Negotiating the Essentials for Education in Democratic Societies
What is NEEDS?
Negotiating the Essentials for Education in Democratic Societies or NEEDS is a project that empowers students to negotiate meaningful learning with their teachers, supporting sustained, authentic engagement and enabling students to have a real voice in their education.
About NEEDS
NEEDS builds on previous work conducted in 7 schools in the Limerick region representing a wide variety of school types and circumstances, focused on students negotiating curriculum with teachers based on their expressed concerns about themselves and the world around them.
This curriculum design process which places student voice at the centre of curriculum is called “Negotiated Integrated Curriculum” (NIC). This work was found to have a substantial impact on student voice, wellbeing and the participation and engagement of students in curriculum.
Education
Education has become divorced from the lives of young people, offering little clarity in how to navigate our rapidly changing world. The NEEDS project aims to refocus education on what really matters to young people. By using the NIC process, students and teachers can work together to design a completely unique curriculum that works for them.
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Together with 4 pilot schools, NEEDS will be investigating how best we can use NIC to create learning that is relevant to today's world.
Negotiated Integrated Curriculum
Negotiated Integrated Curriculum (NIC) is a curriculum design process which places student voice at the centre of curriculum. NIC focuses on students negotiating curriculum with teachers based on students' expressed concerns about themselves and the world around them. This type of meaningful learning has been found to have a substantial impact on student voice, wellbeing and the participation and engagement of students in curriculum.
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Previously trialled in 7 schools in the Limerick region, NEEDS will use NIC in our 4 champion NEEDS pilot schools. This type of curriculum negotiation is supported by the NCCA.
Meet the NEEDS Team
NEEDS is led by a team of researchers from the University of Limerick. Éabha Hughes, a PhD researcher in the UL School of Education, is leading the NEEDS research team under the supervision of Dr John O'Reilly and Dr Orla McCormack in UL, and Dr Emmanuel O'Grady of Mary Immaculate College.
