Job Discussion Forums

[ChinaMovieMagic]

Seeking Feedback/Suggestions:

I'm making a proposal to an (un-named) nation-wide English teacher placement service. My idea is to offer FTs/schools a no-cost option. The FT will be able to select one or two highly-motivated Chinese co-teachers, trained by myself/others, to go with them to their placements in schools throughout China. Key elements:
*these co-teachers will typically be advanced English learners from rural areas, who will welcome this no-fee/no-pay work-study opportunity, in order to (1)improve their English (2)improve their English teaching (3)improve their Chinese teaching (4)develop the C.V. and get solid references
*the co-teachers will serve w/FTs in the classroom, developing Role Plays, giving Chinese translations where necessary, increasing the teacher-student contact time
*the co-teachers will serve as personal Chinese tutors/cultural guides for the FTs, according to the FTs schedule/interest
*the schools will provide dorm bed for the co-teachers...and possibly canteen food pass.

What do you think?
Would this project make teaching/living in China, especially in the lonely provincial areas, an easier and more rewarding experience?
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[Voldermort]

This sounds like a great idea in theory. A personal assistant in the classroom and a out. If done right this idea could really go down well. But I can't see a school paying the extra salary for that teacher or providing the accomodation. Why would a school go to the extra expense when they can just have one of their own English teachers come and sit in your lessons. I can understand your idea, I am just trying to put across how a school will think.

[ChinaMovieMagic]

Thanks for the feedback.
RE: Certificate...yes...this Group is authorized to issue EFL Teaching Certificates, and will be initiating the program in the Fall...and they'll also be initiating a Chinese-training program for foeigners, so this can lead to good employment for the cream of the crop.
RE: Cost to schools...good point. The Chinese head of the Group is very market-savvy, so I'll see what he thinks. Providing the trained/motivated co-teacher to the school, at no cost (just a bed and perhaps a meal ticket) can mean an increased value-added factor for this edu-company's clients, and the students will certainly benefit, and the FTs can have happier lives/more rewarding teaching experiences in China.

[Sinobear]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. You've become more naive the closer to what you consider the "Promised Land" you get and nearer your messiah (Owen Buckland). Chinese people expect respect and money for what they do. Do you really expect to get willing "slaves" to prance around China catering to every whim of foreigners? What's your exact qualifications to train/approve these slaves?

CMM...your posts of late are showing a megalomaniacal side that smacks of delusions of grandeur...especially when you are trusting a snake like Owen Buckland.

You wouldn't last 30 seconds teaching at my college. The students want real teachers who can impart real knowledge...not "fluffy bunny" pap that you continuously expound.

And don't bother with your usual "ad hominem" attack crap with obscure references (and a thousand links) to Swami fruitcake theology. Some of us live (and thrive) in the real world.

China has no use for poseurs.

[ChinaMovieMagic]

Sinobear,

You may be right. We'll see how the Market responds. Admittedly the concepts of "Work-Study" and "Internships" are not widespread in China. But neither are they completely unknown.I'm thinking that since people already pay schools money for:
*developing English skills, in a class w/10-15-20 or more students
*developing skills as a teacher, in a class w/etc.

...that some will be interested in a program which can offer solid training in BOTH areas, at no cost...with the opportunity of employment to the best.

Again...we'll see about the response of the potential Market--which is highly motivated English learners from the countryside, to whom the program may be seen as a wonderful opportunity.

I guess you think me to be naive in some despicably offensive/dangerous fashion. Of course I don't know you at all, only your words as ABOVE, which seem to me in the spirit of Bertrand Russell's still-relevant description decades ago:

Bertrand Russell:

To the sophisticated youth of the West all this ardour seems a trifle crude. He is firmly persuaded that having studied everything impartially, he has seen through everything and found that there is `nothing left remarkable beneath the visiting moon.'

...If this diagnosis is right, modern cynicism cannot be cured merely by preaching, or by putting better ideals before the young than those that their pastors and masters fish out from the rusty armory of outworn superstitions. The cure will only come when intellectuals can find a career that embodies their creative impulses.

My future boss is neither naive nor cynical. He's a creative edu-entrepreneur, and very open to my ideas. We both have an Eliza Doolittle (Pygmalion/My Fair Lady)enthusiasm which certain jaded classicists might feel to be somewhat "low-class" or worse. In terms of Market dynamics, my intuition in dealing with entrepreneurs is...if you have long-term value to the enterprise, you can expect/bargain for long-term benefits...and this Group has offered corporate share-holding to me.

The graduates of this training program who are offered an opportunity to be part of the Group will, I expect/hope, also be able to be part of innovative profit-sharing. It's time to bring teaching in China to a more professional level...at least in this small-scale China-wide project.

[chongcheng]

CMM, sounds like a good idea. Sort of like having your own personal tour guide/houseboy/girl.

I have to ask though, would the FT be paid more for their one on one training of the intern?

[ChinaMovieMagic]

The program participants--schools, FTs, Chinese assistant class-teachers/Chinese tutors---would be volunteers, who can see how they would benefit from such a program. None would be paid for such a supplementary program. The teacher would receive the normal salary. Keep in mind that the FT will have no extra DUTIES. The FT is NOT any sort of tutor to the AT. Rather, it's the reverse. The AT is Chinese tutor to the FT.

There's one other possibility...the FT and the assistant teacher (AT)could be trained to develop an income-generating extra-hours English Corner cafe. Because the FTs have the work visa from the Group, not the school, this allows for more flexibility.

In general, this program would be especially suited for FTs who are motivated to develop some facility in Chinese language. FTs would be able to use the bi-lingual Community Language Learning approach in the classroom/home school. As the teacher hears the AT use Chinese in class,
the FTs' Chinese listening comprehension can improve significantly. Outside of class, the FT and AT will be able to prepare/discuss lessons, and the FT can practice hearing/saying words/phrases/sentences in China.

Key element can be the use of brief movie segments in the classroom. Once the FT has the VISUAL INPUT firmly in the memory, then the FT can learn to use Chinese/English to describe the visual/story input. Teaching the same movie segment to several classes helps the FT (1)get a sense of the students' learning dynamics and (2)develop Chinese language skills. The Group will have a Website section enabling FTs/Ats to share learning experiences with the Group-developed curriculum options, as well as an audio file enabling FTs/ATs, as they are working/playing/Chatting on the Internet, to listen to bi-lingual audio description of movie scenes in the curriculum. The English/Chinese audio will be transcribed.

See http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/cll.shtml

[Roger]

I note with alarm that you, Kevin, too, think translating is inevitable in the classroom. Why then are FTs needed in the first place?
And I for one never go for dorm accommodation; I want privacy.

[ChinaMovieMagic]

Roger,

The Dorm accomodation is for the Chinese ATs, not the FTs.

RE: Community Language Learning/translation...in this program, it's up to the individual teacher...

[ChinaMovieMagic]

RE: Roger's