Secondary School Teaching - Advice needed

decdoc

Hello all,

I looking for some advice in relation to becoming a secondary school teacher. I'm 25 and I've got a 1st class honours degree in electronic engineering. I've been recently thinking about changing careers, as I'm not particularly happy working in engineering.

According to the pac website I would be eligible to teach maths, applied maths and the new technology(computers) course starting next September, if I got a HDip. I am wondering will there be many posts for technology teachers, or will most of these posts, when they come up, be filled by current staff.

Also I've heard that as more computers systems are deployed in schools, things like electronic white boards etc., that there will be IT support positions created within secondary schools, is this likely to happen?

spurious

I wouldn't hold my breath on IT support being introduced into schools, or interactive whiteboards in all but the odd school for that matter. There are many schools who struggle to have more than one Windows XP computer, so all the fancy stuff is a long way off.

If you're looking at getting a full-time position early on in your career, teaching is not the game for you. The vast majority of people do between 3 and 10 years on contract before getting a fulltime job.

That said, if it's the career you want, go for it. I never regretted it.

decdoc

spurious wrote:

I wouldn't hold my breath on IT support being introduced into schools, or interactive whiteboards in all but the odd school for that matter. There are many schools who struggle to have more than one Windows XP computer, so all the fancy stuff is a long way off.

If you're looking at getting a full-time position early on in your career, teaching is not the game for you. The vast majority of people do between 3 and 10 years on contract before getting a fulltime job.

That said, if it's the career you want, go for it. I never regretted it.

I don't mind the contract thing, as long as I can get pro-rata within a year or two of doing my HDip. Looking at a career in engineering I wouldn't get anything other than contract no matter how long I stayed at it.

With the technology course being made part of the leaving cert curriculum I was thinking that the government would be obliged to provide funding to schools for computer labs, and who knows FG get into government there could be the whole laptop thing for students! Although, whatever the chances of schools getting electronic white boards, I definitely won't hold by breath on laptops for students.

I've some experience working in a summer school (15-18 year olds) while I was in college, which I enjoyed greatly, and I've approached my old school about subbing from next September and if I enjoy that, I'll go for the HDip next year. I think thats the only path into teaching available to me?

Also, is there any Irish requirement for secondary teaching?, I only got a C1 in pass in the leaving cert., and I really hated it and have no intention of studying Irish again unless I absolutely have to.

Trotter

decdoc wrote:

I don't mind the contract thing, as long as I can get pro-rata within a year or two of doing my HDip. Looking at a career in engineering I wouldn't get anything other than contract no matter how long I stayed at it.

With the technology course being made part of the leaving cert curriculum I was thinking that the government would be obliged to provide funding to schools for computer labs, and who knows FG get into government there could be the whole laptop thing for students! Although, whatever the chances of schools getting electronic white boards, I definitely won't hold by breath on laptops for students.

I've some experience working in a summer school (15-18 year olds) while I was in college, which I enjoyed greatly, and I've approached my old school about subbing from next September and if I enjoy that, I'll go for the HDip next year. I think thats the only path into teaching available to me?

Also, is there any Irish requirement for secondary teaching?, I only got a C1 in pass in the leaving cert., and I really hated it and have no intention of studying Irish again unless I absolutely have to.

There isnt a requirement for science based teachers to have Irish in most schools in Ireland as far as I know. I'm not sure if thats true for the VECs though.

Be prepared to spend 5 or 6 years without a fulltime contract though. My friend has been teaching science for 5 years in the same school and only got a contract of indefinite duration (They call it a CID ) this year. She was actually made head of the science dept in the school before she was made permanent so that'll show ya the depth of the red tape.

I wouldnt rely on the IT end of things in schools just yet, it'll take a while for that to filter into all schools because most just dont have the money to buy computers.. never mind interactive whiteboards.

FG's suggestion that every child in Ireland should have a laptop shows only 1 thing.. that they havent set foot in a regular classroom before. I can assure you of one thing.. when every secondary student gets a free laptop, Ebay will be absoltely full of them for weeks to come.

When I taught in secondary , it was a battle to get them to bring in a copy and a pen at times.. never mind a laptop!!

That suggestion shows how out of touch with normal classroom life politicians are. "Sir I've no homework done.. me battery's gone".

I'd say if you want to be a teacher, go for it. It's taken me 4 years to move from sitting at a desk in an investment bank wondering why I did a BSc in computing, to being almost qualified at primary level.

Stick with it, its a marathon not a sprint. You'll be eating noodles for a while, but you'll get there.