Job Discussion Forums

[gwiffey]

My apologies if this question has already been asked deep in the archives of these forums.

I keep seeing university jobs for "14 teaching hours" or "18 teaching hours", however I'm most interested in how many total hours this will result in me working. Lesson planning, other office tasks, etc. do in fact take time as well. One of my main reasons for wanting to teach in China is extra free time. So, if you have a job that says, for example, 14 teaching hours (assuming they mean 14 periods), how many actual hours would you anticipate this being?

Of course this will vary by the person. A newbie who wants to do an effective job teaching will put in far more extra hours than an experienced but burned out teacher. As for me, I have a few years teaching experience, albeit mostly to kids. I'm pretty comfortable coming up with lesson plans, as long as I have decent resources, but I do like to do a thorough job as well. Any opinions? Thanks in advance.

[water rat]

You sound like a real slacker, gwiffey.

Takes one to know one!

My present position: I was told at Beijing HQ (the one time I was there) by the nice lady who hired me via Skype that office hours were 30 week, and every month we would teleconference to keep HQ posted on how I was teaching the hell out of the provincials. I browned my nose up well and good and agreed to everything boss lady said.

"Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am." I squeaked and I smiled, rat that I am, because no matter how many years you've been in this game, my friend, I've been in it longer. I knew damn well there would never be no teleconferences, and I would show up ten minutes before my classes every day for a year, and there was nothing she could do about it 2,000 kilometers away, and she'd never know any way!

So in the taxi from the airport the boy FAO is already telling me I can come and go as I please, and my schedule is so light that it's actually a diversion to commute to the school, teach a few hours and buy beer on the way back.

You will teach 40- or 45-minute 'hours', fifty tops. You want to do lesson plans - well, whatever works for you. You will find your skills are so far above the level of your students (bless their little green hearts) that the forty minutes will pass like ten. Yes. By all means, give them high-quality, memorable lessons that will inspire them to want to learn more and more English. Answer all their questions to pass the time and seem conscientious (BE conscientious!) You are quite capable , I am sure. Just don't forget to buy dinner and a couple of beers on the way home. Try to smile even when you aren't so happy. In no time you'll find you have a pretty little girlfriend/boyfriend who you meet outside the shops. 'LG' as the Koreans say, "Life's Good."

Break a leg.

[jm21]

Your first semester maybe 25 hours per week. Your second maybe 15. The longer you stay it seems the less hours you work. Less teaching hours and you've done a lot of the prep already.

Bored out of my mind this semester. Too much free time.

[roadwalker]

Public universities generally don't have office hours for their teachers, but you could sign up for the exception. As stated above, your prep time is up to you and your professional standards. It may take you all of five minutes to review an oral conversation lesson you've given many times. Or it may take you a lot longer to prepare for a new class. Writing and literature classes, or Business English classes will also take more preparation time, and marking time for the writing assignments.

While your prep time will probably be up to you, the contract will also probably mention your duty to attend English Corners one evening a week or so, and other duties as assigned. I was asked to judge many contests within the school, such as speech contests. I usually attended and often was paid for my time. Many teachers refuse or politely decline the English Corners and judging opportunities, and you may be able to avoid them with no consequences. I am just mentioning it as part of the time commitment that many schools expect.

[Non Sequitur]

I've never had a contract with more than 20 contact hours and mostly they were 14 or 16 hours.
A 'contact hour' is usually 45 or 50 mins as others have said.
Classes are usually 2xcontact hours taken together with the 10 mins for toilet stop or admin or moving from one class to another, including changes of building.
Roadwalker's point is important and that is Oral English has minimum prep - at least once you have a semester's worth of resources under your belt.
At my last school Wednesday afternoons were free of classes but any FAO meetings were held then.
English Corners were mentioned in the contract but as only one FT had to front, I think my name came up only twice in a semester.
Prep for English Corners is problematic as you don't know how many students will turn up.

[Bud Powell]

gwiffey,

You've gotten good responses so far.

Roadwalker stated "your prep time is up to you and your professional standards." This is true. Very true.

However, you will find that if you don't make a roll book and submit a syllabus in the first week of classes, your job will be hell. The job of teaching requires planning, researching, self-preparation and preparation of tests and exercises for your class. If you don't go to class on a mission every day, your life as a teacher won't be much fun, your students won't like you, and there is a good chance that the school won't renew your contract the following year (or worse, will terminate you at midyear. I've seen the latter happen).

