Leaving Cert politics and society: Essay section ‘more difficult than previous years'

Irish Times

10 hours ago

The Leaving Cert politics & society exam gave students who are up to date with current affairs and went 'above and beyond' in their preparation a good chance to show off their skills, say teachers.
However, the essay section of the exam – worth 50 per cent of marks – was more difficult than previous year and posed some real challenges.
Emmet McQuillan, a politics & society teacher at Maryfield College, Dublin 9, said overall the paper had 'no surprises', and 'gave students who had done extra learning above and beyond a chance to show that off'.
Paul McAndrew, politics & society teacher at The Institute of Education, said that after a 'promising start', many students will likely feel the essay section was a struggle.
READ MORE
Short questions
Students were asked to consider global income inequality, how technology can help solve environmental problems, and language diversity.
Mr McQuillan said ordinary level students may have struggled with the short question which asked them to 'explain the effects of racism', which provided four lines for an answer.
'You could write 40 pages' on such a question, he said.
Something that may have separated H1 and H2 students were the short questions on key thinkers, which asked students to not only name the theory associated with a key thinker, but to explain the theory too.
Ordinary level students were also asked to describe the role of a TD and to consider the new deposit return scheme in Ireland.
Mr McAndrew students will be happy with a 'much more balanced array of questions' than in previous years in section A.
'Drawn from all over the course, the questions had a better balance of the specific and the analytic,' he said.
'Last year, questions tended towards a less pointed interaction with the course material, but this year's batch was much more direct in its concern for Hobbes, Locke, the functions of the President etc.'
While prepared students will have been happy, he said a sense of concern may have crept in as material appeared that they might have hoped would be reserved for later in the paper.
Data question
The data questions on both higher and ordinary level papers suited students with strong critical thinking skills, according to Mr McQuillan.
Higher level students were asked to evaluate the concerns of Irish voters during the recent EU Parliament election, which Mr McQuillan said suited students who had conducted 'independent, self directed learning'.
Students were also asked to critique the methodology of a Red C survey, which put students on the spot as it was 'obviously something you can't learn off'.
Mr McAndrew said the data-based questions started with 'a nice selection of tasks that would be familiar to any student'.
'However, part (g) will trip many students up as they needed to balance numerous aspects in a very particular and concise format,' he said. 'To adequately address this task students needed to account for information from the two texts, the practical aspects of citizen participation in democracy and the philosophical idea of the social contract.'
When combined with a quote from Reinhold Niebuhr, he said students had five components to synthesise into a very short space.
'For those who had drilled this type of task it would be manageable, but it required a more refined sensibility than other tasks,' he said.
Essays
A broad range of open-ended essay topics appeared on the higher level paper.
Students were asked to assess the role inequality plays in threats to democracy, and to consider if the right to protest is essential in a democracy.
Some students may have struggled with the question which asked them to consider the rise of nationalism in society, Mr McQuillan said.
'It was phrased through the lens of Benedict Anserson, so students had to specify that key thinker, so the way that's phrased, it just means you have to be more specific'.
Essays on the ordinary level paper also demonstrated an emphasis on current affairs, with students asked to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the Irish electoral system, fast fashion, and the importance of human rights in the context of recent global events.
Mr McQuillan said the essays on both papers offered 'a mix of global, national and contemporary issues that students could bring their own life experiences into.'
Mr McAndrew said that while higher level students should anticipate challenge in any exam, this section was more difficult than previous years.
'Firstly, students only had six questions to choose from rather than the seven of previous years, thus narrowing their opportunities to show their interests/strengths,' he said.
The main challenge of this section was the 'difference between the surface appeal of the question and the deeper need to write in a manner substantive sufficient to earn the full spectrum of marks', Mr McAndrew said.
For example, Question 3(b) on the right to protest was a topic on which many politically-minded students would have opinions, but this area is not a large part of the curriculum.
'Thus, there is little assigned material that could be used as evidence to make the discussion more robust,' Mr McAndrew said.
'Something similar happens on question six which starts with a Mandela quote on education's capacity to change the world, yet the question is not on education itself but on Paulo Freire's theory of education,' he said.
'A student could easily begin this essay but would struggle to balance both momentum and evidence effectively over the course of a four-page essay.'
Even when a question has a clear connection to the syllabus, such as question four on sustainable development, the seeming openness of the question 'belies a series of potholes and burdens that make them precarious to approach,' Mr McAndrew said.
Ultimately, he said many students will move towards question five on misinformation and question seven on nationalism as both sit 'most squarely within the remit of the course material and offer the fewest potential stumbling blocks.'