Job Discussion Forums

[Russell123]

I'm a newbie teacher and I've been put in charge of finding new coursebooks for our small private cram school. I think I may have been the first person to point out the typos in the vocabulary, or the ludicrous words they're forcing the kids to learn (for example, teaching the word "Icon" to six-year-olds for the letter I, or "yacht" when they don't even know what "boat" means.) The school has not been around for long, but has finally established itself well enough to invest in some much-needed new material and overhual its entire program.

Right now we're using something called "Cambridge Young Learners English" for our children's classes (6 levels). It's not very good. I try to use it as little as possible, but we must cover at least one unit/class, and do the exercises, as the parents forked out money for the materials and want to see it used. The exams are based on the books as well.

Our kindergarten books (4 levels) are even worse - much, much worse - I can't tell you the name because I can't read Chinese characters, and the only English is the actual vocabulary, and some extremely pathetic songs and chants. The FT's here don't need to use them very much (except as very general guides), but some of the Chinese teachers with whom we often share classes follow them faithfully, even when they're teaching kids "skirt" underneath a picture of a parka.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for great course books, I would love to hear them. Ideally, the children's books would come with premade lesson plans, or at least coherent and comprehensible goals.

Thanks in advance,
Russell

[kev7161]

Check out "New Parade" (discussed here before). There're levels Beginner through 6. Colorful and a variety of English-based activities. There is a Teacher's Book that has detailed instructions for each page, along with extra ideas to "reach all learners". The student's book is a consumable (meaning they'll write and cut and paste and color), but it's very cheap - - around 10 rmb I think. There's also a workbook that just reinforces the ideas they've learned in the student book. For the upper levels, this would make good homework.

If your school can afford it, there's also cassette tapes (or CDs?) that go with it (a must for learning the songs) and large posters that introduce each unit and flashcards (so I've read, haven't seen them though). Plus, prepared tests in the teacher's text to copy. There's also pre-tests if you want to determine which level a child should be in.

I think it's a pretty good text - - easy (too easy?) for the kids and easy for the teacher to use.

[vikdk]

why do 6 year olds and kindergarten children need a cram school - are they cramming for an exam???

[Russell123]

Thanks Kevin, I'll definately check that series out. Advice is much-appreciated.

Vldkl - I don't know, you've been in China far longer than I have, you tell me. Did I use the wrong word when I said 'cram' school? It certainly looks like they're cramming, but for what I don't know. Maybe 'drill' school might be more accurate, or "robbing your child of a childhood" school? They don't write exams, but I think a lot of the parents would like it if they could...

[Roger]

KINDERGARTEN pupils do not need any book except a drawing book! They can't read (and the Chinese regulations are as clear as water about this: the kids must not, I repeat: must not be seen to WRITE letters, hence they can't possibly learn how to read!). In kindergarten you need not an English "teacher" but a kindergarten teacher with the relevant training; such a person needs to be resourceful and energetic. Actions speak louder than words! Try to hammer that into your princiapl's mind! Visit some dedicated websites run by kindergarten franchises.

For primary school kids and higher, I won't recommend any other textbooks but the NEW CONCEPT ENGLISH: the most teacher-friendly materials and perfectly to the point as far as your kids' needs are concerned!

Cambridge Young Learners' is a wasteful type of material specially prepared for mainland kids and published in collaboration between Cambridge Publishers and a CHinese publishing house. IT is my personal nemesis!

I recommend a search at Longman's website (you must do a Google research to find them; I dealt with them a while ago over CHinese-language textbooks and was amazed at the unexpectedly high quality of their Chinese materials!). LONGMAN also have cooperative agrements with Chinese publishers, so you might find some really good books printed and marketed locally.
Sometimes they go under the name of LONGMAN-PEARSON Education.

[vikdk]

thanks for your honest answer - so you also beleive such places are run for the purpose of exploiting the parent and infact just rob children of the time to experience, that most normal people would call, a normal childhood. So why do you work in such a place if you have already seen the light - remember there are lots of other jobs out there - maybe also not realy up to scratch by our standards - but ones that don't seem to infringe on the small child's basic rights quite so much as the so called language training "cram" schools for the under 10's.

by the way - if you check out how many hours these kids spend in kindergartens and primary schools (before they get to your place) - and how little time they spend doing the stuff they should do - like playing - you'll understand my point a little better.

