Job Discussion Forums

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

have seen a bit of talk here about student boycotts of classes, particularly when the students think the teacher is ill-prepared or unqualified or abusive in class.

now i'm not a professionally trained teacher, however i have foreign language skills and i do think i'm competent at teaching oral english, i'm friendly with the kids, and i never get angry with them. so attendance in my oral english classes is good. however, i have four other business classes that are more difficult to teach, and the level of english in those classes is much lower, and i've noticed that a lot of students havent bothered showing up to some of these classes lately. in one class, only 17/120 bothered to show up. the good students still show up, its the large majority of students who either take no notes, say nothing or just play with their phone in class who arent there.

does this qualify as a student boycott or is it just normal behaviour here? how many others are experiencing this and is it just the rule rather than the exception? just wondering why these kids arent showing up. they're just absent or on leave is all i'm told..... Very Happy

7969

Malsol · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 1976 Location: Lanzhou

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I say report to . . . whomever you report these things to . . . on paper, have your own copy, get it signed, etc. Teach those 17 students with as much enthusiasm as you'd teach 120. At the end of the term (if it continues for long-term), fail all the missing students then forget about it.

I know it's frustrating and a little insulting if such a large amount doesn't come to class. However, as long as you've done what you are supposed to do and made sure someone "official" knows about the situation, then you've done your job. Those students are big boys and girls now, they can make their own decisions.

Spiderman Too · Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:34 am Post subject:

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

yes, i agree with the above. in fact, i like it when large numbers dont show up. it makes the class more manageable and things actually work out better. i suppose a student boycott would be the case of 0 students showing up. just curious......

7969

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

I have noticed a girl in one of my new classes that passed her English exam last year; she says she wants to sit in on my classes, so why should I kick her out?
Besides her, I have a number of visitors, and that too boosts morale.

I have some classes that are a breeze to guide through the subject; there are, however, other classes that are as tough as molasses.
The fact is that FTs are not normally respected, and their subjects are not taken seriously. Only CHinese "academically" trained teachers can deliver - that's the CHinese national myth.

We can see that attitude in the cavalier attitude they take to our input: are we ever asked to participate in English teacher meetings?

No, and we seem all better off for it, do we?

I do not share this optimism; I think we should be roped in so that we could give some badly-needed advice, feedback and observations.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I agree with Roger, but I HAVE attended one or two of those so-called teacher's "meetings". What they consisted of was a leader of some sort presenting new rules and regulations and what-not, never asking for feedback from any teacher at all. There was no question and answer period, nothing. After 30 minutes or so, WHAM!, meeting over and everyone leaves.