Anthony Burke
Teacher Anthony Burke has had a varied thirty-year career that has included everything from a stint as a maths teacher to being principal of a special education school. As a self-described “serial course-doer”, he also has various qualifications including a psychotherapy qualification from DCU.
Feeling the need for another change, he was attracted to DCU’s Graduate Diploma in Guidance Counselling. “I've always liked to do different roles within schools to keep things feeling fresh and keep myself motivated and interested in the job. And guidance counselling just seemed the natural next step for me.”
While he was experienced in counselling, the course built up his expertise and confidence in the specific area of career guidance. Now working as a full-time guidance counsellor at Celbridge Community School, Co Kildare, Anthony says the course made him “feel really prepared for the role.”
For Anthony, the course had a good balance of the academic and the practical and he is full of praise for DCU’s supportive teaching staff who created an environment that made the experience engaging and enjoyable. “It's not that it's easy, but it just felt that it was going to be achievable because the team are fantastic.”
The big revelation of the course was the way technology can be applied to guidance counselling. Anthony says he was introduced to Virtual Reality simulations that can be used to build young people’s skills. For example, it can simulate public speaking assignments, giving students the chance to speak to a virtual crowd without fear of embarrassment.
Virtual Reality can also be used to introduce young people to unusual workplace environments. “A lot of my TY students would never be able to get into certain settings, but they can see a VR video and feel like they're in there, like in a surgery or different situations like that.”
Reflecting on his new role, Anthony says it’s a multi-faceted, busy job and his engagement with students is quite different from subject-based teaching. “It's quite a complex role and yet it's a hugely interesting role, and you know everything about the school and about the young people in it.”
Anthony believes the DCU guidance counselling course is ideal for teachers looking for a career change. He also points out that the learnings from the graduate diploma can be applied in other sectors or in private practice. In addition, as the timetable covered Friday afternoons and Saturdays the course didn’t impact his school timetable.
Anthony says he is finding Career Guidance extremely rewarding, as it deals not just with career issues but also with student welfare. Part of the role is engaging with students who might be at risk of dropping out. “Knowing that I've been able to help them stay in school or get them into school, that's a huge part of it for me.
Guiding the students as they consider their options and showing them pathways to their future education and careers is another highlight for Anthony. “It's lovely to be there with that excitement when they're thinking about the future. They're thinking about the next steps, and to be some part of it and to be there for some level of advice and support, that's exciting.”