Secondary teaching through Irish

whiteandlight

Hi everyone,

Been thinking about this lately a lot so wondering if anyone knows anything.

With all the gaelscoil primary schools that have been established presumably it is a matter of time before an equivalent happens at second level. What I'm wondering is that to teach in a gaelscoil secondary school would Irish need to have been a degree subject for you or would it simply be based on how you speak the language? I was quite good at Irish in secondary school though I was not a fan at the time (B3 at HL) and am half thinking that given the current climate anything that improves a cv is a good thing.

I'm going to grab myself a book and start going back through it for my own sake anyways. My subjects are music and maths so I'll concentrate there. I really have 2 questions:

1. Does anyone know what the requirements of such a school would be?
2. In the Kildare/Dublin region is there any conversational classes/clubs in irish that are inexpensive as I'm only part time.

spurious

Conradh na Gaeilge run all sorts of courses, which I imagine would be at a very good level.

pog it

spurious wrote: »

Conradh na Gaeilge run all sorts of courses, which I imagine would be at a very good level.

Their standard language classes are at an alright level.
They occasionally have one/two day grammar specific courses- these have been excellent in the past. But for language learning in general, you should check out Gaelchultúr if you can. They're in Temple Bar, same costs as Conradh na Gaeilge.
In general though, it takes anything from 2/3 years or longer to become fully fluent in another language- this definitely applies to Irish as it's by no means the easiest language out there to learn.

You should definitely be able to find a ciorcal comhrá somewhere near you- free way to improve and learn. Other than that, the usual, books, cds, etc. and lots of graft.

dory

I think it's a great idea. I know my school often has trouble finding teachers because people won't apply to work in Irish language schools. The standard of some people starting out is very poor. They find it very hard to be confident in class. So I'd say brush up as much as you can. You definitely don't need it to have it in your degree. Just a willingness to speak/learn it.

byhookorbycrook

You will also need a good level of vocab related to your subjects and the ability to translate resources into Irish also.

Triptych

This is an issue a friend of mine was just asking me about over the weekend. I asked at work but no-one seemed to have an idea on the difficulty of the oral exam for the Teastas Gaeilge do Mhúinteoirí Iarbhunscoile (TGMI).

Does anyone have any experience of this? Would she be able to get through it with reasonable LC Higher level oral Irish with a bit of study?

whiteandlight

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think having it specific to teaching is why I'm unsure forking out for specific language courses etc is the best route. When I've improved my conversational irish does anyone think that a primary school might take me on as an unpaid hand in a June to get the school language vocab I'd really need? There was a couple of tutorials offered in college in first year through Irish if you were thinking of this but they never got past the first few before petering out. And any info on the tgmi would be great

By the way I'm not trying to wiggle out of qualifying or anything. Simply that I am a fully qualified teacher already and it's seems hard to get info on teaching in Irish.

pog it

Musicmental85 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think having it specific to teaching is why I'm unsure forking out for specific language courses etc is the best route. When I've improved my conversational irish does anyone think that a primary school might take me on as an unpaid hand in a June to get the school language vocab I'd really need? There was a couple of tutorials offered in college in first year through Irish if you were thinking of this but they never got past the first few before petering out. And any info on the tgmi would be great

By the way I'm not trying to wiggle out of qualifying or anything. Simply that I am a fully qualified teacher already and it's seems hard to get info on teaching in Irish.

You're still going to have to have a good level of fluency to carry it off so no matter what you do you have to get fluent. You're going to have to know the grammar, etc. if you want to teach through Irish and that takes getting in on.

For the person that mentioned it, having Leaving Cert oral exam level Irish won't be any good to you. Even if you got a high mark in it.

whiteandlight

You're still going to have to have a good level of fluency to carry it off so no matter what you do you have to get fluent. You're going to have to know the grammar, etc. if you want to teach through Irish and that takes getting in on.

