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Irish Times
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Leaving Cert politics and society: Essay section ‘more difficult than previous years'
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.'
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Leaving Cert music: A challenging paper with some familiar Irish musicians
Students and teachers were glad to see familiar Irish musicians appear in the listening section of the higher-level music exam but the questions were challenging. Ciara Coleman, a music teacher at the Institute of Education, said the paper rewarded students who had a grip on the key musical themes and features of their set works, while also challenging them to perhaps listen more deeply to certain elements they may not have considered before. 'The questions on set works were nicely spread across the full work in most cases, rather than honing in on one particular section alone,' she said. Lucille O'Mahony, a music student at the Institute of Education and a member of popular Dublin band Bullpen, said that students were happy that question one on the listening paper – which carries the most weight – was on Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture. READ MORE 'One of Tchaikovsky or Bach was predicted, and Tchaikovsky is seen as easier, so we were happy with that,' Ms O'Mahony said. Nicole Cooney, ASTI subject representative for music and a teacher at Maryfield College in Drumcondra, said that the higher-level exam was 'lovely'. 'There was a major melody question and a harmony question. Most students will have taken them,' said Ms Cooney. But question three introduced a peculiar twist on an conventional question that might have caught an incautious student, said Ms Coleman. 'In contrast to previous years where students had to identify a specific chord progression, students had to tick a box to indicate where the chord change had occurred in Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. 'While this was a good test of listening skills, some students may have attempted to fill the boxes with chords rather than simply ticking the box as required since this would be a more typical task in this context,' she said. The Irish music question tested student knowledge of sean-nós, slip jigs and fusion, with the question on form analysis encouraging students to listen on a deeper level to the music being played. Both Ms Coleman and Ms Cooney said that there was a good choice of topics on the essay question and most students should have been able to find one topic to focus on from their study. 'Interestingly, the unprepared aural skills question had an exclusively Irish focus, with Hozier, The Cranberries, Dermot Kennedy and Cian Ducrot all featured,' Ms Coleman said. Ms O'Mahony said that the unseen questions focused on pop music, some of which was 'pretty bad.' Composition After a short break the students return to the exam centre for the composition paper, which Ms O'Mahony said was 'very nice, with a harmony and melody both in major, and the melody did not require inversions, which made it less complicated.' This featured six questions to choose from, but Ms Coleman said most students would have opted for question one, which featured in a melody in G major and 4/4 time with a relatively straightforward two quaver anacrusis, and question five, which required students to provide backing vocals and a bass line to a given two. 'The challenge in question one was to recognise the unique features embedded in the given opening and to develop these in subsequent phrases. In this case, in addition to the anacrusis, students needed to recognise the use of features such as syncopation, the range of an 11th, and the use of repeated notes, among others,' said Ms Coleman. Overall, Ms Coleman said that students will feel that there was enough novel on this paper that they will have been pushed to adapt. Ordinary On the ordinary level paper, Ms Cooney said that the listening section was quite similar, but with more appropriately-pitched questions. She said that students would be happy with it.
