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American Friend of China
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 23
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 Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 8:00 am Post subject: In Defense of AES Foreign Managers |
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This is in response to the May 18 posting on the Job Information Journal titled "AES - A Rectification???" by a person named Tod. This is also in response to other negative comments about foreign management and foreign administrative staff in AES and other schools in China. Due to the time lag in posting responses on the Job Information Journal, I decided to post it here on the discussion forum.
As a disclaimer, I am posting this response as an individual, not in the name of AES as an organization. So bear in mind that these views are from an individual who has taken initiative without seeking corporate approval. The purpose of the response is to defend the honor of all foreign location managers working at AES or elsewhere.
First of all, I want to say that we foreign managers work hard at our job, and this job is no cake walk. Here is a very general description of just some of our job duties.
- Jumping into the classroom with little or no notice because a teacher gave you a 5-minute or less notice that he or she is sick. Forget about lesson planning. And if its an evening adult class, after your scheduled work hours, you can cancel your evening plans. If you were planning to observe another teacher's class to give him or her lesson pointers, you can put that on the back burner, too, since you have to substitute another teacher's class.
- Teaching the teachers about cultural differences and life in China. This can be an overwhelming and daunting task which can't be accomplished overnight, especially if the teacher knows little or nothing about China, its language, and its society. Sometimes, we can't focus on all of the foreign teachers at once, so we first pick out the ones that seem to have the most trouble with culture shock.
- Having to tread a fine line on the issue of cultural differences. Sometimes, the perspectives of the foreign teachers and the Chinese parents are like totally 180 degrees exact opposites. Trying to explain cultural differences to either party is an extremely challenging, if not virtually impossible, task.
- Being constantly interrupted on a busy day with interviews for incoming prospective students. You have to drop everything you are doing and give the new prospective student a very positive image of the school. In the space of a few minutes, you have to determine his or her language level and place him or her in the appropriate class. During the busy sign-up season, this can be difficult, because there are lines and lines of people waiting for an interview, and after doing so many interviews, you start to see stars at the corners of your eyes and even feel light-headed if you stand up too quickly.
- The stuff above is just the tip of the ice-berg. There are many other job duties as well, like observation & feedback, checking payroll information according to corporate guidelines, setting course schedules that attempt to make everybody happy, and the list goes on. And all for a salary that is only slightly above the foreign teachers.
So why do we do this job? Because we want to, and because we want to be here and because we are dedicated.
But after hearing these negative posts about foreign managers, I just had to reply and let those complainers know the hard work and dedication that foreign managers put into their job. First of all, you should know, you are not in Kansas anymore, this is China, a developing country. And the school I work for serves Chinese middle-class customers, which means, of course things will be different from home. If you wanted to work for a boss with an MBA and the leadership characteristics of Bill Gates and Colin Powell, why did you choose teaching ESL in China? Chances are, the statistics for foreign management will be similar to that of the foreign teachers, in that most will either be fresh out of college or towards the end of their careers - not mid-career professionals. That mostly has to do with the salary level and the fact that monthly bills and debts in foreigners' home countries are a major obstacles to attracting mid-career professionals to accept jobs in the ESL industry in China.
And no, we are NOT here because we can't find jobs in our home countries or because we don't have people skills or whatever it is you complainers say. And no, our Chinese wives were not bought, nor were they only seeking visas abroad. These are legitimate relationships that are essentially none of anybody else's business.
Thank you. |
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bobo the clown
Joined: 01 Jun 2003
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 9:11 am Post subject: Thank you for your candor |
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| I am a manager of an ESL school here in China. I too am fed up with all these teachers expecting the world and complaining about how a school is run. The simple fact here is that they don't appreciate the trouble we go through. Thank you for your candor, you gave a good picture of a typical day for most managers of an ESL school. |
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Wolf
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 1245
Location: Middle Earth
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| Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 1:15 pm Post subject: Ask, and ye shall recieve a post. TAKE ACTION for respect. |
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American Friend of China, you sound like a sane, rational individual and you state your case well. I am one of those people who offered up a "beef with manager" post. http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?p=17464&highlight=#17464
There are many good managers in the EFL industry. There would have to be. Some are good friends of mine. There are some teachers in the industry who complain a lot and don't adapt, or refuse to. A person's first year teaching in a foreign country is fraught with peril and adaptation. Many respond to pressure in an unhealthy or unproductive way.
As to bobo the clown, you wrote
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| I too am fed up with all these teachers expecting the world and complaining about how a school is run. The simple fact here is that they don't appreciate the trouble we go through. |
I think you're reacting too far the other way. Everything I put in the post in the above link either happened to me, happened to close friends I care for, or happened before my very eyes. There are EFL teachers in the world that get the almighty shaft from people who run their schools. I'm one of them. EFL teachers often have little to no legal recourse (varies from country to country).
