https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2024/04/01/by-friday-im-so-tired-i-can-barely-see-straight-the-rise-of-long-distance-commuting-teachers/
FFS, a major newspaper running this story just because it's a teacher. Driving 80 minutes is something many people do, but they have to do it far more days a year than a teacher will have to.
‘Quick! Pull up the ladder or we’ll lose our cushy terms and pensions. To hell with the new lot!’
This alone has been a master stroke by the unions. They shafted new teachers, assuaged the chance of forcing established members from any real pain (thus insulating themselves from any real criticism). Since then….The Government have been the ones purely at fault for not addressing the tiered system.
Principals have been at the forefront of highlighting teacher shortages and they have zero to gain by lying about it. Many are union members by default because there is no union for principals and deputy principals; indeed, as I recall, almost 100pc of them sided against the ASTI in 2016 when industrial action was taken.
Management in schools have a completely different role than teachers and their number 1 job is to get a body in front of a class. And, right now, in Dublin at least, that involves taking teachers out of SEN/resource or employing unqualified people because they cant get anybody else. In 1 school Im aware of, the only applicant for advertised hours was a Brazilian language assistant.
Teachers have to work their own hours for 2 years before they're entitled to a CID: thats a dept requirment. I dont understand why it's 2 years because yot would think 1 would be adequate for a principal to determine whether or not that individual is cut out for the job ( I have to assume thats the reason for any probationary period at all). Either way, because of how much more difficult the job has become as well as the housing crisis, inflation and the constant sniping from the likes of your good self that no other profession in the country has to endure, particularly at this time of year, it's no wonder our best and brightest educators (as well as lots of others besides) are foresaking the profession. The irony is it is your children that will suffer the consequences as they move through primary and secondary school as we continue to blindly facilitate, even agitate for, the race to the bottom.
I would say teaching unions have been saying there is a shortage of teachers since the Millenium, with a break for a few for a few years due to the recession.
Again, the media are very weak on this, they are happy to accept anecdotes or reports from the unions rather than find out how many places on teaching courses are not filled because of lack of demand.
The teacher shortage issue is nonsense.
Why is it still taking years for secondary school teachers to be made permanent if there's so many shortages.
Union rubbish.
Because they worked 2/3 days a month in the hospital. There was far more to that story than some poor sod commuting 5 days a week from spain.
Tbf isn't that article largely a teacher whingeing about something that isn't out of the ordinary, and hasn't it been taken at face value by the journalist?
Four years?
A PME is two years, and it teaches you how to teach your subject, with teaching practice.
Whatever about the merits or otherwise of teaching as a career. my hat is off to the OP for what must be one of the most provocative thread titles ever for Boards. In the current climate on this site I'm surprised the thread hasn't been closed down and the OP given a lifetime ban for trolling.
Yes. It does. The majority of a teaching course in college is actually how to handle children and young people and how to address difficulties you’ll be faced with.
If you think you go to study subjects and how to teach them for 4 years, I have a bridge to sell you.
read that article and it’s honestly the biggest wind up.
“I have to get up at 5am to leave the house for 6:15..” oh you poor crater
It's not that teaching is an easy job, but it is very well rewarded and for some reason the delusions of teachers are indulged greatly.
People in all sorts of jobs have 80 minute commutes, but it's doubtful that many people in other jobs would have their whinge about it published in the Irish Times. Members of all sorts of professions, many of them less well paid and all of them with less annual leave, are disadvantaged by high property prices, but again when it comes to teachers doors the media decide to write about it.
Maybe I'm being naive and it's not a failing of the media, but an exercise in clickbait by the Irish Times as they know irritated private sector workers will engage with it.
They should head across to the Isle of Man.
A secondary school teacher I know, an he is middle-aged…. earns about 28K.
It might also been influenced by the choice available. People in this thread have said "sure she could have picked X place" but a quick search on daft shows that everywhere has a shortage of places. Maybe she chose to live along that route and that was the only place she could find to rent.
’Give us a 25% pay increase or we’ll withdraw yard supervision’
‘We should be covid vaccinated first!’
‘You didn’t do your teacher training in Ireland and now you want a job here?? You must be having a laugh?’ “‘But the children! THE CHILDREN!!’
