Lecturing V Secondary Teaching- Where to start

jennypeny

Hi,

I am looking into starting to lecture ( Maybe Secondary School Teaching at a later stage) But i dont know where to start.

I have a degree in Business from an IT, and I am ACCA qualified. I am looking to lecture in the Business / Finance side. Maybe even lecturing ACCA courses.

I have been doing some research on the area and have been told a PHD is best but do I really need to get one?

Am i to register anywhere to start lecturing? Do Junior lectures get paid?

I have a full time job, but this has been a goal of mine but I dont really know where to start?

If anyone can point me in the right direction or tell me what I need and do not need I would be greatly appreciative.

Also am I fighting a loosing battle with the amount of qualifed accountants out of work at the moment ?

Thanks

Monotype

Tom Dunne wrote: »

A question that frequently pops up here is how you become a lecturer. I though I would share my experience on how I did it and encourage other lecturers, especially in the non-technical fields, to contribute also. The intention is to sitcky this thread once there are a few different perspectives.

Getting a post in lecturing involves two major components - academic qualifications and experience.

The bare minimum for getting a post in lecturing is an honours degree. As you would imagine, the more qualifications you have, the better. In my own experience (lecturing at an Institute of Technology in computers), a Masters the minimum, a PhD is preferred.

From discussions both here on Boards.ie and with fellow lecturers, qualifications for lecturing in a University seem to depend on the institution itself - some require a PhD, some require you to be studying for a PhD, others require you are involved in research. The jury is still out on this one.

Which brings me on to the next requirement - experience. The job spec for a technical discipline in an Institute of technology stipulates that a lecturer must have at least three years post grad experience. That date is measured from the date of conferring. This requirement does not appear to be as prevalent in Humanities.

Working in the field you will be lecturing in is a pre-requisite, as is lecturing/teaching experience. Getting this lecturing experience can actually be relatively straight forward - most colleges advertise around late August/early September for part-time staff. Lecturing 2-4 hours per week in the evening will most certainly enhance your chances of landing a full time lecturing position. Getting experience in your day job as a trainer/instructor would also be a good path to take.

Permanent positions appear to be few and far between, especially in the computing/technical fields. Positions offered tend to be temporary wholetime and pro-rata, the latter being variable hours over the course of a semester. From reading job advertisements in the papers, Universities appear to initially offer a one year contract, though it again depends on the institution.

As it says above, masters is a minimum and a phd is recommended. A phd isn't something you should rush into. Make sure it's an area you like and will like for about four years and long hours with low (if any) pay. The only other ways are (1) To have a lot of experience in the industry and (2) To know someone!

As for secondary teaching - you'd need a postgraduate diploma in education before you can get in (unless you happen to be able to sub, but you generally won't get a permanent job). This might help in steps towards being a lecturer. One thing you should also note is that there is a surplus of business teachers in secondary schools and it can be harder to get into the postgraduate diploma course.