hopeful 1.1 degree

Dickie10 · 12-09-2014 10:13pm #1

hi imheading into third year in ba arts degree currently with 1.1 hopefully can keep it goin anyway its in history and geography , my original plan was secondary teaching so I would be doing the pde, just wondering should I look at a masters or go for secondary teaching, would be interested in rural development , agri/environmental study or heritage/tourism within history. what would the best option career wise be?

2011abc · 13-09-2014 10:06am

"PDE" is two tears now anyway .Run a mile from teaching and then keep running unless you have a serious masochistical vocation complex.

evolving_doors · 13-09-2014 10:17am

Dickie10 wrote: »

hi imheading into third year in ba arts degree currently with 1.1 hopefully can keep it goin anyway its in history and geography , my original plan was secondary teaching so I would be doing the pde, just wondering should I look at a masters or go for secondary teaching, would be interested in rural development , agri/environmental study or heritage/tourism within history. what would the best option career wise be?

Environment and rural development are reasonable areas to get into in terms of public sector employment from whata I know of friends who are in that area (but didn;t come the BA route!). It seems that the Masters option would be 'up-skilling' you to stand out from your degree.. but going into the PME now would put you into the pot the same as all the other BA grads. Any chance you'd hang around college long enough to pick up some tutoring during a Phd stint. If you're 1.1 material and get on well with lecturers then maybe consider hanging around 3rd level education rather than going for 2nd level.

As regards teaching history/geography... they're not core subjects but common enough in most schools (compared to other 'minor' subjects). Also it's a fairly common combo so you'd be up against a lot of competition.

Basically if you've zero Family/relationship/financial commitments/propensity to want to stay in Ireland.... and will be keeping it that way for the next 10 years or so then I'd say go for it.

maynooth_rules · 16-09-2014 4:21pm

Have the same two subjects and been teaching 8 years. My advice, avoid!! Use the geography element of your degree and pursue that. History and geography are two subjects that dont come together an awful lot, yet a lot of teachers seem to have them

Dickie10 · 16-09-2014 9:16pm

so what is your overall picture of teaching? to be honest I really liked the idea of teaching enthusiastic students and helping them achieve there goals. I really love to see people making the most of their educational chances, id really love to get involved in coaching GAA as well if I could get a school interested in it. but im a bit worried about the amount of ill feeling toward the profession. I know its a lot of extra curricular work but to be honest I have experience of a few jobs and they all require some unpaid extra work which wouldn't bother me. in fairness most jobs are at the least 8.30-5, those type of hours really don't bother me. additional holidays at summer/easter/xmas are far and above what most people get. but I really love the subjects and working with teenagers more than the holiday aspects.
I do know opportunites are limited in Ireland, unfortunately I am not in a position to emigrate as I also farm some land. luckily I would be able to get by on substitute/temp work for a few years as I have no mortgage or children so between farming and teaching I will get by until I get something permanent. im also based in the greater Dublin area would this help?
just wondering are all teachers as disillusioned by the profession as those here? I have no illusions of teaching being a 9-5 job without some extra prep work but then how many jobs are like that?

Afroshack · 16-09-2014 10:00pm

Dickie10 wrote: »

so what is your overall picture of teaching? to be honest I really liked the idea of teaching enthusiastic students and helping them achieve there goals. I really love to see people making the most of their educational chances, id really love to get involved in coaching GAA as well if I could get a school interested in it. but im a bit worried about the amount of ill feeling toward the profession. I know its a lot of extra curricular work but to be honest I have experience of a few jobs and they all require some unpaid extra work which wouldn't bother me. in fairness most jobs are at the least 8.30-5, those type of hours really don't bother me. additional holidays at summer/easter/xmas are far and above what most people get. but I really love the subjects and working with teenagers more than the holiday aspects.
I do know opportunites are limited in Ireland, unfortunately I am not in a position to emigrate as I also farm some land. luckily I would be able to get by on substitute/temp work for a few years as I have no mortgage or children so between farming and teaching I will get by until I get something permanent. im also based in the greater Dublin area would this help?
just wondering are all teachers as disillusioned by the profession as those here? I have no illusions of teaching being a 9-5 job without some extra prep work but then how many jobs are like that?

Teaching is the most rewarding job in the world : it is also the most competitive, oversubscribed, undermined, underpaid and overworked profession in the world. Anyone who complains about the ''lazy teacher'' myth genuinely has not got a clue, as effective teachers simply cannot afford to be lazy.

You mention wanting to teaching enthusiastic students. These will be in the minority. Have you ever thought about how to teach the non-enthusiastic students? Or the ones who have no English? Or the ones who cannot control their behaviour or their tempers? Have you considered how to manage 30+ of them all at once, whilst engaging them in the material, differentiating for the lower abilities and ensuring they are meeting the learning objectives at the same time? We all love teaching enthusiastic students because they require a lot less effort on our part ; you need to consider the kids who will challenge you and how you will handle them and their approach to learning.

