Teaching Prospects

Countdown86

Hi all-

I would love some advice and opinions on my situation:

I'm 27 years old, I already have a law degree (2.1) and Master's in library & Information Studies (1st class honours). I have not been able to find work related to either degree.

I have a 1 year old daughter and since she has been born the idea of becoming a teacher has become firmly implanted in my head- I have discovered that I love to watch and help kids learn! I am at a crossroads of sorts-do I continue working a poorly paid job in admin while looking for a suitable career for which i am already qualified OR do I "follow my heart" and enrol on the Higher Diploma in Education programme with Hibernia college???

I guess the main concern is job prospects after graduation-I will be 30 graduating, what are the chances of getting permanent or even regular work?? I have studied really long and hard so far & would commit to the diploma and take the financial burden of it on board if prospects are reasonable....I mean the birth rate has rocketed in recent years-surely all those kids will need teachers??

Going abroad is not an option for me so I would just like to hear about the prospects in Ireland!

Millem

Countdown86 wrote: »

Hi all-

I would love some advice and opinions on my situation:

I'm 27 years old, I already have a law degree (2.1) and Master's in library & Information Studies (1st class honours). I have not been able to find work related to either degree.

I have a 1 year old daughter and since she has been born the idea of becoming a teacher has become firmly implanted in my head- I have discovered that I love to watch and help kids learn! I am at a crossroads of sorts-do I continue working a poorly paid job in admin while looking for a suitable career for which i am already qualified OR do I "follow my heart" and enrol on the Higher Diploma in Education programme with Hibernia college???

I guess the main concern is job prospects after graduation-I will be 30 graduating, what are the chances of getting permanent or even regular work?? I have studied really long and hard so far & would commit to the diploma and take the financial burden of it on board if prospects are reasonable....I mean the birth rate has rocketed in recent years-surely all those kids will need teachers??

Going abroad is not an option for me so I would just like to hear about the prospects in Ireland!

Is it primary school teaching? If so do you have c3 in HL irish? I am secondary school and a lot of people I work with would swap with you to have a job that pays 52 weeks of the year.

solerina

Are you sure that either of your qualifications will qualify you to teach ? If its secondary then I am pretty sure the answer is no, if primary then Hibernia would work ok for you (as long as you have the minimum LC requirements). Job prospects are poor in either sector though so you could be a long time looking for work

Countdown86

Solerina: Hi there, yes my qualifications are HETAC level 8 and 9 so they do meet the entry requirements for Primary (I haven't looked into secondary).



Millem: Yes it's Primary teaching I am interested in, I have the relevant Leaving Cert grades, Yeah I know the 52 weeks of employment is good in its own way but I'm earning €22k a year(full-time) living in Dublin & paying for creche-i would literally be better off on the dole at the moment but I don't want to go there....

Millem

Countdown86 wrote: »

Solerina: Hi there, yes my qualifications are HETAC level 8 and 9 so they do meet the entry requirements for Primary (I haven't looked into secondary).



Millem: Yes it's Primary teaching I am interested in, I have the relevant Leaving Cert grades, Yeah I know the 52 weeks of employment is good in its own way but I'm earning €22k a year(full-time) living in Dublin & paying for creche-i would literally be better off on the dole at the moment but I don't want to go there....

Seriously they would still swap places with you! Maybe primary school is different (I doubt it though). The latest I have seen is for principals to have double the amount of people doing half jobs so basically they get more out of you as they will get double extra curricular activities and double amount of form teachers! Even though the are in half hours they are still in 5 days a week for the full school day and they would earn less than €22k. One of my colleagues who are in their late 30s recently got a CID for 11 hours and it was like she won the lotto. It is very very bleak

Countdown86

Thanks Millem; I had a feeling that bleak was the general atmosphere out there... I have one friend who graduated as a primary teacher in 2010 and hasn't been short of employment (recently landing full time perm position) but I think she may be the exception rather than the rule....:(

Millem

Countdown86 wrote: »

Thanks Millem; I had a feeling that bleak was the general atmosphere out there... I have one friend who graduated as a primary teacher in 2010 and hasn't been short of employment (recently landing full time perm position) but I think she may be the exception rather than the rule....:(

I don't know anything about primary school only that I feel so sorry for the teachers! I have heard of 38 in a class!!!! That is crowd control rather than teaching.
I definitely think your friend was an exception!

poolsandles

If you do a search there are some recent threads already on this topic:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057159912

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=89517317

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=89502859

Job prospects are extremely bleak at the moment. Good luck with your decision!