Read on Twitter
Thread: Toward the end of the Prog for Government is a commitment with transformational potential for the future of the country. It states
‘Establish a Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of Education ensuring that the voices of young people and those being educated are central.’
‘Establish a Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of Education ensuring that the voices of young people and those being educated are central.’
Fulfilling on a manifesto pledge, the @Greenparty_ie secured what might become its most enduring legacies if it goes into government with FG and FF (who support the Assembly). It has the potential to be a game changer in education.
The idea for a citizens’ assembly for education has been in the air for some time having emerged at a symposium, ‘Towards a More Creative Education System’, hosted at the Burren College of Art in September 2018.
Students, parents, teachers, academics, policy makers and artists attending the Burren symposium, all backed calls for radical reform of education - there was much greater consensus on the need for change than was commonly realised.
Responding to this call, the idea of a citizens’ assembly for education was proposed by former INTO deputy general secretary Catherine Byrne. Since then a diverse group from the Burren symposium worked with politicians securing support & a place in the @Greenparty_ie manifesto
The ambition at the heart of the project, as set out in the #PfG, is to ask the big questions about the value and purpose of education:
Framed in this way, an assembly has the potential to address fundamental issues in education, seeing the potential of education as an instrument of social justice and life-long learning where no one is left behind
There are over 1.1m students in our schools and colleges and well over 100,000 teachers, special needs assistants, administrators and support staff. All have ideas about what kind of education system we need - as do all parents.
Their voices are finally being heard in another project emerging from the Burren symposium, the BEACONS process – Bringing Education Alive for our Communities on a National Scale.
Emerging themes from BEACONS might inform an assembly -e.g. need for change in the culture of control, release from the shadow of the exam system, greater engagement with the environment, creativity and inclusion, and the need for student voice and agency.
The #PfG answers this call with its explicit commitment to placing the voices of young people and those being educated at the centre of an assembly process.
This is an exciting moment for everyone with an interest in education - not just for students, parents and teachers but for everyone on the path of life-long learning in a world in transition.
By securing the agreement of their gov partners to a citizens’ assembly for education, the @Greenparty_ie has provided an opportunity for society to re-imagine education for the twenty first century. This may well come to be seen as one of its greatest achievements in government
