Job Discussion Forums

nimadecaomei · Joined: 22 Sep 2016 Posts: 605

Class monitors do not work for the teachers, it is not a difficult thing to figure out. They are appointed by the CCP section of the university. They are often not useful in even doing what is expected (I have seen some great ones, but many disappoint). If you want to have a leader in the class who will help, you need to dig deeper.

ChrisHenry15 · Joined: 03 Jan 2015 Posts: 99

Foo_Fighters_Dave · Joined: 09 Dec 2016 Posts: 162

Didn't you come to this job on a business visa and transfer it to a Z in Hong Kong? I think I remember you posting this.

What was the conflict about?

Mixal · Joined: 08 Apr 2015 Posts: 80

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

Given that 'changing employers' is a euphemism for 'breaking the contract' I would imagine there are likely penalties.

OhBudPowellWhereArtThou · Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Posts: 1168 Location: Since 2003

MsHoffman · Joined: 18 Sep 2016 Posts: 76

I have no interest in leaving my contract early and overall I'm very happy here.

The conflict had nothing to do with immigration stuff. Yes I converted from an "L" tourist visa and that went fine, I posted the whole thing here, etc.

The short version of the conflict story is that the FAO really really screwed me, the result of which was I was homeless for awhile when I had first arrived here and knew no one.

Getting this conflict resolved took a lot of work on my part, and it was so time consuming that it affected my teaching work, which really pissed me off. Anyway, the conflict is resolved now so yes I hope people have put this behind them and that the renewal won't be a problem. I'm in a nice rhythm here with social life and work so I'd like to continue in this position.

Also I received my Departmental Evaluation (the department chair comes and observes your entire class + then writes a report), a week ago and I got a very high score, with comments like "very organized" and "serious instructor", so I hope that helps as well Smile

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

MsHoffman · Joined: 18 Sep 2016 Posts: 76

You know, it's funny, even though many more experienced people on here say my contract won't get renewed somehow I still think there's a 50-50 shot.

I should know for sure one way or the other by May 19. I'll let you all know what happens.

In the mean time, I will continue to play it safe and look for other positions.

ChrisHenry15 · Joined: 03 Jan 2015 Posts: 99

The writing is on the wall.

MsHoffman · Joined: 18 Sep 2016 Posts: 76

I got the renewal offer from the FAO today. I got a raise and a nice note saying that he hopes I will re-sign for next year.

So what follows are the thoughts of a FT finishing her first year in China. Take them with whatever grains of salt you deem necessary:

Choose your battles wisely, which means you should adapt and be grateful/patient/flexible in dealing with 99 percent of the problems you will encounter here. (okay good advice for any country really)

That said, when you encounter your "brick wall" - your dealbreaker - don't back down. Be a mature adult about the problem, but stand your ground firmly until you get what you want.

I also want to add that the entire time I was dealing with this conflict, I never allowed it to affect my teaching, and I never once said something like, "If this problem continues, I can't guarantee that I'll show up to work on time."

I always showed up on time and worked hard no matter what. Never canceled or rescheduled a class. It was honestly easy to keep the FAO conflict and my teaching separate, so that was a plus.

Also to all of you who said I wouldn't get renewed - if you want to know the saga of the FAO conflict, where I *definitely* made him lose face, pm me for the details.

getbehindthemule · Joined: 15 Oct 2015 Posts: 712 Location: Shanghai

ChrisHenry15 · Joined: 03 Jan 2015 Posts: 99

Enjoy yourself.

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

MsHoffman · Joined: 18 Sep 2016 Posts: 76

Sorry I can see where those two things are confusing.

I love teaching and when I first started out I did it for free. So any little disruption gets me super cranky. In the case of how this FAO conflict, I was meeting a couple times a month with some of the Chinese English teachers here to share methods, etc. All of the teachers here are very busy so scheduling these meetings usually took 1-2 weeks notice, which is fine except when I had to cancel many of them at the last minute because of this FAO conflict.

So did it affect my students and my day to day teaching? No. Did it keep me from these meetings? Yes. I think what made it more frustrating is I would tell the FAO, "I have a teachers' meeting, can we do this [conflict] another time?" And the answer was always, "No, we must do this now". No regard for me as a professional.

I forgot to mention - (this was all months ago and remember I'm trying not to give a lot of details), - that I have a good Chinese friend here who is local to the community and speaks fluent English. So he was giving me advice to deal with this conflict (although he never spoke to the FAO directly). I followed every bit of his advice and I think that helped a lot.

This could very well be a woman thing - after all China has a lot of sexism - but my Chinese friend told me to always be very vulnerable, kind, and patient, but also firm. Approaching strangers and professional associates with vulnerability is new for me, but honestly I like it. In general I'm learning so much this year Smile