RESEARCH- LED
CRITIQUE ON TY
Rigorous, research-led academic
discourse on the subject of TY is
scarce, which is not unexpected. TY
is after all unique to the Ireland.
!
More should however be done to
not only engage critically with TY,
but also to showcase this uniquely
Irish innovation on an international
stage.
!
Transition Year is eyed with en vy by
foreign academics who know about
it and dismissed as a pipe-dream by
those who don’t. Unfortunately the
latter are by far the majority.
Enter Aidan Clerkin who, despite
having written a doctorate on the
topic, feels that he’s barely begun to
scratch the surface. He has a whole
range of TY related topics he wants
to delve into and what’s more, he
wants to draw more international
attention to TY. He believes there is
a story worth telling, and we agree
with him wholeheartedly.
!
We asked Aidan to commit to a
series of articles in which he can
share some of his research with us.
CAN IRELAND’S EXPERIENCE
WITH TRANSITION YEAR
PROVIDE LESSONS FOR
OTHER COUNTRIES?
Aidan Clerkin is a Research
Associate at the Educational
Research Centre, Dublin. His
work includes managing large-
scale assessments of
achievement in Ireland such as
TIMSS, as well as studies
examining other aspects of Irish
education.
His research interests include
the promotion of positive social
and psychological development
among young people, the
relationship between
psychological development and
academic learning, and
programme evaluations.
This ar(cle is partly adapted from an paper published in April 2018 in Review He tweets (occasionally) at
@clerkinclerkin.
of Educa(on (h@ps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rev3.3112)
!
!
South Korea’s ‘Free
Learning Semester’
South Korean students tend to
perform at a very high level
academically; they are usually
among the highest-performing
countries as measured by large
international assessments of
reading, maths, and science such
as TIMSS, PISA, or PIRLS.
!
However, more recently, Korean
policy-makers and educators
have been expressing concern
about the level of pressure and
stress faced by Korean students,
low levels of life satisfaction and
wellbeing, and high rates of
youth suicide.
At least partly in response to
these issues, South Korean
educators introduced a new
programme known as the Free
Learning Semester (FLS) on a
gradual basis from 2013. It is
provided for one semester to
middle school students, aged
approximately 13 years old.
!
The pilot stage of its introduction
in 2013 included an initial 42
schools, although the programme
was due to expand to all 3200
middle schools by 2016.
!
The FLS shares several features
with TY. Students continue
studying core subjects, but are
expected to be able to do so in the
absence of high-pressure
examinations. Although a strong
academic focus is maintained,
about one-third of the available
instructional time is given over to
activities or classes outside the
normal curriculum (Korea Times,
9th December 2014; OECD,
2016).
!
This period of relative freedom,
and participation in activities
without obvious connections to
formal academic exams, is
intended to satisfy Korean
students’ perceived “need [for] a
‘pause’, during which they are
freed from school grades” and
school-related pressures (Lee,
2013, p. 48). It is also intended
to provide students with an
opportunity for career
development, exploration of…
continued on pg 6
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