Help on Becoming a Secondary School Teacher

Hi,

I've a good friend who is nearly finished a 3yr Communications Degree in a major Irish University. Disillusioned with career prospects in that area, she has reverted to her old dream of being a secondary teacher.

Her problem is that none of the subjects she has studied at third level are taught on the JC/LC curriculum. She would love to teach English, Art, Music, CSPE, Geography - any of these really. But how can she get to that point? Having researched her opportunities, she has found very little help from official avenues.

Does anyone know of someone who had the same problem or any suggestions? Could she do a masters or even a cert in a subject and then a h.dip? She would be well able to teach (she's very good with teenagers and did very very well in the LC herself).

Any knowledge on this area would be great! Thanks

Have a look at the teaching council website. Normally to teach, you need a degree in that subject, plus a post grad in education. If her degree was communications, and at least 30% of that degree was devoted to English, she may be able to teach English, once she attains a Post Grad in Education. Hope that makes sense, but I would really get in contact first with the teaching council, as they are really cracking down on what subjects people can teach.

Thanks Mar123

Communications is not listed on the Approved list on the teaching site. AFAIK she has emailed the council, but they failed to respond in a meaningful way. I know you cna plead your case, but thats €225 for a submission - and it would be nice to have an idea of the likely outcome prior to doing so.

I know from another forum, of a number of teachers, who completed a post grad in education ( in England) in whatever subject, and are now being told they are not recognised to teach as the subject was not their degree subject as well.
Their would be no point in apealling at present, as she also needs a post grad in education.
Might she consider primary teaching, and completing the post grad in primary education.
Another area might be Youthreach, which involves teaching students 15-20, from disadvantaged areas who have left school. It involves alot of the time teaching Fetac modules, and a mojor emphasis is on communications.

Did she study French or German for the first year or two of her Communications degree? If so, maybe this is something she could pursue further? I assume she is doing her degree in DCU, which has an excellent careers service. She should have a chat to one of their representatives to see what her options are. In addition, she could enrol in a TEFL course and perhaps teach abroad during the Summer. The more teaching experience she gets, the better.

Thanks Budapest

Unfortuately she did'nt do French or German. Yes it is the DCU, and having used the careers service before, I would agree, it's an excellent service. However Im just wideing the net (pardon the pun) to see does anyone have direct experience or advice... the more info the better.

Yes Mar123, she would consider Primary (and it would be pretty easy to get as she has all the right things for it such as excellent Honors Irish) - however it is Secondary she would ultimately want, - whould there be a possibility of moving to secondary after a number of years? Would the teachers council take both her existing degree and the primary experience into account?

No, primary and secondary teaching are considered completely different. But generally it can take sometimes 8-10 years to find a permanent secondary teaching post, as there are so few jobs, on the other hand, there are far more primary teaching posts, and she would find it easier to find a permanent position compared to secondary teaching.

Mar123 said:

No, primary and secondary teaching are considered completely different. But generally it can take sometimes 8-10 years to find a permanent secondary teaching post, as there are so few jobs, on the other hand, there are far more primary teaching posts, and she would find it easier to find a permanent position compared to secondary teaching.

Click to expand...

I would imagine primary teaching to be easier in one respect, at least I can say that from my time spent as a kid where there was a lot of activities which were unpressured and non exam focused such as playing with mala and reading fun stories out loud etc. Also in these times where kids are getting bigger, 'more in your face' and more aggressive theres less chance of being beaten up by a teen with an overdose of growth hormones.

Apart from the obvious condition of teaching kids of a different age and needs, are pay and conditions different for primary compared to secondary school teachers ?

The Teaching Council website has information on requirements for Primary, Secondary, Community and VEC teaching:
http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/registration_information/default.asp?NCID=202

A full-time course, commencing in early 2008 and concluding in mid-2009 will be held in various colleges of education for the purpose of enabling third level graduates as primary teachers - details at

I emailed the teaching council myself and got a quick and informative reply...

The 'Degree in Communications' from DCU is not automatically recognized
for teaching purposes. Since this qualification is not automatically
recognised by the Teaching Council your friend would need to apply for
recognition by completing the attached application form and submitting
the requested documentation. An assessment for recognition is based on
meeting the subject criteria for the major subjects in the degree. I
attach the subject criteria for all curriculum subjects for reference.

Please note that we could not provide any information regarding the
suitability of this degree for teaching English until the recognition
process has been completed. Also if any shortfalls are identified
through the recognition process, the assessor may be able to direct the
applicant towards modules/courses that can be taken in order to meet
these shortfalls.

That last line looks very promising, she would'nt mind doing an extra year if that brought her up to standard.

Thanks everyone for your replies, they have been very helpful.

It does indeed - best of luck.