‘Doesn’t the Union represent the pay and conditions of the union members first and foremost?’
‘Shhh…shut up!’”
Union: Norma! SORT OUT GAZA!!
Norma: I’m the Minister for Education Union: SORT OUT GAZA! SORT OUT GAZA!
I agree with your sentiment, but again, who's saying it's easy? I'm not, don't think anyone else above is? There seems to be a bit of a misconception that if folks comment on teachers they think the job is easy. It's clearly not an easy job. Just a job that happens to have some of the best non pay related perks in town.
I think folks just get a bit annoyed when they see teachers whinging about things in their job that anyone going into the profession should probably know about already. Ie, being in a room full of kids/teenagers for the day. Or god forbid, having to commute.
That's pretty much it .
We have to value the people we depend upon
Chiming in to say THANK YOU to the teachers, especially those at second level. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult it is to engage a group of teenagers these days, never mind actually getting something worthwhile to sink in during that short 35-40 minute window.
These people are educating our children, the good ones are worth their weight in gold. As others have said if it was so easy then why doesn't everyone do it??
I work in the private sector, and cannot imagine teaching at secondary. Primary might be fun, for a bit, but that would probably drive you bonkers after a while too…
And that's before you start dealing with parents who all know better, and having to watch yourself on nights out, at summer festivals etc...nightmare.
She's probably still getting mammied sure- probably went to the college nearest to her (and thus didn't have to move away to study) and her next life goal is to settle down with a good, wholesome farmer.
Was the position being held for that teacher or did they completely leave the profession in Ireland?
Would teachers generally be happy for other experience to count when hiring and determining seniority levels?
This seems within the remit of reform the teachers could enact themselves if done in a reasonable way that was cost neutral.
Like a normal person she chose something that suited her specific needs. Go figure.
It shouldn't count for nothing though, and the system doesn't allow for any leeway.
There are very few instances where experience in one job directly equates to another.
A nurse in Australia works under very different conditions and practices than Ireland, and their experience counts.
So she knowingly chose a longer commute, so it would make her trips home to Limerick a bit easier, but is now being granted column inches in a national newspaper to whinge about her own choice.
I disagree here. It’s difficult to compare the teaching standards across different countries. Who to then say if you taught 3 years in a private school in the UAE its the same as teaching to the state curriculum here, with the same level of testing, scrutiny, inspections, etc. They simply don’t sync up.
I totally agree.
I think the penny doesn't drop with people until they have kids and are finding it difficult to find creches, schools ... or their adult kids can't afford anywhere to rent. They hope they can keep earning more to live in better places or afford private education. But that doesn't scale for a society. You have parents competing against their children. It's ridiculous. It's completely blind selfish thinking. And you see it everywhere.
Yep, there's a systemic issue when less are willing to enter nursing, teaching and the Gardai. Fundamental building blocks for a functional societ.
It really should though. Where else would you find it that experience doing a similar job for another employer doesn't count?
The teacher in question graduated in 2012, the worst year of the recession, and couldn't get a job. He left for 4 years like thousands of others and returned to find his 4 years of experience was worthless here.
2000 vacancies in Ireland, over 4,800 Irish teachers working abroad, and half the comments here calling teachers whingers. Yah, it's the teacher's fault 🙄
Thats the thing there's not. Huge shortage of Home EC, Science, Language and Math teachers, because of unruly classes and conditions. Many are doing what you say and taking up jobs in the private sector for far better pay, health insurance, and work from home in some cases.
So, rather than help the situation we are now left with teacher shortages, restricted choice for students and Irish teachers choosing to work abroad.
Society will be sorry later if there's no interest in teaching
there was an article on the journal today as well about a teacher moaning that his service abroad doesn’t count towards his years service here. The level of disbelief some people have is absolutely crazy.
I think she has made a terrible decision.
She commutes every single day, presumably she isn't going down to Limerick every day. She has prioritised the occasional trip to Limerick and as a consequence made her daily commute much worse than it could have been.
Even if she goes to Limerick every weekend, surely an extra 30 mins once a week is better than a crap commute every day?
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