Job Discussion Forums

[Bud Powell]

Public schools , generally, are least likely to pull a fast one because they are in contact with other Foreign Affair Officials who (I suspect) monitor their activities. They are probably more likely to be audited these days because of the general tightening of the purse strings.

As a government entity, they tend to follow legal guidelines. Because the money isn't coming out of anyone's pocket, they're least likely to cut corners unnecessarily. (Your mileage WILL vary). They operate on similar financial principals as western (American, anyway) institutions: if they don't use up the budget this year, it'll be reduced next year.

The downside: If you work for a public university or college, you may find that the actual FAO isn't the person with whom you deal on a regular basis. This can be good and it can be bad. In some situations, it can be bad because sometimes the actual FAO doesn't speak English, or even reside near the school, so he's rarely there. It may take longer to get answers to your questions in this case.

I've never worked for a private school, only partially privatized colleges, but I'd imagine downsides similar to private enterprises exist. When enrollment is down, purse strings are tightened, and the FT may find that his budget for copying tests and handouts have dried up ON THE DAY THAT YOU CHOSE TO COPY YOUR FINAL EXAM AND THERE'S NO TIME TO GO HOME AND COPY IT ON YOUR OWN COPY MACHINE, SO YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE CORNER COPY SHOP AND PAY A WHOLE YUAN PER SHEET AT LUCK JOE'S COPY SHOP AND AUTOMOBILE TIRE SHOP!

Worse, my experience in times of decreased enrollment, standards for entry suddenly drop, and you'll find yourself teaching a bunch of farmers' kids who aren't aware that people other than Chinese inhabit the earth. (Boy, is that a treat).

What I've learned from those who work for private chain language schools is that because they are smaller, they seem to be more efficient than the lumbering public universities.

You might not find layer upon layer of bureaucracy in a private language center as you'll find in a public university. Case in point: once, at a public university, I needed to reserve an AV room to show a movie. In order to do this, I had to get the permission of the AV equipment manager.

Where's his office?

It's near the AV building. He's not in his office on this campus. He's in the office on the other campus eight miles away. A student and I hop on a bus to find the guy. He's not in his office there, so we leave a large note on his door to call the student so we can set up an appointment to use the AV room on EITHER campus that night. We find out that we actually have to get permission from someone back on the first campus. Nobody knows her phone number, so it's back on the bus to track her down. She's not in her office and no one has seen her in weeks.

So how in h3ll does anyone reserve a room in the AV building?

You have to know someone?

Who?

The head janitress.

We track down a roly-poly, good-natured woman who is in possession of keys to every door on both campuses. Yowza. We hit the jackpot! My student explains that we've wasted five hours trying to reserve a room for early this evening, and we're running out of time.

No problem. Here's a key to an AV room. Just be sure to return the key tomorrow.

Forty-two students arrive at the AV room shortly after I open the door. I was so angry that if I'd had a baseball bat, I'd have trashed the room, but there's nothing in the room to trash. There are no seats and no AV equipment.

One of my students has an immediate solution: he knows another student who has his own purloined key to the really good AV room down the hall. That room has padded seats. I tell the kid to call him and offer him fifty kuai to get here in ten minutes.

Bingo. We've got the good AV room to ourselves, but somebody left a CD of a movie featuring bikini-clad beauties in the computer, and we can't get it out of the computer (but it WILL play). After fifteen minutes of that, one of the girls gets it to eject quite easily, and we're good to go to watch "To Kill a Mockingbird".

My student and I return the key to the empty AV room the next day to the janitress. She asks how it went. My student expressed great thanks for allowing us to use such a wonderfully equipped room.

The janitress puts the key on a smaller ring on her ring of keys and shakes her head.

"And we'd like to reserve it next week at the same time, if possible," my student translates.

In the people's Republic of China, that's called saving face.

In the United States of America, that's called mockery.

I don't think you'd experience that at a small language center.

[doogsville]

The downsides to private schools, at least in my experience, are that they may not have a licence to employ foreign teachers, in which case you'll likely get the whole 'come on a tourist visa, it's fine, we'll get you the Z visa when you get here' spiel. Don't do it. There are some schools who can get it, but want you there ASAP and it takes time to process all the paperwork for the Z visa, but you have no way of knowing which is which, and it's not worth the risk in my opinion.

The hours are often unsociable, in that they are mostly at weekends, and you can be teaching 8 to 10 hours a day Saturday and Sunday to fulfil your contract, which is not fun. Other classes, for example adult and business English classes may be on weekday evenings, or may entail you travelling to a factory or office a long, long way from where you live. You're unlikely to be reimbursed for the time spent travelling, and may have to rely on public transport to get there. I didn't have a problem with working weekends and evenings, since I gave up partying a while ago, but younger people often find it plays havoc with their social lives. You do get to hang out on weekdays with the other FT's at the school, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

Private schools exist only to make money for the owners, and they often don't like spending money on trivial things like decent textbooks or other educational resources such as whiteboards and photocopiers. Air conditioning in the 'classrooms' and working toilets can also be considered an unnecessary expense.

To keep the little darlings coming back with their parents money, the school will expect you to spoil them. That can mean zero discipline in the classroom, lest they complain to mum and dad, or a class with students so far apart in terms of ability that the lower end have no idea what you, or the more able students, are saying. They tend to be grouped by age, since to put older children in with younger children would be a loss of face for the parents. You will be expected to entertain them as much, if not more, than you actually teach them, since they didn't sign up for more of what they get in public school. That can be a good thing for some, if you like using games and other activities, but it can get tiring after a few hours and means you have to constantly find new games and activities over the course of a possible twelve to sixteen week semester.

All that being said, there are good schools out there, and even the bad ones can be an education for the teacher if you're willing to work hard at giving your students value for their parents money.

Another plus is that they are a good place to find privates, especially if you teach adults, and they give you plenty of free time during weekdays, when everyone else in China is at work, so you can shop and explore the neighbourhood without being killed in the crush.