Subjects!!!!!

vale

Hello everyone!

I am a going into 6th Year and our Career Guidance teacher has us all thinking about careers. I have known since I was in 1st Class I wanted to be a teacher and since 1st Year secondary was for me. Now of course he wants me to investigate more into this career path :eek: . So here I am and wondering if I could ask a few questoions?

1. The whole subjects area scares me! I know that I would love to teach one thing but have heard there were no jobs. So perhaps you could tell me the prospects on Religion, History, Englsh Irish and French as they would be the ones I would like to teach.

That's enough for now methinks

Thanks a million

TheDriver

Religion: middling, depending on school
History/English: 10 a penny
Irish: Easier to find hens teeth
French: always good demand especially when coupled with other good subjects.
Hope this helps.

spurious

vale wrote: »

The whole subjects area scares me! I know that I would love to teach one thing but have heard there were no jobs. So perhaps you could tell me the prospects on Religion, History, Englsh Irish and French as they would be the ones I would like to teach.

You will be unlikely to teach all of those.
You could go to Mater Dei and do a teaching degree to teach Religion and English or History.
You could do a degree in Irish and/or French and follow up with the PGDE ('the Dip.').

If you would really like to have a bash at teaching all those subjects, you could go for primary teaching.

vale

spurious wrote: »

You will be unlikely to teach all of those.
You could go to Mater Dei and do a teaching degree to teach Religion and English or History.
You could do a degree in Irish and/or French and follow up with the PGDE ('the Dip.').

If you would really like to have a bash at teaching all those subjects, you could go for primary teaching.

I mean which of them would be the best

scut

Irish definately. forget about history and english

forestfruits

you should keep an eye on the papers see what the demand is in at the min. keep in mind any syllabus changes that are due too- if the syllabus changes or is updated while you are training this may be a plus for you. Remember re has just turned into an exam subject recently and so by the time you would have trained this niche will have been filled.
Word of warning- teaching jobs are few and far between regardless of subject choice, no such thing as a permanent teaching job anymore for the majority of us, you will end up doing cover and subbing ie maternity leaves, sick cover etc for a few years and then may be luck enough to get a contract. My point is although its a great job- great holidays too, you will need to be very determined and it helps if you actually like the subjects you teach, so try to choose something you have a real interest in and wont lose interest in!!
that will make your life a hell of a lot easier in the long run!!
good luck!!:)

gaeilgegrinds

Irish without a doubt, providing you have a high level & are able for the rotten interviews! Still lots of competition though

Rosita

gaeilgegrinds wrote: »

Irish without a doubt, providing you have a high level & are able for the rotten interviews! Still lots of competition though

Considering that Irish is considered the best subject to have for getting a teaching post (which I presume in practice means fewer teaching candidates with Irish degrees than other subjects) yet there is still lots of competition is there any real point in anyone considering teaching as a career? If even the "best" career subject is extremely competitive it seems to be the ultimate dead-end as a career choice?

TheDriver

I disagree, its an excellent career choice, just difficult to get into. But once your in, its great! So I think what you have stated is untrue, if you like it, its not dead end at all, Dead end implies no money, no prospects, no job satisfaction etc.

Rosita

TheDriver wrote: »

I disagree, its an excellent career choice, just difficult to get into. But once your in, its great! So I think what you have stated is untrue, if you like it, its not dead end at all, Dead end implies no money, no prospects, no job satisfaction etc.

You are 'disagreeing' with an opinion I didn't offer. All I did was ask two questions.

What I imply by "dead end" has nothing to do with liking it. It implies that the prospects of getting a job appear to be very poor if even positions for the so-called best subject are extremely competitive. Being told 'once you're in, it's great' is limited encouagement to someone ruling out alternative options in order to pursue the PGDE for example if the odds of getting in are very slim. It is difficult to have job satisfaction without a job.

gaeilgegrinds

I think the problem here lies with the term, 'dead end,' which I always took to meet limited prospects within a job.

Rosita

It's a pity if this topic grinds to a halt because of the use of the term "dead-end". It would be interesting to hear a realistic appraisal of the propects for an Irish teacher at the moment and to consider career prospects for other subjects in that context.

And I should say that in this context by "career prospects" I mean the prospect of having a career at all. Lest anyone think I am knocking teaching and turn this into a topic simply defending the job, let me say that I intend as of now to apply for the PGDE in December with a view to teaching Irish. But I have little interest in spending a year and several thousand pounds to face inevitable unemployment (at least from a teaching point of view) at the end of it.

I have been hearing this "they're crying out for Irish teachers" mantra for a few years now and assumed that I could aspire to getting a job at the end of it. But now I am not so sure.

gaeilgegrinds

I'm fluent, have a degree, masters and Dip (all 1sts) and there were 72 people who applied for my job. There is a realistic view.
I got it, 71 others didn't.

TheDriver

Luck of the draw to be honest as it does depend on being in the right place at the right time. If you want a job in town X, you probably won't get it but you will get a job somewhere. We had no one apply for our Irish Maternity leave this year, NO ONE.
I must say, I would advise someone against doing the Dip from the point of costing a fortune to do and prospects of getting into the profession are hit or miss. Unless your an Irish/Woodwork/Metalwork/Applied Maths/PE teacher.
Rosita, no one can guarantee you of anything unfortunately, some people spend years subbing, others walk into jobs.

