Thinking of doing Primary teaching - Not a word of Irish

Pierce_1991

I'm about to finish an arts degree in UCD and should be getting a 2.1 having done History/Economics joint major. I had originally planned on trying to do secondary teaching but I think I'd prefer to do Primary as I work with kids through the GAA and enjoy it. The problem is I don't speak any irish at all. Anyone have any recommendations as to what I should do? Could I do a one year course or something in the language before going into the primary teaching course?

dambarude

By far the most common way of gaining entry is by getting a C3 in Leaving Cert Higher Level Irish. It or its equivalent is a requirement of any of the PT courses. If you intend on applying as a mature student or postgrad you'll also have to do an interview through Irish.

Pierce_1991

dambarude wrote: »

By far the most common way of gaining entry is by getting a C3 in Leaving Cert Higher Level Irish. It or its equivalent is a requirement of any of the PT courses. If you intend on applying as a mature student or postgrad you'll also have to do an interview through Irish.

Cheers for quick reply, I should have mentioned I only did ordinary level Irish for the LC, got a C2. Thats why I reckoned I'd need to do some sort of course in it.

E.T.

I'd also advise looking into doing some observation in a primary school. There's a huge difference between working with children outside school and in school. Obviously if you enjoy training them that's a big advantage but a lot of people see a very different side of school when they step into a classroom as an adult. Experiencing the system as a child doesn't give much insight into the work of a teacher at all.

dambarude

Somebody will come along and mention a course you can do - I don't know of any off the top of my head. I do know people who have gone and done individual grinds before repeating, which would of course work out expensively.

What way do you qualification path do you intend on taking?

I should also mention the almost mandatory disclaimer that:
a) There are no jobs in primary teaching in the moment
b) It is unlikely there will be any jobs in coming years
c) Pay has been cut and will likely be cut again
d) The job isn't all it appears to be cracked up to be.

byhookorbycrook

+ 1 on the observation. I have had a few people in over the years, who,once they saw the day-to-day work and all the paperwork involved decided that it wasn't for them at all. Schools are very diffferent places, even in the last 5 years,from what you may remember.

dory

No jobs aside the best thing to do would be to spend a year studying like mad and getting the C3 in the Leaving.

Linguo

My boyfriend is doing his H. Dip in primary teaching at the moment, went to classes specifically for leaving cert Irish in Whitehall, am sure they're all around Dublin, he also did grinds on the side!

Best of luck!

Pierce_1991

Cheers for the advice guys. I'm still on the fence over primary or secondary. I do definitely feel like I want to do teaching, I've obviously missed the application for the H dip so I thought maybe I could use next year to do Irish and open up the options a bit more. I spoke to a secondary teacher and was told that primary would be best, particularly for guys these days. That said a primary teacher would probably tell me secondary would be best

byhookorbycrook

There was a time when men got jobs easily at primary level, but not any more.

Sweetpea101

Pierce 1991, I went back as a mature student and had to repeat the LC and it was the best thing ever, so my advice is to repeat the LC by doing a grinds course for the year along with a couple of gael linn courses throughout the year. The gael linn courses are for oral irish. The grinds course will shock the hell out of you, I just did an ordinary local one, and the other students in the class (about five or six others) with the exception of one girl hardly ever turned up, so every week there was me, the other girl and the teacher who was such an amazing help. He took work from me, corrected it, recorrected stuff, wrote parts of essays for me and got me to rewrite them. Photocopied extra things for me, he was such a great help. If you want to do it, do it, don't worry about the no jobs, there'll be some sort of job, there aren't loads of jobs, but you only need one!!! Best of luck

samantha23

Hi Pierce_1991, I am also thinking of going into Primary. I did a BA in Galway, then my HDIP in Geography and History in UCD where I graduated in 2009. After my BA and before my Dip I took a year out as I was unsure of what I wanted to do. Ended up getting alot of secondary subbing, in VEC schools as they werent strict at the time about being fully qualified. I also did some primary subbing but felt that I enjoyed secondary more. Also I did ordinary level Irish for my LC so that put me off Primary. After my Dip I went travelling to Oz for 2years! I found it impossible to get any teaching over there as I did not have enough post dip experience. I came home in Sept and I started getting subbing in October. The majority I get is in a primary school with an Autistic unit and I have completely changed my mind on primary teaching and would definetly consider it now. This means either repeating my LC which I would have to wait to do next year at this stage, then do the course in Ireland which I dont know how I could afford to pay for. The option is there to do it in England but grants to go over there have been halved. If I do choose England I would have 5years to do the Irish exam when I'm back but I hear there is alot involved as its expensive to get examined etc plus actually getting a position in a school! If I a wish I would love to become more involved working with autistic children but I think that would mean changing to primary and then another course on top of that. Im 25 now and only figuring out what I want to do now, I don't know how anyone doing their LC knows what they will want to be for life at that age!

Anyway theres my rant!!

Tigerandahalf

dambarude wrote: »

I should also mention the almost mandatory disclaimer that:
a) There are no jobs in primary teaching in the moment
b) It is unlikely there will be any jobs in coming years
c) Pay has been cut and will likely be cut again
d) The job isn't all it appears to be cracked up to be.

