Teaching

There are several routes to Gaelic teaching:

  • an undergraduate BEd course which lasts four years for people wishing to teach in a Gaelic primary school or unit;
  • a full-time postgraduate course which lasts one year for people who want to teach in a Gaelic primary school or unit;
  • a part-time postgraduate course which lasts two years, and is delivered through distance learning, for people who want to teach in a Gaelic primary school or unit;
  • a full-time postgraduate course which lasts one year for people who want to teach Gaelic or subjects through Gaelic in secondary schools;
  • a part-time postgraduate course which lasts two years, and which is delivered through distance learning, for people who want to teach Gaelic in secondary schools.

There is another path for people who are already trained as a primary school teacher and who want to teach Gaelic as a second language in primary school, and although it is an advantage if you have Gaelic, if you don’t, you can learn Gaelic as part of the training which you will be offered by your local authority (not all local authorities run the Gaelic Learners in the Primary School, GLPS, scheme). Aberdeen University contributes to this scheme by offering the first step towards teaching Gaelic under the GLPS scheme: they help (if requested) students on their BEd programme who are learners to improve their Gaelic.

As Gaelic Medium Education develops at every level, there is a need for enthusiastic and able teachers, and lots of young Gaelic speakers are making their own contribution to teaching their language to a new generation.

There are six main choices for someone wanting to teach in Gaelic. You can teach: through the medium of Gaelic in a nursery unit, through the medium of Gaelic in a primary school and through the medium of Gaelic in a secondary school (subjects such as Geography, History and so on); and you can teach Gaelic as a second language in a primary school, as a second language in a secondary school, or Gaelic as a subject to fluent speakers in a secondary school.

As mentioned there are a number of courses for people wishing to be a Gaelic teacher and there is a dedicated website with teaching materials and information for teachers – Gaelic Online. Every teacher must have an appropriate qualification and more information on that and Gaelic teaching in general can be found under the Useful Websites section.

For further information on Gaelic teaching contact the Gaelic Teacher Recruitment Officer.

Support for Students Training to be Teachers

Bòrd na Gàidhlig is launching a scheme offering support for students with priority given to those on Gaelic teacher training courses. Closing date for applications - 14/09/2012. Application packs below.

Further information available from:

Downloads

Information for Applicants / Fiosrachadh do thagraidhean 2012-13

Application Form / Foirm Iarrtais Tabhartasan Foghlaim 2012-2013