Primary teaching options....??

wannabeteacher

Hi again! I'm back after failing to get into the post grad course! Spent a few weeks feeling sorry for myself coz my interview went so well and I was fairly confident afterwards! however, i knew from readin the threads here that a great interview guaranteed nothing!! So here I am still subbing and still no sign of qualification any time soon!!
My plan is to apply for the b.Ed in Pats... I've been told from a reliable source that the interview as a mature student to this degree course is much easier and that there are FAR MORE places. So I'm hopeful! Then I think I'l re-apply for the post grad and if I get it transfer over from the degree and finish out the 18mths... If not It'l be 3 years but I'm guessin they fly by and I'm still young!
Any ideas, comments or suggestion would be appreciated. Are there any better options open to me if I dont particularly wanna go to UK?? and can't really afford hibernia?

Teach2be

Hi wannabeteacher,
Just read your post and I'm confused. As you applied for the post grad in Primary Education you obviously already have a degree. I always thought you could only do one degree in Ireland which was government funded and you had to pay yourself for any subsequent ones.

If this is the case would you not be better off applying for the hibernia course where you can work as a substitute teacher or maybe even get a temporary position(or even keep on your original job if thats possible) while you study thus earning okish wages as opposed to being back in college full time relying on grants. Maybe there's some glaringly obvious reason for full time study that I'm not aware of and if there is I stand corrected. How much would the B.Ed degree cost?

I have recently been accepted on the Hibernia course and intend to sub while doing it. The work can be irregular at times but if you get your name into a good few of your local schools you are pretty much guaranteed to be kept busy. I have been anyway.

Anyway good luck with your decision.

wannabeteacher

Yes I do have a degree already but it was not government funded as I did not qualify for any type of grant. My reason for not applying for Hibernia is that I cannot afford it and if I go back full time to the b.Ed course I will get a grant as a mature student, living away from home. There are no grants available for Hibernia so I would simply not be able to pay the fees even if I do keep on my subbing position...
Thanks for the advice though.

Catari Jaguar

Don't do the Hibernia course! It's not even a proper course. What abput practicals and methods classes like art, drama, music, PE etc etc??? :mad:

There are other training colleges like Marino and Froebel. I think most fees will be about 3500e for post grads.

Teach2be

Lil Kitten,

Maybe you should do some investigation re the Hibernia College course before you start slating it.

It is in fact fully recognised by the Department of Education.
Students spend 14 weeks doing teaching practice, they also have PE classes scheduled and they have to go to the Gaeltacht for 3 weeks during the summer. They have regular onsites as well as tutorials during the week.

I am beginning the course on Saturday and am very excited about getting a place on this course. Its ideal as I can continue to work while doing the course. I have also spoken to many principals who have admitted they were initially skeptical about the course but that they have been proved wrong and indeed now hold the course in high regard.

HTH

Trotter

Lil Kitten wrote:

Don't do the Hibernia course! It's not even a proper course. What abput practicals and methods classes like art, drama, music, PE etc etc??? :mad:

There are other training colleges like Marino and Froebel. I think most fees will be about 3500e for post grads.

Come on then.. Justify your highly researched comment there. Why isnt it a proper course?

By saying that you are showing complete ignorance and lack of research on this subject.. and you come here to give advice to somebody??
Im the moderator here so Im not going to get involved from here on unless another mod wants to take it on, but in fairness, I think your completely out of touch with what people think of the Hibernia course. There arent many unemployed Hibernia grads.. And.. You're absolutely out of order.

To say it isnt a proper course is personally insulting to me considering the time and effort I've put in to make sure I make a good teacher. Hibernia grads all have another career behind them, so we have expertise that many others dont have.

By the way.. posting inaccurate information is against the rules here. Keep that in mind.

gaeilgegrinds

Hibernia is as proper a course as any other. In the Primary School neareest where I live there were six new teachers all taken on this year...all Hibernia!

Trotter

Here's a very comprehensive article I found on Gaelport.com discussing the progression of the Hibernia course into mainstream teacher selection and training.

