Podcast 435, Dr. Claire Dunne on Teaching Irish (10-3-25)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.

My guest on the podcast today is my colleague, Dr. Claire Dunne, from the Marino Institute of Education. Among the topics we discussed were:

• Why learning another language gives you another window on the world.
• Why literacy is crucial for those who speak minoritised languages so that they can have widespread access to texts in the language.
• Why should people learn Irish, when in most cases it is not required for communication purposes?
• What the Irish language has in common with Cant and Irish Sign Language.
• How older people in Wales are incentivised to learn Welsh and share it with younger people.
• People’s favourite memories of learning Irish (including creative applications, the arts and the relationship with the teacher).
• The positive impact parents can have in showing an interest in a child’s learning of Irish
• Setting targets for what you want to learn in the language (e.g. tell a joke, sing a song)
• Identifying good practice in the teaching of Irish (e.g. board games, more time in the yard)
• Resources are available from An tÁisaonad in Belfast.
• The importance of practitioners sharing with each other experiences of what works [in the teaching of Irish].
• Resources available on COGG (including the report on good practice in the teaching of Irish).
• The importance of giving older children responsibility as a way to motivate their interest in the language; give them a reason to improve their Irish.
• More suggestions: Going to the Gaeltacht for a night; starting a reading club in Irish.
• Universal Design for Learning contrasted with differentiating learning.
• Different ways to practise teaching language related to clothes.
• Handbook titled “An Ghaeilge do gach duine” based on the principles of engagement, representation and expression in multiple ways.
• Drawing inspiration from textbooks published in the past for inclusive teaching of Irish today.
• The first all-Irish school was set up by Luíse Ghabhánach Ní Dhufaigh and Áine Nic Aoidh and was innovative in using continuous assessment, writing their own textbooks and in emphasising health and wellness. Role plays, games and visual aids were also present in many Irish-language publications of the time. Recommendations to commit to memory stories and poems were common in the publications for teachers; this was good where the material to be memorised was relevant, useful and meaningful.
• Early publishers of books and pamphlets in supporting the Irish language are named and she notes the importance of the establishment of An Gúm in 1926.
• The development of Irish-language immersion education in schools from 1917 onwards. All infant-classes were to practise immersion education for the first decades of the new state.
• The importance of motivating students to want to learn Irish.
• The benefits of multiple representations to help children learn new vocabulary
• Why adaptations to assessments might be preferable to granting exemptions from studying Irish to students with learning disabilities.
• The relevance of learning Irish in an era of translation software and large language models.
• Nell Noddings
• Find resources created by Claire (and others) on the COGG website.