Overview

Application Deadline:  17 February 2018

Information evenings on how to complete the Subject Declaration Form for interested applicants will be held at various times during the autumn semester.

The Professional Master of Education in Physical Education is a full-time two-year initial teacher education to prepare graduates for a professional teaching qualification in physical education. Graduates will be skilled in designing instructionally aligned, evidence-based physical education programs. The course culminates with a demonstration of the:

• ability to conduct applied research resulting in a research paper
• achievement of Teaching Council professional expectations for teachers documented in a professional portfolio.

The aims and objectives of this teacher education programme, which culminates in a professional teaching qualification, reflect our commitment to the development of caring, competent, critical and reflective teachers who have the following dispositions, skills, and content knowledge:

• Graduates will have a willingness and capability to monitor their own growth and use that learning to improve the teaching and learning process
• Graduates will be knowledgeable about planning, contemporary curriculum and assessment policy and practice, school contexts, and educational reform in the Irish context.
• Graduates will be knowledgeable about students and theories of learning and child development in support of psychologically and physically safe, and supportive learning environments.
• Graduates will have an understanding of key principles, concepts, and skills of Physical Education and are knowledgeable of contemporary developments in their subject matter.
• Graduates are committed to life long learning, drawing on their practical knowledge and theory to improve teaching and learning for students
• Graduates will be concerned with enhancing pupil learning and their development as persons who support a just and equitable Irish society. They respect pupils as critical inquirers about education, sport, dance, health, fitness and exercise and promote their enthusiasm for health and well-being.
• Graduates will develop care and concern for the personal welfare and development of pupils and the promotion of social justice in society as well as fairness, inclusion, and equity in physical activity environments and school/community settings.
• The graduates have a critical and reconstructive approach to teaching as a profession.

Contact Details

Course Director: Melissa Parker
Dept. of Physical Education and Sport Sciences
Faculty of Education and Health Sciences
Phone: 00 353 (0) 61 234674
Email: missy.parker@ul.ie

Graduate Profile

Physical Education Maria Hooley Student

Professional teaching qualification in Physical Education.

Programme Content

 Content of modules can be found by using the search option on the book of modules.

Entry Requirements

Applicants must hold a 2.2 degree (Level 8 - National Qualifications Authority of Ireland or equivalent) in a relevant Physical Education/Sport Sciences discipline.  In line with Teaching Council and HEA protocol, when applying for a place on the Professional Master of Education programme, the PME applicant is required to make a formal declaration, using a Subject Declaration Form, that he/she:

• Holds/will hold, by the date of commencement of the PME programme, a level 8 honours degree.
• Has studied 90 ECTS credits in the relevant subject area(s) as part of their degree.
• Has studied higher level degree content related to the subject area(s) in year 3 or 4 of their degree.
• Has covered, as part of their degree, the mandatory topics/subjects as set out in the Teaching Council subject requirements which can be found at: http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/Publications/Registration/Documents/Curricular-Subject-Requirments-after-January-2017.pdf

The Subject Declaration Form (which is available here) for each of the subjects you wish to teach must be fully completed and attached with your application to this programme.  We will be holding an information evening on how to complete the Subject Declaration Form for interested applicants at various times during the autumn (Further details to follow).

All suitable applicants must attend an interview.  The focus of the interview is on practical content knowledge, ability to communicate, experience and insights gained from work with children and youth, insights gained from teaching experiences, and dispositions for teaching.  If invited to interview, personal attendance is required.  Interviews will normally take place from early to mid-March, sometimes later.  All interviewees are points-ranked based on qualifications, experiences, and interview performance.  Offers of places on the course are sequentially made to interview candidates based on points score levels obtained once interviewing is finally completed.  Up to a maximum of twelve places may be offered.

Please be aware your application for physical education teaching qualification is a two-step process.

1. Step One:  Acceptance into the PME (Physical Education) programme – with or without link-in modules.  This is our appraisal of your qualifications to be successful in the programme.
2. Step Two: Acceptance by The Teaching Council of your content and credit qualifications (via the subject declaration form).  This is separate from any decisions made by Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the University of Limerick as to your suitability for the PME.

Garda clearance is also a requirement for this programme.

English Language Requirements

Applicants whose first language is not English must provide evidence of either prior successful completion of a degree qualification taught through the medium of English or meet one of the criteria below (no longer than two years prior to application):

Acceptable English Language qualifications include the following:

• Matriculation examinations from European countries where English is presented as a subject and an acceptable level is achieved
• Irish Leaving Certificate English –Ordinary Level Grade D or above
• TOEFL – 580 (paper based) or 90 (internet based)
• IELTS – Minimum score of 6.5 with no less than 6 in any one component.
• English Test for English and Academic Purposes (ETAPP) – Grade C1
• GCE ‘O’ level English Language/GCSE English Language – Grade C or above
• University of Cambridge ESOL –Certificate of Proficiency in English - Grade C / Certificate in Advanced English Grade A
• GCE Examination Boards – Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations – Grade C / Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate – School Certificate Pass 1-6 / University of London Entrance and School Examinations Council – School Certificate Pass 1-6

Results in examinations other than those listed above may also be accepted as meeting our English language requirements. Contact the International Education Division for advice.

What to include with your application

• Qualification transcripts and certificates
• English language qualification if English is not your first language
• Certified English translations of your transcripts/certificates where the originals are in a language other than English.
• A copy of your birth certificate (long document)
• Subject Declaration Form
• A passport size photograph of yourself