Hi Can You Give Me Some Advice/Help/Info!!

Suzie433

Hi

I am returning to college as a mature student and have been offered a place on an Arts Degree in St. Patrick's College and NUI Maynooth. I would like to eventually become a Secondary School Teacher.

I was hoping i could get some advice on which college would be better to complete my degree?? or does it matter? At the interview i felt St. Pats was better for me because it has a smaller student capacity....

Maynooth have a course for Higher Diploma in Education, do i need to have Irish & Maths for Secondary School Teaching? Mine is terrible!!

Any advice would be appreciated

Postgrad10

Hi,
Congrats on the offers. I'm not sure about which arts subjects you were interested in but I would definately look in to the subjects I was most interested in , check out their course outlines and facilities and decide from there. I have had a very positive experience with NUI Maynooth, lecture size for one of my subjects was quite large but the weekly tutorial was excellent, small groups and was the tutor was fantastic for feedback and assistance at any time. Which subjects are you thinking off? My friend studied theology in St Patrick's College Maynooth as well and loved it. I think though its St Patrick's Drumcondra you have the offer for? You then need to consider whether you want to stay near the college or travel.

Postgrad10

You don't need Irish unless you intend to teach it or teach through Irish. Same for maths.:D

Rosita

I would say it makes little difference which college you choose of the two mentioned. Both have long-standing reputations. As long as the qualification is recognised by the Teaching Council that's the main thing. Entry to the NUI Maynooth PGDE is done through the PAC (and independent body) so being a graduate of there as opposed to St. Pat's should not matter if that is what is being implied. Anyway, St.Pat's is a college of DCU which has its own PGDE, albeit a part-time one.

Do you need Irish and Maths for Secondary Teaching? Well, not meaning to sound smart but you only need them if you intend to teach them. If you are bad at them I would be inclined to steer clear as you will need quite a good degree to get into the teaching diploma when you are finished, and there's little point in having a mediocre degree in notionally 'good' teaching subjects.
I say this as a graduate of Irish - it is hard going as an academic subject if you are not comfortable as you will have oral Irish exams and a lot of literature to cover and translation and esays to do which will wear you down if you find the language a struggle.

That said I think having a language in a degree is always a good option. The other advice I would give you is that you should avoid choosing a 'filler' subject in first year. It's much better to have something done in first year that you might be able to teach to some level or other if needed at some time in the future.

Suzie433

Hey, cheers,

yeah it's St. Patrick's Drumcondra, I was was hoping to take on English, Geography, Human Development / Psychology.

Did you find that there was good support in Maynooth? I suppose i'm just freaking out that i won't be able for it!!

As far as distance is concerned it will take me about the same amount of time to get to each one....

niall3r

Im a Maynooth grad so may be slightly biased but sure Ill throw my two pennies in:

Maynooth is absolutely brilliant. I spent 5 years there between my degree and masters and would recomend it without reservation. Even though I wasnt a mature student I know that they provide alot of services to mature students and that they are one of the groups actively targeted and thus supported. I have been frequently amazed at the amount of people I know who fall in love with Maynooth and end up settling there after they finish their college life.

I was also going to comment that if you go to Maynooth you could vote for the Seanad but since Enda survived the Putsch then that body might not be around when you complete your studies.

I know people who attended St Pats and loved it also. Though not as fevrently.

Best of luck and congrats on the offers!

glack

I went to St. Pats to do the degree in primary teaching. Its like a giant secondary school as opposed to a college. not necessarily a bad thing in a lot of ways as there are a lot less people in lectures etc. there are lots more females than males though!
My advice would be that St. Pats is totally geared towards primary teaching so it might not be the place for you. i know some of my friends who did the B.A. felt like second class citizens at times. the place practically shuts down for teaching practice before easter each year. the majority of students in your lectures will be doing the B. Ed degree and their academic subject will not be their priority.
I studied Maths as my academic so I cant really comment on the subjects you're picking.
hope that helps

dory

I went to Maynooth and I loved it.

If you're really unsure and lacking a bit of confidence, maybe Pats would be better because of the smaller classes, it'd be easier to ask questions.

As for which is better, neither really. We don't have prestigious and non-prestigious like in America.