Transforming the Transition: Irish Students and the Transition to Higher Education

• In Event: Educational Research in a Time of Transformation: Perspectives From Post-Celtic Tiger Ireland

Abstract

Currently, policy attention in Ireland is focused on the transition to higher education and problems surrounding the current admissions system. Recent research has confirmed the view that entry requirements for higher education exert a significant backwash effect on the process of schooling in Ireland (Smyth, Banks and Calvert 2011). The high- stakes “points system” has been shown to encourage instrumentalist approaches to learning and teaching at secondary level. In this paper we interrogate previous attempts to address the issues, as well as the most recent proposals from the HEA/NCCA for reform. Practical and theoretical implications of the proposals are examined.

Authors

• Delma V. Byrne, National University of Ireland - Maynooth

• Rose Malone, National University of Ireland - Maynooth