How to become a teacher in Hong Kong International School?

If you want to register as a Chinese or English teacher in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, you must have a relevant degree recognized in Hong Kong, pass the Teacher Language Proficiency Assessment (LPAT) and hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).

Simply put, it is: education +LPAT+PGDE. Theoretically, all three are indispensable. Even if the school employs an applicant who does not meet the standards, the applicant needs to gradually meet the above three conditions and register as a registered teacher after applying to the Education Bureau to become a certified teacher. Let me talk about the basic concepts of the above three conditions and the relationship between them.

I. Relevant university degrees (degrees) recognized by Hong Kong.

Because the salaries of teachers in Hong Kong are good, it has become one of the job-hunting goals of many mainland students studying in Hong Kong. But if you want to be a teacher in Hong Kong, you have to "go through five customs and cut six generals". First of all, you should get an education degree in Hong Kong, including teaching PGDE. But this situation requires you to choose a Bachelor of Education (BEd) in Hong Kong. However, students who only study for the Master of Education (MEd) or other education majors cannot be registered as teachers in Hong Kong immediately. They need to take another PGDE course. If the undergraduate major is a domestic normal major, please pay attention to the exemption of PGDE below.

At the same time, it is also important to choose a major to study. The best courses for Chinese and English teachers are learning Chinese and English, and the best courses for teaching other subjects are learning and research subjects, which are related to subsequent employment and future salary increase, which will be mentioned later in the difference between teachers and staff. In addition, most local primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong have low recognition of the major of teaching Chinese as a foreign language when hiring Chinese and English teachers, because this major is neither Chinese nor English, and it is not on the exemption list of the benchmark test for teachers' language in the Education Bureau. A small number of educational institutions that recognize this major, such as international schools and cram schools, are not bad, but international schools have high admission requirements, for example, some require international students to have overseas study/teaching experience, and some require more than 3 years of teaching experience.

Second, teacher language proficiency assessment (LPAT)

The assessment of teachers' language ability is also called the benchmark test or benchmark of teachers' language. Teachers who teach Chinese and English need LPAT scores above Grade 3, which are divided into Putonghua and English (of course, Chinese teachers take LPAT in Putonghua and English teachers take LPAT). Teachers who teach other subjects generally don't need LPAT scores. Unless the school is English-Chinese (EMI) or some subjects are taught in English, teachers will be required to reach LPAT Lv3 or have other language scores, such as AL English using D or above and IELTS 6 or above. Or schools that teach in Putonghua require teachers in all subjects to teach in Putonghua, and teachers may be required to have a second-level certificate of Putonghua proficiency test or above.

It should be pointed out that the "Language" in Hong Kong refers to the "language" in the Mainland, and the corresponding English is Language. So Chinese is also called Chinese language, and English is also called English. In Hong Kong, the default Chinese equivalent actually refers to Cantonese, so most schools actually teach Chinese in Cantonese. There is also a subject called Putonghua, which is usually taught by Chinese teachers or library teachers in our school, so teachers are generally not recruited to teach Putonghua. But international schools are an exception, and there will be special Mandarin teachers.

LPAT is generally registered in September each year, tested in February the following year, and scored on May 24th. There are five volumes of English, reading, writing, listening, speaking and classroom language. There are four volumes of Chinese: listening and recognition, pinyin, oral English and classroom language use; In the last volume, both Chinese and English can only be tested after entry, because it is equivalent to watching a class, and the reviewers will evaluate the language used by the teacher in the classroom. The highest score is level 5, and level 3 is qualified.

At the same time, LPAT can be exempted from examination as long as it meets certain conditions (that is, it has recognized relevant degrees and relevant teacher training qualifications), as well as a list of local English degrees that have been exempted from examination. Generally speaking, undergraduate students who hold English are exempt from LPAT, and their grades are regarded as Grade 3, but good schools generally require Grade 4 or above, so many people who meet the exemption conditions will still take LPAT. For those who don't study PGDE or PGDE and want to be Chinese and English teachers, it is recommended to take LPAT first, because those who are qualified in LPAT will have a much greater chance of being hired by the school.

Third, the postgraduate diploma in education.

The postgraduate diploma in education, like the master's degree/master of science degree/medical diploma, is a course that needs to be applied and attended. It is designed for those who are interested in joining the education sector and have a bachelor's degree but have not received teacher training. At present, five universities in Hong Kong offer education diplomas: The University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Baptist University, The Hong Kong University of Education and The Open University of Hong Kong. Students are enrolled in June 65438+February every year (HKU 11+1October), which is also divided into1year full-time courses and two-year part-time courses, local courses and non-local courses.

Education diploma has professional direction: preschool education, primary school, middle school and higher education; There are also different subjects, such as Chinese, English, mathematics, common sense and so on. Generally speaking, full-time education diplomas will be arranged for teaching practice in full-time schools in Hong Kong (the competition for full-time diplomas in secondary schools is fierce, and it is relatively easy to apply for them in primary schools and kindergartens, and even written interviews will be offer. For example, among the six full-time students with secondary school English education diplomas in the 20th 1 2nd session of the College of Education, only1is a non-local student. A part-time education diploma must have worked or will work in a local school before entering school (such as a teacher, teaching assistant, librarian, etc.). ); But those who apply for the direction of primary and secondary schools must work in primary and secondary schools, those who apply for the direction of kindergarten must work in kindergartens, and so on), as well as the letter from the principal, and the school will provide internship opportunities. If this cannot be met, even the conditional offer will be withdrawn.

I'd like to talk about the education diploma of the Chinese University here, because its part-time education diploma program has two streams, namely, teaching staff and non-teaching staff. The requirements for teachers are the same as mentioned above. Employment is required before entering school, and non-teaching staff do not need to be employed in advance. However, this flow of non-teaching staff is difficult to enter and exists in name only. A friend of mine, Ma of the University of Hong Kong, is an English major with an IELTS score of 8, and applied for a part-time diploma course in Chinese in Hong Kong, which also failed. The difficulty of applying is obvious.

Although there are many directions and subjects for diploma courses in education, only full-time English majors from the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong University of Education can apply for the Hong Kong Government's Associate English Teacher Scholarship (HK$ 80,000 per year, which is more difficult to apply for).