Let's defend the good managers. Let's all go work for these dedicated fellows! But at the same time don't forget that some people do come here and post honest-to-deity problems that they have had with foreign managers.
We should all be on the same side! |
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MyTurnNow
Joined: 19 Mar 2003
Posts: 860
Location: Outer Shanghai
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| Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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AFC,
I think I've been pretty clear about how I feel about the people you work for. I don't have one single kindly word for them or their organization, and for the time being I'm just going to let it go at that.
But I wholeheartedly agree with your characterization and defense of foreign managers; let's please resolve my moral dilemma from this thread and expand it to the vast majority of foreign managers at the vast majority of schools. My problems with that particular organization referred to elsewhere were NEVER with the foreign school-level managers.
Our job is not a picnic. We have responsibilities to deal with that most teachers never even dream of and we have to make about 10,000 decisions a day. And as AFC pointed out you may have 5 minutes' notice to go smile at some rabid kiddies for a missing teacher, knowing full well that your desk is metaphorically on fire back in the office.
We have to deal with the parents a lot, and if you think the KIDS are bad...come get yourselves some of the parents, especially when they are cheesed off.
We provide a layer of insulation between you and the grasping psychopaths and egotistical morons who own these institutions and/or administer them at a higher level...if you think your school's owners are bad please try and imagine what it would be like without one of us in your corner.
And of course we have to deal with you...and believe it or not, not all foreign teachers are the stellar exemplars of humanity we see participating in this forum! (Pretty frightening thought, huh?  )
Yes, we may get a pittance more than you do, but then we have to drag your honky asses, and those of everyone else in the school, around the place, sometimes on a 24/7 basis. Hug our necks and buy us a beer, OK? We EARN it...
MT |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2003 11:08 am Post subject: Re: In Defense of AES Foreign Managers |
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| First of all, I want to say that we foreign managers work hard at our job, and this job is no cake walk. |
Granted. I have worked closely with foreign managers of English schools here in China, and can attest to the effort they put into their jobs. The work is difficult and demanding, as well many interruptions crop up that need dealing with. Foreign managers have dedication to both their teachers and customers that is noteworthy.
Having said this however, I would like to address a few specific points you brought up that justify management behaviors and attitudes known to create friction with teachers. If we are clear about such friction points, it's easier to resolve them and make both parties happier.
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| - Jumping into the classroom with little or no notice because a teacher gave you a 5-minute or less notice that he or she is sick. |
It's highly unprofessional behavior for teachers to give such last-minute notice, and in my view, this would deserve a reprimand. However, shouldn't a clause be stipulated in a contract or school regulations to prevent the problem from occuring in the first place?
For example, a clause could read, "In the event that an employee cannot teach class due to illness, he or she must give at least xxx notice beforehand and/or call a replacement teacher."
It sounds trivial, but during training, it helps to explain the clause to the new teacher: "We understand that people get sick. It happens for a variety of reasons, especially if you're adapting to a foreign culture. If you are sick and can't teach a class, that's no problem. But we ask that you to give sufficient notice (say minimum 1 day), so that we can find a replacement teacher. This helps our business run smoothly, and benefits all of us, especially the students." Perhaps an anectode would help here.
Such a respectful tone and rationale build rapport and trust with the teachers. Given this trust, teachers follow the school policies and uphold them, and managers seldom have experiences like what you go through. If management takes the lead and shows by example that they trust teachers, it has another plus: A teacher who willingly disobeys policies is clearly at fault if management initially laid the rules out and gave the teacher trust.
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| First of all, you should know, you are not in Kansas anymore, this is China, a developing country. |
Of course, and professional standards of management and teaching apply whether the school is in Kansas or Timbuktu. While China is developing, and the English market is high-demand, this is not an excuse for lax professional standards. It is upsetting to see managers adopt the attitude, "Well this is China, not the West, so I can get away with stuff I couldn't do back home." A more extreme view that I see with some foreign managers is, "China's work culture is full of corruption, so I'll just jump right in and join the party." What a way to develop a country.
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| If you wanted to work for a boss with an MBA and the leadership characteristics of Bill Gates and Colin Powell, why did you choose teaching ESL in China? |
I don't think that most ESL teachers expect these kind of qualifications. But what teachers are looking for is mutual professional respect, that they are recognized and valued for the work they do. Teachers look for a manager that treats them like a human being and recognizes their talent and potential in this industry. This plays out in policies such as:
- giving advanced notice, to the best of their ability, for new start-up classes.
