Job Discussion Forums

[dawnbuckley]

I've been looking at jobs in China for a while and I'm not sure what route to take - adult school or uni.

All I know is that I want to teach adults, or at least, not little kids. I have taught uni students before (not in China) and really enjoyed it.ng
I have a couple of offers from uni's.

The thing is, from what I read on these boards - uni jobs no seem really relaxed, with no books, resources, complete freedom regarding lesson plans etc. The teachers I have been in touch with said that they didn't have to plan much and that their main priority was travel rather than work. A couple of guys had an un-related job they worked on at home.

Don't get me wrong, this sound great, but I am kind of thinking of doing a DELTA or MA in the next couple of years. Would a uni job be kind of bad for me in this regard? Is there room for professional development/ improving as a teacher??

I'd really like to hear from those who have worked at both, and which you preferred too!

Thanks!

[Javelin of Radiance]

[Opiate]

With few exceptions, training centers focus on keeping the little darlings happy. Educating the students is rarely a specific objective. It sometimes happens accidentally though. As said before, if you want to improve as a teacher you'll have to be proactive, not likely that anyone at the school will push you.

IMO...grab a Uni gig. Do not go anywhere near middle school, high school, or *most* training centers.

[Shroob]

[zactherat]

language school work provided me with training for intensive level testing, TOEFL prep, Cambridge exam prep, and a lot of ideas/activity sharing and general reflection during workshops (and in the staff room, for that matter). I found I liked leading workshops too, which was a pretty important step in terms of my own development - and one that I am not sure would have happened had I been teaching in a university from the get go.

Your output can be pretty much completely isolated when teaching in a university. Personally I find the autonomy that comes with that really great, now, but I think in terms of development I was better off when surrounded by people doing a similar job because that meant support and guidance. I guess I was kind of lucky to get experience teaching specific academic prep too.

Actually I wasn't lucky at all, I chose language schools specifically for that because I thought it would read well on my resume..

[roadwalker]

I think if you are interested in the industry of EFL/ESL you should put some time into the more organized training centers, but beware that those training centers can vary greatly. Several years ago, I returned to teaching business English in another country at a training center and they thought of my Chinese university experience as a negative. I personally don't like the idea of a corporate atmosphere English delivery system, but if you want to "develop" with a Delta or a masters degree, it would look better on your resume/CV.

I also agree with Javelin of Radiance: you can develop and learn about teaching in a university job. You can figure out what works, what doesn't and specifically where you excel and where you need work. Or you can just go through the motions and wait for the holidays. You may find that you have time for further education online as well. If you do go the university route, perhaps you could show in other ways how you have continued to develop, whether with documented extracurricular school activities, further education/certificate programs etc., publishing or whatever. Some people will first picture the society drop out when they hear "university in China", so have some reasons to counter that.

[Non Sequitur]

I'd go with a uni having worked at both these, vocational colleges and chain mills.
Unis are not completely free and easy and often have textbooks. These vary in quality - from abysmal to so so. Students must buy these and may be upset if they're not used. That still leaves a lot of leeway though!
I think for the uni/voc college sector you really need to have some idea of where ESL teaching is right now.
I suggest you decide what qual you're going to try for and get an outline of the syllabus. This means that your self direction in class is aligned with the studies.
Where demo lessons are needed for the course content you will have practical experience to draw on.
A better solution would be to study and teach concurrently. This way the two activities would support each other.
I'm assuming your uni job would be Oral English.

[Denim-Maniac]

Training centre all the way. University would be the wrong choice in my honest opinion.

Chinese university students are not exacctly adults.

Class sizes might be rather large, which isnt always conducive to CLT techniques.

Class contact time is likely to be minimal which may also be not conducive to really evaluating students and monitoring progress.

Class sizes may not be streamed by ability.

The lack of support (and possibly even interest) isnt conducive to professional development.

The teaching style is probably not going to relevant to a DELTA.

And agree with roadwalker. I know from interviewing at a British Council registered school in the UK, Chinese university / college experience is viewed as a disadvantage.

Im of a similar frame of mind to you, and am enrolled on the Distance DELTA which is due to start later this year. I dont believe teaching in a university or college is going to be very useful for me, and the experience isnt readily transferable to other EFL contexts. I also really only want to work with adults.

Some comments are correct though regarding training schools. The key is making sure you find the right one, and an adult only centre. I currently teach two classes per day, an upper-int and a lower-int class. One has 6 students, one has 4 students, and I see them both every day. This allows me to focus on specific language functions and monitor student progress closely and carefully concentrating on key language points and pronunciation issues as they arise. I have complete freedom over how I teach and what I teach, so I employ common methodology and CLT practices, and teach from recognised and useful resources. The Cambridge Face2Face material is where the bulk of my lessons come from.

[Non Sequitur]

Denim makes good points but the devil is in the detail and you need to be very sure that the language school you join has flexibility to allow you some development room.
Stay away from Wall St, Disney and Kid Castle as these are very prescriptive.
The unis and vocational colleges WILL have flexibility and the students are 'young adults'. I feel the large class management issues you will encounter in unis are part of teacher development.

[Denim-Maniac]

[Mister Al]

I'd agree with denim. Find a 'decent' mill, look at the Delta syllabus, try to get classes that are appropriate to that and keep a reflective diary of all your lessons.

[dawnbuckley]

Thanks everyone for the excellent advice. A training centre seems like the best option, if I really want to go ahead with the DELTA.

Finding a good one - I know about Web and Wall St. Does anyone know of any other schools/mills that cater for adults only?

[DosEquisX]

If you want to develop as a teacher, then perhaps you should teach elsewhere. If anything, the job is so easy that some competent teachers may grow some really bad habits that could hurt them once they go to teach at their home country.

[Miles Smiles]

Post Script: If you have no advanced degree, the university experience will not be looked upon favorably back home. If you have an MA, your experience will be appreciated (by both the Chinese university and your future university employer), especially if your area of expertise is useful to the university and you teach in your subject area.

If you come to China with little more than BA and/or high school credentials, your time spent in China will count for zip back home.

Re: which will make you a better teacher. It depends upon your previous education and where you want to apply your China experience when you return to your home country. With an MA, with Chinese college/uni experience, your China experience will probably qualify you for a domestic uni job. With a BA but no certification, consider a job as a lifeguard or a street sweeper. The job in a language mill in which you are fed material to teach will prepare you to teach public schools in the U.S., but will not qualify you. You'll still need to take the praxis and get at least a BA.

[Babala]

I would try and find a training center who is interested in a teacher's development. My school is actually paying for my DELTA.