The hours can be verrrry intense. I average 50-55 hours per week between teaching (25 hours), planning lessons (at least 5), making resources (another 3) marking and correcting (sometimes 10) supervising detentions (1 or 2) and a host of other jobs. I often have to skip lunch, stay back late and often bring work home too. It's actually a lot more than 8.30 - 5, try 8.30-7 five days a week and a bit of prep on a Sunday.

If you do extracurricular, your lunches are probably gone too

Opportunities are severely limited, so I would consider whether it's worth the financial investment unless you are fully able to emigrate. I graduated a year ago and half my graduating class are abroad (like me) whilst a lot of the others are scraping for 6/10/12 hours here and there. I was based in the Greater Dublin area too, as were at least half of my course and loads of us ended up heading to the UK instead.

But if you are prepared for it and are going into it with your eyes wide open, then go for it. There's nothing better than helping a really challenging or struggling kid with a concept and seeing them finally ''get it.''

History Queen · 16-09-2014 10:01pm

Dickie10 wrote: »

so what is your overall picture of teaching? to be honest I really liked the idea of teaching enthusiastic students and helping them achieve there goals. I really love to see people making the most of their educational chances, id really love to get involved in coaching GAA as well if I could get a school interested in it. but im a bit worried about the amount of ill feeling toward the profession. I know its a lot of extra curricular work but to be honest I have experience of a few jobs and they all require some unpaid extra work which wouldn't bother me. in fairness most jobs are at the least 8.30-5, those type of hours really don't bother me. additional holidays at summer/easter/xmas are far and above what most people get. but I really love the subjects and working with teenagers more than the holiday aspects.
I do know opportunites are limited in Ireland, unfortunately I am not in a position to emigrate as I also farm some land. luckily I would be able to get by on substitute/temp work for a few years as I have no mortgage or children so between farming and teaching I will get by until I get something permanent. im also based in the greater Dublin area would this help?
just wondering are all teachers as disillusioned by the profession as those here? I have no illusions of teaching being a 9-5 job without some extra prep work but then how many jobs are like that?

Jobswise teaching is awful at the moment.

Just so you hear a little about how tough things are listen to todays Liveline with Joe Duffy...qualified teacher talking about jobsbridge.

for the record I completely disagree with her opinion on jobsbridge but the 30mins or so discussion on teaching may be informative for you

Powerhouse · 17-09-2014 11:00am

Dickie10 wrote: »

so what is your overall picture of teaching? to be honest I really liked the idea of teaching enthusiastic students and helping them achieve there goals. I really love to see people making the most of their educational chances, id really love to get involved in coaching GAA as well if I could get a school interested in it. but im a bit worried about the amount of ill feeling toward the profession. I know its a lot of extra curricular work but to be honest I have experience of a few jobs and they all require some unpaid extra work which wouldn't bother me. in fairness most jobs are at the least 8.30-5, those type of hours really don't bother me. additional holidays at summer/easter/xmas are far and above what most people get. but I really love the subjects and working with teenagers more than the holiday aspects.
I do know opportunites are limited in Ireland, unfortunately I am not in a position to emigrate as I also farm some land. luckily I would be able to get by on substitute/temp work for a few years as I have no mortgage or children so between farming and teaching I will get by until I get something permanent. im also based in the greater Dublin area would this help?
just wondering are all teachers as disillusioned by the profession as those here? I have no illusions of teaching being a 9-5 job without some extra prep work but then how many jobs are like that?

I know a guy whose degree is History/Geography and he did not get one interview all summer. That's the reality facing you with those subjects.

Dickie10 · 17-09-2014 11:20pm

ok sound well cant do much about it only get a good degree and hope the tide turns sometime I wouldn't mind settling for an average public /opw job of any discretion even part time. don't think il rush into doing the PGE/hdip, for a year or two. unfortunately due to farming commitments I cant emigrate, not sure if I would be able to leave behind what I built up the last few years either. one last question can I qualify to teach history/geography if I get a good degree without a h-dip? I read on the ASTI website that "Qualified" teachers get so much pay /hour while "Unqualified" get x amount. what does this "unqualified" mean? this is under the substitute teaching heading.

mtoutlemonde · 18-09-2014 3:22pm

Dickie10 wrote: »

one last question can I qualify to teach history/geography if I get a good degree without a h-dip? I read on the ASTI website that "Qualified" teachers get so much pay /hour while "Unqualified" get x amount. what does this "unqualified" mean? this is under the substitute teaching heading.

No you cannot teach without a h-dip/pdge/pme or not in the long term. You need to register with the Teaching Council and in order to do this you need this qualification.

My understanding of what was on the ASTI website - you can teach in the event that there is a short term vacancy - someone is sick and cover is needed immediately and where a school cannot get a qualified teacher, an unqualified teacher can be employed. But in today's market that is never going to happen as there are many unemployed qualified teachers. Also it would be the school that would be paying you not the department as you cannot receive state funds if not a registered teacher.

hopeful 1.1 degree

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