Love the line about "strong traditions of storytelling, literature and scholarship that continue to shape attitudes towards education today." You're exactly right--it's people, not programs. Too many here in America have the attitude of "Well, that's the school's job." But as you rightly note, there needs to be a culture of literacy where all people--parents, neighbors, co-workers, everyone--has an investment in passing on to children the history and traditions of the culture. Thanks for reporting what's going on Ireland!
It is interesting to hear how much Irish culture values education and that there there is no miracle approach to their growing literacy success. This culture of trust and perceived intrinsic importance is very reminiscent of what I understand and have seen in Finnish education as well. I'd be very curious if you had any thoughts on this comparison at all? I haven't read much about Irish education, so this was a very useful first dip into learning about it which I very much enjoyed.
Children acquire vocabulary and prosody through singing. There are nursery rhymes and historical pub pint smashing songs and sacred hymns as background. Description and expectation are full on with engagement.
Love the line about "strong traditions of storytelling, literature and scholarship that continue to shape attitudes towards education today." You're exactly right--it's people, not programs. Too many here in America have the attitude of "Well, that's the school's job." But as you rightly note, there needs to be a culture of literacy where all people--parents, neighbors, co-workers, everyone--has an investment in passing on to children the history and traditions of the culture. Thanks for reporting what's going on Ireland!
It is interesting to hear how much Irish culture values education and that there there is no miracle approach to their growing literacy success. This culture of trust and perceived intrinsic importance is very reminiscent of what I understand and have seen in Finnish education as well. I'd be very curious if you had any thoughts on this comparison at all? I haven't read much about Irish education, so this was a very useful first dip into learning about it which I very much enjoyed.
Surprise! There is no magic bullet. I love this post.
Great news! It can be done.
Children acquire vocabulary and prosody through singing. There are nursery rhymes and historical pub pint smashing songs and sacred hymns as background. Description and expectation are full on with engagement.