- allowing regularly scheduled days off, for staff to relax and unwind
- paying employees on a regular and uniform basis, with pay stubs as a receipt.
- providing ongoing teacher training, and regular class observations on a progressive basis. While doing so, treating the observations as teacher development, not opportunities to find something wrong in the class.
- scheduling regular meetings and workshops, to improve teaching quality and deal with ongoing customer service and other issues that crop up.
- following up these meetings with actions.
In short, good managers follow through on what they promise to customers and teachers, which then leads to rapport.
Given that many foreign managers are at the start of their careers, and may have been ex-teachers, it's understandable that they lack extensive leadership and management training. It may be tough to get these qualifications overseas, but an EFL company can easily hire a management or human resources consultant to organize in-house training eminars. Here in Shanghai, there are dozens of experts who specialize in corporate training and organizational development.
As Shakespeare said, if there's a will, there's a way.
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| Chances are, the statistics for foreign management will be similar to that of the foreign teachers, in that most will either be fresh out of college or towards the end of their careers - not mid-career professionals. |
The managers may be young and not have the formal training, but it's possible to obtain it, if they are willing. And even if they don't, what's more important is the *attitude* they convey to their staff. If they are willing to be professional and learn from their mistakes, that's what counts.
As an analogy, Chinese culture is difficult to learn, especially the nuances of 'face' or 'mian zi'. Even though 'Chinese face' is difficult to learn, the heart of it is that the foreigner is *trying* and is *genuine* to get the hang of it. If the foreigner treats the local person with respect and dignity, ironically, that's what 'face' is all about.
Steve |
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bobo the clown
Joined: 01 Jun 2003
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2003 8:14 am Post subject: |
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Steve I appreciate all your comments, but I believe you have made some assumptions about many schools here in China.
Steve wrote:
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| but an EFL company can easily hire a management or human resources consultant to organize in-house training eminars. Here in Shanghai, there are dozens of experts who specialize in corporate training and organizational development. |
How much money do you think these schools have? I guarantee you with the competitive market here in Shanghai, very few schools are turning out a profit. In an ideal world most new managers would get this type of training, but what actually happens is quite different. Most of what we learn is on the job learning. We learn from the mistakes of the previous managers and make new ones. And often than not we receive little to no support from our senior managers or owners. So getting training would be nice, but not many of the schools have the resources to offer that type of training.
Many times during a stressful day we want to complain about this type of situation, but we can't...who do we complain to? The teachers see us as authority figures, if we complain about not getting the proper training we lose our credibility with the teachers, we complain to upper management and they see us as incompetent. So we bear the grunts from both ends.
If teachers could for one moment understand this situation I believe a positive work environment could exisit. But I doubt many teachers would bother to simpathize with "management", it's the nature of business.
Steve wrote:
| Quote: |
It's highly unprofessional behavior for teachers to give such last-minute notice, and in my view, this would deserve a reprimand. However, shouldn't a clause be stipulated in a contract or school regulations to prevent the problem from occuring in the first place?
For example, a clause could read, "In the event that an employee cannot teach class due to illness, he or she must give at least xxx notice beforehand and/or call a replacement teacher."
It sounds trivial, but during training, it helps to explain the clause to the new teacher: "We understand that people get sick. It happens for a variety of reasons, especially if you're adapting to a foreign culture. If you are sick and can't teach a class, that's no problem. But we ask that you to give sufficient notice (say minimum 1 day), so that we can find a replacement teacher. This helps our business run smoothly, and benefits all of us, especially the students." Perhaps an anectode would help here. |
You assume all teachers are professional. There are many stipulations in contracts and school's policy to avoid the last minute call. The fact is that many teachers do not adhere to these policies. I have received phone calls time and time again about food poisonings or last minute flu symptoms or "it's that time of the month". The truth is many teachers that come to China have come straight out of high school or university and don't have a strong sense of responsibility. If you have a class the following day take care of yourself. Weeks and weeks of rapport building can not solve the problems of unprofessional teachers.
Most recently a teacher at our school used a severe illness of a family member to break his contract early. I found out about a week later that he will travel to another country to teach English and that his family member is fine. It's with this type of unprofessional act that we managers have to deal with.
Having said that, there are many things we can do to help team build. You offered many in your posting so I won't reiterate them. But before blaming the managers for all the faults of the company look to yourself and your colleagues to see where the lack of professionalism truly lies. |
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Gouki
Joined: 12 Mar 2003
Posts: 65
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2003 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting post.
Any manager needs to be dynamic and be a real peoples' person to be appreciated by everyone.
