Anseo.net #23 Newsletter

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With the general election over, we’re still waiting to hear who will be making up the new government. What is most likely is that we will either have a Fianna Fail or a Fine Gael Minister for Education.

In this week’s podcast, I’ll shortlist my top ten predictions. (Yes I realise this is a weird top ten episode!)

In this newsletter:

📻 In the Media

🎙 Latest episodes of the podcast

💭 Education Stories over the last few weeks

𝕏 Still clinging on but only just…

Don’t forget, you can read all of my previous newsletters on Anseo.net. Please pass on this newsletter to your friends and please encourage them to subscribe so it comes to their inbox every 2 weeks.

I had a busy time on the radio and in the newspapers over the last few weeks. I was in the Irish Independent talking about calling teachers by their first name. The reaction to the article by Simon Tierney was amazing. If only people cared about actual educational issues!

I’m always very grateful to get the opportunity to talk about the role of religion in schools and I got that opportunity on Newstalk Breakfast. I was wearing my Education Equality hat but saying the same thing I’d say whatever hat I was wearing.

Latest Podcast Episode

Who doesn’t like countdown shows? Well, that’s about the change as I chart my top ten predictions of who will be the next Minister for Education! Will Norma Foley survive another shuffle? Will we see an up and coming TD come to revolutionise the system? Or will it be another unknown, first-time TD?

Tis the season to breach children’s constitutional rights as a school in Lucan said the quiet bit out loud when they wrote to parents that “pupils were required to participate in all subject areas and attend all school religious ceremonies.” The school is going to review their ethos statement but if the only thing that’s going to change is removing that statement, and no action, it’s going to be a missed opportunity. The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell system will continue.

Personally I was disappointed their patron body didn’t step in with some sort of statement because, ultimately, this isn’t about the school. Patron bodies insist that schools uphold their ethos and they put the schools in these difficult situations. Thankfully, Santa could teach us all about patronage.

The first step would involve looking at all the barriers that contribute to these issues. Emma O’Kelly interviewed a Muslim trainee teacher who has yet to feel the realities of the patronage system and discussed the Religious Certificate.

It’s coming to a time where I am going to spend less time on the platform formerly known as Twitter, the platform where I formerly was able to have good conversations. 

While I’ve been sharing posts on the X platform, exceptional posts have become the exception. The platform is now awash with videos of people fighting with each other and DMs full of spam. It’s getting tiresome getting told to go back to my own country and doomscrolling through spammy short videos.

Like most people, I’m trying out other places for size. I’m trying out Instagram, Threads and Bluesky for now. You can find me in all three places. On Instagram and Threads, I’m on as AnseoDotNet, and on Bluesky, I’m simonmlewis for now. 

If you’re interested in teaching about festivals using the Conceptual Enquiry Approach, these AI-prompts might be of help.

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