Job Discussion Forums

[wiggy]

After a little research, it seems that pay for university postings in china (even if you have a masters degree) is about 3500-4000 yuan a month. does this seem right to everyone, or is it possible to secure more? (i'm not in the least bit interested in teaching kids at private schools, etc, thus the uni slant).

if anyone has info/stories to tell about uni teaching life, i'd appreciate it.

has anyone had experiences in one of the following cities: qingdao, hangzhou, or nanjing? if so, good places to live/work?

thanks so much.

[MyTurnNow]

Pay at unis does tend to suck. 3-4K is about standard. Things are starting to look up a bit- some unis are paying more like 6K- but right now this is a small and slow trend.
The saving grace of unis tends to be the better treatment, the lack of 9-year-old students, and the short weekly workload that facilitates finding part-time work to supplement your salary. Unis often have a 15-16 hour weekly contract load, while at private schools it can be 25, 30, or more.

I haven't lived in any of the cities you mention, but I've spent a lot of time in all 3, love them, and can recommend any of them. My personal favorite of them is Qingdao. Look into Dalian...I like it even better, and it sometimes posts some better-paying uni jobs.

MT

[goldstar]

3000-4000 is the typical wage at most colleges here. I do see some higher salaries, but only once in a while.

Quote: "(i'm not in the least bit interested in teaching kids at private schools, etc, thus the uni slant). "

What's wrong with kids? Sure they don't shower every day, but neither do the college students. Sure, their English is limited, but... Sure they are immature, but... However, most are usually excited about class and learning. Most have not been turned into student/robots yet. Most show creativity. Most come with few preconceptions about foriegners. Most classes are much smaller than uni classes and have a Chinese assistant.

I say all this because teaching kids was the last thing I thought I wanted originally, and now that I've tried both, I'd take a kindergarten class over a college oral english class any day. (however, I would say that middle school might be the worst choice).

Just a thought.

[MyTurnNow]

[Roger]

I must absolutely second goldstar here - I prefer kids over college students for the exact same reasons!

In one of my newest threads, I focussed on the inexistent difference between "colleges" and "universities", and you can add to this category the group of "normal schools".
Students from these institutions of supposed learning are robots, intellectually challenged, emotionally starved, mentally handicapped. It's not their fault, of course - it's the system, but I like spontaneous, curious little kids that are full of beans better than semi-comatose pseudo-adults aged 19 to 30 who are aspiring to be university-graduated - SECRETARIES!
As for pay - again, kindies pay much better than "colleges" do. Of course, in some of them CHinese teaching methods are as mercilessly applied as at primary schools and colleges, with the same effect that I have just described above.
But, I have had my best times in kindergartens, and my best salaries as well.

[wiggy]

thanks for the input, guys.

as for kids, i've taught them before in korea. i guess i'm just not a child sort of person. quite frankly, it bores me senseless. i'd much prefer the idea of teaching some history, social ideas/philosophies, etc to students over 16-18 who can challenge arguments etc. this of course can probably only be done in universities.

i also love the idea of university culture - a more laid-back approach with students, maybe having a beer with them sometimes, creating friendships in a learning institution that doesn't require telling some sycophantic mum how great her kid is.

and of course being a uni doesn't mean you have to deal with bean-counting management at private schools who's main concern is the amount of money the school's pulling every semester.

but this is all horses for courses, right? guess it just depends on what you want.

hmmm, qingdao does sound nice with the beach and all - and it's where they make tsingtao beer!

[whitjohn]

I like my 20 year old college kids! I can talk with them and exchange ideas. No littlies for me. The pay is right at 3,000 to 4,000 and also the hours allow me to make extra money.
Besides the girls are good looking and fun to play badminton with!
You can have your primary school kids...enjoy them, they are not my "cup of tea"

[wiggy]

whitjohn, i assume you're at a university? if one takes a university position, and only works 14-18 hours weekly, how much can you earn doing work outside school? i assume it's giving lessons to biz people?

[struelle]

[MyTurnNow]

Steve, you've captured my experience with kids beautifully. I forgot to mention the "dividend" of having the little beepstards' parents to contend with. If you think the kids are a pain in the ass...

My plan for the future...whenever I leave my current job...is to avoid both kids and college students and only teach fully-fledged adults that are taking my class by choice and paying their own money to be there.

I'm currently teaching university Business classes, and to be perfectly honest with you I hate their *beep*ing guts. They are better than kids, but not much, and they are theoretically old enough to know better. The program is OK, and the treatment I get is good, and the salary and bennies are outstanding, but this is by far the most desolate intellectual wasteland I've ever even imagined possible. The behavior I encounter has everything that drove me to quit teaching children in the first place.

I asked my wife if the students behaved like this when she was in university. She said that if a class was a core class in their major they would pay attention and put something into the class, but anything else they would talk, sleep, read other books, or just stare vacantly. Their teachers just didn't care one way or the other. This really is a systemic phenomenon...

MT

[MonkeyKing]

[wiggy]

monkeyking, i'm new to this - i'd appreciate your views on the matter. which university? or if you can't say, which city/province? and what are the worst things about uni teaching? are there any good points? thanks.