Job Discussion Forums

[tbigdog]

My interest is to earn a PGDE, probably at HKU, while making a living as a PNET. My qualifications are weak ( BS in Bus admin,TEFL cert,120 hour course, and 5 years teaching experience,2 primary,2 mid-hs,2 uni), So I know I will get the left overs or last positions offered that others have turned down. I am an American, age 58(when I enter PNET hopefully in 2008) and very over weight ,and married to a young Thai women(2 so I have a few factor working against me.
Questions, as I need to continue my education and at the same time earn a living:
How fesiable is my plan
How can I help to insure I get a decent school so I can have the time to achieve my PGDE( my main goal )
I am seeking my PGDE in the hope to qualify for an international school,hk,Thailand, or where the money is, and at that time work on a masters in ed.
I make more money and better vacation in S. Korea but I can't get a PGDE here and the weather sucks big time

Any advice or guidence is appreciated

PEACE

[11:59]

Well, I don't wish to sound too negative but if you get successfully accepted onto the EMB NET scheme then you will be the first American I personally have ever heard of to be within the system. Also, I am not sure whether a PGDE (Primary) would actually make you qualified to teach at an international school; usually a PGDE (Secondary) is required, unless of course you mean you specifically want to teach primary level at an international school. You must bear in mind that you cannot teach at primary level in HK whilst simultaneously working on a PGDE at secondary level, and also as you would be a newcomer to HK you would get hit with the fairly high international rates when it comes to tuition fees (around $80,000 HK I believe). Furthermore, perhaps you are not aware, but teachers are not permitted to work past 60 years of age in HK, at least not in the 'local' EMB system, and many potential employers won't take anyone who is approaching that cutoff point, especially if a two-year contract would take them near, up to, or past the age of 60. Even international schools would not be able to employ you after 70 as the Immigration Department cannot issue a work visa for a candidate at or past that age, and the EMB won't even give permission for a permanent resident who is 70 or older to be employed as a teacher.

In addition, and this might seem trivial but I have met some teachers who in all other regards were very thick-skinned but who nevertheless tell me it most certainly wasn't 'trivial' for them, anyone in HK (though especially a 'gweilo') who does not resemble a walking stick-insect can often be overtly and publicly referred to as 'fat' � by both pupils and local teachers alike, and the latter may be openly suspicious of you as a result. This is as being overweight, to their minds at least, is a sure sign of bone idleness (and a decadent and un-Christian � if not downright subversive � lifestyle). This assumption even crops up in primary school textbooks when introducing disjunctions, i.e., 'Peter is hardworking, smart and slim but Paul is lazy and fat.' (The 'thus' between 'lazy' and 'fat' is elided but nevertheless implied.) Try to remember that HK is the place where in growing numbers primary school principals plaster life-sized (and greater than life-sized) poster images of teachers on the school walls in an attempt to bolster enrolment and to 'promote' the school in the eyes of the public (Ying Wa Primary School in Sham Shui Po being a case in point). This is done without any outward indication that this practice is both superficial to an extreme and wholly unprofessional. Don't take offence, but my point is that a 60-year old 'fatty' may not exactly be the sort of image they would wish to have blazoned above their entrance gates.

Last but not least, you say the climate in Korea is not particularly agreeable (I would concur), but HK is not exactly pleasant for those who may be carrying a few extra pounds as the heat and humidity can become quite oppressive.

[anninhk]

Whilst I agree with the advice given by 11.59, I just want to clarify the situation regarding employment after 60. Schools are able to continue to employ a NET after they reach 60 if they recommend the NET for a further contract. You cannot join the NET scheme after 60, and it might affect you if you are turning 60 during that first contract.
I think I know one American who is a PNET. His wife teaches at HIS and he is at a school near mine.