Job Discussion Forums

[deleted]

I've had a pretty bad time lately. I just spent four weeks in bullied-negotiation with my former employer's lawyer, only to receive my release letter; and I have a still-recovering physical injury as a result of over-work.

Now, I have an offer to start teaching oral and writing at university in 2 weeks, but I don't feel emotionally or physically up to it; also, right now I'm lacking self-confidence as a teacher. However, the university has told me they need me so I'd like to try to help them.

Prior to this I taught children, teens, and middle school (early teens) and adults. In terms of behaviour my best classes were with adults and mid-teens, though of course it depended on the students - some youngsters were great.


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What exactly is it like teaching at university? What problems (with students) can I expect to experience? How might it compare with what I have experience of already?

I'm really not prepared to go to teach at university and find it an uphill battle.

Hope this isn't doubling up too much.

[doogsville]

How long is a piece of string? Depends on the university and the individual students. That being said, my own experience is that teaching university students is a bit like teaching teenagers and a bit like teaching adults. Your students, like the teenagers you've been teaching, may not be there by choice. Expect at least a few who are switched off and just don't care/listen/work. If you can deal with that and not take it personally you're half way there. If you're lucky you'll teach English majors, so their English will be okay to excellent. If you're not, you'll get the non English majors who have to take English, some of whom, at least in my experience, can barely construct an understandable sentence. They can be hard work, but a little patience goes a long way. At least some of your students are likely to be keen and want to learn, so they're the ones that will get you through the low points.

The other half of the equation is the university itself. Some schools treat FT's as a necessary evil and largely leave them to their own devices. Some seem to welcome us and make us part of the schools community. The old 'teach what you like' routine can be heaven for some, hell for others. Personally I like to be given at least some idea of what it is the students, and therefore myself, are aiming for. The ideal situation for me is to know what the curriculum is, but to be largely left alone to get on and teach. Fortunately that's what I have at the moment.

As to your current situation, it sounds like you've had it rough. Whatever job you take right now is going to be difficult for you. To be honest, you're probably better off in a university. Whatever other hassles there are involved in university teaching, making the boss ever richer is not one of them. You're students will not (very often) be accompanied to class by their parents, for whom you will be required to smile and fawn, and your unlikely to be asked to do demo classes/English corners and other revenue generating shenanigans. Even if half your students fail, the school will wave a magic wand over the scores and make it like it never happened. Remember that the semester is at least 16 weeks long, so even though you don't feel up to par at the moment, you have plenty of time to get up to par as you go along. You're going to be learning as you go anyway, so go easy on yourself and just take it week by week.

Good luck with it all, and I hope you start to get your confidence back and enjoy the new job in the near future.

[Bud Powell]

Going from your recent past school to a university may afford you much better opportunities to feel like a teacher. You will PROBABLY not feel (or be) micromanaged in most cases if it is a public university.

Be prepared for as many 42 students per class (which is not too bad except for the fact that you'll be teaching writing which will take a LOT of your time if you do it right. You'll have to correct a LOT of papers). If the school has an adequate number of FTs, your classes may be much smaller. There's no way to tell until you get there.

IN GENERAL students in four-year public universities tend not to present tremendous behavioral problems. There are exceptions. (My experience my not match yours). If the school has an actual English department, and if you will be teaching English majors, you'll probably find your new situation to be much better than the old.

You have sustained a major blow to your ego. That's actually a positive sign that you've got something good inside of you. I've met a few FTs who've been shipped out of every school they've taught for, but it all rolls off their backs, and they never learn from the experiences.

You'll be okay. You care about your job and how well you perform it. That's a large part of the profile of a good teacher.

[beckyshaile]

[chinatimes]

[dean_a_jones]

[deleted]

[choudoufu]

some differences:

fairly easy schedule - 12-16 hours, often teaching 4 days/week
no night or weekend classes
no extra "duties" like demo classes or wearing costumes at the mall
possibly 1-2 office hours, perhaps english corner weekly or monthly
no pressure (no interest) in the classroom from mgmt (hehe, or students)
design your own class content...you be the boss
three months vacation, at least one month paid
many, many holidays
accommodations on campus 5 minutes from the classrooms
respect and admiration of all who are graced by your foreign presence

[dean_a_jones]

[roadwalker]

The books that are usually given out for oral English classes have units centered around a theme, usually: introductions; family; university life; food; shopping; travel; sports; hobbies; the environment etc. And usually the Chinese English textbooks are crappy, with multiple errors of every type. First class: introductions. Start with yourself and also give them an idea of what you expect from them (in writing). Then have students introduce themselves. For subsequent classes, find or write a dialog for them to practice for each theme. Go over the vocabulary. Then have them try a "real" discussion in small groups by the end of class, based on the theme.

Other ideas for oral classes include role plays such as advertisements, news broadcasts, hospital drama, meeting the bf or gf's parents, etc. Some classes really enjoy being creative and others want spoon-fed structure.

One thing I've found in oral English classes especially, is that the teacher must be energetic and enthusiastic. So fake it if you have to. Otherwise, the students will fade out in many cases.

[Non Sequitur]

If you're staying in China, then the uni gig is the one for you.
The college attached to a uni is not material as long as the hours and other conditions are uni-type.
That said I'd be interested in knowing why there is a college.
Are the students less able and haven't entered via the normal entrance exam.
If that is the case, beware of the blitzkreig where these higher paying students are guaranteed 2 hours a day of FT contact.
Very hard to maintain interest in that context, quite apart from the lesson prep burden.

[theoriginalprankster]

[boomhauer20055]

When I changed from a Training Center to a University, I felt like I had went to Heaven. Enjoy your new job!