Matue students and teaching

noels33

hi - i am 33 and working in good job, i have always thought i wanted to get into teaching and would be good at it, but i think this is my last chance to make it happen. the problem is i did a business diploma at college, but didnt complete the degree at the time. If i dont have a degree could anyone gve me some ideas of the best way to get into teaching, any help would be apprediated as i have no clue where to start looking

dambarude

If you don't have a degree your best bet would probably be to do the B.Ed as a mature student.

You can do this in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, St. Pat's, Marino or Froebel (the last three being in Dublin, Froebel is moving to Maynooth shortly).

You need a Higher Level C3 in Irish and then must do interviews in both English and Irish for entry into one of the courses.

Any of the mature entry courses would be a big commitment, each being 3 or 4 years of full time study. From September 2013 they'll all be 4 years long.

To be honest many would advise against you leaving a good job for primary teaching at the moment. The job situation is pretty dire.

TeachMealog

I know St. Pats in Thurles www.stpats.ie now has its degrees validated by University of Limerick is another option.
Also Hibernia College do teacher training
other than that your looking at h'dips in the univerisities or degrees in Marino, COI College, Mater Dei, Mary Immac
I think marino have a new hdip for teaching

fearbainne

dambarude wrote: »

To be honest many would advise against you leaving a good job for primary teaching at the moment. The job situation is pretty dire.

dire being a bit of an understatement! you can also do the Hibernia course which is an online course.. costs 8,995euro, all info is on there website here

Rocksteadykk

I think maybe dire is an exaggeration. I'm due to finish my postgraduate degree in Froebel next year and I would be confident of getting some sort of work. Although there won't be many permanent positions available for the next few years I'm more than willing to do maternity leave/temporary contracts for a while before gaining permanency. Then again I'm only 25 and I have no family/mortgage so they're probably the kind of things that you would want to be thinking about.

It's a sacrifice but if you end up doing something that you love then it might just be worth it. Also, i've been hearing a lot lately about the panels being cleared all over the country which can only be a good thing. Aswell as that there is the deadline for a lot of the older teachers in February to decide if they want to take a hit on their pensions or not. I think that this will clear out a lot of positions making way for newly qualified teachers.

But if you want to do the postgraduate degree you would HAVE to have completed a degree and satisfy the other requirements. As mentioned above the mature student route is still available but would be a huge commitment that would take a minimum of 3/4 years.

All the best with whatever you decided to do!

fearbainne

Rocksteadykk wrote: »

Although there won't be many permanent positions available for the next few years

surely that does mean it is a dire situation, seen as there are over 1,400 newly qualified primary teachers every year??

Not to put you off OP, obviously if its something you've always wanted to do then go for it, but don't be expecting to walk into a job as soon as your qualified is all I'm saying!

dambarude

The postgrad (Hibernia) option mentioned above isn't a possibility for the OP without having completed a level 8 degree.

For a person with a good permanent job to go to a situation where he/she gets a day subbing here and there after spending four years out of work to train would be a pretty dire situation for me.

implausible

Rocksteadykk wrote: »

Also, i've been hearing a lot lately about the panels being cleared all over the country which can only be a good thing. Aswell as that there is the deadline for a lot of the older teachers in February to decide if they want to take a hit on their pensions or not.

The panels are being cleared because teachers are being redeployed from over-quota schools. Any vacancies will be filled by the unemployed graduates from the last few years.

That deadline talk has been around for a few years and any clear-out has already happened.

Yep, I think 'dire' is the right word, unless you're happy to sub and go from school to school for years.

OP, without a degree, you will have to do a full undergrad. Is there any way you can complete your degree now, which would give you more options to apply for a postgrad. Have you looked at courses in England?

TeachMealog

For primary teaching
The Higher Diploma in Education (Primary), Coláiste Mhuire, Marino Institute of Education
is a good way to get into teaching if you dont have a BEd.

dambarude

TeachMealog wrote: »

For primary teaching
The Higher Diploma in Education (Primary), Coláiste Mhuire, Marino Institute of Education
is a good way to get into teaching if you dont have a BEd.

o_O

You can't do that without having a level 8 degree, which the OP doesn't have (at the moment at least).

noels33

thanks all for the feedback - really appreciate it! will let ye know what path i take....

Tulip11

Hi Noels33,

I'm about to embark on such an endeavour in Sept. I'm leaving a good job to start back as a full-time undergrad in St Pats and to be honest I can't wait. Yes, at the moment things look grim for anyone newly qualified but then again when I graduated first time around with my Science diploma I heard the same stories....you'll never get a job etc etc. Plus 4 years is a long time so who knows what might happen in the interim.

It'll be a tough 3/4 years but I've thought about doing teaching ever since I did my LC but didn't get the points so I think if it's something you really want to do then go for it.

