My job as: A secondary school teacher

RHunce

is it true that if you have a masters that your you get an extra €7000 a year on top of your regular pay scale?

Toto Wolfcastle

RHunce wrote: »

is it true that if you have a masters that your you get an extra €7000 a year on top of your regular pay scale?

€4918.

Have a look here under Academic Qualifications. It's the same as the degree allowance and you only get one or the other. (Or one of the others on the list.) Plus your HDip allowance.

Konata

janeybabe wrote: »

€4918.

Have a look here under Academic Qualifications. It's the same as the degree allowance and you only get one of the other. (Or one of the others on the list.) Plus your HDip allowance.

I don't understand the 'points on scale' part - how do you know which point you're on?

spurious

Most people start on the third or fourth. After that, it's one point a year. It takes 20 odd years to reach the top of the scale.

redmons2

Hi,

I interested in doing a h dip in secondary school education in Maynoth if possible. I have checked my primary degree on the teaching council website and it says that I am able to teach three subjects. My degree results are also the required level to apply. I have been working for the last 5 years in engineering. Do I need teaching experience before I apply for the hdip ? Also what type of questions are asked in the hdip interview? What would I need to do to give myself a better chance of getting into it?

Also I have not looked at some of my subjects for 5 years so do I need to do a refresher course in these subjects or do I just review the notes myself? Sorry for the questions I am keen on getting into the hdip and would appreciate any help.

Toto Wolfcastle

redmons2 wrote: »

Hi,

I interested in doing a h dip in secondary school education in Maynoth if possible. I have checked my primary degree on the teaching council website and it says that I am able to teach three subjects. My degree results are also the required level to apply. I have been working for the last 5 years in engineering. Do I need teaching experience before I apply for the hdip ? Also what type of questions are asked in the hdip interview? What would I need to do to give myself a better chance of getting into it?

Also I have not looked at some of my subjects for 5 years so do I need to do a refresher course in these subjects or do I just review the notes myself? Sorry for the questions I am keen on getting into the hdip and would appreciate any help.

To gain access to the course in Maynooth you do not need to do an interview. You will need to gain enough points using your degree result, like the CAO system that secondary students use. You can check how many points you have on www.pac.ie and you can also check what the points were last year. Click on Postgraduate Diploma in Education. (Formerly the hdip.)

Teaching experience will not count after this year towards the points, so it is not essential. It might be beneficial but it is difficult to get experience these days. I had no experience and I was fine.

A refresher course would be good if they are available in your subjects. For the PGDE I would advise you to know the curriculum well. Start with the junior classes as you will be most likely teaching them. You will be responsible for ensuring the students learn so as long as you know what is expected of you then that wont be a problem.

Hope this helps.

RHunce

hey janeybaby!! just like to say thanks!! this thread is great!!

I am seriously considering applying to the education in design and architectural technology course in UL next year to allow me to teach tg/woodwork at JC and DCG/Constr. at LC. What are the job prospects like in that area would you know? I talked to spurious and she was very helpful with this but i'd like to gain a few insights.

Can you have a comfortable life as a teacher? My religion teacher exclaimed about not becoming a teacher as it's crappy pay but my english teacher loves his job, his subject and urged us all to become teachers. What do you think of this?? Cheers

ohhh and did you get paid for taching practice?? just wondering

redmons2

Thank you very much janeybabe. I read on another thread that someone who had there engineering degree approved by the TC and completed there h dip then were told they cannot teach maths. I have the engineering degree so i will need to get more information on this.

Doesn't make sense that they were allowed complete the hdip then be told they cannot teach.

Toto Wolfcastle

RHunce wrote: »

hey janeybaby!! just like to say thanks!! this thread is great!!

I am seriously considering applying to the education in design and architectural technology course in UL next year to allow me to teach tg/woodwork at JC and DCG/Constr. at LC. What are the job prospects like in that area would you know? I talked to spurious and she was very helpful with this but i'd like to gain a few insights.

Can you have a comfortable life as a teacher? My religion teacher exclaimed about not becoming a teacher as it's crappy pay but my english teacher loves his job, his subject and urged us all to become teachers. What do you think of this?? Cheers

ohhh and did you get paid for taching practice?? just wondering

Glad the thread is of some help.

