Job Discussion Forums

Joshua2006 · Joined: 04 Jan 2010 Posts: 342

Has anyone else got experience of this course? I have an interview for secondary English which would commence in September, take 2 years and leave me with a PGDE from the Institute of Education.

Or I could do a PGCert from Nottingham University which takes 9 months starting in July.

Any recommendations?

oxi · Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 347 Location: elsewhere

I know a few folk who have done the HK uni PGDE. They've said the classes weren't up to much. Lecture style rather than tutorial with little interaction. Sometimes cancelled at late notice. At best, slightly boring and going through the motions. But it got them what they want - a qualification for a NET job. So they were content to go through it.
I'm not sure how useful it is once you're out of HK. For jobs in the UK or internationally, Nottingham uni is better. I'd recommend that if you have the cash to survive (I assume it's full-time at only 9 months?)

Honky Nick · Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 113 Location: Hong Kong

Hi there,

I did my PGDE from an Australian uni by distance while living in HK. Did all the coursework by distance and went to Oz during summer holidays for my teaching rounds. That all worked out ok.

Best of luck,

Nick

porcupine · Joined: 26 Apr 2009 Posts: 6

I did HKU's PGDE and found it very practical. It is not all lectures, is very interactive and if you do it part-time while teaching, you can apply everything that you are learning.

I am now a NET.

barashkov1 · Joined: 17 Dec 2008 Posts: 26

missy_29 · Joined: 07 Apr 2011 Posts: 6 Location: UK

Hello

I know this thread is slightly old but was wondering if somebody wants to do the PGDE in HK part time could they get paid whilst teaching in a school?

Is there a visa which would allow me to do this?

Thanks

Joshua2006 · Joined: 04 Jan 2010 Posts: 342

missy_29 · Joined: 07 Apr 2011 Posts: 6 Location: UK

Thank for your reply.

I'm just wondering however, do these students have a dependant visa or have a right to work in HK?

I hold no form of HK ID/Visa, and read somewhere that if you cannot work whilst studying in HK.

Many thanks in advance

the new kowlooner · Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Posts: 1 Location: Hong Kong

For the record, I did the Secondary English PGDE part-time course at HKU a couple years back. I'm a NET and cannot read Chinese. Well, at least at a level suitable for study. Here are some of my own personal experiences:

Non-locals who often take the PGDE course in HK generally already have teaching jobs at various places in town (tutorial centers, local schools, even some lower-tier international ones) and do the part-time PGDE weekday evenings, or for some subjects, and/or Saturdays. Yes, if a local place deems you as competent, and with a bit of luck, you can get a job as a NET (edb or non) without a PGDE. This is even true for various subject teaching positions. However, if you want to progress in pay and senority, then you will need to get qualified so you can get HK QTS.

It is not true that you cannot study and work at the same time here. There are ways. Do the research and you will find them.

If you are serious about doing your PGDE in HK, and English as the MOI is your only option, you have 2 choices and 2 only: HKU or HKIED.

HKU is hands down better than HKIED. The curriculum and teachers running the various 'subject-streams' of individual PGDE programmes will vary in quality of course within each of the above institutions. However, in my experience, the HKU secondary-English stream was not the best, but not the worst, and one's experience really depended on which professor/lecturer they ended up with. Overall, most of the students will have little interest in the actual lessons and will prefer to chat or sleep if they can. Some lectures don't care, but most do. The good ones will run more workshop-like lessons to keep you active. It all depends on the person in charge, like everywhere, right?

If you are really interested, then you must go to the relevant websites of the programmes and research it yourself, or communicate with someone directly who works in the programme or has gone through it recently. There's a lot of mis-information on this forum coming from people who say, "well, I heard that blah-blah." My point, get it from the source. It's out there.

Off topic but just want to say, before I came here (been 4 years now), people would say on this forum things like American's can't enter the NET Scheme (wrong); you must have a PGDE to get a job at a secondary school (wrong). So good thing I didn't listen to them and decided to just try for myself. Now I have a decent job with good pay as an EDB secondary NET.