It might be no harm to try to get some observation experience in a class-room at least that way you'll know if it's really for you or not. Once I got into a classroom observing I can honestly say I felt more at home than I have in any job I've had over the last 14 years....granted I was only observing and it's a lot harder managing a class of 28 or 30 pupils but it was those couple of days that really cemented the idea for me.

Also I'm assuming by your log-on id that your male and there is a shortage of males in the teaching profession so this could be in your favour when applying for jobs. Any males I know who've gone back to do teaching have been successful in obtaining positions....not that it should really matter but that's the way it seems to be at the moment.

PM me if you want any info on applying as a mature student.

All the best with whatever you decide,
Tulip11

dambarude

TeachMealog wrote: »

I also note there is a Grad Diploma in Education (Primary Teaching) in Mary Immaculate
http://www.mic.ul.ie/education/Pages/graduatediplomaineducation.aspx
It says just a primary degree with Leaving Cert Hons Irish!

As well as a very tough interview in English and Irish, with hundreds competing for 60 places. It's extremely difficult to get into this course.

Paddytheplaster

noels33 wrote: »

hi - i am 33 and working in good job, i have always thought i wanted to get into teaching and would be good at it, but i think this is my last chance to make it happen. the problem is i did a business diploma at college, but didnt complete the degree at the time. If i dont have a degree could anyone gve me some ideas of the best way to get into teaching, any help would be apprediated as i have no clue where to start looking

Hi I am going back to college also to do primary school teaching. I just need to re-sit the LC Irish in 2012 and get the C3. Im 32 and leaving a good job too but its something i've alwys wanted to do. So now or never.
I'm going to get lessons
http://www.sthelenstuition.ie/index.php/courses#graduates

Private message me if you want to get more info.

sue97

For those who have a diploma and not a degree. The OU will give you credits from previous qualification towards an open honours degree.

Studying with them at the moment with a view of doing the Hibernia Post Grad, loving studying with them. Once I got the knack of online study, I have to say its great.

Taking a pass degree to an honours degree takes two level 3 courses which I am doing in one year, might be a better option to do this and a part time post grad then full time four years.

lawrose

Hi

I'm in the same boat as noels33, tulip11 and paddy the plaster.

I have a very good job, good salary and excellent prospects - and I'm 36 with 3 small kids! And I'm willing to chuck the job in to go for primary teaching. I think it's a risk worth taking to achieve something I would love working at for the rest of my life (...and I know it may take some time to actually "work" at primary teaching these days!).

I haven't got the C3 in Irish either, but I'm going to try for the TEG qualification rather then repeating the LC Irish. I reckon I might be too late to give it a shot in 2012, but maybe I should at least try!

I also haven't got a Level 8 Degree. I'm a qualified solicitor but only have a Diploma in law. I'm hoping to finish my Degree by night from Sept 12 to May 13. Hoping the Irish result will have been achieved by then too, so that I can apply to Hibernia for the Autumn 2013 intake, and to stay working throughout.

I'm sure my employers will be very unimpressed when I break the news to them - as they are "grooming" me for promotion. I don't know what will happen when I have to do TP as part of the Hibernia course. I doubt they will be sympathetic to me going off for weeks at a time!

So chins up everyone! If you really want it, you should go for it. I think that level of drive and determination and sacrifice should come across well at the Hibernia interviews and ultimately when interviewing for teaching posts. The principals will see just how much we really want it!!!!

Good luck!

Sweetpea101

Hi there everyone, I'm one who came out the other end, and it was the best decision ever. I had a permanent job, good salary, one promotion under my belt, and another very close on the horizon, but I quietly repeated the LC Irish, jacked in my job, spent three years in St Pats (during which the benchmarking came in) and after a few years of teaching got the elusive permanent job. My originally good salary was way better than what teachers at the time coming out of college were getting, but with the salary increases due to benchmarking I ended up on a higher salary. The three (soon to be four) years were tough, but it was a means to an end and I'm thrilled that I did it, and love teaching. It is a very hard job, and very different to the days of when we were in school but every day is different, many many rewards throughout the day, I absolutely love it - it was my best decision ever (with the exception of my fab hubbie and kids!) - if you want to do it, do it and best of luck!

baby jake

Hi, just in process of considering this option, I currently hold a level 8 degree in Business and would like to become a primary teacher. However, I would need to resit LC Irish and don't really know what is the best way for me to proceed. Any advice and help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Feeona

Best of luck to those of you thinking about going for teaching! I'm a primary substitute teacher, and it's tough at times going from school to school, getting to know new staff in each school, getting to know the childrens' names in each and every class I teach. But I love the job far more than any other job I've done, the children are brilliant (although I do lose the rag sometimes :pac:), and it's a great feeling to know you're helping people in some small way every day.