How to do Honours Irish for Primary Teaching?

MontgomeryClift

I would like to teach primary but I dropped Honours Irish when doing the Leaving. Now, we all know the teaching of Irish is a sham, especially at primary, but it's a sham I'm going to have to take part in. Could anyone please tell me the quickest way to study Irish and get Honours Leaving Cert. Irish as a start to 'Primary Teaching' level Irish?

Trotter

Hmm... it seems to me you'll have to find some way of sitting the leaving cert again in one subject, but I dont think its that unusual. I'll have a nose around and see can I find out about anyone who did it before.

Til then, Watch TG4, Read and listen to Turas Teanga (http://www.rte.ie/tv/turasteanga/) and listen to as much Gaeilge as you can. Good luck!

Moonbeam

They also accept a pass in first year university Irish

Gurgle

If you get your qualification in primary teaching outside the state, you can get the irish requirement separately:
http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/PC25_00.doc

MontgomeryClift

Thanks. If you get the Leaving Cert honour, do you still have to pass an Irish exam for teaching? Does that not make the Leaving Cert exam redundant?

RealJohn

This kind of attitude is the reason teaching Irish at primary level is a joke. If it was too much effort for you to do honours Irish at leaving cert, your Irish isn't good enough to teach it to any level.

MontgomeryClift

That doesn't answer my question.

Trotter

RealJohn wrote:

This kind of attitude is the reason teaching Irish at primary level is a joke. If it was too much effort for you to do honours Irish at leaving cert, your Irish isn't good enough to teach it to any level.

What about people teaching maths in primary school who got a D3 in pass leaving cert.. should they also be considered not good enough to teach? (Because theres nothing stopping them... ) , and the ones who didnt sit Leaving cert geography at all, or the ones who hated music.. or the ones who skipped PE, or ... the list goes on...

He wasnt displaying any attitute at all. He's right.. If a person gets an A in honours Irish at leaving cert, and 3 years later, travels to the UK and gets a post grad in primary teaching, the person must still sit the SCG exam.

A person doing the same thing except for doing the post grad in Ireland dosnt have to sit the SCG.

That, is the issue I feel. So in that regard, the person with the honours A, has not had their result taken into account.

The person with the C3 could have a much greater talent for teaching Irish than the person with the A1.


So.. In conclusion.. it'd be better to answer the question with facts and opinions based on facts than to just criticise someones "attitude".

This forum is going to be kept easy going and I want it to be kept as an area where people are happy to ask questions, fully expecting and receiving respectful answers.

MOD.

Trotter

MontgomeryClift wrote:

Now, we all know the teaching of Irish is a sham, especially at primary, but it's a sham I'm going to have to take part in.

Thats a pretty big generalisation by the way.. by saying we all know its a sham, I assume you've visited every class in the country?

Ive seen some brilliant modern Irish teaching lately, and I feel the future of the Irish language is on a more solid footing now that the new curriculum is taking hold, than ever before.

RealJohn

Trotter and Montgomery, my apologies. I was out of line.

However I have seen first hand the appalling state of the Irish language and I feel the attitude of primary teachers (not all but many) is largely to blame. Almost everyone I've spoken to who wants to go into primary education sees the Irish language requirement as a burden, nothing more (and those who didn't were all fluent) so it really isn't any wonder that the kids are coming through the system with the attitude that Irish is something being forced on them, to be resisted at all costs.

I've met an awful lot of very intelligent people who have had a better level of German/French/Spanish at leaving cert level than their level of Irish (and I don't mean just better, I mean there was no comparison between their fluency in the foreign language and their attempts at Irish). Given that they've been "learning" Irish for more than twice as long, it's practically dumbfounding.

Trotter

I think the attitude that many primary teachers have towards Irish comes from their own experiences in school. Like I said, before the new primary curriculum was introduced, Irish was not a very popular subject in primary school for the kids. Now it is. Its vibrant and interesting and the kids are enjoying it. (From what I've seen).

I dont believe attitudes to the Irish language will change until the curriculum is changed for secondary school. It could be done in such an interactive, enjoyable way.

The reason it's unpopular now is because the badly designed secondary curriculum is being rammed down kids throats , and there is a resentment among secondary students that they are being forced to study a language in a way they dont enjoy.

I'd be a fan of reform rather than dropping the compulsary nature of the subject.

Anyway, this is a discussion that warrants its own thread. Feel free!

Trotter

To bring things back on topic, if anyone has information on re-doing the leaving cert Irish, please post it here!

deedee lepoopoo

I am doing honours Irish for the L.C. this June.I work full-time in an unrelated area. I am studying the subject at nighttime in a CDVEC in Dublin..... I undertook an intensive study course last week (in a private institution)which was expensive but WELL worth it.

The new Irish curriculum for the Leaving Cert is much more enjoyable than when I did it. More emphasis on the arts and even has a film (Clair sa Speir) on the syllabus.

