Becoming a teacher in PLC course

kbooax

I want to become a teacher in Further Education in IT subject(s). I have a 1.1 degree in Computing but have only been working in an office job in the software industry for less than a year. I would be willing to take the steps that are needed to get to be a PLC teacher, but I need to know what those steps are.

It looks like I need the Professional Diploma in Education which can be done in 1 year at weekends, but I'm wondering if anyone knows if it's realistic to get a job teaching computer science/programming/web design/databases etc. without a masters in IT related subject. Or is industry experience also required? Or am I wasting my time unless I have both?

I would be willing to take a job anywhere in the country and buy a house there if i got made permanent, so I'd have more of a chance getting in the door than the average person seeking a school near their home i guess?

Any info or slight knowledge would help,

Thanks,

Kyle

You read my mind OP! I'd also be interested to know this. I've 10+ years experience in industry and would like to teach digital marketing and business to keen students in further education (not secondary).

zweton

Did ye guys ever look into this further?

Wanderer19

You need the diploma to get a permanent position, but I'd you start looking for jobs now, you may be able to get a job and study at the same time, that's what a few of the teachers in the ETB I attended did. Not all of them have master's. It depends what you want to teach, not all posts are saturated with applicants so they can be more flexible with the requirements.
Hope that helps.

joeharte123

Seeing as you are willing to travel you will pick up hours somewhere, most likely Dublin. Unfortunately, if teaching further education (adult ed, youth reach, plc...) you will be earning significantly less than a primary or post primary teacher for longer days and arguably more work in the form of meetings, course content development etc.
Many places will pay you by the hour and like primary or post primary teaching it can take some time to become permanent. Ideally, becoming a coordinator would raise your wage a fair amount in comparison. With regards holidays, you won’t have the same holidays as PP teachers and will likely not be paid for them for many years.
You have a lot of experience in an industry that pays very well, so I can only imagine you’re financially stable; so maybe these points on FE pay compared to primary and secondary teaching won’t discourage you from pursuing this career!

Unfortunately, FE teaching doesn’t hold the same status as Primary and PP teaching here in Ireland.

spurious

I will move this to Teaching and Lecturing where more people will see it.

Notorious

I teach post-primary and PLC. In my experience a PLC teacher does not need to have a teaching qualification. Lots of PLC teachers start out as part-time or temporary teachers. However as others point out the work can be infrequent and it can take years to get job security. Our place closes for slightly longer than the post-primary for the summer, but you have to keep in mind that teachers on a temp contract wouldn't get summer pay.

Edit: to answer your initial question - I began teaching PLC programming and web design without any computer qualification. I had taken a handful of modules as part of my undergrad and have since received a post grad in software development.

trihead

Might be useful for OP

https://ie.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=d3a6e28bf080d535&from=serp&prevUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fie.indeed.com%2Fm%2Fjobs%3Fq%3DTeacher%26l%3DDublin%26ts%3D1594668893652%26pts%3D1594151848959%26rq%3D1%26rsIdx%3D1%26fromage%3Dlast%26newcount%3D5

You would need to register for TC while you wait to complete hdip in FE to get full registration.

GTE

+1 on last poster. You're way in is to do a Further Ed specific teaching qualification and apply for jobs in your subject area. You can get hours in somewhat general subjects too. It can take a while to build up a full time contract but if you can make a case of a new course in your subject or it is applicable across a few courses and departments, you can build quicker. You can also teach more general modules too.

You will be paid by the hour if you teach under a certain amount of hours in a academic year. Over this threshold, you get a pro rata contract.

Comments on PLC teachers not needing a teaching qualification and less pay are wrong. The former changed a few years ago and the payscale is the same as post primary.

Notorious

bbk wrote: »

Comments on PLC teachers not needing a teaching qualification and less pay are wrong. The former changed a few years ago and the payscale is the same as post primary.

Unlike second level, PLC teachers don't require a council number. I can hire whoever I want for a PLC teaching job tomorrow. There is no required qualification.

spurious

Notorious wrote: »

Unlike second level, PLC teachers don't require a council number. I can hire whoever I want for a PLC teaching job tomorrow. There is no required qualification.

Is that in a school or private institution?

phildenny

TC registration required for most subjects in etbs anyway. Also, not all students in plc are there because they're really interested in the subject. Some are but some are there because they didn't get anything else / have to do a course or they'll lose their social etc. Some centres have exactly same conditions and pay as second level for qualified teachers. Others are more fa's / solas like. Secure jobs are scarce as are full-hours jobs especially outside Dublin.

emilymemily

joeharte123 wrote: »

Seeing as you are willing to travel you will pick up hours somewhere, most likely Dublin. Unfortunately, if teaching further education (adult ed, youth reach, plc...) you will be earning significantly less than a primary or post primary teacher for longer days and arguably more work in the form of meetings, course content development etc.
Many places will pay you by the hour and like primary or post primary teaching it can take some time to become permanent. Ideally, becoming a coordinator would raise your wage a fair amount in comparison. With regards holidays, you won’t have the same holidays as PP teachers and will likely not be paid for them for many years.
You have a lot of experience in an industry that pays very well, so I can only imagine you’re financially stable; so maybe these points on FE pay compared to primary and secondary teaching won’t discourage you from pursuing this career!

Unfortunately, FE teaching doesn’t hold the same status as Primary and PP teaching here in Ireland.

The rate of pay in Further ed is the same as Post primary and just like post primary, FE teachers get holiday pay once made permanent.

It is much harder to secure permanency or even subbing positions in FE and even harder to secure full time hours. The FE sector is well known for nepotism among the teaching community, to the point of corruption, that is the biggest issue with Further education.

OP have you considered starting up your own night classes? You can enquire about this with your local ETB or night school

emilymemily

Notorious wrote: »

Unlike second level, PLC teachers don't require a council number. I can hire whoever I want for a PLC teaching job tomorrow. There is no required qualification.

This is entirely untrue, you cannot teach without a teaching council number as you cannot get paid, unless you are a privately run organisation that pays tutors yourselves.

Notorious

emilymemily wrote: »

This is entirely untrue, you cannot teach without a teaching council number as you cannot get paid, unless you are a privately run organisation that pays tutors yourselves.

Well a number of my colleagues must be working illeagly so. We have PLC teachers on a joint PLC and post-primary campus and are part of an ETB - nothing private. A number of my colleagues (who only teach PLC) have come to us with no teaching qualification but in most cases they do have industry experience. Some have no experience what-so-ever; this always confused me.

I also have a colleague who was teaching second level and registered by the teaching council (4 years ago) before commencing his teaching qualification. That's a story for another day.

r93kaey5p2izun

Notorious wrote: »

Well a number of my colleagues must be working illeagly so. We have PLC teachers on a joint PLC and post-primary campus and are part of an ETB - nothing private. A number of my colleagues (who only teach PLC) have come to us with no teaching qualification but in most cases they do have industry experience. Some have no experience what-so-ever; this always confused me.

I also have a colleague who was teaching second level and registered by the teaching council (4 years ago) before commencing his teaching qualification. That's a story for another day.

Since 2017 you can register for FE with the TC with just a degree, but you have to complete a teaching qualification within 3 years to keep registration. If they registered prior to 2017 it doesn't apply as degree only was sufficient for FE at that time.