Job Discussion Forums

[chryanvii]

This semester, our coordinators are starting to ask us to turn in all of our lesson plans, and comply more with a syllabus that they send us at the beginning of the semester. Previously, it has been much more autonomous, with more creative control.

If they do ask you to follow their plan, do you comply with them? Or continue to do your own thing?

Has this lack of autonomy been happening at other universities throughout China too? I know that it also happened at my previous university. Are universities in China starting to become less and less autonomous?

Oh - and did I mention that I have three different coordinators? So I have to send my scores to three different people?

[RunItTwice]

I had that a while back in China (2013). Had to turn in our lesson plans before the second semester began. I wonder if they even looked at them because none of the English teachers got any feedback once they were submitted.

Might have been a way to see if the teachers are actually working rather than focusing on exactly what they are teaching. Maybe that's the case for you.

[teenoso]

I think this completely depends on the school admin. set -up , and how relaxed or not they are.
At my last college, different foreign teachers taught in different teaching groups (eg english majors , or college english for science majors) and some of us had to follow a prescribed curriculum, with paperwork , and some of us were much freer ..
Also, sometimes they get a foreign teacher who goes off -piste and students complain , and the rules get tightened for the next semester.

[wawaguagua]

I just started a new job that's full of excessive paperwork just like your's, none of which was stated in the contract or the interview. From the looks of it, they try to squeeze as much work out of us as possible - Fifty minute teaching blocks instead of forty-five, with oral English exams after the 18th week (whereas previous schools told us to get it done the week before final exams as to avoid time conflicts).

The course requires not only a syllabus but some kind of explanation sequence (which the previous overachiever managed to do in 10+ pages). There's also a required 10 hours of teacher observations, which requires forms to be filled out that are all in Chinese, and I'm required to get permission from the teacher ahead of time before listening in. They also want me to start a weekly club (just like that drama club that some do-gooder selflessly went out of her way to create years ago... Oh, remember how compliant she was?), and weekly library hours (for which I'm supposed to prepare reading material. Are you sure this isn't another class?), and weekly feedback assessing my own teaching each week.

For this amount of work, I'd have gladly worked for a dreaded training school for four times the salary. I'm considering whether or not to bring up my concerns but can't think of a tactful way to do it ("Excuse me, sir, but I'm having some trouble finding where these teacher observations are stated as a job requirement in my contract... Can you help me find it?"). I already managed to "polite fight" my way into getting the boss to allow my own materials to be used in class in addition to (was aiming for "instead of") the crappy Chinese textbook. I guess the only way to survive is to sit back and take it or garner a reputation as the "troublesome foreign teacher." The others go along with it because they're Peace Corps.

[RunItTwice]

Get out if you can.

Peace Corps and Christian missionaries really drag everything down for the rest of us. They don't care about the money and their combination of youth (at least the ones I've met) and naivety makes them easy to boss around. Teaching isn't necessarily their primary goal. For the former, it's a gap year. For the latter, it's about creating underground churches that provide an area for proselytizing locals.

Or suck it up for a year and out the school when you're done so none of us go.

[wawaguagua]