Adding a subject

SchafStoerer

I am researching adding an additional subject (German) to my wife's degree. I have read everything here, have been in contact with the teaching council and a university and as a result am even more confused that when I started out

The uni I talked to did not seem to know about the Hdip in the sense of adding a subject and said that the way to acquire the required ECTS points is as a so-called "occasional student". Has anybody experience with this?

The following is also confusing from the Teaching Council website:
"As a registered post-primary teacher, you have met the registration requirement to hold qualifications which enable you to teach at least one post-primary curricular subject. Deployment within schools to teach all subjects is a matter for individual school authorities. It is not a registration requirement to be recognised for additional subjects."

Thanks in advance!

mtoutlemonde

SchafStoerer wrote: »

I am researching adding an additional subject (German) to my wife's degree. I have read everything here, have been in contact with the teaching council and a university and as a result am even more confused that when I started out

The uni I talked to did not seem to know about the Hdip in the sense of adding a subject and said that the way to acquire the required ECTS points is as a so-called "occasional student". Has anybody experience with this?

The following is also confusing from the Teaching Council website:
"As a registered post-primary teacher, you have met the registration requirement to hold qualifications which enable you to teach at least one post-primary curricular subject. Deployment within schools to teach all subjects is a matter for individual school authorities. It is not a registration requirement to be recognised for additional subjects."

Thanks in advance!

In some universities, you can be awarded a higher diploma in whatever language you are studying. I would take a guess and say you have been in contact with NUIG who do not offer the higher diploma but where you register for modules that add up to a degree but because the degree is combined e.g. German and English, because you are only studying one, it essentially doesn't lead to a qualification unless you're doing the full BA which she will not be therefore will be registering for certain modules. Just be aware that because these modules won't be on the famous Teaching Council list, her qualifications will have to be assessed for a fee.

For point two, once you are registered with the Teaching Council for at least one subject, it is up to the management of the school to decide what you can teach e.g. like most science teachers don't qualify for maths but teach it.

Hope this makes sense.

SchafStoerer

Thanks for the answer!
Despite containing one of the longest sentences I've read in a while I think I get your gist. :)
The question is how likely are the teaching council to approve the 60 or 70 ECTS points when acquired as an occasional student? Their standpoint seems to be that their conditions are clear and that it is up to the uni to assess which of their courses fit the requirements. The uni says they have nothing to do with it. Based on the letter of the law "Applicants must hold a degree-level qualification, with German studied up to and including third-year level or higher (or modular equivalent)." then they would not be accepted. But the letter of the law would then also not seem to even fit to the HDip one year courses which are know to be accepted.

mtoutlemonde

SchafStoerer wrote: »

Thanks for the answer!
Despite containing one of the longest sentences I've read in a while I think I get your gist. :)
The question is how likely are the teaching council to approve the 60 or 70 ECTS points when acquired as an occasional student? Their standpoint seems to be that their conditions are clear and that it is up to the uni to assess which of their courses fit the requirements. The uni says they have nothing to do with it. Based on the letter of the law "Applicants must hold a degree-level qualification, with German studied up to and including third-year level or higher (or modular equivalent)." then they would not be accepted. But the letter of the law would then also not seem to even fit to the HDip one year courses which are know to be accepted.

Yes the university will tell you that the programme will already have been assessed by the Teaching Council and is acceptable for registration which it will be as it probably will be a BA. However, as your wife would only be studying a number of modules, they would not be aware of what she is doing hence the reason why they have to assess her qualifications. During qualifications assessment, they will check her modules with the requirements they state e.g. the study of literature etc. and add the subject to her list.

Is your wife working at the minute?
Has she studied German in her degree just not to the level of TC registration i.e. a shortfall in literature etc. If she has German in her degree, get her qualifications assessed and the TC will tell you exactly what she needs to do. You then bring this to the university of choice and do the modules required.
If she already has a job and wants to teach German - maybe do the study and tell her principal and if the principal thinks there would be take up for German, could possibly introduce it into her school (maybe even TY module), or give your wife junior classes ... without the hassle of going through the TC.