A colleague of mine did that course in UL. From what he has told me it is a fantastic course. He qualified at the same time as I did and, like me, got a permanant job straight away. He was very lucky. I think that a lot of people who did the course with him got year contracts or shorter sub jobs and others went to Englad. Tbh I don't think the job situation is great but with many retirements due it may get better. You have to remember that with the amount of people already qualified it is always going to be difficult. What I would say is that if you really want to teach, then you should do the course and hopefully the jobs situation will be better by the time you are qualified.

As for the pay, well for me it's fine. I don't have a mortgage or kids. However some of my colleagues are struggling. The pay from day one is good when compared to some other professions but it takes a long time to reach the top of the scale. As above, if you love the subject and want to teach the money wont be the most important thing. However, you still have to live and if it suits your circumstances you will be fine.

You are not paid for teaching practice but you are paid for any additional subbing work. I made approx €600 a fortnight through subbing buy that was before the cutbacks and there is little opportunity to sub these days.

redmons2 wrote: »

Thank you very much janeybabe. I read on another thread that someone who had there engineering degree approved by the TC and completed there h dip then were told they cannot teach maths. I have the engineering degree so i will need to get more information on this.

Doesn't make sense that they were allowed complete the hdip then be told they cannot teach.

It was a wake up call to us all to find that the TC could change their mind like that so easily. Anyone can complete the dip. It is up to the individual student to check that their degree is recognised.

What is wrong is that the TC recognised a degree and then took away that recognition.

Definitely get onto the TC about your degree and make sure they give you proper answers. Good luck.

Luno

I see you teach Irish.The one thing I could ever see myself doing would be teaching Irish just it's something I really love and would like to have a career in.

My question is how would I go about getting the qualifications for it. I'm in third year atm but I'll be in fifth year next year so have been thinking about my future quite a lot lately. Every Irish teacher I've ever had came from a gaeltacht region. Would it be impossible for me to even have the chance to do this?

Toto Wolfcastle

There is no reason why someone who isn't from the Gaeltacht can't be an Irish teacher. To do so, you will have to do a BA in Irish. A lot of students who do Irish in college have a very high level of Irish, having grown up in the Gaeltacht or having been educated through Irish. You will need to have a good understanding of Irish and to be able to write fairly well in Irish. You will only improve as your degree progresses.

You are still in school, so you have time to put in the work now. It's very important that you put in the work so that you leave school with good Irish. There is litttle point in doing an Irish degree if you have an A1 in LC Irish that you achieved by learning off notes that you don't really understand.

Remember that you will be teaching to a very high level so you need to have a high level too.

Once you finish your BA you can apply to do the PGDE. You can do this in NUIG, NUIM, UCC, UCD and Trinity. There might be one in DCU but I'm not sure. The first 4 colleges use a CAO type system based on your degree result. Check www.pac.ie for information. In general a good 2.1 in your degree is needed. Because you will have Irish, you can also do the course through Irish in NUIG. This course usually requires less points. For Trinity you have to do an interview. I don't know much about it but there are some sample questions in the Teaching and Lecturing forum. As you can see there are loads of options.

Junior Cert Irish can be great fun to teach. Leaving Cert Irish can be a bit tedious but also fun.

You seem to love Irish, so you would probably really enjoy teaching it. It's great that you are thinking ahead because everytime you sit down to study Irish you will be motivated by the fact that it will stand to you.

Best of luck with the Junior Cert.

Megatron_X

Hi janeybabe, I'd just like to say thanks for this thread! It's full of very helpful information.

I'm in 5th year at the moment and am pretty sure I want to be an Irish and Maths teacher (hopefully in a gaelscoil) and I'd like to ask you a few questions:

1) When in a class I don't just pay attention to the subject being taught, but I also have a keen interest in how it's being taught. For example, my maths teacher walks up and down the aisles of the class and says whatever notes she gives us out loud. Personally I think this is a great way to ensure that people are paying attention and it's easy to keep them on their toes because you can choose at what pace they are to write.
My question is whether it's bad to 'borrow' these kinds of techniques in the future, how would you feel if some new teacher copied you?

2) I hear a lot of talk about teaching jobs being hard to come by, do you think the combination of Irish and Maths is a good choice?

Toto Wolfcastle

Megatron_X wrote: »

Hi janeybabe, I'd just like to say thanks for this thread! It's full of very helpful information.

I'm in 5th year at the moment and am pretty sure I want to be an Irish and Maths teacher (hopefully in a gaelscoil) and I'd like to ask you a few questions:

1) When in a class I don't just pay attention to the subject being taught, but I also have a keen interest in how it's being taught. For example, my maths teacher walks up and down the aisles of the class and says whatever notes she gives us out loud. Personally I think this is a great way to ensure that people are paying attention and it's easy to keep them on their toes because you can choose at what pace they are to write.
My question is whether it's bad to 'borrow' these kinds of techniques in the future, how would you feel if some new teacher copied you?

