Primary Teaching as a late vocation

Loads of good advice on here. I would just like to make two comments.

You are not too old and you will not be too old in 10 years time. A close relative of mine trained as a teacher in her late 40s and went on to teach full time for nearly 20 years. She went from a woman with her children reared and her life behind her, to a whole new life and career. This was more than 20 years ago when such things were more unusual than they are today.

Secondly you have just made a major career change. Give yourself at least a year trying to make the best of it before you decide on another change. What can your new colleagues be thinking, "this guy just joined us and already he's unhappy" give them a chance and give yourself a chance in this role.

SCurry said:

. 30 years of drudgery awaits.

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That's negative thinking your glass is more than half full as it is and there are always options. Plenty of people return to education in their middle years for you it might just take a year or two longer. Maybe you need to get away and have a couple weeks holiday you sound a bit under the weather. Keep the chin up!

... I managed to insert my last message INTO your quote Scurry... : (

In case you didn't get it - I can offer you a day or two work experience in primary school near Dublin. It might help you answer some of the questions you have.

Nike

Most generous. Great to have such helpful people in the AAM community. Well done and hope it all works out

Thanks for the encouragement. I spoke to a friend of mine last night. He's a principal now himself at only 33. I soldiered many years with him on the gaa field. I told him my quandary and I asked him to give me it straight as he knows my family well. In summary he was very positive. Said my background in IT coupled with sport and personality (especially patience) would be "mana from heaven" for lots of schools.

He's actually involved with the Hibernia masters which I didn't know about but he would be a great resource as it turns out.

Lastly I have the support of my family including parents for allowing me to study children freewhen mammy working. I have the fees saved and our mortgage (504 a month) could probably be parked for a year.

Today I feel positive and have started the Irish research.


Nike thanks very much for your kind offer. I may take you up yet but I do some IT work for some local schools and have a good few contacts so might get some observation nearer home. That said if I want to be anonymous I may travel further a field..

Gonna give the job more time too, maybe it'll grow on me. If not though I'll be doing my Irish next June at the tender age of 36!

SCurry, you seem to be preparing well for a number of eventualities. Stay positive no matter which road you choose. Best of luck.

Best of luck SCurry.

Go n-éirí leat!

There are alternatives to the Honours Irish including diplomas in Irish from various NUI colleges. That might be an option and possibly more difficult but you end up with another 3rd level qualification rather then simply adding to your Leaving Cert

Is secondary teaching an option given you won't need Irish. ?

Likewise, if you went for or already have a Masters then there are usually vacancies for part time and evening lecturers in your local IT or other colleges, That might be a way of getting your toes wet in teaching

As for the CS role, suggest you just put your head down and given the work is not too taxing, it may allow you the time and mindspace to focus on getting your qualifications to your longer term goals. You should investigate to see if there is a study leave policy

Best of luck, a friend of mine did the Hibernia course at 39, he was delighted that he took the plunge. Subbing the last year so nothing permanent yet but he reckons it'll happen soon.

Thanks Funnyname fair play to him, had he a family? Doing the course excites me, it's having to quit my job after approx 1 year of it that's scares the bejaysus out of me. I'd love to be able to keep it someway but won't be a runner. A masters in education wouldn't be seen as an advantage where I am working now. I wouldn't care one bit if it was just me to think of, that's the only stumbling block I now see, that fear.

He has 2 very young kids, one was born during the course, his wife would be the main earner but he had a part time job while he did the course. However he said it was the best career move he ever made.

Thanks. Slightly different for me in that I am the main earner and Mrs Scurry works part-time cos of the little ones. Therein lies my greatest dilemma. If I packed in CS job and then ended up either failing and/or or having to move away to work then I've made a huge mistake. God I wish I could go back in time 15 years!

But do you really need to pack in the CS job, the Hibernia course is part time (evenings and weekends, correct me if I'm wrong) with a requirement of 24 weeks teaching time and 4 weeks in the Gaeltacht, over the course of 2 years. Could you use a few weeks of your holidays and make up the rest of the time through parental leave if management allowed you to take it in blocks. Sure not a bother on you to do the Honours Irish next year and in the meantime you could work out a plan to see if it was possible to do it. Best of luck whatever you decide.

I am a primary school teacher. I don't think you're to old to do it but it will be very difficult to get a job. No doubt about it. However, if you're heart is set on it get the Leaving Cert Irish exam out of the way. It is a very difficult paper, particularly if you are not a native speaker. Without it you will be able to go no further so get over that hurdle and you can deal with the rest later.

As for the job I would definitely speak to teachers and spend time in classrooms. It is not the cushy number people think. You have planning and correcting to do. You have to deal with very difficult parents who think that you are a babysitting service. The class sizes are big. You can have extremely difficult classes/pupils. You can have horrible inspectors. You can have a lot of politics in school which cannot be avoided. I've worked in all kinds of jobs and nothing has ever made me as tired as when I have been teaching. In saying all of that I love my job now but I have also been the most stressed I've ever been while teaching. Don't make the move thinking you'll be teaching children who look up at you with awe and parents who are so grateful for what you are doing for their children that they shower you with praise. Be realistic.

I have a suggestion for you that might be an option and no one else seems to have mentioned it. It is very enjoyable and would give you the chance of teaching without having all the financial issues, etc. Contact NALA. They teach maths and reading/writing to adults in small groups. This can vary from groups to one-to-one. The people who contact NALA looking for help are very motivated but for one reason or another they have difficulty with reading, writing, spelling or maths. I have taught these classes and I loved it. The age range varied from people in their early twenties to their seventies. I was working with them on material taught at the top end of primary and the bottom end of secondary. Due to personal circumstances these adults had not been able to keep up with school work (mostly they left school early). I found it very difficult to continue doing the classes because of all of the work I had to do for my job so had to give up in the end but I would recommend it highly. I think they might even have IT classes.

https://www.nala.ie/

I agree with Muinteoir - as well as concentrating on Irish, I think you should look to volunteer in a more 'classroom' type setting (coaching sport is not exactly the same).

If not nala, would you consider mentoring at the CoderDojo? It's coding classes for kids, and they happen all over the country (https://coderdojo.com/news/tag/dublin/ for example)

Good suggestion there from stephnyc. CoderDojo and NALA would both need Garda vetting so it is worth getting onto that as it can be quite slow to get done.

Good suggestion there from stephnyc. CoderDojo and NALA would both need Garda vetting so it is worth getting onto that as it can be quite slow to get done.

Deiseblue said:

So , yes I think you are too old , have too many familial obligations allied to the fact that a huge amount of newly qualified teachers are forced to emigrate for full time positions.

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Hi SCurry, sorry to hear the current job is not working out. However, I agree fully with Deise.

If it were me I would try to negotiate a raise with your old employer and go back. In addition then I would certainly look at training as a teacher on the side. If your current job is as bad as it sounds for you, then I would leave - life is just too short.

Another thing to consider - if your IT skills are in demand would you consider contracting for say 9 months a year and spend the other 3 months a year assisting a school to "get your foot in the door"?