Gaelic teachers prepare and give lessons in Gaelic language, literature, culture, history and arts. They work to guidelines set up by the Curriculum for Excellence and prepare pupils, aged 11 to 18, for national exams. Pupils may be native Gaelic speakers or learners.
You could be:
- teaching spoken and written Gaelic to native Gaelic speakers or beginners, or both
- using a variety of teaching techniques such as whole class lessons, small group work, discussions and individual projects
- using a range of materials including textbooks, work sheets, computers, audio-visual aids
- organising and directing the whole class and helping individual pupils as required
- setting assignments, projects, tests and exams, preparing and carrying out continuous assessment, marking pupils’ work and writing reports
- keeping good order in the classroom and dealing with discipline issues
- doing administrative work, including keeping a register of pupils
- preparing for and attending parent-teacher meetings and staff meetings
- sometimes supervising out-of-hours activities such as visits or social events.
Teachers in Scotland are paid on a national salary scale. The starting annual salary for a probationer teacher is £22,866.
If you do your probationary period on the Teacher Induction Scheme, and are prepared to work anywhere in Scotland during that probationary year, you can also apply for the Preference Waiver Payment. For secondary school teachers, the payment is £8,000 before tax and national insurance.
If you teach in a remote school or on certain islands you may get an additional allowance. £1,941 for a distance island and £1,371 or £2,574 for a remote school.
Where a teacher is employed in a remote school on a distant island both the remote schools allowance and the distant islands allowance are paid, in addition to the teacher’s normal salary.
A principal teacher can earn up to £51,330, while the scale for depute head teachers and head teachers ranges from £45,111 to £88,056, depending on the size of school.
Salaries in independent schools may differ slightly.
- You would work in a classroom or language laboratory.
- Your working hours are based on a 35-hour week and are usually 9.00am to 3.30pm or 4.00pm.
- You would probably teach for 22.5 hours a week, so you would have some time for preparation and marking or assessment in school. But you would often have to do more at home, in evenings or at weekends.
- You would have 13 weeks holiday each year, but would probably use some of this time to prepare next term's work.
- You would have to prepare for and attend parent-teacher meetings, which are usually in the evening.
- You should be aware that teaching is a mentally and physically demanding job.
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To qualify as a secondary school teacher of Gaelic, you must have a degree in Gaelic or Celtic (specialising in Scottish Gaelic) plus a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) OR the BA (Honours) degree in Gaelic with Education offered by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) at Sabhal Mor Ostaig and Lews Castle College UHI.
- For entry to a degree course you normally need 4-5 relevant Highers at good grades.
- You must also have Higher English and National 5 Maths and a Higher pass in Gaelic or another language may also be required. National 5 Applications of Maths is accepted in place of Maths at all universities with the exception of University of Edinburgh.
- Your degree should normally contain 80 Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) credit points in Gaelic or in Celtic (specialising in Scottish Gaelic), and 40 of the credit points must have been studied at SCQF level 8 (second year undergraduate level) or above.
- For entry to the BA (Hons) degree in Gaelic with Education at the UHI you need 3 Highers at C including English plus National 5 Maths.
- For entry to the PGDE, you need an approved degree, together with Higher English and National 5 Maths - some institutions specify at B. National 5 Applications of Maths is accepted in place of Maths at all universities with the exception of University of Edinburgh.
- You must be able to demonstrate that you are a fluent Gaelic speaker.
- Strathclyde University offers the PGDE in Gaelic. It also offers most of its PGDE secondary school subjects through the medium of Gaelic as well.
- There is a lot of competition for places in all PGDE courses. It helps if you have experience of working with children or young people.
- For PGDE courses, apply through UCAS.
You would require a satisfactory PVG (Protecting Vulnerable Groups) check to show you are suitable for this type of work. Contact Disclosure Scotland for details.
Newly qualified teachers who want to teach in local council schools must complete a probationary period to demonstrate that they meet the Standard for Full Registration of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC Scotland). Those who wish to teach in independent schools may also require to be registered.
You are guaranteed a teaching post with a Scottish local authority for a full school year to complete this probationary period.
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What Does it Take?
You need to have:
- an interest in child development and an understanding of how children learn
- patience and adaptability
- enthusiasm and energy
- a firm and assertive approach when necessary
- good organisational skills
- a sense of humour and positive outlook.
You need to be able to:
- hold the attention of pupils of all abilities and encourage them
- work on your own and as part of a team
- stay calm under pressure
- get on well with other staff members, parents and carers.
- You will do in-service training (often provided by local councils) throughout your teaching career.
- You might also take part time courses in specialist aspects of education, run by universities.
- You may be promoted to be a principal teacher or head of department.
- You may then become a depute head teacher and then a head teacher.
- You might move into related work such as learning support teaching, further education lecturing, advisory work, education authority administration or schools inspection.
Visit Teagasg, a website specifically for people interested in teaching Gaelic, for more information on teaching opportunities, training, funding, case studies and useful links.
Most teachers work in local authority schools but there are also jobs in private schools, and in private tuition.
Job vacancies are normally advertised on local authority websites or look on the myjobscotland website.
The following organisations may be able to provide further information.
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