Interested in Teaching.

Megatron_X

Hello,

I'm currently about to finish Transition Year, and while most people in my year are unsure of what they wish to do, I am very sure I want to be a Maths teacher, hopefully through Irish.

I have worked throughout this year, not dossing 24/7 but of course relaxing from time to time. Personally I feel that the Leaving Cert preparations should start at the beginning of 5th year, and I'd jsut like to ask some questions before my long Summer break.

1) The subject I will be doing are English, Irish, Maths, French, Geography, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I haven't found problems with these subject, and feel I have all options open to me if I get the required points. Correct?

2) I was just wondering what teaching is like I am very passionate about Maths, and proud that I am a fluent Irish speaker. I find the Maths we do too easy and usually skip ahead while the class struggles along. I was teaching myself Applied Maths until now, but due to problems with subject choices in the school I have to do 8 subjects already and I feel 9 is too much. After helping fellow students many have said I should go into teaching.

3) Is there anything I can do to prepare for it this early? And how should I get into teaching, Arts etc.?

4)Are there any problems with teaching at present?

So basicly, is teaching enjoyable if you are passionate about your subject? How should I go about getting into the profession? And are there many problems with it?


Hopefully I will get a few answers

Many thanks.

gaeilgegrinds

Megatron, excellent post. Well your subjects don't hugely matter as you want to do maths and probably Irish and have to do both as is. You will be teaching two subjects, you don't have to do Irish in order to teach through it but I would suggest it as it really is a good subject to have.
Regarding anything extra you could do, perhaps give some extra help with at lunch or afterwards if possible. I have a 5th year student who helps me with the extra class I take at lunchtime. You probably won't be allowed take them on your own but helping out your teacher would be a good idea. Also helping out for the month of June in primary schools is a great idea, get a letter when you leave stating your hours done and a reference. Note all of this is voluntary but will show a real interest when the time comes to do the Dip or even interviews.
Problems with teaching...lack of jobs. However with a degree in maths and Irish you would really be in a better position that many. Make sure you have extra curricular activities too, training teams or b licences are always good. And any kind of cert you can get will give you an edge.
Best of luck, I'm sure you'll make an excellent teacher. If you love your job you never really work a day, it's hard at times but well worth it.

An Bradán Feasa

http://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/undergraduate/courses.php?cCode=gy109&cName=Mathematics%20and%20Education

Check out this link. It's a 4-year BA in Mathematics and Education in NUI Galway. It was only 325 points last year. You'll need at least a C3 in Honours Maths or an A2 in Pass Maths to get in. The best thing about this course is it's a straight-run into teaching. No need to apply for a H.Dip in Education afterwards.

ytareh

Hi,well I reckon you should be leaning towards the Physics and Chemistry end of things as many Science and Maths teachers overlap on those subjects(and these are some of the 'least bad' to have right now).Not to put a dampener on your obvious enthusiasm but there is a SEVERE lack of teaching jobs now and its going to get a lot worse probably .Might be better by the time youve finished college but wouldnt hold my breath ....Do your homework and fully research this (including the bit about taking dogs abuse from reluctant 'students'-AND parents!)...To be quite brutally frank you have chosen a REALLY narrow career niche ,ok this might pay off if someone was to retire etc (and it would CERTAINLY be a bonus to be a Gaeilge qualified Maths teacher) but you would need to think long and hard about the wisdom of building the foundation of a career based on getting a job as a maths teacher in a gaelscoil.For starters you would be far better qualified with three subjects rather than just two.
Many of the traditional positive points of this career are evaporating rapidly ...If a certain political party get into power we are down a months Summer holidays straight away ,the pension contribution has been massively increased and the retirement lump sum is about to be taxed into oblivion ,management ,parents and kids get 'bolder' by the year ,bureaucracy is reaching epidemic proportions with form filling and meetings rife....you will have to work 50 if not 60 years before you can retire and the whole Public Vs Private sector friction could see our wages being benchmarked DOWN at the rate things are going ...!!!Good luck!

