Mature student wanting to become a teacher

ashxx22

Hi everyone, hoping someone will b able to offer me some advice.
I am a mature student and currently pregnant with my forth child. I was in college and have a year done in IT but did not love it and considering teaching instead. My issue is obviously now being pregnant i no i can not attend a normal college r uni as not possible with kids but are there courses available online for undergrads? Also will it cost a fortune?
I have no expierence working with children, does this matter? Would love to get my degree as soon as possible!

aunt aggie

To complete a postgrad in teaching you will need a relevant degree (3years) and with the current jobs market, it would be best if your degree included two teaching subject. There is not a lot of demand or hours in IT teaching. Most of the current IT teachers in schools would also be teaching Science or Business for example.

Also the new PME is two more years and it is expensive. I've heard it costs around 6000 each year but I may be corrected on that. The teaching practise elements would be very difficult with kids at home and I don't know of any colleges that teach PME through distance learning or online lectures.

Is it that you think you would like to work with children? There may be other fields of work you could consider which aren't as expensive or such a long course of study. Special Needs Assistant, Social Work...

Just realised I posted info for secondary school teaching without asking if you are considering secondary or primary. Hope this helps somewhat.

ashxx22

was hoping to just do full degree in primary teaching? is thid possible?

ashxx22

Thank you, i thought it was possible to become primary teacher with just four years? My parents are teachers so I thought this would help also cant beat holidays when you have children yourself!

aunt aggie

ashxx22 wrote: »

was hoping to just do full degree in primary teaching? is thid possible?

Yes, it would be at least four years and again I've never heard of distance or online learning at primary level education either. The link on the teaching council website for primary teaching degrees isn't working so maybe someone who's been through it before will see this and give you some more specific information.

byhookorbycrook

You can't do the Hibernia course (partly online) without an undergrad degree. To be honest, there are hundreds of qualified teachers unemployed at present and the new entrants to teaching have seen their wages and pensions slashed.

Then we have the joy that is Croke Park/Haddington Road extra hours which means you will be at school for an extra hour once a week- which means extra time to pay for childcare. The profession is also being prodded towards the failing English system, more and more paperwork. much of it pointless.

Most of those unemployed are scrabbling to get any kind of subbing and with 4 (hope all goes well ) children you will be very limited in where you can sub, geographically. Because schools have so many teachers to choose from, they may opt for a teacher who can take games teams after school , do the choir, debating/quiz teams etc. Could you commit to any of those with 4 smallies?

I know that all sounds very negative but unfortunately it is the reality of primary teaching today. I think you should try to do some observation in a primary class asap. Primary teaching has changed enormously in the last few years, so see what you think.

If it is REALLY, REALLY what you want and you could manage financially and childcare wise then go for it, but go in with your eyes open. Yes, the holidays are great, but it's a long, long year to get to the summer and holidays aren't a a good enough reason to take on the job

ashxx22

thank you, i no i already considered taking up music to help my chances. I was hoping that i would also be able to get sub work with the schooæ my parents are in, but i do relaise it would be alot of hard work. I would just love to find a job that would suit aving children and brought in a decent income.

aunt aggie

ashxx22 wrote: »

I was hoping that i would also be able to get sub work with the schooæ my parents are in, but i do relaise it would be alot of hard work.

Because they might already have a regular sub teacher? Ya, that could be awkward.

There's a few threads over on T&L about people getting jobs because they know someone. It's not viewed very kindly in the current job situation.

Oafley Jones

ashxx22 wrote: »

thank you, i no i already considered taking up music to help my chances. I was hoping that i would also be able to get sub work with the schooæ my parents are in, but i do relaise it would be alot of hard work. I would just love to find a job that would suit aving children and brought in a decent income.

Mod edit : Not the place for grammar and spelling nazis - thanks.

annoyedgal

It is possible to do a two year part time masters in primary education with Hibernia College, but there is no part time undergrad. in any college.
You would need a degree plus honours Irish to be eligible for the post graduate course. While it may be part time, the teaching practice blocks are most definitely full time as is the required trip to the Gaeltact.
If you would really like to persue teaching I would strongly recommend getting some classroom experience either observing or volunteering in a local school to get a feel for what the job entails.
While the holidays are good for a family they are definitely not enough of a motivator on there own to persue this career! It's a high energy, intense job and you definitely need to have a love for it. Job prospects at the moment are challenging and the pay scale for new entrants has been slashed. The career is more demanding than ever and while it can be a wonderful job, it can also be very stressful. Just some practical things to consider, good luck!

ashxx22

thank you. some great advice