Part-timers

In response to Paul Sze's latest entry, I do agree that most Hong Kong teachers, whether they are in primary or secondary sectors, are very keen on updating their knowledge. The story he narrated about an ex-lawyer, now a school principal complained about the reluctance of teachers taking up further studies is both biased and inconclusive. For instance, those part-timers in my institution I supervised last year told me that they didn't need to study PGDE (SKP) again but they did so because they wanted to be more competitive in the market. They further added that there was no harm if they could teach one more subject in schools. Some said it would be easier to change schools or find another job. I still remember one lady I supervised was doing PGDE in my institution as well as MA in Chinese in the other one. I asked her if she could manage to study two part-time courses at the same time. She replied, 'I want to learn more when I am still young and single. Upon my graduation, I can teach Putonghua, Chinese language as well as English language. How nice!' I was impressed by her perseverance and strong will power to pursue her studies in such a Draconian condition. Imagine if we study two course at one go, it means that we may need to go to university for at least 2 to 3 evenings plus one Saturday afternoon. This single case may not be generalizable to all Hong Kong teachers, but I am sure, in one way or another, teachers are willing to attend courses in order to cope with the forthcoming challenges in the field of education.