Getting in the mood

A NEW LIFE:A teacher for many years, Shane Martin made a radical career change to psychology

SHANE MARTIN is the first to admit his initial career happened more by accident as opposed to any long-standing interest in education. "I am one of those who fell into teaching completely by accident," he says, "I liked Irish and history in school and would have gone to Irish college in Waterford in sixth class, and I suppose from then onwards Irish became one of my better subjects."

A good student, Martin says he got on well in secondary school, and took his work ethic from his family, who ran a successful painting and decorating business.

Having secured a place at NUI Maynooth to study a BA in Irish and history, he began his three-year degree, and following his experience as a boarder student in secondary school, the freedom of college life appealed.

"College was a huge change, although I had good craic as a boarder in Monaghan, and made friends there from many different counties. So when I arrived in Maynooth to university in 1983, I already knew a few of the students."

The biggest change was not in environment, but rather personal time management.

"It was a whole new dynamic to me as I was used to a very set timetable. You had to be self-motivated in university, there were no bells ringing.

"In the end I got the degree, and at the time most of my class would have gone on to do the Higher Diploma in Education [HDip], so I decided to go for it too. It was a lottery system in those days, and many people applied and never got it. I was exceptionally lucky to be accepted on to the programme."

On graduating with his HDip in 1989, Martin got the first job he applied for, at Summerhill College in Sligo. As well as teaching Irish and history, he also took on remedial teaching hours. The following year he applied for a job in Our Lady's in Castleblayney and was offered a permanent position.

He stayed in the school for the following decade, teaching remedial classes and working with students who had learning difficulties. He took on extra courses to upskill, and says he thoroughly enjoyed the working challenges and job satisfaction that came with it.

Ten years into the role though, he felt he had taken the teaching as far as he could. "I could nearly do the job in my sleep and I really began to get itchy feet syndrome. I was too young to apply to become a principal, and I began to start to think of doing something totally different."

During his time working with children with special needs, Shane Martin had become very familiar with learning psychology, and kept abreast of the latest cognitive trends.

When he began to think about a change in career direction, it made sense for him to apply what he had learned to a different work environment.

Looking at his options, he decided initially to convert his BA degree to a psychology qualification. A two-year Open University conversion course was available, and he pursued this while still working as a teacher, with his salary helping to cover the costs.

After the two-year course had been completed, Shane then decided to continue with a Master's qualification in psychology at the University of Ulster, travelling to the college four evenings a week, after his teaching duties.

"When everyone in my class would be heading to the students' union, I would head back home to my responsibilities as a father and teacher. It involved a lot of support from my wife and children at the time. It was also very costly, especially with the currency conversion rate from sterling. I did some extra work in the Gaeltacht during holidays, and that helped."

For his thesis, Martin looked at the benefits of psychology in education, and says he stumbled across research that showed that individuals with depression could have their anxieties reduced through a mixture of psychology and teaching practice. A new career was about to begin for him.

"Basically I began to think in terms of self-help psychology, which is a different therapy, and more about giving people the practical no-nonsense psychology to apply to their mental illnesses."

His first role after completing his studies was with the National Learning Network, as psychologist for the northeast area, working with individuals with mental health issues. "I became very aware of the shattering effect of mental illness on families, especially in rural Ireland," he says.

Seeing an opportunity, Martin decided to take a gamble and leave his permanent pensionable appointment and develop his own initiative for helping people with mental illness. "I designed a programme as a community-based approach to mental health issues, where I developed a self-help course for people, and communicated it in a no-nonsense way. There was a huge reaction to it, and I remember the turning point was when a rural GP asked me to come and talk in his local area in Co Cavan. I drove two hours and remember thinking no one would show up. It was a wet winter evening, but more than 30 people turned up. That was when I knew it could work."

His programme, called Moodwatchers, has now been adapted in Galway, Sligo, Leitrim and Monaghan, and he has also developed a programme for secondary school students and teachers, giving them the practical psychology to overcome life's difficulties.

"I've reached the stage where the work is viable, and I am now looking for funding to roll the project out in a national basis."

He says he has no regrets careerwise, and is relieved his choices over the past few years have finally paid off. He offers the following advice to others thinking about a career change: "From my experience, people will be much happier if they connect with their true strengths."