Job Discussion Forums

4nic8r · Joined: 18 Mar 2004 Posts: 68

Do some of the teachers at your schools appear never to do anything? I swear, there are 3 teacher's at my school who basically sit in the smoking room all day and play chinese chess. (These are not the foreign teachers)...

Also, I think our Gym teacher has the easiest job in the world.. (he's usually in that smoking room a lot too)... gives the kids some basketballs or soccer balls and tells them to play.. nothing like supervising or telling them the rules or basics to the game!

And I thought my job was easy.. Rolling Eyes

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Lanza-Armonia · Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:11 am Post subject:

In me ole' school the foreign teachers were always doing something; even that a$$hole, Norm...

...however...

...I know, before you say that it's a cultural thing but I don't agree with the Chinese way of getting up at the crack 'o' dawn, doing 1-3 lessons a day and staying in their offices until 6-10 at night, depending, of course, on where you're working. They do naff all, playing computer games and go on Chinese chat rooms...

...AND THEN...

...they have the cheek to tell the children off when they do it. darn commies...

LA

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

There are a couple I know who I know do decent classes but seem to manage this without so much as breaking a sweat and always seem to be reading the paper or browsing the web... Evil or Very Mad

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

I guess, most of us posters in this thread (so far) are based in some so-called "socialist" paradise.

I noticed in China that most teachers content themselves with doing the bare minimum for their nominal employer (and caretaker!). Don't forget, socialism is a kind of nanny-state philosophy.

You wouldn't want to overdo it at work - after all, there is no extra reward; but if you do what's absolutely necessary you stand to get:
- paid holiday trips even to countries outside of China;
- you will be offered a home for purchase at well below the market
price;

- and you get the minimum social benefits (unemployment benefit,
medicare and subsidised groceries and trips "en famille");

but of course you would want to maximise your earning potential, and it's always better to make extgra money OUTSIDE of your school because if you can't live up to your students' expectations, you simply switch your employer.

I often meet Chinese teachers who only put in 8 hours a week - and they do get that Thailand vacation trip thrown in for superfluous measure!

anthyp · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 1320 Location: Chicago, IL USA

Maybe in the other departments, but in the English Dept. at my school, I definitely have the easiest job. No papers to correct, one exam at the end of the year, and though I teach the most hours (20), it only takes me a few hours to lesson plan every week. And because I speak very little Chinese, I also get to skip the fascinating meetings they always go to on teaching methods or whatever it is they're talking about that week.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I share my office with 4 Chinese teachers. The Science teacher is teaching herself english with a computer program of some sort. One of the Chinese english teachers is spending his "free" time doing a second job of translating documents from English to Chinese (or vice-versa) and asks me a lot of questions about the articles he is given. The other Chinese english teacher is new here and I'm not sure what he is doing. The 4th guy (still not sure which subject he teaches!) plays a lot of solitaire and smokes when nobody is around.

Now, saying all that, THEY are the ones who have to be in their office by 8:00am and stay until 5:30 pm. Then, they have two evening shifts per week as well. They each teach 2 classes a day for six days a week. I, on the other hand, don't have to be in my office at any set time. I come and go as I please. I put in the time when I need to (and I'm usually doing this when they are having their post-lunch rest) and I don't work evenings at all. I also teach 12 periods per week, but I teach 4 classes a day twice a week and 2 classes a day twice a week, giving me 3 days off each week (and two afternoons as well). AND I don't go to the seemingly daily meetings they are forced to attend. So, they can do whatever they want to do.

zaneth · Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 4:04 pm Post subject:

That's me over in the corner reading Dave's.

PrinceofZibo · Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 12:58 am Post subject:

Ok... I probably have the laziest job ever... When I came they gave me 25 classes a week teaching the same 4 students who were gonna go abroad... But then well they realized they didn't want to go abroad and decided not to come to class...

So I was paid for 3 month, teaching students that were not there... The school could do nothing as what they wanted was the student's money. And well now they graduated... and I'm free and still being paid for it...

Being free all the time is so boring and got me very depressed and got me to hate china...! I think It's a question of management.. Yesterday they offered me to stay and pay me an extra 14 days because it would be easier then to close my telephone account....!

foster · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 485 Location: Honkers, SARS

They probably think I have it easy, as I have 2 classes of regular English, which require marking and exams and 12 Oral...Those Oral have no marking but MAN the headaches are not worth it.

There is one I.T. guy who has like 12 lessons out of a 48 lesson cycle and his other duties are to assist teacher with P.C. problems...whcih he flatly refuses to do. he says if he told them once, that is enough. Jerk. He is forever on his mobile, checking his bank account and his stocks.

A lot of my teacher sleep during their free lessons or lunch hour. Even caught my panel chair with her head on her mickey mouse pillow.

ilunga · Joined: 17 Oct 2003 Posts: 842 Location: China

I share an office with four Chinese English teachers and I've got it so easy compared to them.
They have to be in The Office from 7-8:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening. They also often get made to go recruiting when they have free time.
I agree about the P.E. teachers doing naff all though. Here there's one P.E. teacher for 800 students. I've been in class and looked out of the window to see a group of senior kids sitting around unsupervised while a couple of them shoot a few baskets. This is their 'P.E.' lesson.
On the rare occasions they get made to do some running, they're all dead on their feet after 5 minutes Laughing

4nic8r · Joined: 18 Mar 2004 Posts: 68

At my old school, the gym classes were even worse.. the guy just sat in a chair with a whistle, the boys just played soccer, and the girls sat in the bleachers playing with their mobiles and looking at themselves in the mirror... Rolling Eyes

willy · Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:13 pm Post subject:

everyone in my old school worked a lot, well all but jone and amber who were to busy making trouble and trying to stab everyone else in the back so they can move up in life.
(more on that in a few weeks on the Indo forum)

where i am now its all work and fun!!