Job Discussion Forums

[LaoMa]

Why do you want to teach overseas? Why in China?

If the answer to either of those questions is that you're hoping to earn a lot of money, then put on you thinking cap and sit down for a few minutes.

China is a wonderful place, full of generous, good-hearted people. The culture is fascinating, the language is amazing, the food varied and delicious. Atfer a year here, I can seriously say that I have even more friends here than in the States. I'm having THAT much fun, and I'm extending for at least another year with my organization.

But I've been lucky. The flip-side of the coin is that I have met a lot of teachers who have been royally screwed over by the schools and organizations they came to teach for. So let me share a couple of ideas and tips about what will make your experience better and what you might do well to look for in a Chinese ESL opportunity.

First off, you need time to enjoy China. Don't trust programs that talk about your teaching hours but that refus to talk about the hours of committed time you will spend. I met a teacher in Shenzhen who was teaching "12 hours per week" in a kindergarten. Sounds great . . . but he had to sit around in the school all day, five days per week (and sometimes on Saturdays) to accomplish the 45 teaching sections (20 minutes each!) that he was expected to deliver. The sitting around all day was not considered part of his work. Outcome: SCREWED!

Ask the school for your working hours. Any school that says you'll be expected for less than 25 hours is probably lying, so be careful. Contracts can be very flexible items in China, so someone that's trying to make the reality sound like you're coming over for a 1 year vacation tour is probably trying to butter you up.

Next, you need to look for an organization that really cares about cultural exchange. Ask what opportunities the school or organization provides for its teachers to interact with Chinese people. Are you only a prop in front of the masses, or will you have chances to really interact through parties, social outings, etc. The organization can be a real facilitator for you here, opening doors that would otherwise be unavailable to you as a foreigner.

How about Chinese lessons? Real Chinese lessons. Try to get feedback from a current teacher here. For example, in my organization, all teachers are provided with five hours per week in a classroom environment with a trained (and excellent) teacher. I know some programs simply sit you in a room with one of their staff and a vocabulary list.


Teacher training. Many of us had teaching experience before coming to China, but it's still good to get a rigorous refresher and an introduction to Chinese education norms. A school that provides such training is serious about quality. Some schools will even provide subsidized or free TEFL or TESOL training. BONUS!!! That's great if you don't yet have the certification because it will also bag you a garanteed job after you pass through the training phase. My program (America China Exchange Society) provides this. I know another program, English First, also provides subsidized training.

Sincere interest in cross-cultural exchange. If you're not in China to learn about China, give it up. You'll hate your experience. Likewise, the organization that you choose should be investing heavily in encouraging exchange. They should be going beyond just putting English-speaking teachers in front of the classroom. There should be opportunities for you to learn about China, and for your students to learn about culture in CAnada or America or England or whereever. Here it helps to look for organizations rather than individual schools. Definitely in a school, you are simply part of an attempt to raise the reputation and revenue of the school. In an orgnaization that has dedicated itself to encouraging exchange on several levels, you will be part of a larger social mission . . . and your experience will likley be much richer.

Well, I'm going on and on here. I'll try to add to this thread later as more ideas cross my mind. I know there are a lot of teachers out there with similar thoughts....some who fell on the more unfortunate side of the fence ....good chance to vent!

Cheers,
LaoMa (means "Old Horse" )

[LaoMa]

Make sure they will pay for your ticket, and make sure that you have a clear idea about vacation time!

[ContemporaryDog]

Good points about hours.

My school had 16 x 40 minute classes when I arrived, only what I didn't know beforehand was that we were expected to be in the office from 8.30 am til 3.40 every day, even when we weren't teaching.

Obviously, this wasn't too popular, as the office was noisy and it was easier in fact to prepare lessons in our rooms.

After the first term all the teachers except me left, and the school dropped this rather daft rule.

Also check about curfews. Do the school lock you in and expect you to be home by 11 each and every night? This also happened at my school, and again they dropped it after the first term, gave us keys to the front gate.

The Chinese lessons point is good too, I was promised this but it never turned up.;..

[Norman Bethune]

Yes, working in China can be good for some. And it can be a nightmare for others.

I've posted before about how the happiest FTs here are the ones who never leave their home country. They bring with them all the trappings of life back home with them. The cultural adjustment for them is minimal because they do everything like they would back in their own country; speaking english only, eating in western restaurants, hibernating at home when not teaching, friendships only with other foreigners.

The only nod to their being in China and a different culture is that they go on occasional "sightseeing tours" with locals. Yet these are the people who get everything they ask for from their schools. Why? Especially when co-workers trying to adapt and do things as the Chinese do (in negotiating contracts, making real Chinese friends) often have to fight tooth and nail to get what the other already has.

As an example: I worked for a school with one foreign teacher of the type I mentioned above. He actually only had to work 14 hours a week with no outside activities or office hours. His new western style and furnished apartment was in the heart of the city, paid for by the school. He took home 3000 Rmb more a month than the other teachers did. This Ft was was very happy. Meanwhile, the other teachers, who worked 25 hours a week, had crappy accommodation, made much less. The thing is we all started working at this school at the same time.

How did he manage to get perqs the rest of us attempted to but failed to get? A simple answer. He was a lazy man who knew the inherent failing of the Chinese character: be helpful even if you are being exploited.

