CHANGE THE SUBJECT FOLKLORE: EVERY SOCIETY has a set of customs, beliefs and ideas - folklore - that makes it unique. Although it is passed through tradition, folklore is always changing, as people, groups, tribes and nations learn from each other. Many people are surprised to learn that much of contemporary popular culture is rooted in folklore.

Elizabeth Barbour, a teacher of Irish in King's Hospital, Palmerstown, Dublin, is currently completing a pilot year of teaching some aspects of folklore to higher-level Irish TY students.

"This is the first time I've done it properly and it worked really well," says Barbour, who holds a postgraduate diploma in Irish folklore from the UCD Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore. "This year we concentrated on folk tales and legends. I needed to establish early on if the students would be interested in something like this and they really took to it."

Barbour has attempted to show her students that folk narrative is as relevant now as it has always been: "I feel that it is important for the students to see these tales in a modern context and to recognise the fact that folklore and storytelling are still very much alive and kicking in modern society and that they are a phenomenon of many different cultures, not just Celtic traditions."

One such folk tale she explored is the story of Cearc an Phrompa. This is a version of the international folk tale about Chicken-Licken, which was revived and retold recently in the form of the children's film Chicken Little.

The students, she says, "knew from the outset that they would have to prepare, in groups, a project based on the module due for assessment at the Halloween break. They were given a list of possible titles and project-types and had the choice of giving a PowerPoint presentation or making a painting, sculpture, comic strip, or screenplay."

While some of her students chose to explore legendary characters such as the banshee, others turned folk tales - such as Chicken-Licken - into comic strips. They also enjoyed exploring the art of the seanchaí (storyteller), using presentations Barbour had prepared for them and tales such as An Cearrbhach Mac Cába (which features on the Leaving Cert at ordinary and higher level).

"Some of these tales easily lend themselves to certain class activities such as debating and drama," Barbour remarks. "Students really enjoy putting a modern spin on the tales. They can be rewritten very creatively by the class or adjusted to suit their own particular environment." She now intends to expand the course further to include contemporary urban legends.

Later this year, Barbour's TY group will visit the Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore and the National Folklore Collection in UCD. UCD's valuable archive contains millions of pages of folklore collected from throughout the island of Ireland, an extensive sound and video archive, folk artworks and an extensive library.

Of course, folklore is relevant to a range of other disciplines, including English (Beowulf is largely inspired by folklore), classics (Homer's The Odyssey is based on folklore) and history (most oral history could be classified as a branch of folklore).

The course was offered only to students of higher-level Irish this year, but it could be adapted to suit lower levels and other subjects. Barbour is clear about the future potential of folklore modules: "This module has many hitherto unexplored possibilities and, with a little time and effort and the necessary resources, could be developed into a nationwide TY initiative or even a TY course in its own right.

"My own students this year produced some beautiful work, having been inspired by the folk tales and legends they had been exposed to."

For information contact Elizabeth Barbour, tel: 087-7986755