Job Discussion Forums

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

Do any of you prepare the kids for this exam? If so, what challenges have you faced?

Seems a tough market to crack.

Miles Smiles · Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1294 Location: Heebee Jeebee

I always thought that everything that the pre-college/university level students were taught was geared toward the gao kao.

therock · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 1266 Location: China

It's certainly a lucrative market for Chinese teachers, although there's not much demand for foreigners to teach it. English is only part of the exam and it's all wriitng and reading.

If you are looking to teach exam preparation, IELTS and TOEFL are the main options for foreigners.

Denim-Maniac · Joined: 31 Jan 2012 Posts: 1238

I dont know if it is just a lack of demand for foreigners to teach it, but I can see that Chinese teachers would 'educate' students to the idea that only Chinese teachers can prepare Chinese students for a Chinese English exam.

The biggest difficulty I would imagine would be in the actual prep work. The students taking the exams are children who have spent their entire English education under the impression that they need to know 10,000 words to be able to do the reading, and to be able to recite New Concept 1, 2 and 3 in order to be able to do the writing.

Test prep is pretty much trying to teach them the skills required and this goes against everything they have ever been educated in. Thats the toughest nut to crack in this scenario I think.

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

Therock is right: Chinese teachers explicitly make sure their customers--er, pupils, know that foreigners cannot teach anything in the gao kao.

I have been teaching high school kids preparing for their gao kao for a few years now, but have had little success getting anywhere near the amount of students that I get with the primary and middle school age groups. Lately however, I have seen a sharp increase in the number of kids wanting me to each them and I'm not sure why.

Just wondering if there is anyone else doing it; I feel like I'm in a lonely club here.

Voldermort · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 597

Guerciotti · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:18 am Post subject:

As noted before, Chinese teachers promote the idea that only Chinese teachers are suitable tutors for the GaoKao. It's a business. People pay good money - I heard one paid 200K RMB - for high school teaching jobs and they pay not so much for the job as the additional income opportunities.

In China, high school education is a business and they're defending their business. Follow the money.

I think native speakers who already know or are willing to learn the 'other' verb tenses, prepositions et al are well suited to teach the GaoKao.

I think you could do the students a great service and I wish you the best of everything in this endeavor.
Cool

Opiate · Joined: 10 Aug 2011 Posts: 630 Location: Qingdao

I avoid gaokao prep like the plague now. It's almost impossible to walk out of it smelling like a rose or feeling like you accomplished anything worthwhile. Most kids do not know basic grammar but both they and their parents believe