Teacher fellows
Brian Whelan
I’ve always been a firm believer that our main job as educators is to facilitate student learning, rather than smothering students through traditional teaching methods. Mass changes at Junior level in the Irish education system have left students, for the most part, unchallenged and unfilled. Thankfully the History curriculum (at Junior level) has undergone significant changes in the past couple of years, moving away from rote learning and emphasising the need for our students to become critical thinkers and independent learners. I teach at Sacred Heart Secondary School, Drogheda, where one of my core values as an educator is to create an environment that is student-centred and (more importantly) student-led. ‘Parallel Histories’ has allowed that. It’s a unique opportunity for us to show our students that it’s not necessarily the knowledge, the facts and figures, that is most important. Instead, we are able to show these students that it’s how we use these facts and figures that is crucial. Classrooms should not be rich in textbooks. They should be rich in open minds. The only way to achieve this is to place our trust in our students that they do have the capacity to think independently and critically with us, as educators, telling them what to think.
Brian Whelan
I’ve always been a firm believer that our main job as educators is to facilitate student learning, rather than smothering students through traditional teaching methods. Mass changes at Junior level in the Irish education system have left students, for the most part, unchallenged and unfilled. Thankfully the History curriculum (at Junior level) has undergone significant changes in the past couple of years, moving away from rote learning and emphasising the need for our students to become critical thinkers and independent learners. I teach at Sacred Heart Secondary School, Drogheda, where one of my core values as an educator is to create an environment that is student-centred and (more importantly) student-led. ‘Parallel Histories’ has allowed that. It’s a unique opportunity for us to show our students that it’s not necessarily the knowledge, the facts and figures, that is most important. Instead, we are able to show these students that it’s how we use these facts and figures that is crucial. Classrooms should not be rich in textbooks. They should be rich in open minds. The only way to achieve this is to place our trust in our students that they do have the capacity to think independently and critically with us, as educators, telling them what to think.