2) I hear a lot of talk about teaching jobs being hard to come by, do you think the combination of Irish and Maths is a good choice?

It's only bad to borrow techniques that don't work. Calling out the notes is a good idea for classes that tend to chat and who take ages to take things down as a result. Any technique that you have seen applied successfully is worth trying, although not all techniques will work for all classes. It's important to try things out to see if they work, and if they don't you have at least tried something different. If a teacher was copying my techniques I'd be flattered!

As for jobs being hard to come by, that is true. There are countless teachers who are unemployed or on maternity leave contracts or similar. There is a lot of competition for subbing and longer term jobs. Irish in general is a good subject to have because not many train as Irish teachers so there is less competion. However, you have to be willing to travel in order to get a job in any subject. Maths is a funny one. I'd say that more people train as maths teachers than those who train as Irish teachers. It's a core subject. Yet apparently there are an awful lot of teachers who are unqualified to teach it actually teaching it. I do think it's a good combination but I also think that it comes down to luck as to whether you will secure a job quickly or not.

You are only in 5th year. Once you finish school you will have at least 4 years in college ahead of you before you will be qualified. The job situation may or may not have changed by then. There will never be loads of teaching jobs available. There certainly will never be enough for all those who qualify. But if you really want to teach, and you clearly have an interest, you will do the course no matter what.

Best of luck with it.

rebel girl 15

janeybabe wrote: »

It's only bad to borrow techniques that don't work. Calling out the notes is a good idea for classes that tend to chat and who take ages to take things down as a result. Any technique that you have seen applied successfully is worth trying, although not all techniques will work for all classes. It's important to try things out to see if they work, and if they don't you have at least tried something different. If a teacher was copying my techniques I'd be flattered!

We did a whole module in college reflecting on good teachers and bad teachers, and trying to see what parts of th good teachers we would use. Out of curiosity janeybabe, did you read any of Bill Rogers stuff??

I completely agree about different techniques for different classes, and using different techniques to try and connect with each individual class

Just regards the subject choices, you probably have one of the best combinations with maths and Irish, the greatest number of teachers within a school are either English, Irish or Maths. I'm doing PE and maths in college, and thats the way I choose my second subject of maths!

coldwood92

How do u go about quailyfing to tech lcvp

brian93

Hi, planning on doing Science Education in Maynooth in September. I was just wondering because I've been hearing different things from different people, will there be a genuine demand for Maths teachers, with science and a leaving cert science subject (possibly Biology in my case) in 5 years or so? Even subbing? Don't want to be coming straight back down to Kerry after college ya'know!

Thanks

spurious

brian93 wrote: »

Hi, planning on doing Science Education in Maynooth in September. I was just wondering because I've been hearing different things from different people, will there be a genuine demand for Maths teachers, with science and a leaving cert science subject (possibly Biology in my case) in 5 years or so? Even subbing? Don't want to be coming straight back down to Kerry after college ya'know!

Thanks

There is always work for subs. It might only be a couple of hours a week but it's there.

As long as you are prepared or the long haul and don't expect to get a full time job within any sort of short time frame, you should not be disappointed. Look at the numbers doing the PGDE at the moment now, plus all the already unemployed and underemployed teachers and you get some idea of what the job situation will be like.

That said, a lot of older teachers are sick of the mountains of paperwork and seemingly endless circles of meetings that the job is becoming. It has stopped being about teaching which is why many of my age group and a bit older will go at the first chance they get. This will create some jobs.

coffeelover

I'm thinking of becoming a music and irish teacher. Do you think these would be good subjects to teach or would it be hard to get a job?. I'm doing my Leaving Cert next year

RHunce

I hear Irish teachers are fairly hard to come by and theres a fortune to be made in giving irish grinds too apparently.

Doug89

Great thread

I've wanted to teach for a while, but I kept my options open... I decided to study Commerce International with French in UCD, so I can according to that website teach accounting, business, economics and French.

But here's where it gets difficult. I'm a big gay. Gay gay gay.

Section 37 of the employment equality act - teachers can be fired for 'undermining the religious ethos of the institution'. Bad news.

My question to you is - have you ever come into contact with gay teachers? Young or old? Out to staff or staff and students? How are they perceived? Treated?

