PGDE OFFER

bananaskin

hey guys,
got my first choice offer last week and was initially delighted but now have concerns relating to finding work when i complete PGDE course.
my main subject would be physics with maths.
all i am hearing is that there is very few jobs, will only have small hours for a couple of years if im lucky.
I am not in a position to work abroad.
the course fees are expensive and i will be paying for everything from my own pocket.
has anybody got any positive stories ,relating to graduates of the PGDE, getting some kind of decent secondary school work.
regards G

Seanchai

bananaskin wrote: »

hey guys,
got my first choice offer last week and was initially delighted but now have concerns relating to finding work when i complete PGDE course.
my main subject would be physics with maths.
all i am hearing is that there is very few jobs, will only have small hours for a couple of years if im lucky.
I am not in a position to work abroad.
the course fees are expensive and i will be paying for everything from my own pocket.
has anybody got any positive stories ,relating to graduates of the PGDE, getting some kind of decent secondary school work.
regards G

They seem like decent subjects, if you are fully qualified in both according to the TC. Maths is by most accounts very good. Many of the people who go on about how terrible things are have bad subjects to begin with and in essence want to make the silk purse of job permanency out of the sow's ear that is their degree subjects. It will most probably be difficult getting full hours and it is likely that you'll be on half hours or something like it for the first couple of years anyway. Even though many people emigrate, I believe if you stay and knock on enough (a lot!) doors at home you'll ultimately triumph.

As you are not in a position to work abroad, you are taking a bigger gamble on the PGDE. Like you, I was not in a position to work abroad but subject wise I was worse: I had only one subject. I took the gamble on the PGDE. It worked out OK, even though I only had half hours last year and had a couple of months without work in my immediate PGDE year. It depends what's acceptable to you financially and otherwise. If you really have the grá for teaching your subjects then you know the answer. If, however, you have the grá for your subjects but may not necessarily like teaching them then perhaps you could explore your options now before committing to a teaching path where it could easily be 4 or 5 years before you're on the road to permanency.

Best of luck.

Millem

bananaskin wrote: »

hey guys,
got my first choice offer last week and was initially delighted but now have concerns relating to finding work when i complete PGDE course.
my main subject would be physics with maths.
all i am hearing is that there is very few jobs, will only have small hours for a couple of years if im lucky.
I am not in a position to work abroad.
the course fees are expensive and i will be paying for everything from my own pocket.
has anybody got any positive stories ,relating to graduates of the PGDE, getting some kind of decent secondary school work.
regards G

I thought it was so hard to get fully qualified Maths teachers? That's why they are offering that free course? Regardless of the job market the question is do you actually want to be a teacher?

whiteandlight

Millem wrote: »

I thought it was so hard to get fully qualified Maths teachers? That's why they are offering that free course? Regardless of the job market the question is do you actually want to be a teacher?

Its not hard to get qualified maths teachers or at least I've had plenty of trouble getting jobs even with first class qualifications! The problem is the permanent unqualified teachers who are being used to teach maths.

Are you definitely fully qualified in Maths? I ask simply because a lot of science courses do not fulfil the maths qualification and there is a myth going around that you can qualify to teach junior cert maths which is not true.

The reality with any teaching job is you face at least several years of half hours or less on a salary of 27k for full hours. And no there are no allowances for new teachers anymore so you can do the maths on it. While you may get substitution hours they will not be regular and you will likely not get paid for the summer.

Sorry to be negative but there is still a huge myth out there that teaching is this secure pensionable well paid job but unfortunately that is all it is-a myth

gaeilgegrinds1

One bit of advice, teach in the craziest school you can find. There's a school in my local area, it's nuts, but all the Dips got jobs from there this year. Wait for it, PMs galore asking where it is now! But you get my drift, attitude at interviews was, if you can teach there you won't be coming to me asking for help!

rainbowtrout

gaeilgegrinds1 wrote: »

One bit of advice, teach in the craziest school you can find. There's a school in my local area, it's nuts, but all the Dips got jobs from there this year. Wait for it, PMs galore asking where it is now! But you get my drift, attitude at interviews was, if you can teach there you won't be coming to me asking for help!

Very good point. A lot of Dips purposely look for the best school they can find in terms of behaviour, academic achievement etc and then can't cope when they start in a school that may have a few problem students. I saw an NQT coming into us about 2 years ago that did her dip in a neighbouring school. School has a good rep and she went to school there herself. Heard on the grapevine that she was mollycoddled through the placement, where any student that as much as spoke out of turn was removed from her class, teachers helping her put lessons together etc. Nice girl, she probably got a good grade, but it did her no favours when it came to lesson planning not to mind discipline because she never really had to do it herself.

Better to have a slightly tougher time to begin with and be used to it when you're in the real world on a full timetable where the classes aren't cherry picked for you.