Job Discussion Forums

[Sheikhdown]

Greetings from New Zealand!
I have an audio and video interview next week for a teaching position
at the PO Leung Kuk Riverain Primary School. Does anyone know about
this school??? The headmistress wrote to me asking me if I would be interested in having the interview. She also mentioned if I had any habits like smoking, etc? Very bazarre to say the least. Would really like to get some info on her and the school if anyone could help me.
Also, the paper she sent to me stated that the salary ranges from MPS Point
12-29. Can anyone show me where to locate the actual salaries from these ranges? I have gone to the www.emb.gov.hk site, but it doesn't show these at all.
This position would be teaching children ages 6 and 7. I haven't taught that young before, but it would seem that the children would be lovely to work with. Yes??? It seems to be a reading course from the Department of Education that they would want me to work in.
Also, any other information regarding the PNET would be greatly appreciated.
I have just come back from teaching in the Emirates at a university, and it was appauling how teachers were treated there at one school. 5 were fired before the end of the year. Very traumatic.
Do PNET teachers have legal rights when they touch down at the airport? God forbid they just throw you on the street if they don't like you. They do this in the Middle East.
Hope to hear from you guys and gals soon. Thanks a million.
Sheikhdown in Kiwiland[/list]

[AndyinHK]

I don't know the specifics about the school. It is located in Ma On Shan, which is close to Shatin in the New Territories. Ma On Shan is a newer area here, so you'll find a lot of newer flats and shops.

You mentioned you have't taught little kids aged 6-7. I think the school is co-ed. Ask in the interview if you'll have a classroom assistant to help you sort out discipline. You should, but some PNETS get dumped. Also, you'll probably get a lot of blank stares because the kids that young have very limited English, but that's normal...

The MPS is the master point scale... your salary is determined based upon how much post qualification experience you have. For every year of post qual exp you'll get a one point credit.

I'm curious, you mentioned you worked at a university in the Middle East, what made you want to switch from teaching university aged students to really young primary kids? Is your degree/experience in primary ed?

Best Regards

[AndyinHK]

Opps forgot to mention,

MPS point 12 is around $17,000 HKD per month. I am not sure off-hand what 29 is, but it's somewhere in the $30's.

Hope this helps.

[dandan]

Hmm...

I don't know the school or principal personally.

In terms of smoking, HK has a smoke-free school policy which means that you wouldn't be allowed to smoke in school or within sight of the school premises.

In terms of teaching 6-7 year olds, you presumably have experience teaching children if you're applying for a PNET job, albeit perhaps with slightly older children, so you should have a reasonable idea of how to teach 6-7 year olds.

Sorry Andy but I find your points about classroom assistants a bit silly. He's applying for a NET position so he should be a qualified teacher and it's perfectly reasonable for his school to expect him to teach without an assistant. NETs are brought in partly to demonstrate the effectiveness of task-based, whole language teaching and if we demonstrate that we can't do it without an assistant how can we reasonably expect local teachers to do it?

That's not to say that I don't appreciate the help and advice I get from my local colleague on discipline issues. I have certainly asked for help and advice from my colleagues with difficult classes or students and sometimes asked them to sit in and give advice feedback on my discipline strategies, and I certainly think that co-teaching can certainly be a valuable developmental tool for both teachers involved, but the idea that NETs are being 'dumped on' if they're asked to do a teacher's job is ridiculous. If you don't feel confident to teach a class on your own you should apply for a classroom assistant's position rather than a NET job as the T in NET stands for Teacher.

In terms of legal rights, you will have the protection of the labour ordinance the same as any other employee in Hong Kong. However, if you're already thinking about what legal action you might want to take before you've even been interviewed let alone started work, you might want to consider why you want to come.

[Sheikhdown]

Your views were most appreciated Andy, and I absolutely acknowledge a
point of view regarding an assistant. I think it would greatly enhance the learning environment and assist in many ways. My background is in the primary sector, and I started in primary education in 1975! I have been able to work in a university setting as well.

Regarding contracts and the like, it only seems common sense to know what one's rights are under the law in a given country before undertaking any assignment. I don't know how long the other teacher has taught or what countries they have taught in, but in my 138 countries traveled, and my teaching experience in 15 of them, I would be a total FOOL not to check out the details in contractual agreements, the labour laws, and my human rights as well.

I have learned in all of these years that you arrive in a very vulnerable state when getting off that plane, and administration could basically care less if they sack you for no reason, demote you, or decrease your salary, fail to abide by their contract and the like. You are protecting yourself and your interest in this case, and it is president over anything else as far as I am concerned.

Could someone tell me who I could contact in regards to more detailed information regarding the PNET program? I would like to communicate with a current PNET teacher, and ask some questions in regards to the overall process of this very new program. Thanks very much for this.