I'd agree with what has been said above. I think it sums up the teaching situation at the moment. Also the idea of being a fella meaning a guaranteed job is a non-truth. More and more principals are women and less men are being recruited just because they are a man. Pay has been cut and will be cut again. The job can be tough and stressful depending on the school/kids/fellow teachers/principal/parents. A lot of paperwork can be required at times and it's likely that more paperwork will be required down the line. Teachers are also likely to be required to do more career professional development courses (CPD) in the future. At the moment teachers are giving up a week of their holidays to do these. They get 3 personal days off in the year in lieu.

At the same time teaching can be very enjoyable. There is that satisfaction from it and in a sense you are your own boss. I like the buzz I get from it.
However, do be prepared for the possibility of being on teh dole for 5 years. You could of course choose to go abroad and there are a lot of good options abroad.

Tigerandahalf

dambarude wrote: »

I should also mention the almost mandatory disclaimer that:
a) There are no jobs in primary teaching in the moment
b) It is unlikely there will be any jobs in coming years
c) Pay has been cut and will likely be cut again
d) The job isn't all it appears to be cracked up to be.

I'd agree with what has been said above. I think it sums up the teaching situation at the moment. Also the idea of being a fella meaning a guaranteed job is a non-truth. More and more principals are women and less men are being recruited just because they are a man. Pay has been cut and will be cut again. The job can be tough and stressful depending on the school/kids/fellow teachers/principal/parents. A lot of paperwork can be required at times and it's likely that more paperwork will be required down the line. Teachers are also likely to be required to do more career professional development courses (CPD) in the future. At the moment teachers are giving up a week of their holidays to do these. They get 3 personal days off in the year in lieu.

At the same time teaching can be very enjoyable. There is that satisfaction from it and in a sense you are your own boss. I like the buzz I get from it.
However, do be prepared for the possibility of being on the dole for 5 years. You could of course choose to go abroad and there are a lot of good options abroad.

kraggy

Just to dispel some myths about male primary teachers and some other mass generalisations regarding sports etc.

I'm a mature male, hurler, with 2 years experience and a full Bachelor of Education in Primary Teaching.

I couldn't get any sort of job be it temporary or permanent. And I got on well the principals and staff of the schools that I did subbing in. They just didn't have the jobs to give.

So off to Korea I went.

What's the story with subbing at the moment at home? I remember something about the government getting unemployed teachers in as assistants who would then take over if the class teacher was sick. Did that happen?

cooranig23

I repeated my Irish in 2008 and I got the requirement

But just having the requirement is useless if you can't get into primary teaching

I tried Mary I and St pats 3 times already ..

They seem to only accept people if you can speak Irish fluently..

this is wrong and unfair because

Speaking fluent Irish doesn't particularly make someone a good teacher

I have 26 weeks experience of doing subbing.. and I know people who didn't have any experience whatsoever but they still got in on the basis of their Irish

dambarude

They don't expect fluent Irish, and I know this for a fact because plenty of people get on the mature programme and struggle with Irish afterwards.

Irish is taught every day, so you need to be able to converse in it to teach it properly.

Powerhouse

cooranig23 wrote: »

Speaking fluent Irish doesn't particularly make someone a good teacher

Not necessarily, but relative proficiency in the language (genuine fluency is quite another matter) is probably a fair guide as the likely emphasis and enthusiam of a prospective teacher regarding the language in the classroom in the long run.

kraggy

cooranig23 wrote: »

I repeated my Irish in 2008 and I got the requirement

But just having the requirement is useless if you can't get into primary teaching

I tried Mary I and St pats 3 times already ..

They seem to only accept people if you can speak Irish fluently..

this is wrong and unfair because Speaking fluent Irish doesn't particularly make someone a good teacher

I have 26 weeks experience of doing subbing.. and I know people who didn't have any experience whatsoever but they still got in on the basis of their Irish

Would you deem it wrong and unfair for a French teacher to be expected to be able to speak French?

Think about what your saying. Gaeilge is one of the core subjects in Primary School Teaching. It's an integral part of the job. If you can't speak it, how can you expect your students to speak it?

spurious

You are (or hopefully will be) responsible for the Irish of up to 40 children at a time. Personally I wouldn't go into Primary (or second level Irish) teaching without a rock solid basis.

vallo

How could you possibly be able to teach a language that you have "not a word of"???
Several of my teachers' kids have had really poor Irish - or at least, didn't seem to mind them saying things like "tá mé buachaill". It's truly depressing for anyone who actually cares about the language and sees it as a part of our heritage.

Ms.M

The requirement will be increased to a B1 in honours Irish in two years time according to an inservice I attended. (I'm a second-level Irish teacher) Though I think they should accept the teg course www.teg.ie which I'd recommend to anyone wanting to teach Irish well. Frankly, there are already a lot of incompetent people teaching Irish in primary schools, Pats certainly does not have very high standards. And proficiency in the subjects you teach really is a necessity for any teacher.