For the person that mentioned it, having Leaving Cert oral exam level Irish won't be any good to you. Even if you got a high mark in it.[/Quote]

Oh I know LC oral Irish will definitely not be sufficient! I'm thinking Gaeltacht would be absolute necessity. Started going back through my Irish stuff-it is a much nicer language with the stigma of school on it lol.

I've also emails NUIM education department where I graduated from to see of they have any information. Anything I hear I'll post back here

Fuinseog

Musicmental85 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Been thinking about this lately a lot so wondering if anyone knows anything.

With all the gaelscoil primary schools that have been established presumably it is a matter of time before an equivalent happens at second level. What I'm wondering is that to teach in a gaelscoil secondary school would Irish need to have been a degree subject for you or would it simply be based on how you speak the language? I was quite good at Irish in secondary school though I was not a fan at the time (B3 at HL) and am half thinking that given the current climate anything that improves a cv is a good thing.

I'm going to grab myself a book and start going back through it for my own sake anyways. My subjects are music and maths so I'll concentrate there. I really have 2 questions:

1. Does anyone know what the requirements of such a school would be?
2. In the Kildare/Dublin region is there any conversational classes/clubs in irish that are inexpensive as I'm only part time.

Irish is the day to day language of such a school. The important thing is that you are competent in your subject and make an effort to speak Irish. When surrounded by the language its much easier. Not all the kids themselves understand everything in Irish.
conversation groups are usually at your local library

pog it

Musicmental85 wrote: »

Oh I know LC oral Irish will definitely not be sufficient! I'm thinking Gaeltacht would be absolute necessity. Started going back through my Irish stuff-it is a much nicer language with the stigma of school on it lol.

I've also emails NUIM education department where I graduated from to see of they have any information. Anything I hear I'll post back here

Good on you! Well if you're serious about this then you will definitely need the Ó Dónaill dictionary, the Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla (or FGB ) and a cheap option is to get the 'Learning Irish' book by M Ó Siadhail- very thorough course and especially suitable for those who have done Irish in school. It was one of the best things I used myself to get fluent so it does work if you put the effort in.

I wish you the very best of luck. With your choice of subjects and knowledge of Irish, hopefully you'll be set up.

whiteandlight

In case anyone is interested this was what I got back from the department of education. Haven't heard back from NUIM yet but will keep this updated!

Dear xx
The Department does not have any information in relation to this matter because, as you say, Irish is not a qualification requirement at post-primary level. It would be a matter for the colleges/universities to offer courses in the teaching of certain subjects through the medium of Irish. I know there was talk about the National College of Art and Design offering a 'teaching Art through the medium of Irish' course. You would need to contact the NCAD to find out more information.

Gaelscoileanna Teo is the national, voluntary organisation which supports the development of Irish-medium schools at primary and post-primary level in Ireland. They also conduct research into immersion education i.e. the learning of subjects through the medium of a designated language. They may be able to offer some assistance in this matter, contact details below:

Gaelscoileanna Teo.,
St. Patrick's Hall,
Marino Institute of Education,
Griffith Ave.,
Dublin 9
Ph: 01 853 5195
E-mail: oifig@gaelscoileanna.ie

dory

What did you ask the department?

From my own experience in an Irish medium school you really just need to be qualified in your own subject and be able to converse in Irish will a willingness to improve. Some teachers stay up all night at the beginning translation notes but after a while the terminology and all gets easier.

whiteandlight

Well after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing from the department and referrals to unions/irish groups etc etc Gaelscoileana Teo finally put me onto a department Circular 21/00 and through that to http://examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=ex&sc=mi

However I still have no information on courses to prepare for it as opposed to the primary school exam, difficulty or even the cost of sitting the exam. About to contact the SEC directly about it now and will update again.

whiteandlight

Sec were excellent. There is an oral exam specifically for second level teaching through Irish run by them. It qualifies you to teach in a gaelscoil. The exam is free and held around feb/march. Deadline is in December though they said they could get me in this round if I liked (I didn't-would fail miserably lol). Finally there is a syllabus and it's available to be posted out which you can do either by email or in my case they rang me back and offered it.

Hope that may be of use to someone!