Paul Taggart

NAME Paul Taggart
AREA OF WORK
Secondary education
QUALIFICATIONS BA history and politics, Queen’s University Belfast (2008); PGCE secondary teaching, Queen’s University Belfast (2009)

I grew up in a two-teacher household and have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. Now I am a teacher myself I can’t imagine that any other career offers the same sense of job satisfaction. I love working with children and seeing how they progress and develop.

Training to teach a fascinating subject in Ireland

I teach history and politics, as well as citizenship. I chose to become a secondary school teacher so that I could specialise and teach a subject at an advanced level. I find history fascinating and think it’s very important for children to grow up with an understanding of their culture and knowledge of the mistakes of the past. I have just completed my first two teaching placements and early professional development, and now need to get two further years of experience in order to become a fully qualified teacher.

Being in charge of children's futures is a big responsibility

To be a successful teacher, you need to have a good sense of humour and strive to be friendly but not familiar with your students. It’s also important to constantly update your subject knowledge as children will question you on absolutely everything. The best thing about teaching is when a child thanks you for helping them to get excited about a topic, or asks if you are going to be their teacher again next year. Their smiling faces make it all worthwhile, but teaching is not for everyone. It’s important to find out if it will suit you early on and not just jump into it as a ‘safe’ career – it’s a big responsibility to be in charge of children’s futures.