Has online teacher training confounded its critics?

wannabeteacher

Ok I didn't expect my request for advice to turn into such a debate! I must say though, those comments about hibernia are totally out of line. I respect any person who can get a place on any post grad course for primary teching because I know first hand how difficult it is. So I will not be accepting your advice.

On a brighter note thank you to those who posted accurate and helpful information. I am applying to the Dublin colleges for the b.Ed course as a mature student! I am also currently employed full time in my local school for the rest of this year as an infants teacher so I'm fairly confident about my chances now!

Thanks again!

El festino

I am pursuing a career change into primary school teaching. I am applying to Hibernia and failing that mary i and other avenues if needs be.

Just wondering from the people who have done interviews for hibernia (and or mary i etc.)- what does the interview actually entail. I have decent irish but am in the process of improving it. Is the interview just questions in irish and english or do you have to read a piece on irish too.

Also from reading on here, many people seem to be subbing - would this help my application. Are people also subbing in primary schools as well as secondary school?

Many thanks in advance for any comments

Trotter

El festino wrote:

I am pursuing a career change into primary school teaching. I am applying to Hibernia and failing that mary i and other avenues if needs be.

Just wondering from the people who have done interviews for hibernia (and or mary i etc.)- what does the interview actually entail. I have decent irish but am in the process of improving it. Is the interview just questions in irish and english or do you have to read a piece on irish too.

Also from reading on here, many people seem to be subbing - would this help my application. Are people also subbing in primary schools as well as secondary school?

Many thanks in advance for any comments

I typed Hibernia into the search bar and found this.. I posted it a while back.

"There is one interview, and its broken into English and Irish parts. There are people who get in without teaching practice but if I was you, Id have some way of backing up your feeling that you so want to do it. You need to convince them that you know what "it" is.. ie.. how do you know you want to be a teacher? Have you worked with kids before? Have you any experience of coaching a team or being part of a youth group etc..

In the Irish, you'll need to be able to answer questions at the level of .. What could you bring to the classroom to make Irish more interesting, and what is your opinion on the standard of the Irish language.

Irish is a big part of primary teaching so you'll need to be aiming for a basic level of fluency, and be working towards that when you sit the interview."

El festino

Trotter wrote:

I typed Hibernia into the search bar and found this.. I posted it a while back.

"There is one interview, and its broken into English and Irish parts. There are people who get in without teaching practice but if I was you, Id have some way of backing up your feeling that you so want to do it. You need to convince them that you know what "it" is.. ie.. how do you know you want to be a teacher? Have you worked with kids before? Have you any experience of coaching a team or being part of a youth group etc..

In the Irish, you'll need to be able to answer questions at the level of .. What could you bring to the classroom to make Irish more interesting, and what is your opinion on the standard of the Irish language.

Irish is a big part of primary teaching so you'll need to be aiming for a basic level of fluency, and be working towards that when you sit the interview."

Thanks for that trotter. at this stage I prob wont have teaching practice before the interview but will try anyway.
thanks

El festino

Trotter wrote:

I typed Hibernia into the search bar and found this.. I posted it a while back.

"There is one interview, and its broken into English and Irish parts. There are people who get in without teaching practice but if I was you, Id have some way of backing up your feeling that you so want to do it. You need to convince them that you know what "it" is.. ie.. how do you know you want to be a teacher? Have you worked with kids before? Have you any experience of coaching a team or being part of a youth group etc..

In the Irish, you'll need to be able to answer questions at the level of .. What could you bring to the classroom to make Irish more interesting, and what is your opinion on the standard of the Irish language.

Irish is a big part of primary teaching so you'll need to be aiming for a basic level of fluency, and be working towards that when you sit the interview."

Just one other thing - i am considering giving up my full time job in the hope of getting subbing in a primary school. It is a bit of a risk but would ye feel it would help my application if a got some experience subbing.

thanks

Trotter

El festino wrote:

Just one other thing - i am considering giving up my full time job in the hope of getting subbing in a primary school. It is a bit of a risk but would ye feel it would help my application if a got some experience subbing.

thanks

I did that way back when I tried teaching first.. you wont get much for the first while but it usually builds up gradually as you get more well known.

