The Professional Master of Education is a full-time programme running for two academic years from the date of first registration for the programme.
Candidates must have a primary degree at a minimum level of 2H2 or equivalent (e.g. primary degree and Masters) that is recognised by the Teaching Council of Ireland for the teaching of at least one subject in a post-primary school.
Entry to the PME programme is competitive and selection is according to a subject-based application system, with points awarded based on marks achieved in the applicant's undergraduate degree, any subsequent academic qualifications, and certain categories of relevant professional work experience. See the PAC website for details.
For the UCC PME, an offer of a place may be accepted but is conditional on the applicant securing a School Placement in one of the schools on the School of Education’s list of co-operating schools. (see below under Programme Requirements for further details on School Placement).
A candidate for the Professional Master of Education may not simultaneously pursue any other programme except with the special permission of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences.
Application
Application forms for admission to the programme will be available online from PAC (Postgraduate Applications Centre), 1 Courthouse Square, Galway. Tel: 091 549260 www.pac.ie. Application forms should be completed no later than the advertised closing date.
As part of their application, candidates must complete a Teaching Council Subject Declaration Form in respect of each of their teaching subject(s).
Garda Vetting
Students, or applicants in receipt of an offer, on this programme will be subject
to Garda Vetting as relevant. Students will be prohibited from engaging in a relevant
work placement unless the vetting process has been cleared. Click here to view UCC's
Student Garda Vetting Policy.
Fitness to Practise
This programme is subject to the University's Fitness to Practise Policy - full details may be found here.
Teaching Subjects
Students are normally allowed to teach only those subjects, which they have pursued to an advanced level in their degree and for which they have completed and submitted Teaching Council Subject Declaration Forms (SDFs) on application to the PME programme. At least one of these subjects must be approved by the Teaching Council for teacher registration*. (To teach French, German, Irish, Italian, Spanish, students must have studied the language as a major subject in their primary degree extending over at least three years and of the order of 30% at a minimum of that period). Students normally also teach a second subject in which they have some recognised academic attainment and for which they are recognised to teach by the Teaching Council. All students are required to attend pedagogy courses to support the teaching of both their teaching subjects. Students who do not have a second teaching subject will be required to attend a cross-curricular pedagogy course to further support, develop and deepen the teaching of their main subject.
Students should note that only the following post-primary teaching subjects are currently supported on the programme: Business Studies (including Accounting and Economics), Computer Science, CSPE#, English, French, Gaeilge/Irish, Geography, German, History, Italian, Maths, Music, Religious Education, Science (including Agricultural Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics), Spanish.
#CSPE: Students presenting with CSPE must have a second teaching subject.
Important Note: A minimum number of students is required for subject-specific modules to run each year (cross-subject support may be provided if student numbers are low).
*Note: To be eligible for appointment to an incremental salaried teaching position in a secondary school, a teacher must be registered. It is the Teaching Council alone which has the authority to determine what constitutes adequate qualifications for registration purposes. See www.teachingcouncil.ie for registration details.
School Placement
As per Teaching Council guidelines, the programme includes a requirement for two separate mentored and supervised school placements (one in Year 1 and one in Year 2) in recognised cooperating post-primary schools. School placements are designed to give student teachers opportunities to gain professional experience in classrooms and schools, to learn about teaching and learning in a variety of situations, to participate fully in the life of the school and to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of the teacher and the school more generally. In both Years 1 and 2, students must obtain placement teaching hours in cooperating post-primary schools. The list of approved cooperating schools for PME school placements is available on the UCC School of Education website at https://www.ucc.ie/en/education. Note: While most co-operating schools are in the greater Cork City area, some schools on the list will require a considerable amount of travel and may necessitate use of a car or public transport.
For Year 1 the responsibility for securing a placement school from the list of UCC School of Education PME cooperating schools rests entirely with the student. A place on the UCC PME programme is conditional on this school placement being secured. After selection by the school, students sign a placement form and are contracted until the end of the school year to carry out their teaching placement in the school in question. Students must normally ensure that there is a minimum of twelve students in their placement class groups for supervision purposes.
Each student is expected to have a contrasting placement experience in a different school context for Year 2. The placement school for Year 2 will be mediated by the School of Education PME Placement Co-ordinator and must be approved by the School of Education.
