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Social Class In Ireland

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The purpose of this essay is to explore the domain of diversity that is social class, and the role that it plays in our education system today. I decided to examine this domain because as a student who has been thorough the Irish education system it seems obvious to me that this is an issue not only prevalent in Irish schools, but also in society in Ireland today. The concept of social class and the consequences it brings about can be seen in almost all aspects of life in Ireland today, with social class bias widespread and embedded in the minds of many. I wish to examine this domain through three lenses; understanding and exploring diversity, reflexively engaging with diversity and educating for diversity, each of which are clearly signposted …show more content…

These schemes offer financial aid to lower social class students; however these systems have been flawed form the recent neoliberalism we have seen in our country. Cuts have been made so that, for example, new entrants under the Back to Education Allowance will no longer be given maintenance support. This ultimately renders the option for returning to school impossible for mature students on low incomes or those who have young children in need of childcare, to return to third-level education (Lynch, 2014), especially now that student college fees have risen by €250 for the past two years and they are now at €3000 in 2015. There is also legislation that attempts to stifle the effects of social class in our schools such as the Education Act 1998 which states “a recognised school shall provide education to students which is appropriate to their abilities and needs and, without prejudice to the generality of the …show more content…

This is a pressing issue and there is simply no time to wait for more legislation or aids to be established. So what can teachers do? As previously discussed, I have identified two ways in which I will personally challenge social class in the classroom. Techers must challenge their own assumptions and avoid allowing themselves to create a stereotypical view of a students based on their origins, or the way they speak. Secondly I feel that from my experience of AEE, I have been made very aware of the intersections between ability, language and social class. I will take this area of diversity with me throughout my teaching as I feel that it is generally overlooked in schools. The language that some textbooks, exam papers and even teachers use is not suited to the students. The students are not at that level linguistically so I feel that teachers should be aware of this, and incorporate it into their teaching. This could be done by avoiding bias within chosen texts or the assessment techniques applied. The language I use in the classroom should not hinder one group of students and give advantage to

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