Job Discussion Forums

[tarzaninchina]

I found out a couple of weeks ago something rather peculiar about me, one of two foreign teachers, in the English department at our college.

I give the students homework every week in my third-year English writing class. Apparently, I'm one of a very few teachers in the department that gives the students any homework at all, let alone regularly. The students say they just study on their own (during the required in-class study times).

The students are very intelligent and creative with it, using it to understand what's happened in class, so it's effective and seemingly accepted by the students.

Anybody else experiencing this phenomenon or have any thoughts about this yet-another-wonder of the Chinese education system?

[Roger]

So, what subject are you teaching? And what assignments do you give your students?

Just curious. If I teach "listening & speaking" I have difficulty making them read anything in preparation for next time.
GIving them writing jobs to do I would be highly suspicious of the origin of their homeworks handed in to me - too much cheating going on.

I once forced students to read up for literature; I did this by giving them a test every two weeks. Mamma mia - they went to cry to the administrators of our college, and I had to lessen their "burden".

[burnsie]

Yes it's a common thing I think that homework is not that important to most teachers. And I am one of them. I have given assignments which I load up with a assessment mark so they do it and I have not had problems enforcing it. But it's only 1 amount of homework in an 8 week course.

I work at a education factory where there are 30 odd teachers, half english, half business.

You will probably count on your hand the teachers that regularly give homework.

As this is a country where standards are kept low for students to pass (old communist thinking) I don't think teachers really want to increase their level of workload when they know it's not required.

[peabocardigan]

I tried giving homework on a number of occasions, such as preparing presentations. Noone ever did it. Since there is no real grading scheme for classes taught by foreign teachers at my university there is also no real way of creating incentives for doing homework. In my particular workplace it probably has to do with lacking work-ethics and low morale among the students. Private universities have a bad reputation in China and many of my students feel like they have already failed for being here. As long as the pass their 'relevant' exams (e.g. CET) and get their diploma after 3 years they generally don't tend to put in more work than "needed"...

[tarzaninchina]

To clarify, I teach third-year writing to English majors at a teacher college/university.

I absolutely refuse to give in to the idea of giving students a less-than-par education (hey, I'm limited by expletives here). I test them as per course goals and requirements and I get them to practice what we've done.

I DO NOT simply pass students quite arbitrarily through any number of useless means. My classes are chances for students to prove themselves and they do, mostly.

Anywho, THX for the replies.

[frigginhippie]

Students tell me I am the first teacher to assign them required homework. The other teachers suggest homework and use valuable classtime to review it. In any course, and especially writing, there is no way a student can absorb the information without regular practice. I tell the whiners, "You can read 100 books on swimming, and still sink. Writing is the same."
Writing class: HW every week, or twice/week if class meets twice/week
Reading class: HW after every major reading, which is also read at home
They want a western teacher, they'll get a western education (ie. they will learn).
-fh