School teachers play an essential part in helping children and young people to acquire the knowledge and social, cultural and practical skills they will need throughout their lives in order to become adult members of society. The work involves building relationships with pupils that encourage them to learn and fulfil their potential.
All teachers adapt their teaching style and methods to the age and ability of their pupils.
Teachers spend most of their time teaching, but they have a range of other duties, which may include:
- preparing materials, planning, presenting and marking lessons
- keeping records of work and writing progress reports
- preparing pupils for exams
- keeping attendance records
- setting and enforcing standards of behaviour inside and outside the classroom
- liaising with parents at parents’ evenings and on other occasions
- adapting teaching methods to the pupils’ age and ability
- identifying underachieving pupils and providing extra help if necessary
- supporting pupils who experience problems such as bullying or parental neglect
- organising and attending extracurricular activities, such as clubs and school shows
- liaising with external professionals, including social workers, education welfare officers and the police.
Primary teachers teach pupils aged from 5 to 11 and have responsibility for one class. They cover all subjects of the National Curriculum (NC) .The core subjects are English, Irish, Maths and Science, which are taught alongside a range of other subjects including design and technology (DT), information and communication technology (ICT), history, geography, languages, art and design, music and physical education (PE). Some primary teachers are specialists who travel between a group of schools teaching subjects such as PE, music or art.
There are other specialisms within teaching such as early years teacher and special educational needs teacher (see separate articles).
Hours and environment
A teacher’s working day must cover school hours (typically between 8.45am and 3.40pm) Monday to Friday in term time.
Teachers in state-maintained schools must work the prescribed teaching hours in any school year (an average of 32 hours a week). In addition, they have hours scheduled into their timetable each week for planning, preparation and assessment. It is usual that some of this work may be done outside school in the teacher’s own time during evenings and weekends.
Teachers must attend parents’ evenings and are encouraged to participate in activities outside school hours. They may sometimes accompany pupils on trips locally or abroad. Some teachers may also have to attend meetings outside school hours.
Entry to Primary Schol Initial Teacher Education (ITE) is regulated by the Department of Education and Skills (DES).
There are five main providers of programmes of Primary ITE in Ireland and Hibernia College.
- DCU / St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra,
- Dublin DCU / Church of Ireland College of Education
- Marino Institute of Education, Dublin
- Mary Immaculate College Limerick
- Froebel College of Education, NUI Maynooth
Full-time undergraduate programmes for primary teachers (B. Ed) are now four years in duration across all institutions. Postgraduate programmes for primary teaching (PME) are now two-years.