What subjects did you take in school and how have these influenced your career path?
In school I studied Geography, German, History and Economics along with the three core subjects. Geography is the only subject that has influenced by career as it was my elective subject in college and I am now teaching it along with PE. You need to consider the subject choices available with PE in your chosen course and college as it will be affected by your chosen subjects at leaving cert.
What is your education to date?
I attended Presentation Secondary School in Tralee. After that I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and Geography from the University of Limerick. This was a four year concurrent teaching degree. During my time there I also qualified as a Fitness Instructor under the NCEF. Since then I have participated in a number of teacher inservice courses in both PE and Geography.
What aspects of your education have proven most important for your job?
The pedagogy (teaching) modules in both PE and Geography were probably the most crucial modules undertaken in college as they provided us with the skills necessary for the classroom. Video teaching allowed us to analyse our teaching from year one in college. The time we spent on teaching practice in both 2nd and 4th year were paramount to gaining experience before qualifying.
Have you undertaken, or do you plan to undertake any further training as part of your job?
Besides inservice in both PE and Geography which I have taken and plan to do in the future I have no plans for further training at present.