RHunce

Doug89 wrote: »

Great thread

I've wanted to teach for a while, but I kept my options open... I decided to study Commerce International with French in UCD, so I can according to that website teach accounting, business, economics and French.

But here's where it gets difficult. I'm a big gay. Gay gay gay.

Section 37 of the employment equality act - teachers can be fired for 'undermining the religious ethos of the institution'. Bad news.

My question to you is - have you ever come into contact with gay teachers? Young or old? Out to staff or staff and students? How are they perceived? Treated?

I would have felt that was more of a personal manner, one that should definitely not be discussed with students as frankly, its none of their business. I don't think it should matter but to be honest. Work and personal life should be kept completely separate.

Doug89

RHunce wrote: »

I would have felt that was more of a personal manner, one that should definitely not be discussed with students as frankly, its none of their business. I don't think it should matter but to be honest. Work and personal life should be kept completely separate.

Personal manner, yes.

But in fairness, it's not really something you can hide, who's never bumped into a student with their partner and kids in Tesco? And it's not something I'm prepared to lie about in the staffroom either. Tell me that teachers don't talk about their kids and other halves in the staffroom? That teachers with staffroom desks don't have pictures of their families?

If it was just me it could be a 'personal manner and not discussed' kinda thing, but once you've got a family these things change.

I went to an all girls' school in Dublin, and jesus we knew everything about our teachers....when they got engaged...how many kids they had....what their kids did....if they got married....if they got pregnant.

Ideas?

J_E

Teachers can be fired for 'undermining the religious ethos of the institution'.

Does this mean athiests are technically breaking this?

RHunce

Doug89 wrote: »

Personal manner, yes.

But in fairness, it's not really something you can hide, who's never bumped into a student with their partner and kids in Tesco? And it's not something I'm prepared to lie about in the staffroom either. Tell me that teachers don't talk about their kids and other halves in the staffroom? That teachers with staffroom desks don't have pictures of their families?

If it was just me it could be a 'personal manner and not discussed' kinda thing, but once you've got a family these things change.

I went to an all girls' school in Dublin, and jesus we knew everything about our teachers....when they got engaged...how many kids they had....what their kids did....if they got married....if they got pregnant.

Ideas?

Surely you're not undermining the ethos though you're just living your life. If you were to go in one day and say creationism is a load of sh!te, now that's what I'd recognise as undermining the schools ethos. I'm sure there a hundreds of gay teachers, but to be honest who really knows? We aren't told, we don't ask, we can only go by our assumptions. One of my friends thought our teacher was gay, turned out he was married and had three kids. Would it have mattered if he was gay? No. Would it have affected they way he taught us? No. Would it mean we'd show him less respect? No.

These shouldn't be things you have to worry about in modern day Ireland tbh.

Doug89

Yup, basically working in a 'religious institution' (even a hospital etc that has religious patronage) one can lose their job for having a child out of wedlock, or getting a divorce, but in modern Ireland there would be uproar, but it's still feared in the case of the big bad gay teacher.

My god I want things to change, and I hope they do. It was one of Labour's election promises to try and repeal it, and Rurai Quinn seems to be trying to make steps http://www.mamanpoulet.com/section-37-of-employment-equality-act-raised-at-teachers-conference/

I still worry that it's a nasty lingering thing.

J_E

I personally think the best way forward is to abolish all this 'religious ethos' bull**** from schools, times have changed from the 70's and we live in a progressive Ireland, religion should not interfere with the professional world.

I knew of a gay teacher in a school, many people who knew this were indifferent to it, myself included. It's not something that really matters to a lot of people. You may get a group of small-minded people though who believe it's 'wrong'.

Tomas18

hi, i was just wondering is there a good demand for language teachers say in French and German. would you advise doing 2 languages like this or would it be better to do French +(history/geography/Irish)
My other choice would be science primarily that of science education in NUIM. I hear that science will be a compulsory junior cert subject for 2016 or something like that so that would be beneficial. I plan on teaching biology and chemistry so would this be a good combination and is it hard to take up chemistry like this in uni because it is not on the subject list this year:( maybe i will do it outside of school

J_E

I think Science is a compulsory Junior Cert subject already, but I may be wrong.

Tomas18

no it is still optional in a few schools around the country

spurious

Re the religious ethos nonsense, eventually Section 37 of the 'Equality' legislation will be done away with. All of the teaching unions are campaigning to get rid of it and I think the nursing unions might be joining since they are also affected by it.