and parents in the learning of the Irish language is the way forward.

“I feel that it will be particularly beneficial to students in junior primary to develop positive attitudes towards the language and to have the opportunity to create a real Irish language domain to learn the language at home with parents from a young age.

“In addition, I would be delighted to run the project again in 4th class and share the framework and bank of resources we have developed in the last year.

?

Working under the supervision of Dr Ann Devitt at the School of Education, Trinity College, Jane is keen to add to the relatively small field of research carried out in relation to Irish language learning in English-medium schools.

The

‘Is Tusa an Múinteoir’ project has been selected to be showcased at Féilte 2015 – a conference that showcases excellence in teaching and learning – which takes place in the RDS on October 3.

If you would like to learn cúpla focal or indeed refresh your Irish, you can follow the project on Twitter @Tusaanmuinteoir.