Job Discussion Forums

[Regular_Guy]

I was wondering what people thoughts and opinions on whether the public or private school system is better.

[kev7161]

I've heard that public school students are better behaved and more studious. Generally, many of them don't come from the Chinese elite (wealthy), so they know they must work harder and get the best marks they can if they want to go to a decent college.

Most private school kids do come from wealthy parents so they tend to slack off more (again, in general - there are some good ones out there). Being spoiled and laziness seem to go hand-in-hand. Also, private school students often live on campus and see their parents infrequently. Some parents are so busy making even more money, that they tend to "dump" their kids off at a private school and let the teachers do the raising of their children.

In defense of students who live at the private schools, I can understand their attitudes sometimes. Yesterday, I was doing spoken tests and one of my questions was "What can you tell me about your family?" Most of the answers were standard: "In my family, there is my mother and my father and me. My mother is a (insert job here) and my father is a (insert job here)." Some of them would go on to say how much they are loved by their parents, but how they don't see them very much (when they actually get to go home) because they are very busy with their jobs. One "boy" of almost 20 (who is only just now finishing his Senior One year???), said he almost never sees his parents when he goes home these days - - and then he teared up a bit. It was all so very sad.

Finally, I would guess that most private schools can usually pay a bit more and give you a few more "extras" than public schools can (and if they only offer you some piddling 3500-4000 for 16 periods a week - - you should negotiate for more), but public schools will often be better for your sanity. I'm saying all this from what I've heard and read and I've only experienced the private school life to date.

[Roger]

There are two sorts of private schools - schools that cater to kids whose parents have decided against them attending crowded public schools, and there are "private schools" that are training centres where English is taught as an extracurricular activity.
Privately-owned primary and secondary schools often have smaller classes, are sometimes cooperating with overseas schools with a view of sending their students there, and they cash in on the parents' naivete of thinking that their kids can handle English when they go to study abroad. This translates into higher wages for FTs, but it also brings with it higher performance expectations, more pressure on teachers and often frustration due to the fact that you have zero clout over your charges while they have their parents to bring pressure to bear on you.

[wonderd]

My experience has been a good one when it comes to private schools.

That being said, I've had a couple of public schools that were great.

I've also had a couple of public schools that have not been great.

For me, I'm taking a chance with a public school, but not so much risk in a private school. As long as you have some sort of communication with the parents, things are usually pretty good.

[qiaohan]

I would just add that a private school may give you more teaching hours and those hours may be all over the place. In a public school you probably won't get more than 16 hours in the morning and afternoon Monday thru Friday. Classes are generally larger in public schools. And you get more vacation time. Maybe 16 weeks a year. Private schools will give you maybe 4.

[kev7161]

I will agree about hours being all over the place; I will disagree about time off. My private school gave us 2 weeks off for the October holiday, a month off for the Spring Festival/New Year's holiday, and almost two weeks off for the May Day holiday. For me, all full salary. We only have a 10-month contract, so we automatically have July and August off.

[tarzaninchina]

Privates will sometimes require that you be shipped out, which is not always legal. The kids are usually less well-behaved and disciplined, but are usually geared to expect their English to improve by leaps and bounds, not to mention want some entertainment at all times. Little holiday time, but many actual days off given the nights and weekend schedule. Schedule managers, owners, and parents can either be a pain or decent. You can quickly get a reputation with all the students at the school or who want to attend that school, but little beyond. Usually there's a commute.

Publics get a load of paid holiday time. The students can be much better disciplined, but at my college, absolutely no discipline problems all year! The dean and FAO can be a bit of a pain or decent. You usually get to strut your stuff as a good teacher and gain a wider public reputation. People will come out of the woodwork with part-time offers from friends and the like. Light schedule where you can teach extra classes on or off campus, depending. Five minute walk to class from the apartment.

[Alex_P]

I have taught in public middle schools, private middle schools (owned by a family or a group of individuals) and company middle schools (owned by a large corporation) since I have been in China.

Public middle schools have little ground to manoeuver in terms of satisfying a foreign teacher's complaints or needs. The conditions therein are set by the government and they operate within a well-defined set of rules. The trade-off, at least for me, has been that the teaching corps in the public schools have been wildly friendly and welcoming.

