Question about Teaching & Uni Courses

nikkilc

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but... I want to study Journalism next year as I think that is what my dream job would be, but I also think I might like teaching and I would like to have it as a 'plan B.'

I know to be a secondary school teacher you must have two subjects, but the course I've down as my number 1 (Journalism & New Media in UL) only allows me to take one Arts subject to degree level.

An old Guidance teacher once told me if you did 'any modules at any point' in an subject (and I would be doing two arts subjects in first year) 'there's loopholes to teach them.'

Sounds a bit too good to be true to me, just wondering has anyone any more info on this?

evolving_doors

nikkilc wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but... I want to study Journalism next year as I think that is what my dream job would be, but I also think I might like teaching and I would like to have it as a 'plan B.'

I know to be a secondary school teacher you must have two subjects, but the course I've down as my number 1 (Journalism & New Media in UL) only allows me to take one Arts subject to degree level.

An old Guidance teacher once told me if you did 'any modules at any point' in an subject (and I would be doing two arts subjects in first year) 'there's loopholes to teach them.'

Sounds a bit too good to be true to me, just wondering has anyone any more info on this?

I'd take note of the word 'old' for that career guidance teacher. You'll need two solid subjects to teach (preferably a core subject like Irish/English/Maths.. then most popular would be science and languages). Going the journalism route I would guess it would be English/History (politics if it ever gets off the ground in secondary schools)... which in my experience is very very common in terms of competing for jobs later on.

The teaching council are getting very strict in terms of registering your degree subjects. So if you just did one arts subject then it would be most likely that you would have to return again to do another to bring your modules up to par. One subject mightn't be too bad if you are emigrating though. I think Ireland is kind of unique in that most teachers have 2 subject hats, probably due to the fact that we are a small nation and need to diversify because of small schools etc.

If you are going the UL route (for no other reason than wanting to go there/location etc!!)have a look at some of their teacher training degrees and the subjects they incorporate.

Anonymagician

I'm currently doing Journalism in UL and I don't think we come out with enough credits in any arts subject to qualify for teaching because you only do one module of your chosen subject per semester. If you're looking to keep teaching as a Plan B but still want to try the journalism route, maybe consider New Media & English which would allow you to teach English at the end (but as Spurious said, that won't get you far here).

If you've any questions about the journalism course feel free to message me though!

nikkilc

I've changed Arts (2 subjects) with Journalism in NUIG to my no. 1 but I am conflicted on what my best back up options are... thank you both for your help, clarified some stuff for me

Bazinga_N

nikkilc wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but... I want to study Journalism next year as I think that is what my dream job would be, but I also think I might like teaching and I would like to have it as a 'plan B.'

I know to be a secondary school teacher you must have two subjects, but the course I've down as my number 1 (Journalism & New Media in UL) only allows me to take one Arts subject to degree level.

An old Guidance teacher once told me if you did 'any modules at any point' in an subject (and I would be doing two arts subjects in first year) 'there's loopholes to teach them.'

Sounds a bit too good to be true to me, just wondering has anyone any more info on this?

Tbh you don't really need a specific degree to become a journalist however you do need one to be a teacher. If I were you I'd investigate some other English degrees. See which ones have modules in Media or Journalism. Also try to choose a degree that allows you to teach English and something else, as only having one subject (albeit a core one) would hurt your employability prospects in the future.

nikkilc

Bazinga_N wrote: »

Tbh you don't really need a specific degree to become a journalist however you do need one to be a teacher. If I were you I'd investigate some other English degrees. See which ones have modules in Media or Journalism. Also try to choose a degree that allows you to teach English and something else, as only having one subject (albeit a core one) would hurt your employability prospects in the future.

Galway offers Journalism with two Arts subjects .. that would be sufficient for teaching wouldn't it? That's currently my top choice

Bazinga_N

nikkilc wrote: »

Galway offers Journalism with two Arts subjects .. that would be sufficient for teaching wouldn't it? That's currently my top choice

As far as I can see yes (by the looks of this http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/Publications/Registration/Documents/Curricular-Subject-Requirements-up-to-Dec-2016.pdf), but I'm not 100% certain!

But if I'm thinking right, you can study journalism along with English and French (for example) and be qualified to teach English and French (assuming you do a HDip afterwards). You'll need to get confirmation from someone who knows for definite though!