Is a teacher actually qualified & registered to teach mathematics?

L

Lak

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Probably not the right place to post this but non the less I was wondering if anyone could advise?

Is there a way in which I could officially clarify or not, if a certain maths teacher is actually qualified and registered to teach that subject?

We and other parents are having a great deal of trouble with a particular teacher and her ability, methods, and even state of mind in relation to her teaching.

Without going into detail on the many incidents and many visits to the principal from various parents this former recourse teacher is now teaching maths. We have asked the principal if indeed she is qualified to teach maths but were met with a brick wall and a rather melodramatic show of effrontery at such a question and a forceful request to not take the matter further without actually confirming the teacher in question is indeed qualified, (surely the easier option).

For the record I am not the type of parent who sides with his child at every little indiscretion, I am a firm believer that the teacher as the responsible guardian during the day is "right" and would have my full support in any actions taken first and foremost, but we have here a situation that is becoming ridiculous and needs to be resolved.

Is there an official channel I can avail of to address my concerns, without being seen as acting in an underhand manner.

Thank you in advance

Legs
 
Can you approach the Board of Management if you are not happy with the Principals response on the matter?
 
The chances are that if she is under 35 years of age she does not have a maths qualification. If she is over 35 then there's a one in 3 chance she is not qualified.

[broken link removed]

“This highlights a significant divide in post-primary schools between students who are taught by qualified mathematics teachers and those who are
taught by out-of-field teachers of mathematics, with younger and weaker students most often taught by out-of-field teachers," said Dr Hannigan.
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legs-akimbo said:
Is there a way in which I could officially clarify or not, if a certain maths teacher is actually qualified and registered to teach that subject.
recourse teacher is now teaching maths.
Thankyou in advance
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I read in the paper around the time of the Leaving Cert results, that half of all maths teachers have no qualifications in maths itself.
It struck me as odd, as the debate about poor maths and science results made me wonder was there a deficiency on the teaching side of things.
 
You can check whether or not the individual is a qualified teacher by inputting his/her name on the teaching councils register page. Doesnt say what subjects a teacher can teach (but the Teaching Council does record this information itself), but at least you'll find out if the person is a real teacher. You'd be surprised at how many people who are not teachers are teaching in Irish schools.
 
Just to clarify, that link in fact indicates whether a person is registered with the Teaching Council, not whether (s)he is a qualified teacher.

I'd suggest that the OP request this information in writing from the school Principal in the first instance, and in very neutral, factual terms. What qualification, what year, what institution.

The Principal would be foolish to ignore such a request, and a refusal would in itself provide grounds for a complaint to the Teaching Council.
 
DrMoriarty said:
Just to clarify, that link in fact indicates whether a person is registered with the Teaching Council, not whether (s)he is a qualified teacher.

I'd suggest that the OP request this information in writing from the school Principal in the first instance, and in very neutral, factual terms. What qualification, what year, what institution.

The Principal would be foolish to ignore such a request, and a refusal would in itself provide grounds for a complaint to the Teaching Council.
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I agree with your advice - parents should officially ask the school.

However, registration with Teaching Council is mandatory for all teachers. Not being on the register means they are unqualified teachers. If they are not on the register, then you know with 100% certainty that they are not qualified to teach and so dont need to progress to next stage i.e. asking school.

If they are registered, it may be that they are qualified teachers, but not necessarily qualified to teach maths - you'll need to get this info from the school.
 
csirl said:
I agree with your advice - parents should officially ask the school.

However, registration with Teaching Council is mandatory for all teachers. Not being on the register means they are unqualified teachers. If they are not on the register, then you know with 100% certainty that they are not qualified to teach and so dont need to progress to next stage i.e. asking school.
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It is hard to search, given that I don't know the first names of many of the teachers. The principal of our boy's school is in the register, but not listed with the school (or any school). I can't find the principal of the girl's school, or several of the girls school teachers (matching by surname and school name).

Is the school name details reliable?
 
Complainer said:
It is hard to search, given that I don't know the first names of many of the teachers. The principal of our boy's school is in the register, but not listed with the school (or any school). I can't find the principal of the girl's school, or several of the girls school teachers (matching by surname and school name).

Is the school name details reliable?
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The best source of first names is ratemyteachers.ie

Not a reliable source, but usually correct.
 
It depends what you mean by "qualifies".

In the past, you did Arts + H.Dip. Plenty of teachers did not study during their Arts degree the subjects that they subsequently taught.

Example: I know of a teacher who did the common combination of Eng plus Hist in Arts. Then the H.Dip.

They began teaching several subjects, e.g. hist, geog, etc., but ended up teaching just maths.

Are they a "qualified" maths teacher? I don't know.

But I do know they have 30 yrs+ experience, and thousands of pupils will attest to the quality.
 
Agree with Protocol.

In my opinion, the Teaching Council should list all the registered teachers on a school by school basis rather than having people do a name search where they may not know the full name of the teacher. They should also list the subjects that each teacher is qualified to teach. My wife is a teacher and the TC does hold this information and it is already on their database - it's only available to individual members via online password.
 
csirl said:
My wife is a teacher and the TC does hold this information and it is already on their database - it's only available to individual members via online password.
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Presumably, it would be available under an FOI request.
csirl said:
The best source of first names is ratemyteachers.ie

Not a reliable source, but usually correct.
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Thanks for the tip, but it is not so good for primary teachers.
 
