Greg Daly
A survey on proposals for a new primary school course in religion, beliefs and ethics used leading questions and drew from an unrepresentative sample, a prominent research institute has found.
A study for the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) analysed an online survey conducted by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to seek stakeholders’ views on various aspects of the proposed Education about Religions and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics course.
Survey questions were “strongly skewed towards positive answers, possibly leading to a response bias”, report authors Dr Merike Darmody and Prof. Emer Smyth said, noting that some participants in the survey had challenged this.
“The ESRI report has shown that the consultation process conducted by the NCCA was seriously flawed, Prof. Eamon Conway of Mary Immaculate College told The Irish Catholic, continuing, “Unfortunately, this fits into a pattern of flawed research and consultations, which can only lead to a loss of confidence in other consultation processes that are currently underway including in regard to the curriculum.”
Respondents
The authors also noted how survey respondents “were not drawn from a nationally representative sample of the population”, those who completed the survey having been, the ESRI said, “more likely to have held strong views on the subject”, with educators in non-Catholic schools and the parents of children in such schools overrepresented.
Describing the survey’s flaws as “regrettable”, the theologian observed that “Insofar as these surveys have provided anything that is reliable, they show a much greater support for Catholic education than is either recognised or accepted by the Department of Education and Skills and the NCCA.”
The NCCA’s final report on the consultations revealed that primary schools are already struggling with ‘curriculum overload’, with significant parts of the proposed course already being covered in schools and teachers having little overall appetite for the proposed new course. The report also recorded widespread concerns about how the ERB and Ethics approach could undermine the ethos of religious schools.
Despite this, Prof. Conway said, the NCCA is “attempting to implement ERB and Ethics by the back door”.
“In order to restore confidence, what is needed is honest, open, genuine engagement with parents and other representative bodies in which their views are listened to and taken on board,” he said.