Calling all English teachers

sparkydevine

Hi all,

I'm looking to start training as an English and history teacher in the coming months(fingers crossed). I'm actually 39(yikes) and it's being over a decade since I got my degree, so i'm a little rusty.

I've reviewed the course syllabus for English and done some self examination and to be honest found some gaps in my general/technical knowledge, in particular with poetry and theatre.

Can anyone recommend good(ideally one volume) books that can help me improve my knowledge in these areas?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Bobtheman

Firstly it's going to be hard to get a job with those subjects.
You will be in college for 2 years and reading lots of academic bull****. Though to be fair some of it will be relevant.
That will occupy you.
You will be probably be doing mostly JC for teaching practice
Study the curriculum and then buy and read a good JC textbook. In English id try Kingdom. Can't recall the publisher. Then read the Shakespeare plays again and a few of the novels
At JC level it's very basic for theatre and poetry. Trust me.
The JC exam is so random you might not even get drama on it-or poetry.
You are dealing with kids. Not university students.
Look at the JC exam for English and you will be shocked at the drop in level and we had to fight to keep honours English at JC level.
They won't let you near LC English for awhile but no harm looking at prescribed texts and picking the most used texts and reading them.. Again willy Shakespeare. Look for other classic texts that repeat.
Like philidelphia here I come or the Great Gatsby.

inbetweentea

Best of luck OP.

I think you could consider marking the Leaving Cert (you could check if they are still hiring this year) or the Junior Cert examination when/if it's back next year as this is great professional development and it's good on the CV - for future jobs.

I think it's positive you admit gaps in your professional knowledge- we all have them. I personally think the best teachers are not the 'experts' but those willing to learn, ask questions etc.

Afroshack

If you’re determined to do it then defo go for it! Just be aware that full time jobs are hard to get, and trying to get one in your chosen hometown is tough, you would have to be prepared to move if you wanted a job right out of college.

As for the catch-up stuff, I’d recommend reading up on the LC text list -
Namely Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Lear (the educate series have sample answers at the back if you wanted to see the standard required) and some of the comparative novels. Language Lessons is great for looking at the Paper 1 stuff. For JC, I would get a copy of the Take the Plunge textbook, it’s the best JC English book IMO and it’s very thorough. Read up on the PCLM mark scheme (check examinations.ie under “exam material archive” for mark schemes)

Any questions, throw me a PM