‘Dealing with parents can be scary’: New teachers on life in today’s classroom

Teachers emigrating due to Ireland’s housing crisis, limited promotional posts in schools and a growing level of paperwork are among the issues that regularly make the news. It might make you wonder why anyone is entering the profession in the first place.
Yet, teaching remains a highly popular course in higher education, with a 20 per cent increase in student-teacher graduates over the last five years. We rarely get to hear from teachers about why they have chosen to enter the profession, what motivates them and why the vast majority choose to stay in Ireland rather than emigrate.
With this in mind, we caught up with a group of newly qualified primary and secondary teachers and asked them about what life is like in the classroom today, what is going well and what they would like to see changed.
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All are graduates of either DCU or Maynooth University. They are Luke Casserly, a teacher in Coláiste Chiaráin, Athlone; Laura Durkan, who teaches at Scoil Úna Naofa in Crumlin; Jake Fahy, a teacher at Piper’s Hill College in Naas; Laoise McColgan, who teaches at Mercy College Inchicore; and Daria Moran, who teaches at Coláiste Eoin, Finglas.
Jake Fahy Going into the profession I was oblivious to the “extra” hours that go on behind the scenes, such as lesson planning and correcting. Dealing with parents can be scary but most of the time they are as afraid of you as you are of them.
Laura Durkan I was initially quite nervous about the large amount of responsibility I would have as a teacher with my own class. However, since getting started, I feel immensely supported in the school I am teaching in.
Luke Casserly I was given pause by the reality that there are very few ways to climb the [promotional] ladder compared to other professions. I’m lucky to live at home at the moment, but if I was to move out and rent, things would be very different. You’ll probably never be very wealthy as a teacher, but it is a job with a pretty decent work-life balance.
Laoise McColgan When we were in school, there was a lot of chalk-and-talk, with rote learning, but the new Junior Cycle focuses on student-led learning. We always want to improve and do our best for our students, but you can end up coming home and spending the rest of the day preparing for tomorrow – so you have to focus on work-life balance to prevent burnout. That said, it is one of the most fantastic and rewarding jobs in the world, and a privilege to be a role model and make a difference for hundreds of young people.
Daria Moran My hesitation was my own additional educational needs, but in my sixth year [at school], I spoke to two of my teachers who offered me advice and put my mind at rest.
DM No, I want to give back my local community and begin to build my life here.
LMcC Some of my classmates have, or they’re considering it. They’re drawn by the lifestyle, weather and cost of living, as well as being young and wanting to travel. But being away from home for that long isn’t for me.
JF I’ve thought about going to the United Arab Emirates. There are benefits to teaching over there, and the opportunity to travel is on my mind. But I am lucky not to have a long commute and to be renting near where I work.
LD I would love to travel. The Middle East or Australia would be most attractive to me as destinations to teach. The quality of life for teachers in these countries seems to be very good.
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DM As someone with dyslexia and dyspraxia, I often found school challenging, but I had excellent teachers – some of whom were also dyslexic – that helped me. I wanted to make that difference for other students.
LMcC I did my transition year work experience in a primary school and I loved the look of joy when children figured something out. I loved science as well, so I thought being a teacher would bring the best of both worlds.
JF What drew me to teaching was my grá for biology, and the fact I had a very experienced maths teacher whose classes I enjoyed.
LC I was inspired by fantastic teachers who brought their subjects alive with their passion, especially my Junior Cycle English teacher, Jim Waldron, who delivered magical lessons, as well as my Leaving Cert English teacher, Bríd Keenan, who was such an inspiring model of kindness, dedication and passion for the subject. I felt that if I could provide for young people what these teachers provided for me and my classmates – I’d have an incredibly rewarding and worthwhile career.
LD I enjoyed it during my work experience, and was further drawn to the teaching profession due to the work-life balance and due to the fact my own primary schoolteachers were such an inspiration in how they were so kind and dedicated.
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JF Burning the candle at both ends. I have learned to set boundaries for work, as if you allow it to consume your evenings and weekends, it can burn you out.
LD I think the cost of rent in Dublin is exacerbating the teacher supply crisis. Perhaps if Ireland adopted a similar payment system to the UK and US, where teachers in the capital or bigger cities get increased pay to counteract the cost of living in the cities compared with more rural areas, it could help. Also, the demands often faced by students on school placement are quite unrealistic, and should be re-evaluated.
LMcC I did a science-teaching degree, meaning my professional masters of education (PME) was only one year instead of two. For those who do have a two year-course, it can be very expensive, trying to study and work to pay fees and bills. We need to look at offering more concurrent courses: if you did two arts subjects, such as English and geography, teacher training should be offered alongside that so people don’t have to do an extra year or two in college.
DM As a newly qualified teacher, I don’t have the years of experience to deal with every situation; it is only through first-hand experience that I can develop my competencies further.
LC As a religious education teacher, I would be concerned that as curriculum develops, people question the need for RE on our syllabus. It’s such an important subject that builds tolerance, compassion, and provides a space for students to reflect on their own spirituality, regardless of their own personal or family faith. And the sometimes precarious nature of teaching contracts!
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LC There’s no better feeling than finishing a lesson in which you know that students have learned something that will stay with them, and that they enjoyed it. Teenagers today are painted by many very badly, but they are so clever, innovative and creative. There are days when I learn just as much from them as they learn from me.
DM Working with young people, helping them reach their individual goals and visualise an optimistic future for themselves