Teaching vs Lecturing

mungovan

Hi all,
Sorry if this is a little off subject but it looks like the perfect place to get an answer. I've got a degree in Engineering and a masters. I'm planning on accepting the H.Dip. offer next month but possibly getting cold feet. I've been offered a Ph.D. in I.T. as well with a view to lecturing.

My big question about secondary teaching is: Do you find it repetitive teaching the same subjects year in year out and also how much of your time is spent controlling the class vs actual teaching.

Again, apologies if this isn't the right forum, it's just that I've until early April to make my mind up.

Cheers,
D

Mod: I've moved this out to a thread of its own because as it states in the beginning of the introduction section
users should only post there if you are actually teaching or lecturing now, or were a teacher/lecturer etc in the past and you wish to introduce yourself.

spurious

If I was choosing between second-level teaching and third-level, my question would be - 'do you like kids?' rather than what percentage time would be spent 'controlling' the class.

They are two completely different ball games (and I've played both and chose second-level). There are some classes where I do not cover what I intended to at all, but I will have taught them something very valuable, though not on any syllabus. It's not repetitive at all. You never know what is going to happen from one class to the next, from one minute to the next.

Depending on where you are teaching or the type of school, or the ability level of the kids, you could in just one class be a social worker, baby sitter, doctor, legal advisor, counsellor, security guard, clown, teacher, mammy or daddy.

It's really not just about the subject. Go back to your own school and ask them can you take (or assist with) a couple of classes of weaker ability kids. If they don't drive you mental, then look at second-level.

Third-level is much more about the subject.

Trotter

spurious wrote:

Go back to your own school and ask them can you take (or assist with) a couple of classes of weaker ability kids. If they don't drive you mental, then look at second-level.

Now that is solid advice.

Tom Dunne

mungovan wrote:

My big question about secondary teaching is: Do you find it repetitive teaching the same subjects year in year out and also how much of your time is spent controlling the class vs actual teaching.

In fairness, lecturing is also repetitive. The basics of any subject are the same and they need to be taught every year.

Personally, I don't have a problem with kids, but I much prefer teaching adults. Selfishly, I must also admit I would not like to have to "chase" students to get them to do work, I prefer the fact that it is entirely up to them whether they pass or fail.

Don't think for a moment that indiscipline isn't creeping into third level also.

slickmcvic

what subjects would you intend to seek at 2nd level....i'm a metalwork/engineering/TG/maths teacher if thats any good to ya!!

mungovan

Hi guys,
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll would be teaching Maths/ Physics type stuff. One of the pieces of advice I was told is to be wary of doing sub teaching because the kids would respect you less if they knew you wouldn't be around for too long and might get an even worse impression of the job then? Does that make sense?

How many hours on average would a full time teacher work (including study plans, classes, extra work etc.)

Cheers

hunnymonster

about 10% of my time is spent lecturing. The remainder is research, admin & univeristy development. I imagine in teaching, most of the time is spent in front of the class.

spurious

mungovan wrote:

Hi guys,
How many hours on average would a full time teacher work (including study plans, classes, extra work etc.)
Cheers

During term time I work about 12 hours per weekday. During the weekends and holidays I try not to, but often end up spending quite a bit of them getting materials ready etc.

I suppose there are some who just stick to a textbook but there is no textbook for my subject and many of the materials available are inappropriate for the kids I teach so I have to make my own.

I get four hours for admin work but that is laughable compared to how long it actually takes.

mungovan

Quote:
"During term time I work about 12 hours per weekday"

That seems like quiet a lot. How does that work out 8 to 8??

Cheers.

spurious

I get into work at 8, but might have done an hour's preparation before that - I'm an early riser. Then there is after school extra classes for the weak ones followed by assessments and writing of reports, IEPs, exams etc. Our school has six-weekly reports for each child, so that is a large chunk of it. The really busy time is after Easter.
I usually leave the school building by 4.30 but would do another couple of hours of corrections, class preparation, handouts etc. later on.

Ah, but don't we have all those lovely holidays and short hours....