Primary school teaching -v- secondary school teaching

Halladubha72

Hi I'm trying to help my daughter make up her mind about her career/study choice when she is finished her leaving cert next year. She is finding it very hard to decide. She has narrowed it down to teaching and is between primary school teaching or secondary school teaching starting with her top subjects music, geography and German and picking two then to qualify in. I've read on boards.ie that these three subjects are not great combinations for secondary school teaching to get jobs in? Also.... What is the salary difference starting off in both teaching jobs?

dory

Salary is the same IF she gets full time hours as a secondary school teacher (which would be highly unlikely with those subjects.

For job security I'd go with primary as at least when you get a job it's a whole job. But I've no experience of primary level teaching so I can't comment on other aspects of the job.

If going with secondary I'd recommend a mainstream subject. Very few schools even teach German. In our school we've about 12 or 13 English teachers, and 1 full time and 1 part time Music teachers. So straight away it would be much harder to get a job in Music - less chance of maternity leaves etc.

Redser87

Does she like young children and preteens? If she goes for primary, she will have to be prepared to teach any class level from junior infants to sixth class. There is a lot of fun to be had at primary, a lot of hands-on, game based learning and the 11 subjects means there is something to appeal to everyone.

RealJohn

You say her top subjects are music, geography and German. That's ringing alarm bells for me straight away for primary teaching. None of those three are core subjects so they are not the main job of primary teachers. Maybe your daughter is a high achiever and those are just her best, even though she's strong at her other subjects too but this country doesn't need more primary teachers with poor Irish and maths. We're overstocked with those already.

If she has the level of Irish that she should even consider being a primary teacher, she'll be able to teach in a Gaelcholáiste and that'll improve her prospects as a secondary teacher. Probably the better option in my opinion, unless I've misread you completely.

tabby aspreme

There is a shortage of primary teachers in Dublin and surrounding counties at the moment, what employment prospects will be like in 5 years time when your daughter qualifies nobody knows, but at the moment it's better for primary teachers

joebloggs32

tabby aspreme wrote: »

There is a shortage of primary teachers in Dublin and surrounding counties at the moment, what employment prospects will be like in 5 years time when your daughter qualifies nobody knows, but at the moment it's better for primary teachers

Population projections would show a peak nationally at primary level over the next couple of years, and following on from that a peak at second level in about 7/8 years time.

peckerhead

As a parent I'd be more interested in the long view, not just how quickly she'll manage to land a permanent position.

They're very different jobs, requiring very different attributes. In the longer run, she should choose the one that suits her best and that she'll be happiest in (and best at). 40 years is a long time to spend doing a job you hate. If there's any way she can get to shadow a teacher for a day I'd highly recommend it; barring that make sure she talks to a few of them – maybe there are some in the family, or among older siblings of her friends?

I remember my old man (who worked in life insurance) once showing me a set of actuarial tables used for calculating the occupational stress factor applied to life insurance proposals (i.e. for estimating statistical differences in lifespan, health and general 'wellness' on the basis of your profession).

Things like firemen, Gardaí and oil rig divers came near the top. Secondary schoolteachers were in the top third of the table (lots of early retirement due to stress/burnout/ill health). Primary teachers were close to the bottom. I think they lived something like two years longer on average.

byhookorbycrook

tabby aspreme wrote: »

There is a shortage of primary teachers in Dublin and surrounding counties at the moment, what employment prospects will be like in 5 years time when your daughter qualifies nobody knows, but at the moment it's better for primary teachers

Only reason is as so many primary teachers can't make it pay- over supply of teachers left the profession due to cost of living and lack of jobs. Don't even start me on the revised pay scales and conditions. I love my job but have told any friends and family to run a mile now.