Some people think that "wow! you're a manager! Must be good!", in China, having authority is everything these days. Some managers abuse this privilege to no end. I'm not saying that AES has such people, but there are bound to be unqualified/inexperienced managers with big mouths, all flash and no substance.
Its fine if one teacher is the problem, but if it involves the entire team, then blame the manager. Basically, they are our "weakest link" (can I say that on this forum???).
I can't really say what makes a good manager, but I am most impressed by somebody who knows just how to utilise your skills and personalities when fitting you into a company. He/she is a strategist, witty and talented.
I've met such people in high-end companies like IBM, Microsoft, governments etc etc. Although, I am not expected to meet such people in a school, I'm sure that there would be people who share the same kind of enthusiasm for their work. |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2003 6:55 am Post subject: |
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| Steve I appreciate all your comments, but I believe you have made some assumptions about many schools here in China. |
Fair enough, and thanks for calling me on them, as you write out.
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| How much money do you think these schools have? I guarantee you with the competitive market here in Shanghai, very few schools are turning out a profit. In an ideal world most new managers would get this type of training, but what actually happens is quite different. |
Yes the market is extremely competitive. But the market is also very long-term. Namely, there will still be a strong demand towards learning English for years to come, and it's worth it for schools to invest resources for the long-term. In my experience, what I see is English schools operating in the short-term, and not planning far enough ahead in their market research. This is understandable as the market in Shanghai is very changeable, but it will still be around in the long-term.
If possible, it is worth investing in training qualified teachers and managers to this end, even if the profit margin is thin. I have a friend who is starting up an English school, and she has hired fully qualified managers to begin with, who plan to stay for the long haul. Some have PhDs in organizational development. That may be a bit overkill, but the idea is, they want to start with highly trained managers and teachers when the market demands it more in future.
In Shanghai, at least, the resources for management training are widely available, or soon will be in a few years. I have a lot of friends in the head-hunting and corporate training industries, and believe me, this market will be booming soon.
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| If teachers could for one moment understand this situation I believe a positive work environment could exisit. But I doubt many teachers would bother to simpathize with "management", it's the nature of business. |
Most of the teachers I talk to want a positive work environment, and they do care about management and how to help the company grow. I have seen it played out first-hand in the past, how excellent relations were developed with teachers and managers.
The key to it, I found, was mutual respect. That is, managers saw teachers as valuable and talented people with skills to offer and develop, and in turn, they helped the teachers reach their potential. As a result, the teachers gave excellent quality in the classroom, and contributed greatly to helping management reach their goals.
Conversely, relations break down when one party fails to respect the other. Pro-active teachers need to be professional and work towards building good relationships with supervisors, and to be responsible. But I feel that the ball is in management's court to first build the rapport with staff. This means, right off the bat, showing teachers that they are valued and that their talent can be developed. Given the authority that managers have over teachers, what they say and do has more weight than the other way around.
What often happens is that managers adopt attitudes, either positive or negative, towards teachers that play out in specific policies. These attitudes have shaping factors to how teachers respond. What follows are some attitudes I found in your post that can, in my opinion, create friction with teachers.
#1:
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| The truth is many teachers that come to China have come straight out of high school or university and don't have a strong sense of responsibility. |
Yes many teachers do come straight from college, however that doesn't MEAN they are irresponsible. They may not have much work experience, but they can be trained. Yes, some teachers are not responsible and see EFL as a free ride to have fun in another culture. However, these teachers can easily be screened out in the interview process.
When I first came to Shanghai two years ago, the attitude of previous management of the company I work for was that I was a resonsible adult, and I was treated accordingly. Especially how the AD went over the rationale for various school policies. He also respected my intelligence by giving me a chance to voice questions and concerns.
#2
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| Weeks and weeks of rapport building can not solve the problems of unprofessional teachers. |
You're right, but it's not so much the method and program of building rapport, but the underlying perception and belief. Are teachers really an asset to the company? Are there talents worthy of development? If a teacher is acting unprofessionally, how does management respond? They can cast him off as an irresponsible college bloke, but this doesn't help matters much.
We had a perfect example in the past of a case where management did everything they could to help develop the talents and show respect to a teacher, who quite frankly, didn't give a shit. He eventually was fired, but it turns out that management fully gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave him ample opportunities to correct his mistakes before.
Teachers like this are in the minority, fortunately. It's true that not all EFL teachers want to make a career out of this profession. Many are still trying to find out a career path after graduating. Even so, many are fully able and qualified to do their jobs, and to develop professionally. Management needs to recognize that, and build rapport accordingly.
