Overview

NFQ Level 9, Major Award

The Professional Master of Education is a full-time programme running for two academic years from the date of first registration for the programme.

Teaching Subjects

Students are normally allowed to teach only those subjects which they have pursued to an advanced level in their degree, and studied a minimum of 60 credits, 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 registration¹. 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 prepared to teach junior cycle Civic, Social and Personal Education as their second possible teaching subject.

Students should note that only the following post-primary teaching subjects are currently supported on the programme: Business Studies (including Business Studies, Accounting and Economics), Computer Science, Politics and Society/CSPE², English, French, Gaeilge/Irish, Geography, German, History, Italian, Maths, Music, Religious Education, Science (including Agricultural Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics), Spanish.

¹

*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.

²

Politics and Society/CSPE: Students presenting with Politics and Society/CSPE must have a second teaching subject.

Important Note: A minimum number of students is required for the subject-specific modules listed above to run in any given year. Students should note that cross-subject support may be provided if student numbers in any subject area are low.

School Placement

As per Teaching Council guidelines, the programme includes a requirement for two separate mentored and supervised school placements (one in PME Year 1 and one in PME 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 only in cooperating post-primary schools, which work closely with the UCC PME programme. The list of approved cooperating schools allowed for PME school placements is available on the UCC School of Education website at https://www.ucc.ie/en/education. It is not permitted to complete placement in any school not listed on the approved list of cooperating schools. 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.

On accepting a PME place, PME1 School Placement is normally arranged for students from the list of UCC School of Education PME cooperating schools by the UCC School of Education PME School Placement Co-ordinator, in consultation with the partner schools and the student. The UCC School of Education PME programme reserves the right to implement different procedures in respect of arranging PME1 placement, in the event of any exceptional situations and circumstances. Taking up a place on the UCC PME programme is conditional on school placement being finalised. After PME1 placement is confirmed by the PME placement 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 school 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 specified 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 related to their placement (e.g. pertaining to classroom management, teacher questioning and assessment, ICT, literacy learning theories, supporting students with English as an Additional Language, which all 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.

Programme Requirements

For information about modules, module choice, options and credit weightings, please go to Programme Requirements. 

Programme Requirements

Module List

Code	Title	Credits
Year 1
Students take 60 credits as follows – all listed core modules (50 credits) and 10 credits of elective modules:
Core Modules
ED6301	Philosophy and History of Education	5
ED6302	Introduction to Psychology and Sociology of Education	5
ED6303	Curriculum and Assessment	5
ED6306	Inclusion - Special Educational Needs and Intercultural Education	5
ED6330	School Placement 1	20
ED6331	School Placement: Research and Professional Experiences Portfolio A	5
ED6332	School Placement: Research and Professional Experience Portfolio B	5
Elective Modules
Students take modules to the value of 10 credits from the following:		10
ED6308	The Teaching of Business Studies 1A (5)
ED6309	The Teaching of Civic, Social and Political Education (5)
ED6312	The Teaching of English (5)
ED6313	The Teaching of a Second Language 1A (5)
ED6314	The Teaching of a Second Language 1B (5)
ED6315	The Teaching of Geography (5)
ED6316	The Teaching of History (5)
ED6317	The Teaching of Mathematics (5)
ED6318	The Teaching of Music (5)
ED6319	The Teaching of Religious Education (5)
ED6325	The Teaching of the Physical Sciences (5)
ED6326	The Teaching of the Biological Sciences (5)
ED6327	The Teaching of Irish (5)
ED6328	The Teaching of Business Studies 1B (5)
ED6333	The Teaching of Computer Science (5)
Year 2
Students take 60 credits as follows:
Core Modules
ED6341	Collaborative Seminar: Contemporary Issues in Irish Schools	5
ED6354	Literacy and Numeracy Development in the Post-Primary Classroom	5
ED6359	PME Professional Research Paper	10
ED6360	PME School Placement 2	30
ED6361	Specialist Subject Pedagogies 2	5
ED6362	Designing Curriculum and Assessment for the Contemporary Classroom	5
Total Credits		120

Examinations

Full details and regulations governing Examinations for each programme will be contained in the Marks and Standards Book and for each module in the Book of Modules.

Programme Learning Outcomes

Programme Learning Outcomes for Professional Master of Education (NFQ Level 9, Major Award)

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• Behave in a professional manner with members of the teaching placement school communities and with all other professionals in the context of the Teaching Council’s Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers;
  
• Critically evaluate the various theories of Teaching and Learning, including curriculum design, and apply these theories to assist in teaching effective and inspiring lessons in the classroom;
  
• Select from complex and advanced skills in the field of Education and develop new skills, including those of pedagogy and assessment practices, to a high level;
  
• Synthesise the key components of some areas of current research in the field of Education and carry out a small scale research project to a professional standard;
  
• Develop comprehensive portfolios that chart their progress as reflective practitioners carrying out research in the areas of professional tasks and experiences in their placements schools and at university;
  
• Discuss topics in the field of Education to demonstrate a critical awareness of current problems and new insights informed by development in this area;
  
• Appraise the role of the teacher in the modern classroom to help manage their own learning and professional development;
  
• Foster an interest in and enthusiasm for their specialist subject among their pupils;
  
• Display a willingness to participate in all aspects of the programme in a spirit of co-operation and enthusiasm;
  
• Communicate effectively key aspects of knowledge and understanding in the field of Education to specialist and non-specialist audiences.