Rosita

gaeilgegrinds wrote: »

I'm fluent, have a degree, masters and Dip (all 1sts) and there were 72 people who applied for my job. There is a realistic view.
I got it, 71 others didn't.

Thanks. That's the end of that then I imagine. I'd have assumed that fluency and qualifications for the job were a given but if there is such a surplus of teachers out there as to have 72 applying for one job it's probably not worth leaving another job and spending a few thousand of the PGDE. I had been under the impression - not least from what I have read here - that demand for Irish teachers was decent. But clearly not. That must leave people with subjects where graduates are much higher in number (in my experience anyway) and are not core subjects all the way through school years with zero chance of every getting a teaching job.

Rosita

This gets more bizarre. 72 people apply for one job, yet nobody can be got for maternity leave in another school.

As for guarantees, I never mentioned guarantees. Realistic appraisals is a different thing. If I want guarantees I'll stick to death and taxes.

TheDriver

To be honest with you Rosita, unless your a die hard teacher, loved doing it etc, I would be slow to move from a good paying job for few years on uncertainty etc. teaching is not the be all and end all, fun job but i would do other things too if they presented themselves.

Rosita

TheDriver wrote: »

To be honest with you Rosita, unless your a die hard teacher, loved doing it etc, I would be slow to move from a good paying job for few years on uncertainty etc. teaching is not the be all and end all, fun job but i would do other things too if they presented themselves.

To be honest, the reason I am attracted to it is that I really enjoy the subjects I studies, and I would be someone who would still do much reading on them. So I think I would enjoy teaching them.

But no matter how much you might love or think you'll love doing something, the prospects of getting a job are obviously a significant consideration. I could live with a few years of uncertainty. Unfortunately, what I am reading doesn't suggest it even is as promising as 'uncertainty'.

gaeilgegrinds

Asked about the 71 other applicants today cos to be honest I never thought about it before. I was just psyched to have the job. Quite a few had no Dip & would not be considered. Others had poor fluency levels & some had huge gaps in their teaching career.

TheDriver

Remember would you love the subjects if you were doing Irish with foundation level junior certs or students who couldn't give a rats toss about it. I must say most classes are not about the subjects but about the teaching as the course work gets very hum drum, its the students and teaching thats the buzz. Now thats after a few years and its hard for new entries to comprehend that.
GG: I have heard the same, lots of people who think they can pick up teaching jobs easily with no teacher training or because that have 10 years lab experience makes them the best science teacher in the world, rubbish!

Rosita

TheDriver wrote: »

Remember would you love the subjects if you were doing Irish with foundation level junior certs or students who couldn't give a rats toss about it. I must say most classes are not about the subjects but about the teaching as the course work gets very hum drum, its the students and teaching thats the buzz. Now thats after a few years and its hard for new entries to comprehend that.

Obviously disaffected students are part and parcel of such a job. But let's turn that on its head. I'd hate to be doing a subject I didn't enjoy with foundation level junior certs or students who couldn't give a rat's toss about it.

The 'hum drum' is an integral part of any job but the general arguments against teaching or caveats around it are clear enough to me. I was a very easily bored student in my own time.

gaeilgegrinds

In fairness I think that was one thing that I found ahrd when I started. I love my subjects & when students hated them & no matter how hard I tried they were not interested I found it difficult at first. Then I learned there are ways and means to make some of them more interested and that the few interested ones made up for it!

King John V

OP, the subjects you picked are all arts/humanities based so you could do an arts degree. In NUIG at least, you do 4 in your first year so you can get a flavour for most of your choices before narrowing down to 2 in second and third year. Next up is PGDE and then start thinking about jobs.

I guess what I'm saying is: do subjects you enjoy now rather than ones you perceive society has a lack of graduates in. A demand for French teachers or too many geography teachers now (for example) isn't to say the situation will be the same once you graduate. Trends fluctuate over time. At least by doing subjects you enjoy you're likely to do very well in them and with a very good degree stand a good chance of getting a post anyway.

Bit long winded but hope it helps .

vale

What about Postgradute qualifications? Say if I did a masters in history and THEN did my H.Dip in English and History would I have a beter chance of employment?

Thanks for the help by the way. Enjoy the hoidays!

Rosita

vale wrote: »

What about Postgradute qualifications? Say if I did a masters in history and THEN did my H.Dip in English and History would I have a beter chance of employment?

Thanks for the help by the way. Enjoy the hoidays!

I would say that post-graduate qualifications might be a slight advantage in the jobs race all other things being equal. But it is not going to create demand for jobs in subject where there isn't a demand.

sunflower!

my subjects are CSPE and History and I have a masters in History, i am just qualified this year and so far there has been 4 jobs advertised for these subjects and a lot more for english and history! i would def agree with doing the subjects you like a degree will take you a few years and there is no point in doing it in something you dont have an interest in! i'll let you know how i get on with my job hunting!!:)

vale

Thanks sunflower that would be great!!!!!!

What about oppurtunites in the UK?