#3
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| But before blaming the managers for all the faults of the company look to yourself and your colleagues to see where the lack of professionalism truly lies. |
I don't blame management for company faults, as it's more complex than that. Neither does management have the cure-all solution to solving company problems. It takes a multi-pronged approach. However, suppose a school has ongoing and consistent problems with relations between management and staff. These problems are not just with individual, but a pattern among the staff.
To use a very simplified example, suppose that management decides that teachers' spare time isn't very important, and teachers are more or less on call to work 7 days a week whenever management directs. Short notice for new class start times (say, less than 2 days notice) becomes a common policy, after all it's convenient for management. Teachers then get upset when they make other plans and have to cancel them to begin a new class. If it happens once or twice, the teachers shrug it off and call it an exception. But when their plans are interrupted repeatedly, they get upset.
What often follows is that the teachers collaborate together and bitch about the company at Starbucks after class. Also, teachers switch off their phones and avoid any contacts with the school except when they have to be there, for fear of any other last-minute interrputions. The relations between staff and managers become more distant, and teachers are reluctant to take initiative. They figure, management doesn't care about my time, so why should I go over the top for them?
This is all silliness that can be easily avoided by management showing that it respects the teacher's time. A simple policy can be drawn up, saying that, "A minimum of xxx days notice must be given for any new classes the teacher shall conduct."
Steve |
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MartinK
Joined: 01 Mar 2003
Posts: 344
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| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2003 7:26 am Post subject: ... |
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Last edited by MartinK on Mon Nov 17, 2003 7:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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senor boogie woogie
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Posts: 676
Location: Beautiful Hangzhou China
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| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:07 pm Post subject: I'm too lazy to DOS. |
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Hola!
My question is, why are you doing a job that the owners should be doing at a salary not much more than the teachers that you employ. For instance, I make more money than my old DOS supervisor in Hangzhou, and he is a much better teacher than I. Think Michael Jordan versus Stevie Wonder on a basketball court.
I make between two to four thousand more a month than he is, have weekends off, really a three day weekend. He works in the office, works Saturdays and many Sundays, doing interviews with new students and putting up with the general hassle of working for a too rich Chinese boss and her company. Of course the boss could not string a good sentence together in English if you offered her a million dollars. He is also only 28 years old, in his prime so to speak.
I feel that all of ESL laowai teachers should and must be on the same level. A foreigner who is a DOS is going to side with management every single time. Any foreigner who accepts a DOS position for whatever reason is helping to keep the salaries and the quality of life here at a stagnant level without improvement. We as foreigners in this field should always present a united front when it comes to pay and benefits. A level playing field so to speak.
Especially now in the Post-Sars China. People back home are afraid to come here. This means that our stock goes up, because the demand for our product (English study) is still there, but there is less of us. All you suckers who are supervisors here can freelance in two or three different places, make friends (guanxi) with local bosses and come out much further ahead. Without foreigners (sell outs) to supervise foreigners, the Chinese will have to do this, and us laowai will have more power and control to write our own demands and contracts.
More kuai, no lie.
SENOR |
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MyTurnNow
Joined: 19 Mar 2003
Posts: 860
Location: Outer Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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| struelle wrote: |
| It's highly unprofessional behavior for teachers to give such last-minute notice, and in my view, this would deserve a reprimand. However, shouldn't a clause be stipulated in a contract or school regulations to prevent the problem from occuring in the first place? |
Stipulate away; it doesn't always help. I've been a manager myself for a while, at both great companies and really crappy companies. I've personally had to bear the brunt of short notice. But I've also been tying my shoes to leave 20 minutes before class one moment, and in the bathroom being truly violently ill the next moment. $#it happens. TIFC.
| Gouki wrote: |
| Its fine if one teacher is the problem, but if it involves the entire team, then blame the manager. Basically, they are our "weakest link" (can I say that on this forum???). |
Usually true. Depends on how skillful and selective your company's recruiters are and who is doing the recruiting. It's rare to get a complete pack of losers, but it does happen. I've had one myself in Jilin Province: 1 lush, 2 grumpy resentful old men, and 1 violent psychopath in a crew of 4. I can honestly say I've had virtually no trouble with teachers I've hired myself, and no end of trouble with teachers I've been stuck with by others.
| MartinK wrote: |
| American Friend of China wrote: |
...we are NOT here because we can't find jobs in our home countries [and] our Chinese wives were not bought. |
The foreign manager doth protest too much, methinks. |
No, no, at some companies it's good to get this settled off the top. 
| senor boogie wrote: |
| A foreigner who is a DOS is going to side with management every single time. |
Nooooooo! Nyet! Stabbed in the heart.....
Definitely not true, at least not 'round here. I side with whoever I think is right, and so far that has almost always been the teachers.
MT |
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