Job Discussion Forums

[Lancy Bloom]

In your own country you have colective agreements. In China or other Asian countries you have no recourse when you have a payment problem. So you work on a pay per class basis. Private teaching in other words. You ask to be paid a week in advance or a month in advance for home teaching. It is a normal practice in Japan, Taiwan , Korea and Thailand. When working for a mill you tell them you have too much to lose by being paid at the end of a month. You get paid on a daily basis. You keep the possible burn to a minimum.
Forget contracts they are meaningless. Ask any business person. All successful business people state firmly" I don't do anything until I recieve money or a retainer."
In other countries when you break down payments made by students and employers it is 50 50. You are the show so you should get 50%. It is how the NBA works. In China they do not give this.

[Javelin of Radiance]

The best response for the above is

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[hilena_westb]

I ONLY accept payment in advance. For part-time jobs, I demand payment before walking into the classroom - while I am onsite to perform my duties. As for full time work, I expect to be paid in the middle of the month for the current month. That way, both me and my employer take 50% of the so-called risk. Anyone who waits a month post-teaching, etc. is a moron. I don't care how good or bad your employer is. Everyone should take an equal risk of the payment.

[johntpartee]

[Non Sequitur]

[Denim-Maniac]

Absolute and total nonsense. Ive read lots of silly things on forums over the years ... but the idea that your boss should pay you before you work, or at the end of each class / job / day is just nuts. Good luck trying to negotiate that when applying for a job. ANY job, any country.

[Lancy Bloom]

I have and the boss was happy. They made money and I got paid. I wear a tie and suit and no jeans. I am a teacher in my home country. If I was there I would get a pension and two months of vacation a year.
School owners get their money from the students before we teach. Why shouldn't we be paid also?
Some people come here with four books and others come with hundreds. So Mr Magic Jeans you will be here for a few more months and moving on. This attitude of servitude is demeaning to the teaching professiion

[johntpartee]

[wawaguagua]

I've been getting some offers for public high schools that are located within my current province, not too far from the city where I'm presently located. It would be nice to maintain the few connections I've made here, and I wouldn't have to lug all of the kitchenware I've purchased too far away.

It's hard to say whether I'd have a better time there or not. I taught a small class of preteens at the franchise school I was let go from with mixed results - The frustrating part was the very obvious gap in ability and motivation between the strongest and the weakest students. I also found the book to be too fast-paced, but I have to keep in mind that franchise schools are "supplements" to whatever the kids are supposed to be learning in their real schools.

The factors are too different. It's a real school compared to a mill, large classes instead of small ones, oral English instead of comprehensive, a local teaching assistant who actually sits in the class instead of taking roll and leaving, the students will be a few years older, etc. Supposedly there's a full week of training, whereas I had none going into this previous class. I might also do better focusing on a single level than multiple ages at the same time. What do you think? I don't want to set myself up for more frustration. Is it true that teenagers are the most difficult?

[muffintop]

[Denim-Maniac]

[doogsville]

I taught a lot of teenagers in my previous job. You might as well just take photos of them and pin them to the seats, you'd probably get a better response! Of course, they're not all that bad, but man, they are hard, hard work. I don't know if it's the Gaokao thing, or hormones, or teenage angst, but they are the least responsive students by a wide margin. They will complain they are bored and want to play games, then they won't take part in the games. They won't speak unless you give them no choice, then they will mumble so quietly you can't hear the answer, all while they're staring at their shoes.

You have to have a ton of patience. I focused on the two or three in every class who were functional to keep me sane. Not all the time, you have to keep making the effort for the others. I kept reminding myself they have reasons for their behaviour, as does everyone, and while I have no idea what their reasons are I can respect them. My own teenage years were not a barrel of laughs, and if I'd had to attend a private language lesson with a bunch of other teenagers I didn't know I don't know if I would have survived it.

I taught teenagers in middle school as well, and that was worse. Fifty to sixty five students per class, jammed in like sardines. I still twitch occasionally when I think back to that. The upside was that the classes were mercifully short at just forty five minutes, so by the time you get them to settle down you only have forty minutes left. they have a class monitor too, so use them to help you keep discipline if you can. Here's what I did.

Their regular Chinese teachers will do all the grammar work and set the homework etc. as well as preparing them for the endless exams they have to take.You'll likely be given the book they're using that semester, but really they just want you to speak, so they can hear how to pronounce the words, and have the students speak too. I did lots of drilling, whole class, half class, boys then girls, each row, and ham it up with lots of competition and comparison. 'The boys were good but the girls were better! The winners are the third row!' that kind of thing. Then I would take a ball, a bit bigger than a tennis ball, and throw it. Whoever caught it, or whoever it touched, would have to speak. Lots of screaming and trying to get out of the way of the ball. Then after a while you let whoever spoke throw the ball if they're speaking was up to par. They love that, trying to hit their friends to make them speak English. Then the forty five minutes is up and you can go back to the teachers office to be ignored by the rest of the teachers until it's time for your next class.

Good luck.

[wawaguagua]

I've had quite a few interviews in the past two days and I'm starting to become disheartened. At my last (first) job, I was told I'd be a better fit for universities and public middle schools, but most of the ones I've had interviews with are very hesitant about my visa status. Either I don't have enough experience for them to sponsor a Z visa, or I'd have to fly back home (on my own dime, of course).

My contacts kept telling me that it's possible for schools to overlook the two-year experience thing and that I can get a visa from Hong Kong. I'm not sure what to think. Are my only options to take another chance at a franchise school or go home?

[kungfuman]

[wawaguagua]