Students are required to spend a minimum of 100 hours of personal experience of directly teaching a class or classes in one or more approved subjects (normally 6 periods per week) in Year 1 and 150 hours (normally 9 periods per week) in Year 2. In both years placement must be undertaken on specific days and during specific times for the entire school year from late August until the following June. In both Years 1 and 2, students are required to prepare and maintain a School Placement Teaching Portfolio with evidence of long and short term planning, daily and weekly reflections, resources and other relevant data for all their class groups for the duration of their placements. During both placements students engage in non-teaching school activities for a number of hours required by the Teaching Council. This experience will normally include lesson planning, preparation and reflection, opportunities for some classroom observation of experienced teachers, team teaching, participation in school meetings, and other collaborative work with school staff and the extended school community. During these non-teaching activities, students in Year 1 will also be required to complete a variety of reflective research tasks pertaining to their placement (e.g. pertaining to classroom management, teacher questioning, ICT, literacy learning theories, school supports and school communication), which form part of a School Placement Research and Professional Experiences Portfolio. Year 2 students will engage in more school activities commensurate with their evolving school experience and increased time in school and will also conduct research related to their classroom or school context, which will form part of their required Professional Research Paper in Education.
Irish Language Requirement
While the Irish requirement has been removed for the generality of second-level teachers who do not use Irish in their everyday work, teachers of Irish and teachers employed in Gaeltacht schools and in other schools where Irish is the medium of instruction will be required to be fully proficient in Irish. A special course in spoken Irish, run by An Gaeilge Labhartha, UCC, will be available to students during their Professional Master of Education studies.
YEAR 1
Students take 60 credits as follows:
Core Modules (50 credits)
ED6301 Philosophy and History of Education (5 credits)
ED6302 Introduction to Psychology and Sociology of Education (5 credits)
ED6303 Curriculum and Assessment (5 credits)
ED6306 Inclusion – Special Educational Needs and Multicultural Education (5 credits)
ED6330 School Placement 1 (20 credits)
ED6331 School Placement: Research and Professional Experiences Portfolio A (5 credits)
ED6332 School Placement: Research and Professional Experiences Portfolio B (5 credits)
plus 10 credits from the following:
ED6308 The Teaching of Business Studies 1A (5 credits)
ED6309 The Teaching of Civic, Social and Political Education (5 credits)
ED6312 The Teaching of English (5 credits)
ED6313 The Teaching of a Second Language 1A (5 credits)
ED6314 The Teaching of a Second Language 1B (5 credits)
ED6315 The Teaching of Geography (5 credits)
ED6316 The Teaching of History (5 credits)
ED6317 The Teaching of Mathematics (5 credits)
ED6318 The Teaching of Music (5 credits)
ED6319 The Teaching of Religious Education (5 credits)
ED6321 Cross Curricular Pedagogies (5 credits)
ED6325 The Teaching of Physical Sciences (5 credits)
ED6326 The Teaching of Biological Sciences (5 credits)
ED6327 The Teaching of Irish (5 credits)
ED6328 The Teaching of Business Studies 1B (5 credits)
ED6333 The Teaching of Computer Science (5 credits)
Module Semester Information may be found here. Module descriptions may be found here.
Examinations
Full details and regulations governing Examinations for each programme
will be contained in the Marks and Standards 2020/2021 Book and for
each module in the Book of Modules, 2020/2021.
YEAR 2
Students take 60 credits as follows:
Core Modules (60 credits)
ED6341 Collaborative Seminar: Contemporary Issues in Irish Schools (5 credits)
ED6354 Literacy and Numeracy Development in the Post-Primary Classroom (5 credits)
ED6359 PME Professional Research Paper (10 credits)
ED6360 PME School Placement 2 (30 credits)
ED6361 Specialist Subject Pedagogies 2 (5 credits)
ED6362 Designing Curriculum and Assessment for the Contemporary Classroom (5 credits)
Module Semester Information may be found here. Module descriptions may be found here.
Examinations
Full details and regulations governing Examinations for each programme
will be contained in the Marks and Standards 2020/2021 Book and for
each module in the Book of Modules, 2020/2021.
Programme Learning Outcomes for Professional Master of Education (NFQ Level 9, Major Award)
On successful completion of this programme, students should be able
to: