‘Studies’ makes an impact
The autumn 2026 issue of Studies, a special on themes raised in the context of the National Convention on Education, has received some good media attention in recent weeks. The issue features a number of expert voices on education and curricular development, including Andreas Schleicher, adviser on education policy to the secretary-general at the OECD, Joseph Dunne, philosopher of education, and Kathleen Lynch, Emeritus Professor of Equality at the UCD School of Education and presidential appointee to the Council of State. There are also many essays by other people –teachers, students, parents – who have a vested interest in the shape that education takes in Ireland.
On 22 September, Brian Mooney of the Irish Times gave lengthy coverage to the publication of the special Studies issue. He quotes Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, former president of the University of Galway and former dean of business at UCD, who is on the board of Studies and curated this issue: “While several of the papers reference the convention, we’ve been careful that the special issue is not a critique of it. The convention has its job to do. As the title suggests, this is a contribution to the conversation.”
Education correspondent John Walshe, who is himself a contributor to the issue, quoted extensively from it in a piece in the Irish Independent on 2 October, looking particularly at the contribution of Schleicher. Schleicher, Walshe notes, urged a significant shift in attitudes in order to meet future needs, quoting him as follows: “Instruction in the past was subject-based; instruction in the future needs to be more project-based, building experiences that help students think across the boundaries of subject-matter disciplines without sacrificing deep understanding of the ideas and ways of thinking of the disciplines. The knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that students need in the 21st century cannot be learned from books alone but must be developed through practice, coaching, and real-world experience.
Another striking reference to this issue of Studies came in President Catherine Connolly’s address to Trinity College’s ‘Languages 250’ commemoration, marking the 250th anniversary of the establishment of Modern Languages in the college. She referenced “a recent article in Studies entitled ‘Going Beyond the Language in Language Learning’ by 5th year student at St. Kilian’s Deutsche Shule, Jacob Roantree. Jacob’s article was “thought-provoking”, she remarked, adding: “Among many observations in that insightful analysis, he highlights that ‘a language is not a corpus of words; it is a constantly changing, always evolving way for its speakers to engage with the world around them’.”
Copies of Studies have been made available to the participants in the National Convention on Education, which continues to sit until early into the new year.
