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Hanshan Normal University - School Review
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bestteacher2012

Joined: 22 Aug 2012
Posts: 37

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:15 pm Post subject:

Simon in Suzhou wrote:

bestteacher2012 wrote:

I will guess one of the reasons this uni struggles to attract applicants is because of being located in Guangdong province. Not only does Guangdong have some of toughest requirements in regards to Z visas, but also teachers cannot get their visas from Hong Kong. These two factors reduce the number of foreigners willing to consider this university significantly.

Nah, I doubt this is the case. Guangzhou is one of the most competitive markets for teachers. There are PLENTY of QUALIFIED teachers in the province. No need to grab tourists/backpackers, etc. More likely it's just too far from Guangzhou or Shenzhen where 90% of the foreign teachers want to be. Seems like a good job and the kind of quiet place I would enjoy living.

The school is in Chaozhou, not Guangzhou.....not really a first choice city for most foreigners. Add in the strict requirements, it's easy to see why the school struggles to attract anyone.

bestteacher2012

Joined: 22 Aug 2012
Posts: 37

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:20 pm Post subject:

Denim-Maniac wrote:

bestteacher2012 wrote:

I wouldnt have thought this is true.

Most people would prefer to enter the country on a Z visa, or if they are in-country, like to be sure they will be provided with the correct paperwork. And as far as I know, the toughest requirements are still just a passport from an English speaking country, an undergraduate degree and two-years experience. Not a great ask TBH.

It is a great ask when they are offering peanuts and expecting qualified teachers to put in over 20 hours a week (if they do their job properly). Anyone from an English speaking country, that has a degree and 2 years teaching experience could make more money in most other countries.

Actually this offer is not that good considering teachers are teaching writing classes, factor in the marking and preparation, the salary doesn't look so good then.

7969

Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5682
Location: South China, by the sea.

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 5:41 pm Post subject:

bestteacher2012 wrote:

Denim-Maniac wrote:

bestteacher2012 wrote:

We all have different aptitudes and personally I'd find an oral English class more difficult and stressful, and that's why I've been teaching the writing class for the past six years. The key to teaching a writing class is to work smarter, not harder. The first year or two were rough because I had nothing to follow and had to start from scratch, but by the third year I had enough material to last two full terms. Some of the things that make your life easier . . . I use a multi-media room and .ppt files, preparing, updating and making minor changes to a lesson is very easy and takes no time at all. Homework - in the first couple of years students did homework in their notebooks and I carried stacks of them home every week and checked them. Not very efficient. Today most writing assignments are done on handouts that I've already prepared and printed off, and the students complete and mark them in class. I take the papers home, input the scores into an Excel file, randomly check a few of them to make sure the marking is fair, and return them the following week. In the beginning I was skeptical using the honour system for marking but my random checks have shown me they're honest about it. The only time I have to take homework back to my place is when they write a five paragraph essay. I actually read all of them and give a score according to the rubric I use. This takes some time but they only write one essay in the second term in preparation for the TEM4, and it's part of the job. The students also have my email address and every now and then a few of the keeners email me some written work they've prepared and I check those, but I only get one or two a week, and it takes all of 30-40 minutes (that's voluntary on my part). So my extra work is limited to recording marks, printing off handouts now and then, and once in the second term reading and correcting the short essays. The other writing teacher doesn't assign homework as far as I know and his workload seems limited to the classroom. So how much you work or don't work is really up to you but the students are perceptive enough to know if you have a genuine interest in helping them, or if you're more interested in disappearing once the bell rings. For some teachers that perception matters, for others it doesn't.

There were a couple of good threads in the past on teaching writing on this forum. I dug up one of them:

Teaching English Writing

In that thread I pretty much said the same thing I've said here: plan, prepare, and execute. If you're organized your workload isn't a lot more than anyone else.

Regarding what this school offers, even if you were only talking strictly about the salary, this school pays more than most. Take out the built in airfare and my salary is still about 6000-6500 for 12-16 hours per week. I scan the job boards every now and then and not many universities paying that much. It's not huge money obviously but it's fair. You said you can make more money in most other countries. You can, but in other countries (Korea, at a hagwon) you work 30 hours a week instead of 14. Some countries that pay more don't offer free apartments (Japan), and you have to spend 25% or more of your salary on a flat. The countries and jobs that offer the best benefits are also the ones that require people to hold relevant qualifications (the garden variety BA that works in Japan, Korea and China won't cut it in those places). One of the more subtle benefits a place like Hanshan offers, which you may have overlooked, is that they're not likely to screw you over and they'll treat you well.

A point I neglected to mention in my review, you'll get about five months of paid holiday at this school each year (only three if you don't stay more than one year). Today is the last day of my winter vacation, which started on 2 January. This isn't unique to Hanshan but how many other countries are offering that?

JZer

Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3809
Location: Alaska

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 9:13 pm Post subject:

7969 wrote:

Zhejiang_Man wrote:

Quote:

I spend most of my free time during the school year here either at work, in my flat, or taking a weekend jaunt to Hong Kong

How long does it take you to get to Hong Kong? Chaozhou is 6 hours by train to Guangzhou and then another 2 hours?

4.5 hours to Shenzhen by bus, a half hour or so to cross the border, then another 45 minutes on the train into HK. Six and a half hours in total. I never use the train here, the service is too slow and infrequent.

How does one apply to the this university?

7969

Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5682
Location: South China, by the sea.

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 3:19 am Post subject:

JZer wrote:

7969 wrote:

Zhejiang_Man wrote:

Quote:

I spend most of my free time during the school year here either at work, in my flat, or taking a weekend jaunt to Hong Kong

How long does it take you to get to Hong Kong? Chaozhou is 6 hours by train to Guangzhou and then another 2 hours?

How does one apply to the this university?

Here:

fao at hstc.edu.cn and hstcfao at 163.com

There was another thread on this school a couple of years ago started by someone else. As I recall one of the reasons that person didn't take the job was because of a misunderstanding in the contract. If anyone contacts this school and gets a reply and there's anything that doesn't mesh with what I've written in this thread, send me a message here and I'm happy to try clarify.

I was also asked via PM if there's part time work to be had here, and how much you can earn doing that. There is and I've been offered it many times over the years but I've never done any of it (other people have though). Sometimes this extra work comes via the FAO, and other times some local company gets wind of a foreigner at the school and they might contact the school who in turn will tell them how to contact you. I don't know how much you can make but I'd guess a couple of thousand per month wouldn't be too hard. More if you can network yourself efficiently. There's a few small private language schools here and they'd be good places to start looking. One of them right outside our school employs a guy from Ghana who I've seen around a few times.

JZer

Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3809
Location: Alaska

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 4:46 pm Post subject:

Do you have internet in your apartment?

7969

Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5682
Location: South China, by the sea.

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 3:01 am Post subject:

JZer wrote:

Do you have internet in your apartment?

I wish I could tell you that my brain has transmogrified into a sort of super-computer that allows me to post from any location by transmitting my thoughts through the airwaves . . . but I cannot.

Yeah, I have internet in my apartment and it's fine.

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