SchafStoerer

My wife is working, but in Germany at the moment and has a degree from a German uni (which we will need to get assessed anyway). We will be relocating next year. She never did any German modules in uni: I'll ask the TC if it is still possible to assess in this case. 
I think we probably will do it as you said: we will talk to the uni and get them to chop together some courses that in theory at least fulfil the TC requirements and then get them assessed. Even if for some reason this is not successful then she can at least use them on her CV and to get a job and will give her the confidence to teach German.

mtoutlemonde

SchafStoerer wrote: »

My wife is working, but in Germany at the moment and has a degree from a German uni (which we will need to get assessed anyway). We will be relocating next year. She never did any German modules in uni: I'll ask the TC if it is still possible to assess in this case. 
I think we probably will do it as you said: we will talk to the uni and get them to chop together some courses that in theory at least fulfil the TC requirements and then get them assessed. Even if for some reason this is not successful then she can at least use them on her CV and to get a job and will give her the confidence to teach German.

Will she at least have one subject to allow her to register? She will have to fulfill the requirements for teaching German like everyone else so without a degree in German, she will not have studied the prescribed amount of German literature. I've seen it with some French natives who had to do courses like your wife intends to in order to get registered. It might be a good idea to start the assessment process now as it can take a few weeks (months in my case) for results to come back and the sooner you have it, the sooner you can talk to universities.

SchafStoerer

Yeah she has other valid subjects: I meant assessing German only for the purposes of being communicated a clear shortfall from the TC. She fulfills the language fluency of course but of course not the other points. My hope would be that they would then be a bit more communicative

mtoutlemonde

SchafStoerer wrote: »

Yeah she has other valid subjects: I meant assessing German only for the purposes of being communicated a clear shortfall from the TC. She fulfills the language fluency of course but of course not the other points. My hope would be that they would then be a bit more communicative

You'll find that they're not unfortunately. They won't register her without having studied German literature - the same thing happened with the French natives. One thing I found is it a lot easier to communicate with the TC via email because it is like talking to a brick wall as to them. Also, you will have backup of correspondence. Best of luck.

evolving_doors

Has your wife done a teaching degree?
What subject has she studied in uni?

SchafStoerer

"One thing I found is it a lot easier to communicate with the TC via email"
[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I have been communicating with them via email. Was hoping that on telephone they would be more helpful. Oh well [/font]
[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"[/font]Has your wife done a teaching degree?
What subject has she studied in uni?"

[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yes she has a German teaching degree. Geography and english. She obviously doesn't want to teach english in ireland... She will probably only get geography assessed. 
[/font]

deiseindublin

Funnily enough she could teach English faster than she can teach German so!

mtoutlemonde

SchafStoerer wrote: »

"One thing I found is it a lot easier to communicate with the TC via email"
[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I have been communicating with them via email. Was hoping that on telephone they would be more helpful. Oh well [/font]
[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"[/font]Has your wife done a teaching degree?
What subject has she studied in uni?"

[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yes she has a German teaching degree. Geography and english. She obviously doesn't want to teach english in ireland... She will probably only get geography assessed. 
[/font]

I wouldn't rule out the English. Geography is oversubscribed. It may be possible that a English/German position and schools might consider her because of her fluency. Language teachers are in demand. Have you started the registration process as it is a busy period for registering.

SchafStoerer

"I wouldn't rule out the English."
Interesting. Would you find it realistic for an Irish person to teach French in France?
I have been living for 20 years in Germany absolutely immersed in the language, away from the big urban areas, am about as fluent as it is possible to get in a foreign language and I still would not consider teaching german here even for a second.
BTW she is even apprensive about teaching Geography in English.

mtoutlemonde

SchafStoerer wrote: »

"I wouldn't rule out the English."
Interesting. Would you find it realistic for an Irish person to teach French in France?
I have been living for 20 years in Germany absolutely immersed in the language, away from the big urban areas, am about as fluent as it is possible to get in a foreign language and I still would not consider teaching german here even for a second.
BTW she is even apprensive about teaching Geography in English.

Well the chances of getting a German teaching job on its own are slim. She will have to get a job with one of her subjects to get into a school. Also the uptake for German wouldn't be the same as French/Spanish so will not be offered in every school.

Afroshack

Has your wife considered doing the H.Dip in German in UCC? It's recognised by the teaching council and costs 6k for one year full-time. It's worth 60 ECT credits so its enough for the teaching council!

SchafStoerer

Sorry never saw this answer: yeah we saw this course, but it's the other end of the country unfortunately.