need 2nd teaching subject for Ireland - help!

shanicereddy

I have a BA degree in Theology & Rel Studies (50%) and Philosophy (50%). I did PGCE in UK and have taught there for last 4 years as a qualified RE teacher - i teach RE and Philosophy & Ethics up to A Level. Trying to move home to Ireland in next few years so been looking into my prospects. Emailed the Teaching Council and they were very helpful actually! They phoned me to discuss and sent out all relevant forms. My problem is that my RE is fine and once I get it all recognised by the TC I can teach it here but am i really employable with just 1 subject??!! I studied Irish and Music in 1st year of my degree but TC tell me that they count for nothing but i should still pay to get them assessed so they can point out the shortfalls in these!

Someone has mentioned I can "top-up" my subject(s) in a year and a half without having to go and do a full 3/4 yr degree again - can anyone here advise?? Thanks

shtopthelights

shanicereddy wrote: »

I have a BA degree in Theology & Rel Studies (50%) and Philosophy (50%). I did PGCE in UK and have taught there for last 4 years as a qualified RE teacher - i teach RE and Philosophy & Ethics up to A Level. Trying to move home to Ireland in next few years so been looking into my prospects. Emailed the Teaching Council and they were very helpful actually! They phoned me to discuss and sent out all relevant forms. My problem is that my RE is fine and once I get it all recognised by the TC I can teach it here but am i really employable with just 1 subject??!! I studied Irish and Music in 1st year of my degree but TC tell me that they count for nothing but i should still pay to get them assessed so they can point out the shortfalls in these!

Someone has mentioned I can "top-up" my subject(s) in a year and a half without having to go and do a full 3/4 yr degree again - can anyone here advise?? Thanks

Hello!

I believe that while one is officially 'supposed' to have a second subject, practically speaking, I don't think it will be a barrier to you gaining a post. As well as that, you have experience of preparing students for RE exams, which should be a feather in your cap -RE being examined here is still relatively new, so it'll probably be to your advantage that you'll have taught world religions and practices, as in the previous system here, RE had a focus on the predominant religion of the school and the school's/teacher's priorities, with no requirement to know/teach anything about minority/other religions.

Also, I would guess that you'd be able to 'top up' your teaching hours with another subject, whether this is part of your registration or not. Most of the teachers of CSPE and PSHE I know do not have a qualification in these. Again, if you were interested and some hours were available in Irish, Music or Learning Support, you might be able to get these.

I wouldn't worry about getting a second subject if I were you; I'd focus my energies on your TC registration (I did a UK PGCE and boy, is the application process a costly pain! -try to get it done while you're still over there so you can get all the documents from your former uni(s) and get the document from the GTCE (if it's still operating) that states that you have QTS, have completed induction and that your QTS is under the terms of EU directivexxxx (don't know the numbers, but it's cited on the PP application for Assessment of non Irish qualifications' application form), once you have this, you'll be away with it.

Great to hear that the TC gave you useful advice by the way, many find the opposite!!