EDIT I would say most principals would take on someone with Maths/Physics/Chemistry far quicker than Maths and Irish but am open to correction on this ...

marblesolutions

I would disagree with the last reply as a chemisrty, biology, maths teacher I can tell you it was very difficult securing work. However our school and many in our area have had difficulty securing an Irish teacher for some years now and will for the third year in a row be advertising the position. So I would defiently stick with the Irish if I were you.

yurmothrintites

If you are a fluent Irish speaker, I would seriously consider doing Gaeilge as a subject in college to teach in the schools. The most secondary teaching jobs are in Gaeilge so you would possibly make yourself more hireable (if that makes sense).

gaeilgegrinds

Irish jobs are ten a penny, genuinely. I'd really suggest doing it in college alongside your maths.

The Real McCoy

If I was you i'd steer clear of secondary teaching. very little jobs, no job security part time hours etc. Im a primary school teacher myself got a job straight out of college on the second interview, as did all of my college friends. Permanent now and moving up the ranks already. I too was very interested in doing secondary teaching but due to the job security I decided not to. My dad teaches in a secondary school and there are many teachers who are there 6/7 years now who are either working part time hours, or are temporary. You could excel with good level of Irish and Maths in primary teacher training college. You choose one arts subject ( you could choose Irish or Maths) as your arts academic subject and you could get a degree from this, if you do an extra year in college i think. You can still give Maths and Irish grinds with all your spare time. And if you decided primary teaching wasn't for you, could always change to secondary once you have completed a degree in your arts subject choice (Irish or Maths in your case). Just my twopence worth. Remember when I was your age I was full sure I was going to do secondary teaching. Very happy now that I didn't!

evolving_doors

Megatron,

Be careful of the whole "there's loadsa jobs in primary not much in secondary" argument.. I was speaking to a career guidance teacher recently and she was saying that there is a massive amount of students applying for Primary teaching in the last 2 years as their parents/friends are presicely telling them that ..there are loadsa jobs... Perhaps there are this year and maybe next year, but for someone who won't fully graduate for at least 4 years it's too hard to say..The same thing happened around late 90's with parents/friends telling students "oh! there's loads of jobs in Computers/engineering/architecture..."

My 2 cent is that you sound like you're ahead of the possie already and if you choose a good course you'll be the best person for any job.

The previous advice about getting teaching experience asap (in any shape or form) is most definitely worth heeding, when you've done your degree it will give you that edge over your classmates who did the bare minimum.
You could also get involved in teaching in homework clubs for disadvantaged kids during your degree year...Principals love to see initiative and community work..

P.S. Be careful if you choose a pure science degree (as you do 3 science subjects)..If you want to teach science with maths there has to be a certain amount of maths on the course...

DancingQueen:)

I am thinking about a career in teaching maths and biology in secondary schools but getting a bit worried about people telling me to steer clear as there are no jobs.
Im was going to go into it anyway but is there any point if there will be no jobs? should i stop wasting my time and think of other careers in these subjects?
any info would help thanks xx :rolleyes:

sanj2408

I wouldn't worry about a lack of jobs at the moment. You've two more years in school and another four in college before you need to worry about that.
Even when the time comes, once you have an arts degree you can go in almost any direction from there, it is an extremly useful degree to have so you could find work in another profession temporarily until you find your dream teaching job.
If theres one thing I learned from my college experience its that you should do what you are interested in and what you enjoy.
I took the course I was told would be good for me and ended up hating it and not finishing my degree. So what Im saying is to pick the subjects you like the best. You should look into UCD and their Horizons courses.
Best of luck whatever you do.

evolving_doors

Anyone thinking of doing a course with a view to (possibly) teaching should check out if their course is recognised on the Teaching Council website to avoid a lot of hassle..

http://www.teachingcouncil.ie



Say you studied for a pure Biology degree and needed a second subject for sec school you might think 'well I did some maths classes during the science course I should be able to teach maths' then the teaching coucil will require that you do a certain % of maths on the course.....

The days of being thrown a book by the pricipal and asked to teach whatever are coming to an end...

DancingQueen:)

Thanks a million, if i really want to do teaching im going to do it and pick subjects im going to enjoy and am good at
Thanks again xx