Job Discussion Forums

Sean Smith · Joined: 11 Sep 2006 Posts: 9

I have an MEd in TESOL, am published, and have presented at conferences. After a few years at a university in Seoul I'm looking to move to Shanghai. From the posts here it doesn't seem as if English Education in China is too "professionalized." By that, I mean that Chinese universities/schools don't seem to distinguish between, or care about, levels of education or experience when determining pay and conditions.

I know and accept that I'm going to take a pay cut compared to the Korean gig, but I'd at least like to be in a professional situation and be reasonably paid.

I've delayed coming to Shanghai before, waiting for the educational situation to 'evolve,' for lack of a better word. Has it evolved and is it worth coming, or should I focus on Japan and Europe? Is anyone in Shanghai with an MEd TESOL or M.A. in Applied Linguistics, and if so, how is it out there?

Shan-Shan · Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 1074 Location: electric pastures

Perhaps you'll receive an extra 500 or 1000RMB per month more than the flunkies. That translates into 142 CDN or so on top of perhaps the standard $600. I would look for international schools with your qualifications. Universities in China want to save money. Sure, many would be happy to accept you, I'd imagine, but would unlikely express their interest through an attractive salary.

Sean Smith · Joined: 11 Sep 2006 Posts: 9

Since posters on this board mercilessly attack the English mistakes of other posters, I'll quickly make the correction that TESOLer's should not have the possessive apostrophe.

Sean Smith · Joined: 11 Sep 2006 Posts: 9

Shan-Shan:

I hear you about the International School thing. However, I'm not sure I want to teach kids/teenagers and have little experience doing it. I'd rather teach adults. Also, I don't have the one year official "teaching certification," needed to teach in the public education system back home. That's a problem, isn't it, or would a Master's be considered equal to the certification?

Shan-Shan · Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 1074 Location: electric pastures

I'm certainly not attempting to dissuade you from going to Shanghai to teach. However, I do feel that you should be aware of how little affect your qualifications will have on allowing you to earn an above decent wage at a university. Finding a job should not be a problem at all; but don't expect a monthly compensation package double that offered a high-school graduate from Cameroon.

Wages seem to be waning in China. Schools prefer to hire cheap. Where I am, English speaking overseas students (who have yet to even graduate from their own counrties) are being asked by the mill to teach! One likely reason is that these students will happily take 90 kuai or less an hour just for something else to do. Universities are catching on, and only lowering the pay while keeping requirements stable, or in some cases likely raising them.

There is little professionalism at Chinese universities. State run sausage factories with 40 plus students to a class. Were I to possess an MEd in TESOL, I'd look at Japan or a university in North America. The latter often have ESL programs for overseas students who need to improve their academic English ability before being admitted into regular classes.

Sean Smith · Joined: 11 Sep 2006 Posts: 9

There's something I don't get: Shanghai is supposed to be awash in money and opportunities right now. Plus, the cost of living is almost as high as Seoul's. Then how is it that top Shanghai university jobs pay one-fourth that of Seoul's? How can Shanghai expect to be world class and get good people when the pay and conditions are so bad?

vikdk · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 1676

Us TESOL'ers have been told that opportunity knocks at Kidcastle Shanghai - always worth a try Laughing

Shan-Shan · Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 1074 Location: electric pastures

Could just be that English just ain't as important in Shanghai as it is in Seoul. That, and perhaps there are just too many FTs already in Shanghai willing to work for a very average Shanghai wage.

Being able to speak English when you are a Korean in Korea may be more of a necessity/boon than being Chinese and able to speak English in China. If this is so, the wages of FTs are already reflecting the fact.

Come to China, travel on the money you might have saved elsewhere. ESL is not the lucrative game here that it is in Korea.

Yu · Joined: 06 Mar 2003 Posts: 1219 Location: Shanghai

I have an MA in TESOL and am working in Shanghai at a uni.

I am in a professional situation being that I am teaching writing to senior English majors and oral English to International Students (from Korea and Japan).

Sometimes it feels professional and other days I feel my talent is wasted. I think it is worth being in Shanghai just to have the experience of living in Shanghai it is a great city to live in. I enjoy working for my current university and also think it is worth working in a university. Especially if you can teach something besides oral English.

Noelle · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 361 Location: USA

This may be a dead end but it could also be worth a try...

If you check with the U.S. consulate in Shanghai.... I've heard of Americans with those qualifications getting teaching positions from within the embassy or consulate in countries like Ecuador and Argentina... perhaps that opportunity would exist in China.

As for the International Schools... they offer very nice salaries and benefits but you would have to teach kids. I am currently doing my MA in TESOL in San Diego and want to come to Shanghai to work when I finish. I will most likely look to work in an International School though... I do have a lot of experience with kids but I am not state licensed and will most probably won't be getting certified.

I'm sure there are higher paying jobs in Shanghai but you just need to know where and how to search. Good luck!