Complainer said:
It is hard to search, given that I don't know the first names of many of the teachers. The principal of our boy's school is in the register, but not listed with the school (or any school). I can't find the principal of the girl's school, or several of the girls school teachers (matching by surname and school name).

Is the school name details reliable?
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Have you tried their names as gaeilge? Teachers seem to use irish names quite a lot. Also, is the spelling correct and does she perhaps use maiden/married name?
Sybil
 
DrMoriarty said:
Just to clarify, that link in fact indicates whether a person is registered with the Teaching Council, not whether (s)he is a qualified teacher.

I'd suggest that the OP request this information in writing from the school Principal in the first instance, and in very neutral, factual terms. What qualification, what year, what institution.

The Principal would be foolish to ignore such a request, and a refusal would in itself provide grounds for a complaint to the Teaching Council.
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I contacted the teaching council who advised me to put the request in writing to the school principal, which I did last June. The principal was shocked at my request & the Chairman of the board was insulted at my request and asked me to retract it, which I refused to do. The teacher in question is now teaching my daughter again (this is her Junior cert year) & there seems to be a relunctance to provide me with this information. I am considering contacting the teaching council again, if I do will my request be dealt with in confidence or will they contact the school to notify them of my request. I dont want to make school life difficult for my daughter.
 
Can't you ask the teacher at the next parent teacher meeting what university he/she went to and degree he/she did? I'm a professional and if someone asked me my qualification I would have no problem at all in telling them. My sister is a teacher and she also would have no hesitation telling someone. Of course you would have to ask it in the correct manner/tone of voice (inquisitive nosiness more so than doubting their ability even if you do doubt it) but the option is there to ask.
 
The teacher in question was apoplectic when informed a request had been made as to her credentials. But absolutely no one is prepared to take the easy option and present us with the requested information, their line seems to be insulted outrage and that we have an affront to dare question their authority and therefore will not even dignify said request with a reply, indeed we have been strongly advised by the B.O.M. to retract the request.

Now she may well be fully qualified to teach maths, I simply am not convinced she is, I would not give a fig if she were only qualified to teach metal work so long as her prowess in the classroom was of an acceptable standard, it is very far from it, I could go into detail about the bizarre and outrageous carry ons but do not intend to blacken anyone's name with a one sided argument and will simply deal with the important facts.

As I have mentioned, this teacher has been for many years a resource teacher in an "upstairs" capacity, she has only one single class in mathematics which commenced last year, so the plethora of complaints are therefore from only one single solitary class, but the principal has dug in her heels and refuses point blank to acknowledge or address the situation.

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, I aim to get to the bottom of this.

If it transpires the teacher is indeed qualified to teach my daughter maths then we will humbly accept the situation and have to work around the problem as best we can for all concerned, this is not a vendetta we will always support the teachers, for us their authority holds presidence.

A poor teacher I can accept, a poor teacher that has no right to be teaching a critical subject I can not.
 
legs-akimbo said:
Fizzelina the teacher in question was apopleptic when informed a request had been made as to her credentials. But absolutely no one is prepared to take the easy option and present us with the requested information, their line seems to be insulted outrage and that we have an affront to dare question their authority and therefor will not even dignify said request with a reply, indeed we have been strongly advised by the B.O.M. to retract the request.
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Again, I would urge you to deal with this in writing. It sounds very much like verbal approaches will yield nothing, and you cannot take this further without firmer evidence than hearsay. Write again explaining that you cannot accede to the request made by the Chairman of the BoM that you retract your legitimate request for information (assuming that's all that you put in your letter?), and request acknowledgement in turn of this letter.

Do not criticise the teacher or the principal, you'll simply give them ammunition. By all means refer to the principal's failure to respond satisfactorily to your request, but don't suggest collusion or impropriety of any kind. And don't venture your opinion of the teacher, however valid. Keep it factual and to the point. If you can get other parents to sign the letter, so much the better, but it's not essential. They will see that you mean business and will have to respond, but you must stay calm and reasonable and not give them any chance to brand you as a 'troublemaker'.

Good luck.
 
Do not criticise the teacher or the principal, you'll simply give them ammunition. By all means refer to the principal's failure to respond satisfactorily to your request, but don't suggest collusion or impropriety of any kind. And don't venture your opinion of the teacher, however valid. Keep it factual and to the point. If you can get other parents to sign the letter, so much the better, but it's not essential. They will see that you mean business and will have to respond, but you must stay calm and reasonable and not give them any chance to brand you as a 'troublemaker'.

Good luck.
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Absolutely ! We would not consider making any personal comments, there are always two sides to an argument and airing any personal grievances will always be detrimental and be perceived as petty in my opinion.
Dealing with cold hard facts and not opinions is the only way and accepting the outcome in a dignified manner will enable a positive reflection of a way forward....from both sides.
 
I actually went through a very similar situation when I was in school with a teacher that was teaching me both maths and irish. To say she was terrible was putting it mildly. In the end, we found out that she was a qualified maths teacher but was teaching irish as well as she grew up in an irish speaking area. My parents and many others approached the BOM and principal as you have done to no avail, the teacher was a permanent employee for many years and they had to defend her. In the end, we started refusing to attend her class and with enough lobbying by our parents, we were assigned a new teacher. It wasn't the best conclusion as the teacher was just moved to another class but it was the only solution we could get.
I don't envy your position, the school and BOM are always going to back their teachers so I don't think you're going to win but best of luck anyway!
 
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