His apartment was cleaned by a staff member of the school because he asked.

His shopping was done by another staff member because he asked.

If he wanted to go somewhere on a sightseeing tour, he'd ask the boss to take him, and the boss did.

When he was hungry, he'd accompany chinese staff to lunch or dinner uninvited by just tagging along. He never paid the bill.

Mothers of students would cook for him and bring dishes to the school for him to take home, Because he made a big pretense of not knowing how to cook.

His Chinese teacher assistant did most of his lesson planning because he said he was too busy with other things. What? Nobody knew.

The man was a class A USER. Behaviour most westerners abhor wasn't even recognised by the chinese staff for what it was. He was a vampire. Chinese People loved him. The other foreign teachers hated him. We saw him for the mean spirited exploiter he was.

I am here to teach and be in China. As are many of you. We try to adapt to the overall culture and the business culture in this country. It is difficult.
We have morals. Most of us are not users. We respect our hosts. We don't see ourselves as Gods to be appeased. We are just human. We try to treat others as we want them to treat us.

But it is the Users who seem to be the winners here.

[extoere]

Old Horse and Norman Bethune: Many thanks for your extremely thoughtful AND provocative posts. Expand, please ....

cheers,
extoere

[TEAM_PAPUA]

China was tough for me. I had an incredible 2 years in Indonesia then decided to try China out. I was aware that it would be very different but I wasn't prepared for exactly how different it would be. Working in indonesia was COOL, with lots of COOL people regularly going to COOL places. China isn't COOL, but it is very interesting, challenging & rewarding. It just took longer to adjust than I expected. For a long time I did, as Norman described earlier, attempted to continue a western style of life here (although I do like to eat locally & have tried hard to learn and use at least some functional language). Essentially, I lived in the gym, taught then came home to watch DVDs on my huge TV. The only Chinese I mixed with were girls as I had the mindset that Chinese only wanted to practise their English with me - maybe this is true, but I am now enjoying having Chinese friends & they are not all like the 'farmers' I have often described in previous posts.

I do feel that the negative comments (often left by myself) on this forum are very valid and worth considering, but hopefully I can now offer a more objective view of life here in China. It certainly isn't for everyone, but I am glad that I have stuck out this emotional rollercoaster which is my time in China.


T_P

[LaoMa]

Looking at hte comments in this thread and elsewhere, I'd have to say there is a clear difference between 1 year (or even 2 year) FTs and career teachers. I know....no duh. But I think the difference is not just one of tenure, it's one of purpose.

I read a lot of comments about teachers feeling exploited, working too hard, comparing salaries. If you're in China for a year, get a grip. It doesn't matter how much you make as long as you're having a postive interaction with new people and a new culture. If you make a couple thousand more RMB per month, what does it really matter when you head back home? On the other hand, what if you go home after a year and can't speak a word of Chinese and have no Chinese friends to maintain into the future. If you end one or two years on that note, I'd have to say you've wasted your time . . . okay, that's obviously a judgement that bears the weight of my own baggage. ^^

Career teachers on the other hand will be inherently committed to settling into the environment, finding comfortable digs, finding venues that remind them of life back home. And, yes, choosing jobs based on salary.

Now, the vast majority of foreign teachers in China have no intention of staying past a couple of years, so my advice (at least to new teachers) is to seek out either programs or individuals that will provide deep connections to your local community. That is, after all, why we miss home. We have deep connections there. If you feel that everyone you meet in China is simply trying to use you, you'll definitely have the sense that you're only skimming the surface.

I don't feel exploited by my Chinese friends. Of course they want to practice their English. I want to practice my Chinese! That just forms a point of entry . . . beyond that, we go out, drink beer, laugh, talk about cultural differences that amuse and confuse us and generally have a good time. And of course any who pays me money to teach is using me. I'm using them in that I'm taking their money. Do I care that they make money? No. Why would I. As long as I'm getting what I want out of my experience, and I'm DEFINITELY getting that, I'm a happy camper.

Last night my center threw a party for students and teachers. They bought beer, food, played music, showed movies. They didn't have to do that. Definitely it was costly. Two weeks ago, they chartered buses and took teachers and students all over Tianjin. Again, they didn't have to. It wasn't something they had promised students. They're putting resources into the very things that I want out of my experience in China. Anyway, with the money they give me, I do the very same thing . . . spend it on traveling and going out to have fun and meet people. I don't have any expenses beyond those . . .housing, insurance, food, travel, Chinese lessons...it's all covered. And I've got the time to do what I want.

Point is, nobody who stays in China is going home with significant money in her or his pocket (except by working crazy hours . . . in which case it's better to make a high salary back home). Make sure you get enough money to be comfortable, but also make sure that your going to be set up such that you get something substantial out of your time here.

I know this sounds preachy, by the way. I hasten to conclude with the note that many of the people in this forum have spent more time in China than I and are probably better qualified to speak to this issue. I'm also one of those strange birds who tends to fly around without too many worries about the material world. A year in Cameroon and an year in Tanzania, both of which were excellent, were also spent in essentially non-monetary economies. So my brand of exchange may not fit the bill for everyone. ^^

Cheers.