Company middle schools, at least those I have been in China, are almost a rigid as the public middle school except that my own living conditions have been luxurious -- my last apartment at a company middle school was 180 square meters and consisting of two bedrooms, a study, a maid's room, a living room, two bathrooms, one with jacuzzi, a dining room, and a kitchen, plus a beautiful solarium. And it was furnished with beautiful Italian furniture. Other than that, the functionaries responsible for the foreign teachers were clueless and in one case their lack of serious attention to detail caused ... three foreign teachers ... to be arrested for overstaying their visas (they had failed to submit the changes).

I personally have been most happy in the private middle schools. They have a great deal of latitude in terms of bargaining power. They have made every effort, except in one notable case, to attend to my grievances. And they have provided living accomodations almost as luxurious as those described above. The private school where I am now provides "crade-to-grave" care so to speak. I am paid a 100% fully salary on time every month of the year, with no exceptions. I do not suffer loss during the summer and winter holidays. I am paid a reasonably correct salary. Electricity, water, power, and the like are paid. I am given a basically open-ended "food allowance budget and toiletries budget" every month so that I spend nothing on daily living expenses. The Internet is provided free-or-charge and they purchased a state-of-the art PIV computer. I have a very beautiful mountain bike that was truly expensive, etc., etc. They bought me a mobile telephone and look after the card usage for me. So my experience has been that a private school has been more fortuituous for me, at least.

[Chris_Crossley]

I have taught in both the private and public sectors since coming to China.

I have never taught in a private-sector school for compulsory education aged children, but I did teach for one calendar year in a public-sector primary school. My experience in that school was entirely positive, and the kids were almost always well-behaved, since I had quite a good rapport with them - as well as a stern, but good teaching assistant, whose level of English was much better than most Chinese English-speaking people I have met. And yet, last semester, she was receiving a mere 1,000 RMB per month, which I thought was somewhat miserly, considering her talents.

Reading what Alex_P had to say about accommodation, the accommodation on offer to the expat teachers at that school is nowhere near in the same league, in my opinion. If only every expat had the chance to have a jacuzzi and a solarium in their pad! However, I did not live there, since I was (and still am!) living with my wife and her parents and our little daughter. (However, my wife and I will soon be moving to a pad of our own at last - but no jacuzzi or solarium! ) However, one of my ex-colleagues is a poster on this forum, so perhaps he will enlighten us as to what he thinks of his flat at the school, in which he and his (now pregnant) wife live.

I did use the room they allocated for me during the day for having a sleep during the 2-hour lunch-hour (bliss! ), something I sadly miss at my current school! The school's headteacher did her level best to flatter me and persuade me to stay, which I might have done had her offer of salary been half-decent, yet I declined it since the school was prepared only to give me another 500 RMB per month, and I had already been offered a much higher salary at my current school, anyway.

Hence, even if the pay was lower than what I had earned at EF English First, where I had been for two years previously, I'm glad I made the change and went to that school. It was a good experience, and I will always look back on it with fond memories. I still miss some of those great kids, even if I stopped teaching there last January.

[englishgibson]

I�ve been in China since 2001 and have worked in a public (government Primary school) and a few private schools.

My first job was in the government Primary school in Guangzhou�s area. Even though the school did not set my goals nor I had that influence on their education system there, the teaching there was quite challenging since I set my own rules and standards. Further more I did not have to care about the MARKET and WHAT THE STUDENTS OR THEIR PARENTS WANTED; I only had to care about the kids� progress and motivation in learning English. With regards to the working environment, all the staff members respected me highly and paid attention to all my western holidays and my birthday very well.

The private school jobs offered me higher salaries, promotions and more challenges, however they came with a hostile working environment and stressed, under pressure, unethical and dishonest employers. Further more the teaching became secondary to the business and adjustments had to be done in order to satisfy the cliental meaning that I had to ENTERTAIN more than TEACH. One employer paid me less than my Contract once, so I left (giving that international solute), and the other gave me her �international solute� for not complying with her bu**sh*t.

Maybe it was my luck, but I thought I�d mention that here.

Cheers and beers