[Russell123]

Thanks Roger, I'll definately look into New Concept for our school and check out the Longman site,as well as the VCD you recommended on another thread (English Wonderland, I think). I agree with you that Kindergartners don't need, and shouldn't be using a text-book at all. We don't have them do any writing (at least I don't), and most of the teachers here use the books as very general guides for picking themes, which is helpful when teaching shared classes. I would gladly not use them at all, and will do some research and recommend building our own curriculum for the Kindergarten classes. Any other help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Vikdk - Good question...I stay because: I am under contract. And three days a week I get to go into Kindergartens and teach short classes, which I love. I nearly left when I arrived and learned I was going to be teaching kindergarten (I was not under contract at the time) but I am glad I stayed. I am not specially trained for it, nor am I experienced, but I feel like I can help give the kids a break from their hyper-regimented little lives and maybe even teach them some English at the same time. I try to give them a ton of praise, and make sure if a kid is crying when they get to class (which is often followed by a sharp reprimand by their nazi teachers) they're smiling by the time they leave. That sort of thing makes my entire day. I've learned quite a bit already from this forum, and quite a bit from a couple of very very good Chinese teachers here.

Also, the school's director does seem - i stress SEEM - genuinely open to new ideas, as long as it enhances the quality of the teaching (and consequently the reputation of the school). We'll see soon enough if he is sincere or not...

[vikdk]

contracts mean nearly nothing - just the minor hassle of going to HK and getting a new over the counter F visa - and then coming back and finding new work - much less hassle than the small kids are put through when sent to extra classes.

remember teaching also carries ethical responsibilities - anyone coming over here just looking for a bit of travel money would be better suited looking for a bar job or something similar.

the best way of combating educational torture of small kids is to boycot the after hours teaching sweat shops.

[Roger]

[vikdk]

Obviously Roger believes that working for an employer that has the sole intention of exploiting young children for money is ethical!

Roger our ethical practice concerning young children should be far more important than any scraps of paper!

[Roger]

[Russell123]

I have to agree with Roger on this one. How is abandoning my children and breaking my contract going to help the kids? I don't believe in following some else's moral code when it it invoked simply to justify exploitation (as so many Chinese employers seem to do to their Chinese staff) but at the same time, MY ethics (and one can only be responsible for knowing and following one's own moral code) do not permit me to break a contract simply because I believe children should be in school much less than they are.

I think if change is to happen in China's attitudes towards education - and I don't pretend to know enough to give an educated opinion - it seems to me that a good first step is for FT's to gain the respect of the community, and particularly the Chinese teachers who work very hard for less money. Running to a new school would not help anyone - the school would not go under, the students would still be there, learning from god-knows-who, and the reputation of FT's would drop a little further, making it more difficult for those who follow.

My school is not one of those nightmare organizations you hear about. It is a good place to work. Most of the staff are quite dedicated and care about the kids. I do believe that many of their ideas about education are completely misinformed or misguided, but I could say the same thing about the Canadian education system.

[vikdk]

Boys I�m talking about small children here � if you think the moral high ground lies in rules, well that�s your point of view � all you have to do now is just sit back and do your duty like good little soldiers.

Roger you seem to have an almost dyslectic fixation on rules � I almost feel sorry for you - and Russel of course I don�t really expect you to switch your job � but just by getting you and others reading this post to more closely question the situation regarding the education of under 10�s has justified my post. As far as making it more difficult for FT�s � Shiite it should be a million times harder � you can get a job teaching here almost by the mere virtue of skin color!!!!!!!!!!

[vikdk]

sorry roger I insulted you incorrectly - autistic fixation seems more correct - my appologies

[Roger]

Danish Viking,
I am not interested in a pissing match with you, but you of all posters know full well you have been provoking me and others for quite some time, so my gloves have also come off my hands!
Has it never occurred to you that your snide remarks here, your gloating and boasting have long since removed you from the teachers lounge? If you really care about being a professional English teacher - as you have time and again proclaimed to us - then you should think a little harder before posting such antisocial messages in our forum.
You don't need to like me - and I for one really don't mind what you feel for me; but you should stop your puerile antics because you clearly lack philosophical insight and life experience.
I am not my brother's keeper but a body with a voice that I use to warn and to inform others.
And while I know you can't believe this, I happen to know people who paid dearly for being careless.