One F in Foley: Junior Cert History and the upcoming exam season

While I doubt very much that any of my pupils will wanna be seen reading an article like this from ‘Mr Foley: History teacher’, here are a few tips to help anyone who’s gonna be involved in the upcoming Junior Cycle exams in a few weeks. Even if it helps only one kid, that will make me feel fairly content.

First, the JC History exam is much more source-based than it used to be. Each of the eight sections on the paper will provide you with a historical source of some kind, usually a photograph, a diary entry/letter, a political cartoon or poster, or maybe something like a written article of some kind.

Be Like a Sherlock Holmes

Your job is to act like a detective here. Take a wee minute to think about the following things: is this a primary source (from the period in question) or is it a secondary source (created afterwards)? Is it reliable, or does it carry a hint of bias? Is it objective (balanced) or is it subjective (one-sided)?

The questions are pretty straightforward for these, so just go at it he same way you would as if it were on an English exam paper. The longer questions that follow will try to test you on what you have studied from that chapter. This is where the 3 C’s come into play: the causes, course, and consequences of an event.

READ NEXT: Donegal features strongly in the new season of TG4’s Moving West

Every major event in history has the 3 C’s, so break them down into bullet points when you’re revising and be sure to highlight the key personalities, keywords, and key events. Don’t stress about trying to memorise everything in the chapter; instead, go for three causes, four main course events, and two consequences.

Whether it’s the Protestant Reformation under Martin Luther or the 1916 Easter Rising, the 3 C’s will always apply. Just be aware, though, that words and terminology like ‘lasting impact’ or ‘legacy’ are often used as another way of saying consequences. “Discuss the legacy of the Roman Empire,” for example.

It’s a bit different from the full-on memory test that we had to do for the old Junior Cert topics back in the day. While it’s a lot more visual with its colourful images and pop-culture material nowadays, that doesn’t mean you should shirk away from revising your notes the good old-fashioned way.

Get Creative

Mind maps for each topic are a great way to make the note-taking process a bit more enjoyable. Get creative. Use different coloured marker pens for the names of the important individuals or groups that you need to know, and, as mentioned earlier, create a list of the key words and terms at the same time.

Let’s say, for instance, that you’re revising the Early Christian Ireland chapter. Great words to use there are ones like: druids, St Patrick, monks, monasteries, manuscripts, monks abroad, and Vikings. Once you know the meaning of these words, it will lead you to others: metal-work, chalices, round towers, Iona, etc.

If your class has been using the Bloom’s Taxonomy style of Higher Order Questioning, you’ll have noticed that the examiners will want you to apply your knowledge to broader-themed questions. That sounds complicated, so let me explain by way of a past paper.

In the 2024 History exam, there was a question about Bob Dylan and the source was his lyrics to the song ‘The Times They Are A-Changing.” A lot of kids today don’t know who that singer is, but that’s okay because, as we said earlier, the first part of those questions is pretty straightforward.

Staying focused on that same past paper, though, the other parts of the question started to ask more general questions about life in 1960s USA, Europe, the wider world, or Ireland. That was the examiners’ way of getting the students to write about anything that was 1960s-related, which could’ve inspired Dylan’s writing.

Remember that Bob Dylan was American in 1964, so it’s very plausible to suggest that key moments such as the Cold War, the threat of a nuclear attack, the Civil Rights Movement, President Kennedy’s assassination, or the looming threat of the Vietnam War made him think that the times really were a-changing.

So while you may not have studied Bob Dylan during your three-year course, you can apply what you know about the time period in question for your answer. And that same logic applies to any other source they’re gonna test you on, be it a political poster, a segment of an autobiography, or whatever it may be.

Apply Your Own Know-How

Students also get thrown a lot when they get asked about ‘patterns of change.’ It’s nothing to get worried about. Depending on how it's worded, you will likely get a chance to discuss three stages of how something has changed over a period of time: for example, women’s rights or technological advances in the 20th century.

If you haven’t studied these thematic questions in class, don’t worry. Just use your own knowledge and give it your best shot. Remember that the examiner won’t subtract marks from you, so even if you only get five marks out of twelve, well, sure, that’s better than leaving it blank and getting nothing.

Finally, I admit that textbooks can be both useful and boring, so here’s an alternative. Check out Studyclix and the YouTube / Spotify links for Miss Stout's History Class. Pause where you need to and build up your mind-maps or notes (or whatever). They come highly recommended. Good luck, everyone. It’ll be grand.