subject combination

sm213

I'm looking into post primary teaching and wanted to know of anyone does both maths and history?
I would love to teach both and definitely do not want to do religion. Don't mind the historical context but a class named the gospels of John and Luke and the like are a bit much as I am humanist.
I can't teach people something I do not believe in and have no interest in doing so.
History with English would be an option although the workload would be intense.
A lot of correcting, a lot of detail.
Has anyone any idea how I can find out more its all a bit hard to find out.

rainbowtrout

It doesn't really matter if it's a subject combination that anyone else does. It's more important that you want to do it. I don't personally know anyone with that subject combination, most History teachers I know have English, Irish or Geography as their second subject. But that tends to be because you don't meet too many people who like maths and the arts subjects. English and History teachers are ten a penny, you would *probably* be more employable with maths.

Bobsammy

One of my colleagues teaches History and Maths and it has always struck me as an unusual combination. She says it's a lovely balance because they're such different subjects. I know she feels her timetable can be Maths heavy but that's probably because of relatively few people opting for History at senior cycle in our school.

I know she did her B.A. in History and Maths at NUIM.

gaiscioch

sm213 wrote: »

I'm looking into post primary teaching and wanted to know of anyone does both maths and history?

In job terms, Maths is good. History not so good, if not a bad choice (too many teachers).

sm213 wrote: »

definitely do not want to do religion. Don't mind the historical context but a class named the gospels of John and Luke and the like are a bit much as I am humanist.

I taught religion once, and it was far from catechism in my "Catholic school"; you were taught about all religions, philosophy, etc. There's an enormous amount of nonsense written by people online about what "religion" class actually is in 2015. I certainly wouldn't go into a school hostile to it without finding out what's entailed (I was certainly grateful to get the teaching hours in religion before I got my own hours in my subjects). At any rate, I wouldn't put religion down as a good choice in terms of getting a job.

History with English would be an option although the workload would be intense. A lot of correcting, a lot of detail.
Has anyone any idea how I can find out more its all a bit hard to find out.

No, in career terms definitely not. The worst combination possible - both subjects are heavily oversubscribed as they are considered the "waffle" subjects.

Maths and something else. Personally, for my second subject I'd choose the subject I'm most passionate about in the hope that some day when I'd be established in the school most of my hours could be teaching that subject.

r93kaey5p2izun

I would not say Maths is good in terms of jobs. It is a little better than English and History though. I would say Home Ec is the only subject that is good for jobs, everything else ranges from fair to no hope.

Of course you need these subjects to degree level so availability of and access to a suitable degree course may inflence your choice too.

pandoraj09

Technical graphics and DCG are good subjects to have...most people with skills in those areas go into other careers and it's very difficult to get teachers of these subjects. Spanish is becoming increasingly popular also. I would say Maths and Irish are 2 "good" subjects to consider for teaching.

wolfyboy555

I teach maths and history. It was maths that got me the job in the first place. I now do some history (JC) which I really enjoy as it is a nice break from the maths classes. I did LC history in my first year which was quite intense with the amount of content and correcting of essays etc. I would imagine doing leaving cert history and english would be some workload too.

aunt aggie

I'm a Maths and History teacher. Would agree with what most people are saying here - there are no jobs in History. I don't think I'd know where to start with a history class at this stage. Haven't taught it in years.

Maths is better but that doesn't make it easy to find a job teaching Maths. A lot of ads look for someone with Maths and Business or Maths and Science. I always have people telling me ahh you'll have no bother getting a job with Maths but it's rubbish. Just comes down to luck and been in the right place at the right time and having the exact subject combination a school is looking for.

sm213

Thanks everyone great advice. I'm terrible at Irish.
Science with maths would be doable I enjoy both of them.
I genuinely love history which is why I was thinking that way.
The only reason I didn't do higher level for the leaving is I was not confident in my ability speedwriting.
I did a level 5 in culture and heritage studies and was a tour guide in Dublinia also. However if I'd be unemployable its pointless.
Maybe I'll go for primary...
Or is that overstocked too?

mtoutlemonde

sm213 wrote: »

I'm terrible at Irish.
Maybe I'll go for primary...

You will have to improve your Irish if you're thinking of primary school teaching. Also at least a C2 at Higher Level Leaving Certificate is required and a substantial amount of time in a Gaeltacht area. So bear that in mind.

maynooth_rules

sm213 wrote: »

I genuinely love history which is why I was thinking that way.
The only reason I didn't do higher level for the leaving is I was not confident in my ability speedwriting.

So does every teacher that has it. There are way way way too many History teachers unfortunately. Of course this never worried the universities or Hibernia

Cheese Wagstaff

Yeah, English & History is easily the most common combination out there.

Myself, my combination is English & Maths. Two completely different subjects, but I love them both equally. Anytime that combination is advertised, I always get an interview. I'm just out of college, so the lack of experience is coming against me in interviews (this is what principals are directly telling me), or it's simply been a re-advertisement of a job. However, because of the rarity of the combination, it's allowing me the opportunity to get the feel for what a board interview is like, which will be invaluable, as I reckon I'm fairly close to securing employment for September on the back of this. If I had English & History, that likely would never have happened due to the abundance of teachers with those subjects out there.

Pick subjects you love obviously is my advice, but do not be afraid to be smart about it aswell. For the next couple of years at least, securing a teaching job will be a highly competitive environment. You'll need all the advantages you can get.

pandoraj09

Yeah, Primary is as bad as secondary in terms of employment at the moment. I was talking to a recent graduate who told me she sent out over 80 applications and heard nothing back from any of them. If your Irish is not good you should not even think of it, unless you're willing to invest time and effort into improving your Irish and developing a love of it that you can instil in your students.Too many Primary teachers can barely cope with Irish themselves and therefore obviously can't teach it properly, resulting in students coming into Secondary school with a really poor standard of Irish. This has been happening for many years from my experience dealing with such students.

sm213

I'll really have to think seriously about my options so..
Everyone has been very informative. I've been given a lot to think about.