Leaving Cert history exam looked 'daunting' and rewarded students 'who avoided rote learning'
A teacher has given his first reaction to this year's Leaving Cert history exams, which students completed on Wednesday afternoon.
Jamie Dockery, a history teacher at Tyndall College in Carlow, said the Higher Level paper looked like a "daunting prospect" at first glance.
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"Many will have been surprised not to see questions on Charles Stewart Parnell or the Montgomery Bus Boycott," he said. "Those who placed all their bets on these topics — undoubtedly a sizeable number — will be bitterly disappointed."
"However, there was much to be pleased with in this paper. The Documents-Based Question focused on the Jarrow March, a topic most well-prepared students would have covered thoroughly. The sources were engaging, and while the contextualisation question – asking whether the march was a failure – was slightly challenging, it was certainly manageable.
"The 'Movements for Reform' section featured an interesting question comparing the successes of Michael Davitt and James Larkin, two reformers with shared ideals but from different eras.
"Eamon de Valera was widely expected to appear on the paper, given that this year marks the 50th anniversary of his death—and 'the Long Fellow' didn't disappoint. The question was broad, covering his role in the Treaty negotiations, the Civil War, and World War II.
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"Speaking of WWII, its appearance in an Irish context was welcome, as it hadn't featured since 2021. The topic 'The United States and the Wider World, 1945–1989' proved tricky, with challenging questions on the American Dream and the role of religion in American life. However, the inclusion of LBJ will have come as a relief to many.
"As with last year's paper, women featured prominently, with questions on Isabella Tod, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, Bernadette Devlin, Mary Robinson, Sylvia Meehan, Simone de Beauvoir, and Nadine Gordimer. Overall, this was an exam that rewarded the candidates who avoided rote learning, who didn't cut corners with their revision, and who were able to think on their feet."
Mr Dockery said the Ordinary Level exam will have been generally well received by students and teachers, with the Jarrow March also the focus of the Documents Based Question.
"In fact, the Ordinary Level exam had many similar (and in some instances, the same) questions to its Higher Level version across the entire exam – I very much welcome the Higher and Ordinary Level exam having similar questions, particularly considering that the average Senior History groups will have Higher and Ordinary Level students learning together in the one class.
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"When teaching Ordinary Level students, my advice to them is always to focus mainly on the Case Studies for each topic and the key personalities. Candidates who followed this approached will have been satisfied with this exam.
"Many of the main personalities from Irish History found their way into the exam including O'Connell; Yeats; Davitt; Roscommon man Douglas Hyde; Collins, Cosgrave and de Valera. Women will also well represented in the guise of Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Countess Markievicz and Maureen O'Hara, among others. Eagle-eyed students will notice that many of these personalities appeared in the 2024 edition.
"The 'Europe and the Wider World' topics were also varied and offered the well-prepared candidate the opportunity to do well. Just like in the Higher Level paper, the United States topic was not without its challenges, but the inclusion of the Montgomery Bus Boycott here means that the vast majority of candidates should be fine. It was interesting that the Star Wars question included the parenthesis (the Strategic Defence Initiative) to hopefully discourage answers about Luke Skywalker (as opposed to – correctly – Ronald Reagan!)
"As a History teacher, my hope for any exams is that it will give the diligent and hardworking student a chance to show off all they know, and this exam certainly did that."
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