Teaching adults literacy/English

Acacia

Hi, just looking for some career advice, not sure if this is the right place, mods please feel free to move if inappropriate...

I'm an English graduate (MA) currently working in admin/ office work, it's just a temporary job and tbh it's not really what I want to do for the rest of my life and certainly has very little to do with my degree!:D

I've been toying with the idea of going into teaching for the past while. I've never been interested in teaching in primary/secondary level and academia/lecturing didn't really appeal to me in college, so I've been considering teaching adults with literacy problems, etc ( something along the lines of what NALA do). But I'm unsure what qualifications I would need- do I require a HDip? Are there many career opputunities, here or abroad? The bit of research I've done has confused me a bit, in that it seems you have to already have teaching experience to get into this type of work, but I could be wrong.

I've only recently became interested in this field, as previously I wanted to be a librarian, but the cost of postgraduate qualification and the severe lack of opportunites in the sector has put me off it quite a bit.

If anyone has any tips or advice, I'd be very grateful.:)

mtoutlemonde

Acacia wrote: »

Hi, just looking for some career advice, not sure if this is the right place, mods please feel free to move if inappropriate...

I'm an English graduate (MA) currently working in admin/ office work, it's just a temporary job and tbh it's not really what I want to do for the rest of my life and certainly has very little to do with my degree!:D

I've been toying with the idea of going into teaching for the past while. I've never been interested in teaching in primary/secondary level and academia/lecturing didn't really appeal to me in college, so I've been considering teaching adults with literacy problems, etc ( something along the lines of what NALA do). But I'm unsure what qualifications I would need- do I require a HDip? Are there many career opputunities, here or abroad? The bit of research I've done has confused me a bit, in that it seems you have to already have teaching experience to get into this type of work, but I could be wrong.

I've only recently became interested in this field, as previously I wanted to be a librarian, but the cost of postgraduate qualification and the severe lack of opportunites in the sector has put me off it quite a bit.

If anyone has any tips or advice, I'd be very grateful.:)

Hi Acacia, I don't know about employment prospects but I did train to be an adult literacy tutor a few years ago (prior to my dip) on a voluntary basis. I was trained for about 8 weeks prior to meeting my student. Contact your VEC / your nearest adult education centre to see if they are training new tutors. If you want to get a qualification in adult literacy there are courses in the Waterford Institute of Technology which (I think) can be studied by distance learning.

Chris68

The teaching council will begin to impact on adult education in March of this year. From then you will be required to be registered with the teaching council. Adult Ed comes under Section 5 of the regulations. To register you will be required to have a level 8 degree AND a relevant teaching qualification. The HDip is not exactly "relevant" as it qualifies you under section 4 of the regulations which is for 12-18 year olds. (Incidently, if you register under section 4 then you get section 5 automatically, but not vice-versa). The teaching council therefore have recently given the thumbs up to a different qualification which qualifies you to teach adults. I don't know the details of it but I imagine the teaching council website would point you in the right direction.

As already pointed out by a previous poster, you may be expected to undergo training with the employer (normally a VEC). This will likely take the form of one session a week for about 10 weeks. I use the term "employer" loosely as you will probably also be expected to work on a voluntary basis, at least for the first year. Maybe 2 hours a week on a 1-2-1 basis with a student. After you get some experience you might be lucky enough to get a job that is paid to teach literacy - say in the prison system or places like that. There is plenty of competition out there though for any paid jobs.

Best of luck with your new career.

Karpops

Chris68 wrote: »

The teaching council will begin to impact on adult education in March of this year. From then you will be required to be registered with the teaching council. Adult Ed comes under Section 5 of the regulations. To register you will be required to have a level 8 degree AND a relevant teaching qualification. The HDip is not exactly "relevant" as it qualifies you under section 4 of the regulations which is for 12-18 year olds. (Incidently, if you register under section 4 then you get section 5 automatically, but not vice-versa). The teaching council therefore have recently given the thumbs up to a different qualification which qualifies you to teach adults. I don't know the details of it but I imagine the teaching council website would point you in the right direction.

As already pointed out by a previous poster, you may be expected to undergo training with the employer (normally a VEC). This will likely take the form of one session a week for about 10 weeks. I use the term "employer" loosely as you will probably also be expected to work on a voluntary basis, at least for the first year. Maybe 2 hours a week on a 1-2-1 basis with a student. After you get some experience you might be lucky enough to get a job that is paid to teach literacy - say in the prison system or places like that. There is plenty of competition out there though for any paid jobs.

Best of luck with your new career.

Have you tried NALA? They run training courses but I'm not sure how they're accredited.