Couple of Questions

vale

Hi again just a few questions.

1.If I did a degree in French + German/Italian and the Dip what chance would I have of getting a full fime permanent job in the future.

2.Is Italian widely taught and are there jobs going?

3.If needs must is it possible to move to England/Scotland and teach there? Whats the story with qualifications. Also I dont have a clue about the schhol system but I want to teach people of the ages of 1st to 6th Year.

3.Should I do French on its own what subjects could you combine it with to have a chance of getting a job?

TheDriver

1. How long is a piece of string. You might be lucky, you might be unlucky. Though French and German and doing well at moment, be prepared for non permanent work for a while first.
2. Italian not widely taught but if you find a school with it....
3.No idea but definitely hard to come to Ireland with foreign qualification.
3. Combine French with German if thats your degree with a willingness to teach sphe, cspe and religion and of course resource, lots of hours in all of these and lot of teachers don't like teaching them while schools treat them as filling the hours type of subjects.

kittex

3. Italian is widely taught in Scotland, especially in Catholic schools. French is very popular in England. German is not really taught in Scotland.
You must be a qualified teacher to teach in the UK, i.e. BEd, Dip or PGDE.

vale

It seems that you have knowledge of Scottish Education which I might consider. So what 2 languages would you recommend? Also, is the PGDE valid in England.

kittex

Hey vale,

I work in Scotland and know the system pretty well as I've sought recognition in both England and Ireland with a Scottish PGDE.

As regards languages - they are taught here in clusters. So for example, the primaries associated with each secondary only teach one language, then this is the only option offered by the secondary. I'd recommend Italian and Spanish, if it's Scotland you only wish to teach in. If you wish to return home you'd probably want to do either Italian or Spanish with French, which is more popular in Irish schools.

It's quite easy to gain recognition in England with a Scottish or Irish PGDE, for a few reasons.
Firstly, they do not restrict as to age and stage, you must simple be qualified as a teacher of some description. So for example, if you have a degree in maths and are a trained maths teacher, but have a keen interest in history, your headteacher could let you teach history.

In Scotland it is harder. You can only teach what you are specifically qualified to teach. However, once you are qualified, they are very good about letting you do extra modules for ATQs (Additional Teaching Qualifications) if you wish.

An Irish PGDE will usually be recognised in Scotland.

The other direction (getting a UK degree and/or PGDE recognised in Ireland) can be problematic. Legally they're supposed to recognise you if another EU state does so, but they can say "If you do another degree in Englsih as your first one wasn't good enough for us".
So, do your PGDE at a good uni in any country, but I'd recommend doing your degree in Ireland if you want to return home easily.

If any of that makes sense...sorry rushing out of the door!

vale

Thanks kittex, What about England woulfdFrench and Italian,German or Spanish be better there. Is there a demand for these jobs? Would you say it would be hard to ajust to the education system.

kittex

It's not too hard to adjust to the system, as the UK tend to change parts of the system every so often, many experienced teachers feel as clueless as new ones sometimes!

I can't really speak too confidently about specific demand for jobs in England. I do know that the job ads for England do seem to show that French and Spanish are a combination currently in demand. I also know there is a general shortage of teacher in the South, South West and London.