Personal and civic education in the Northern Ireland primary curriculum: teachers' perspectives

Abstract

This paper presents the findings from a survey of Primary One and Primary Five teachers' experiences of delivering the new learning area personal development and mutual understanding (PDMU) in its first year of implementation in the Northern Ireland Curriculum, September 2007–June 2008. The study was funded by St Mary's University College, Belfast. The survey was based on a postal questionnaire sent out to a stratified sample of 350 primary schools in October 2008 and explored the following aspects of PDMU: training and resources; teaching methodologies; assessment; and implementation and outcomes. The findings suggest that teachers are on the whole successfully implementing PDMU in accordance with the guidance from the Council for Curriculum Examination and Assessment, and that the impact on the pupils, classroom and school has been beneficial. Constraints are nonetheless identified of time, training and teacher confidence. The conclusion confirms the consensus on the importance of PDMU; however, more research is needed on the long‐term impact of how PDMU enhances learning and influences behaviours, taking into account not only the views of teachers and pupils but also research that is carried out by these key stakeholders.

Keywords:

• personal development and mutual understanding
• Northern Ireland primary curriculum
• teachers' opinions