In preparation for the oral, in hindsight, I would of attended the Gaeltacht in the Summer prior to commencement. ALOT of marks goes towards the oral. Start reading the Irish Times article as gaelige and buy the odd Foinse newspaper.

check out www.nightcourses.com for local courses in your area

Any more info, PM me

katyk

Mod edit..

Katyk has started a new thread which is a duplicate of this post.

eruanna

Trotter wrote:

He wasnt displaying any attitute at all. He's right.. If a person gets an A in honours Irish at leaving cert, and 3 years later, travels to the UK and gets a post grad in primary teaching, the person must still sit the SCG exam.

A person doing the same thing except for doing the post grad in Ireland dosnt have to sit the SCG.

That, is the issue I feel. So in that regard, the person with the honours A, has not had their result taken into account.

I don't entirely understand your point here - if you do the postgrad in Ireland you have to do a pretty intensive Irish course as part of it, which isn't the case in the UK. That's why the person has to sit the SCG, it isn't anything to do with the Leaving Cert... right? Or did I misunderstand you?

I agree with you that a person with a C3 could be a better teacher than one with an A1 though.

realtogstar

i'm also taking the irish honours this year i didn't know unil yesterday you could do all the irish from last years course. so now with two weeks to go ive decided to do it.
even with your honour if you get it as a mature student ie 23 or over you must do an irish oral interview. you dont have to do an interview if applying with points

Trotter

eruanna wrote:

I don't entirely understand your point here - if you do the postgrad in Ireland you have to do a pretty intensive Irish course as part of it, which isn't the case in the UK. That's why the person has to sit the SCG, it isn't anything to do with the Leaving Cert... right? Or did I misunderstand you?

I agree with you that a person with a C3 could be a better teacher than one with an A1 though.

My comment was in relation to a previous post "If you get the Leaving Cert honour, do you still have to pass an Irish exam for teaching? Does that not make the Leaving Cert exam redundant?".

Basically my point is that the person with an A1 in pass Irish may be better at teaching Irish than a person with an honours C3. I wouldnt say that the leaving is redundant because it stops a lot of potentially excellent teachers from accessing a primary course in this country.

Travelling to the UK for a year, and then doing the SCG is a huge commitment.. especially if you're talking about the difference in standard between an honours C3 and a pass A1.. because the difference is small.

eruanna

Thanks for clarifying - I understand now! And I agree!

katyk

Where are you doing the honours Irish, and how much is it? I have rang a few places already, but alot of them dont do leaving cert subjects on there own, you have to repeat the whole leaving cert. One college said they do a special course of honours irish for people who want to get into primary but that course was around €900. Is this the normal rate, or can anyone advise any where cheaper?

grayle

hi im taking the irish leaving cert exam next year,im looking to stay in the gaelteacht for a few weeks maybe over january as im free from college during this period,im finding it hard to get any courses,does anyone have any ideas or contacts?im basically looking to immerse myself in the area to improve my conversational skills...i would really appreciate some feedback!

Trotter

grayle wrote:

hi im taking the irish leaving cert exam next year,im looking to stay in the gaelteacht for a few weeks maybe over january as im free from college during this period,im finding it hard to get any courses,does anyone have any ideas or contacts?im basically looking to immerse myself in the area to improve my conversational skills...i would really appreciate some feedback!

You might have more luck posting in the Gaeilge section under the Languages forum..

grayle

thanks a mill, will have a look around the languages forum!sorry im very new to this forum thing, i was so glad when i stumbled upon it...its a fantastic site!thanks again...

Trotter

grayle wrote:

thanks a mill, will have a look around the languages forum!sorry im very new to this forum thing, i was so glad when i stumbled upon it...its a fantastic site!thanks again...

No problem! Feel free to ask any questions here and we'll do our best to help you out.

grayle

Hi me again! different problem this time! i''ve been looking through peoples posts but i still dont see any info on were you can take the irish leaving cert and how much it actually costs to do?if anybody can recommend any nightcourses that would be great!thanks a mill!

Trotter

grayle wrote:

Hi me again! different problem this time! i''ve been looking through peoples posts but i still dont see any info on were you can take the irish leaving cert and how much it actually costs to do?if anybody can recommend any nightcourses that would be great!thanks a mill!

http://www.nightcourses.com/

This might help..

grayle

thanks a mill, that site is fantastic!

mrbig

MontgomeryClift wrote: »

I would like to teach primary but I dropped Honours Irish when doing the Leaving. Now, we all know the teaching of Irish is a sham, especially at primary, but it's a sham I'm going to have to take part in. Could anyone please tell me the quickest way to study Irish and get Honours Leaving Cert. Irish as a start to 'Primary Teaching' level Irish?

Maybe you should teach in secondary school instead where you could share your negative attitude with some surly teens.

Toto Wolfcastle

This thread is from 2006.. Please do not bump old threads.