Expect 15-18 classroom hours per week , and possibly another 5-6 hours of traveling to and from another campus per week (many universities are being relocated to the outer reaches of the cities because the campus real estate becomes more valuable over time as cities grow around the campus). Before you accept a job, ascertain 1. where you will live 2. if your classes will be on one campus.

Then there's planning. If you do it right, expect two-to-three hours' preparation per week per subject. If you teach the same subject to five different classes, that should require only two-to-three hours prep time, including creation of tests, getting the tests printed, and correcting them.

HOWEVER, if you teach writing, be prepared to do a LOT of correcting in the beginning. Add another three hours per week per writing class (or more) in the beginning.

If you are assigned three separate subjects such as oral English, writing, and western history, expect a total of ten hours of class prep per week. Some weeks you won't have to do less. The self-imposed workload will fluctuate with the dynamics of the class room.

The less you put into your class preparation, the less you will enjoy teaching, the less your class will like you, and the more difficult your job will be.

Really.

Good luck.

[ESL104]

2-3 hours planning per subject lesson seems excessive given lessons are only 40 to 50 minutes long.

I'm teaching a subject over here in Thailand (will be heading to China in January though!), and I'd say there's about 20 minutes prep per subject lesson, tops. And to be honest you can get away with not doing any at all most of the time, just read the couple of pages of the book you need to teach prior to the lesson beginning and you'll be able to get through it. The only 'planning' I've seen anyone do at this school is maybe writing up a test and printing out worksheets, but that doesn't happen every lesson by any means.

[Bud Powell]

[ESL104]

[Bud Powell]

I don't see anything wrong with scaling back effort according to what the pay rate is. I mean the reason you picked the uni job anyway is for the free time, right? So if you're not getting that free time you're been screwed over. I certainly wouldn't be busting my ass for 5-6k a month + free accom, anyway.

You'd never make it in an American university. MA level lecturers commonly start out at about $25,000 year to teach two semesters of freshman writing, twenty-one hours per week spread over five days. Try living in an an apartment on that amount of money. There are usually 20-25 students per class. Most classes are required to produce a MINIMUM of three papers per semester. There are no free accommodations, no free bus passes, and no cheap food. Parking is free, but like the students, the lecturer teachers have to fight for parking spots in the faculty parking lot. Since you'd be making such chump change, you'd have to live pretty far out in the boonies where the less expensive apartments are. You might be looking at a one-hour commute.

At the end of each semester, teachers are evaluated by the students with a 20 point rubrick. They are asked

how challenging the class is

how good the teacher is (agree/disagree the teacher was the best I've ever had)

the teacher came to class prepared every day (agree/disagree)

the teacher was knowledgeable of the subject taught (a/d)

the teacher worked from prepared notes

I would take another class from this teacher

among other things.

You would probably be hired on a year-to-year basis, so there's no job security.

Compare the FTs gig in China to the American lecturers' gig, and you'll se an incredible disparity. One may teach on the university level with a BA or less. In the States, one must have a a relative Masters degree PLUS two years experience teaching on the college level (usually acquired through an assistantship) or two years experience teaching on the accredited high school level.

Comparing apples to apples, you'll find that the Chinese university gig is pretty sweet.

I don't think that you can compare a 30-40 hour gig at a language center or a private school to a university gig. At some language centers and private schools, one must share an apartment (if one is provided). You'll work twice the hours in a language center that you'll work at a university (probably more). You won't have weekends off if you work for a Language center. Worse, you'll be working late afternoon to mid-evening.

These are just some differences.

If you work for a language center or any other for-profit concern, if your students don't think that you're the greatest, you're toast.

Those who have a "you get what you pay for" attitude should be painting houses, not teaching.

Really. Being allowed to teach is a privilege.

I fully expect derisive comments to this post. It's okay. I've heard them all since I first started teaching.

[Non Sequitur]

"I think it's more a case of 'you get what you pay for', and as universities pay peanuts, they can't expect too much".
Can't believe someone posted this.

[ESL104]

[Bud Powell]

[ESL104]

[Non Sequitur]

I really cannot equate pay levels with quality.
I know what the pay is going in.
I cannot look at my students and think I'm going to do a crappy job because I feel an entitlement to more money.