What are the teaching requirements in Ireland?

MS L H

I am English and looking into teaching in Ireland. I do not have any teaching qualifications - just a degree in Spanish.

I would preferably like to teach at primary level - but it seems that an Irish Cert is necessary. Is this correct?

I have heard that teaching Special needs does not require a leaving cert in Irish. I can't find official confirmation of this/any relevant courses? Can anyone advise?

As a second option I have also looked into Secondary teaching. I have a degree in Spanish, so presume this would be the only subject I can teach. I have searched many sites - Trinity College/ DCU/ Hibernia college, but I can't seem to clarify the qualification that I need in order to teach at secondary level.

The Professional Diploma in Education has been mentioned on a few of my searches. If this is the required qualification, can anyone advise where the best place to study is?

Apologies for the numerous questions - i am very confused and concerned that I may miss application deadlines, so any advice would be very much appreciated!

Thanks



ThanksThanks!

number10a

MS L H wrote: »

I am English and looking into teaching in Ireland. I do not have any teaching qualifications - just a degree in Spanish.

I would preferably like to teach at primary level - but it seems that an Irish Cert is necessary. Is this correct?

I have heard that teaching Special needs does not require a leaving cert in Irish. I can't find official confirmation of this/any relevant courses? Can anyone advise?

As a second option I have also looked into Secondary teaching. I have a degree in Spanish, so presume this would be the only subject I can teach. I have searched many sites - Trinity College/ DCU/ Hibernia college, but I can't seem to clarify the qualification that I need in order to teach at secondary level.

The Professional Diploma in Education has been mentioned on a few of my searches. If this is the required qualification, can anyone advise where the best place to study is?

Apologies for the numerous questions - i am very confused and concerned that I may miss application deadlines, so any advice would be very much appreciated!

Thanks



ThanksThanks!

That's definitely true about the Special Needs teaching. A special needs teacher in a primary school that I work in is from Finland and has been teaching here for years now.

vamos!

You need the PDE. I am not sure if you can get a place on it with an English degree. Could you do the PGCE? As far as I know it is recognised in Ireland but I think you have to take a history exam. The Teaching Council will know if you email them. You don't need Irish to teach at second level. From an employment perspective Spanish is bad. Especially if you only have one subject. I have two languages and have been on rubbish hours in a number of schools for the past few years. Think about it very carefully before you appply for the super expensive PDE.

MS L H

Thanks very much for coming back to me so promptly.

I didn't quite catch what you said re Special Needs Teaching.
Are you saying that you do not need a Leaving Cert in Irirsh, to teach Special Needs?

Thanks

MS L H

Sorry I have just re-read your comment on Special Needs teaching.

So, I don't need a leaving cert in Irish if I want to teach special needs.

Is the qualification still a PDE for Special Needs teaching?

Thanks

vamos!

MS L H wrote: »

Sorry I have just re-read your comment on Special Needs teaching.

So, I don't need a leaving cert in Irish if I want to teach special needs.

Is the qualification still a PDE for Special Needs teaching?

Thanks

I misunderstood your post, I thought you were interested in teaching Spanish. The PDE is a general secondary teaching qualification. There is another one for Special Needs teaching but I know nothing about it, sorry. I'm sure the Teaching Council should be able to give a clear answer regarding the qualifications they will accept.

MS L H

Thanks for your help!

Does anyone know what qualification is required to teach special needs at primary level, and which college is the best to study this?

Thanks!

yurmothrintites

Only qualified primary school teachers can teach in primary schools in the Republic, whether in a mainstream classroom or in a special needs setting. I'm not sure about the qualifications you need for secondary school though.

byhookorbycrook

To teach in an SEN primary post you must be a qualified primary teacher. It is unlikely that any school will take on a teacher who does not have Irish at present, as it would mean you'd have to stay in that post,which would limit class options for a principal.

A number of teachers without Irish were taken on in resource positions a few years ago, but that is most unlikely ever to happen again, given the oversupply of fully qualified primary teachers and the fact that resource positions may be supressed if the number of resource teaching hours drop, as a child leaves the school for secondary

MS L H

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

To teach in an SEN primary post you must be a qualified primary teacher. It is unlikely that any school will take on a teacher who does not have Irish at present, as it would mean you'd have to stay in that post,which would limit class options for a principal.

A number of teachers without Irish were taken on in resource positions a few years ago, but that is most unlikely ever to happen again, given the oversupply of fully qualified primary teachers and the fact that resource positions may be supressed if the number of resource teaching hours drop, as a child leaves the school for secondary

Thanks. It seems that everything is against me.
I do not even have a teaching qualification, and it is necessary to have a leaving cert in Irish to do a primary course- which I do not have.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get into teaching without doing the longest route ever, and learning irish before doing an HDIP?

Thanks

whiteandlight

The best you can hope for is a two year post graduate course in second level teaching which would qualify you teach Spanish at second level (assuming you get your degree recognised by teaching council).

For primary you would need to teach yourself Irish as a language before you could get onto a conversion course for primary which would also be two years in duration at least.

However unless you really really want to teach you should be aware that there is little/no job opportunities in teaching in Ireland and even less given that you would only have one subject and an optional one at that. Once qualified you would face up to 7 years plus before even a prospect of a full time/permanent job and probably much longer. Take a look at the papers. There are currently only 8 jobs in the whole country. There are actually far more jobs in teaching in England than here....