Flanagan, Fergal (2024) An Evaluation of Teachers’ Perceptions of the Influence of Neoliberalism on Teaching Skills in the Senior Cycle. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.

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Abstract

Skill development, in various forms, has always been a key part of education. However, over time, the composition, emphasis and implementation of these skills within second-level education settings in Ireland have changed. The move from vocational skills to softer skills is evident. This has been as a result of the societal, economic, political and cultural changes (Hoskins and Crick, 2010). The skills agenda is not going away, it is still central to educational developments in Ireland. The proposed new Key competencies in senior cycle (draft) (NCCA, 2023) that matches skill development to seven key competencies to be targeted throughout upper second-level education as part of current developments is a testament to this policy agenda. However, while skills have been a part of upper second-level education since 2005 (NCCA, 2006), teachers interpret and action the teaching of skills within their own classroom, which can mean that this is not always enacted as set out in the curriculum. This could mean that alternative skills are being taught or skills on the written framework are being taught for different reasons. This study therefore explores the impact of neoliberal values and influences on the teaching of skills in Senior Cycle (SC) education and explores how neoliberalism may be operating in how teachers formulate a perspective around the teaching of skills. The research investigated firstly what were the participants views on the teaching of “skills” in SC education, as well as whether there were specific “skills” more valued by the participants at SC level. This research gathered data using nonprobability convenience sampling where existing participants recruited other participants using the chain referral method for focus group discussion. There were four focus groups which were made up of four participants. These met once to discuss the research topic. The data gathered were analysed using the lens of Bernstein’s Pedagogical Device (PD). Bernstein proposes that knowledge is ordered and disordered through the act of communication by three inter-related rules: distributive, recontextualising and evaluative (Bernstein, 1990). These rules firstly distribute and regulate power and meaning through the distribution of knowledge and identity, which is then recontextualised and changed through specific pedagogic discourse. This is then changed by the evaluative rules to construct the criteria of knowledge to be transmitted and acquired (Singh, 2002). These rules were used to explore how teachers’ views and practices in teaching skills have been influenced by ideology and power, which operate at all levels of society (Wright and Froehlich, 2012). The analysis provided snapshots as to how these influences make an impact in theorising how practices can be altered in relation to teachers formulating and teaching skills within the SC. Based on the data gathered and analysed from the focus groups, this study suggests that (1) teachers’ values have a significant influence on what skills are taught and why they are viewed as important. In the main participants delineated these values as being focused on performativity and measurability in helping students to prepare and achieve in examinations, (2) the students ability to retain and reproduce the set curriculum was viewed as more important than teaching skills, (3) helping students gain entry to third-level education as well as preparing students for their future careers took precedence over teaching skills in this educational period (4) neoliberal elements have affected the perceptions of teachers on teaching skills in SC education through various influences such as policy reform, business partnerships and the focus on third-level education. Teachers illustrated how their professional identity was impacted by neoliberal influences to the extent that they described their work in technicist terms. The findings have implications for the current and future practices of teachers teaching SC as well as those implementing policies in this area.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Keywords:	Evaluation; Teachers’ Perceptions; Influence; Neoliberalism; Teaching; Skills in the Senior Cycle
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Education
Item ID:	18884
Depositing User:	IR eTheses
Date Deposited:	13 Sep 2024 14:20
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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