Helmet

El Pestino, don't know if I'm coming in a bit late on this one for you. I did the Hibernia interview early in January and have started the Feb 07 course, going really well so far, I'm enjoying most aspects of it.
Anyway, I'm working full-time in the pharmaceutical sector and as such have no teaching experience to date, this didn't pose too much of a problem in the interview as long as you can back up your application with some form of interaction with children....coaching a sports team/youth club something like that.
The questions I was asked included
What characteristics do yuo have that would make a good teacher?
Do you think Music/Singing has a role to play in the classroom?
Does anything you do in your present role seem relevant to teaching (training roles etc)?
During the Irish section of the interview I was asked to give the background and my opinions on the last book I read (That they may face the rising sun, they were happy enough with that so it doesn't necessarily have to be an as Gaeilge novel) and I was asked if I prefared TV programmes about nature or about history. I was also asked about some topical news items at the time (the NDP budget was released and there was a geansai-load of money set aside for Irish promotion so I went on about that for a while). I'd recommend getting you hands on a couple of copies of the new Irish Daily newspaper La Nua (from Easons) coming up to the interview.

Anyway, hope that's in some way helpful

sunnyjim

wannabeteacher wrote:

Yes I do have a degree already but it was not government funded as I did not qualify for any type of grant. My reason for not applying for Hibernia is that I cannot afford it and if I go back full time to the b.Ed course I will get a grant as a mature student, living away from home. There are no grants available for Hibernia so I would simply not be able to pay the fees even if I do keep on my subbing position...
Thanks for the advice though.

Em, I'm not so sure that you understand the system - everyone gets their first 4 years of FE paid for by the government, regardless of income. If you go and do the b.Ed, you'll be paying 4 grand or so a year....

hot chick

wannabeteacher wrote:

Yes I do have a degree already but it was not government funded as I did not qualify for any type of grant. My reason for not applying for Hibernia is that I cannot afford it and if I go back full time to the b.Ed course I will get a grant as a mature student, living away from home. There are no grants available for Hibernia so I would simply not be able to pay the fees even if I do keep on my subbing position...
Thanks for the advice though.

hi guys

just wanted to make sure i was clear on this...
Government funded means the government pays your TUITON FEES.
This applies to all eu citezens, is for the duration of one undergraduate course only, and is given irrespective of your means.

It isn't anything to do with getting a grant. Thats a seperate means tested allowance given by your local authority/VEC.

Sorry if I sound patronising but i just wanted to be doubley sure that wannabeteacher isn't confusing the two. Afriend of mine made that mistake and ended up leaving her second degree after a few weeks. Turned out the lady in the VEC thought she was talking about grants NOT tuiton fees :rolleyes: and told her she's d be covered. she wasn't.

Rebel_City

Hey - do you need honours Irish for the Hibernia course?? I might apply for the next intake if you don't! Did pass for my leaving cert a good while back.

Also - just rang a private school about starting the leaving cert in Sept, but they quoted me a price of €1295!! I work in the city centre and don't have a car, so I am limited when it comes to travel. I would love to go back and do Primary School teaching but I can't even save enough by Sept to pay this fee!! Is there anywhere else, that's cheaper!!

BoozyBabe

Yes you do, now go to the other thread & I'll answer it for you.

Pyjamarama

wannabeteacher wrote:

Yes I do have a degree already but it was not government funded as I did not qualify for any type of grant. My reason for not applying for Hibernia is that I cannot afford it and if I go back full time to the b.Ed course I will get a grant as a mature student, living away from home. There are no grants available for Hibernia so I would simply not be able to pay the fees even if I do keep on my subbing position...
Thanks for the advice though.

To the best of my knowledge you won't be considered a mature student, if you had never done a degree you can apply as one but since you already have i didn't think you could? Please correct me if I'm wrong because it would be great news if that was the case!