Third at the #englishmeet is Michael Browne who laments the decline of the school poetry anthology. He looked at 50 randomly-chosen school websites, and no book list included a poetry anthology. He also quotes Kate Barry's essay on the 'point' of literature.

(New). On yesterday evening's English Meet St Columba's College including summaries of and slides from the 6 presentations. A lovely evening and the best kind of CPD. Many thanks to Annie Donnelly, Miriam Barragry Aoife Fleming Michael Browne & Miss Morrin. juliangirdham.com/blog/english-m… INOTE

I gave a brief presentation at the #englishmeet , hosted by SCC English , this day last week. Some follow up notes and a resource here: michaelbrowne.org/2024/05/07/a-p… #edchatie

"Curriculum for Wales needs clarity not ambiguity" My latest blog on the current state of education in Wales. Inspired by Lucy Crehan Gareth Evans Daisy Christodoulou Andy Lewis stuallen1971.blogspot.com/2024/05/curric…

An important post here about the very real and practical problems with vague curriculums. Vagueness is often the political solution to hard problems. But it doesn't solve them - it just creates more problems down the line.

The slides on the left are from my Personal Writing Unit and were delivered free of charge to teachers of English as part of a series of webinars with Tralee Education Support Centre. The Unit was a labour of love. The ones on the right have been for sale to students across Ireland, but not by me.

I cobbled together some thoughts on English Paper 1. michaelbrowne.org/2024/06/06/a-b… #edchatie

New blog! What will Norma Foley's legacy be? I look at English and the new Drama, Film and Theatre course. thevideotrolley.blogspot.com/2024/09/foleys…

Leaving Certificate English.... and planning. michaelbrowne.org/2024/09/17/tea…

The Government (and, dare I say, the Universities) don't want to talk about the elephant in the room: the CAO. Your argument makes sense, but any system, non-exam components or not, is going to be influenced by the CAO process. Aine Hyland

To be clear: you don’t learn to read through play.

This is bananas from Michael O’Leary. This wasteful expenditure only known about because of my work, using FOI laws that are actively being destroyed by government. The ministers in charge of our busted FOI system and the OPW? Fine Gael TDs: breakingnews.ie/general-electi…

Yawn. Another pie-in-the-sky, naive, and unserious take on SC reform.

A short blog for your morning coffee or commute. What if a student's home life was replicated in an exam hall? Here I imagine that scenario in relation to the new Leaving Cert projects (AACs) Norma Foley T.D insists on despite opposition from experts. thevideotrolley.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-i…

My open 'letter' to the Chair of the NCCA LC English Development Group. thevideotrolley.blogspot.com/2024/12/open-l…

I was never told that the Internet would destroy education. Actually, I was told that we should embrace the Internet and that students don't need to know anything. I was told this by people introducing the new Junior Cycle. Now we're being told they don't even have to create.

Creative writing at 2nd level as envisioned by Norma Foley; 1st yr- lots of small to medium pieces trying to build maturity onto their primary school work. 2nd yr- paragraphs in isolation. 3rd yr - paragraphs in isolation. 4th yr- a module. 5th yr-AI will do it. 6th yr- none

Irish policy-making. Like a kite in a hurricane.

The debacle of the Junior Cycle English exam was clear from the beginning. I wrote this in 2015. thevideotrolley.blogspot.com/2015/11/teachi…

I wrote several pieces on the Leaving Cert. and Junior Cycle exams in June. English Paper 1: michaelbrowne.org/2025/06/07/a-b… English Paper 2: michaelbrowne.org/2025/06/23/a-b… Junior Cycle English: michaelbrowne.org/2025/07/01/a-b… #edchatie