Secondary School Teaching ?

HannahLang

I've been considering a career as a secondary school teacher, a science teacher to be exact. However my guidance teacher is hopeless and the information I'm trying to research myself isn't very clear. I was wondering if anyone could give me an insight into what teaching is like in regards to Pay, Workload, Job availability etc. ?? It would be much appreciated

smallgarden

you'll get payscales if google tui payscales. Job availability is quite low generally but it does vary spending on the subject. It will also vary when new junior cert comes in. Ive seen jobs for my subject advertised with 3rs,9hrs etc. Expect to spend time doing short term contracts and part time hours, bit of a take what you get type situation. Id guess typical full time teacher youre in school 9-4 everyday plus doing extra hours for planning and correcting. Then there's now extra unpaid supervision,meetings,extra curricular etc. Its definitely a vocation. You do it because you love the subject and teaching it.

linguist

Hi! Well I'll definitely try. Sorry to hear you haven't found the guidance available to you as helpful as it should be, but since you're asking about the situation in teaching, I should maybe tell you that the guidance allocation in schools has taken a hammering over the past couple of years so maybe the teacher in question is run off their feet. They usually are!

Anyway, as my user name implies, I'm not a science teacher but much of the information you're seeking is constant.

The starting point is that you want to study subjects at university that will make you as employable as possible. When completing your CAO form, you should contact the Teaching Council to check that the courses you're applying for are recognised by them for entry into teaching - and for what subjects. The universities themselves will usually be able to tell you this also but the Teaching Council has the ultimate decision on recognising you. Feel free to contact them directly - that's what they're there for. From a pure employability perspective, you probably want to be qualified in Maths, junior cycle Science and senior cycle Biology. Biology is the fourth biggest subject at LC - just ahead of French!

As regards job availability, I have to tell you that it isn't good but it is probably starting to improve. The population bulge is beginning to hit secondary schools and we are exiting the recession meaning that the Government should begin to ease up on the teacher allocation. However, you need to be prepared for a number of years of non-permanent employment, possibly not on full hours and therefore not on full pay. However, Maths would be a major plus for you since qualified Maths teachers are in shorter supply than those of other subjects. If you are in a hurry to secure permanency and financial stability, you may need to consider working in the UK.

As regards pay, there have been changes in recent years and it's a little difficult to keep up with them. We are paid according to the common basic scale and you may be entitled to allowances on top of that. These are easily found on the unions' websites: check asti.ie or tui.ie. Let's be honest, you won't become wealthy in this profession but once you are in wholetime employment, you should be able to live reasonably well provided you make sensible decisions the same as anyone else. I can just hear the cavalry on my tail for suggesting such a thing but it's hard to predict every choice you'll make in life!! You do however have the opportunity to supplement your earnings through State exams work, TEFL teaching in summer, after school study at school and even grinds. However, the taxman is well onto the latter now so be sure to declare them.

The workload is heavy. You are most unlikely to ever have the luxury of a lab assistant and I know colleagues who spend their lunch hour in the lab setting up and cleaning up. In addition, you will probably take on some extra-curricular involvement as I'm sure many of your own teachers do.

To sum up, I'm sure some other respondents may be more to the point in telling you to take a more secure and financially rewarding career path. However, if you're thinking about teaching you probably have something within you that makes you want to be an educator. I've had a rough ride as have many but I wouldn't do anything else. I truly feel that this profession matters and if that's part of your motivation there's no way I'd ever dissuade you. Just go in informed.

RealJohn

Assuming you're doing your leaving cert this year, what I would recommend is doing a science degree, followed by a post-graduate teaching qualification. That way, you'll probably give yourself the option of going into a science job after you graduate if your enthusiasm for teaching has waned in the mean time (which could easily happen). I wouldn't count on there being a lot of teaching jobs available when you graduate either way so having more options is always sensible.

I assume that the science teaching degrees offered in some universities probably do give you the possibility of moving out of teaching too but I imagine employers are less inclined to hire people with teaching degrees (for non-teaching positions) because they'll probably assume that you're only there because you can't get a teaching job and will jump ship if one comes up so I would think the science degree and teaching post-grad is the safer, if longer, option.

Also I imagine you're more likely to make connections that would help you get a job in a scientific field by doing a science degree than by doing a science teaching degree, which might only help you make teaching connections (and you'll make those doing the post-grad anyway). And of course you're better off being a little older going into secondary teaching anyway. A four year science teaching degree could land you in front of a leaving cert class when you're still only 22, just a couple of years older than the students. That's not that easy for everyone.