Job Discussion Forums

seperley · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 36

I showed up for my freshman oral English class today at my public college, and I was informed by a student that it was the last day of class. Half of the class had not been informed of this sudden change while the monitor (who showed up late and avoided eye contact with me) maintained (unconvincingly) that the class' curriculum called for an eight-week course and that their class schedules indicated an eight-week course.

No one had a class schedule to show me. Some of the students complained that they wanted to continue the course and that they wanted to continue with ME. Others snickered in the back of the class. Some got up and left the class right then. I detected no dissatisfaction from the class for the two months that I had taught them. I was quite fond of the class and happy that they were doing well.

I can't understand why the FL Dept. did not tell me of the impending termination.

My dislike for the foreign languages department began at the end of the last term when I was informed that I must submit paperwork which really should have been completed at the beginning of the term. I gave the department what it wanted and said byebye for now. Strike one.

A month before the current term began, I asked the FL Dept. for information regarding which classes I would teach. I got no reply. Strike two.

School began. I learned my class schedule (sort of) the day before classes began. Then, the day before the national Holiday, the teachers were asked to submit a syllabus after the break. Strike three.

Now, I learn that a class has been terminated at midterm. Other FTs on this campus and others from other campuses say that they have not heard of anything like this.

I have received no communication from the Foreign Languages Department since school began except for the two instances which I mentioned previously.

Can someone provide conjecture as to what might be going on. I will not bother to contact the Foreign languages dept. at this point because I don't think that it will do any good.

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

Presuming that these are not English majors, I've experienced similar incidents where some classes end mid-way through the semester while others, though none of my own, commence half-way into the year.

As long as the school does not attempt to truncate your wages, enjoy the time off (to do many things, such as locate a more satisfying "university" for next year).

Departments say nothing to FTs. They fear the potential elbow injury which could ensue from lifting the handset of a telephone, and the pain of pressing eight or more digits on the keypad.

Give yourself a few years, and you'll no longer wonder about the ineptitude of Chinese staff -- you'll just come to accept it.

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

Are we to assume that you are still teaching other courses and your contract is still valid through . . . Spring Festival? Next summer? If so, I agree with Shan-Shan. Enjoy your extra free time until they approach you with another class to make up for this one that has just ended (if they even bother with that!).

If this was your ONLY class (or you are having similar problems with other classes), then I would bother to contact whomever to find out the 411. It's always interesting to find out their weird-o reasons why they do things sometimes.

Steppenwolf · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 1769

C'est la vie en rose, or in plain ENglish: the Chinese love adhocism! They hate committing themselves to any long-term engagements; as an "oral English teacher" you must rely on the oral communications you receive, and thus you will have to put up with unfriendly changes of course throughout the term you teach there!

IT's only "oral English" after all, nothing "serious".

william wallace · Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 2869 Location: in between

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

Indeed, it is crap, and it's not just spewing out of education as*holes here, but from our very own home countries' institutions as well. I guess that gives us with little to be high and mighty about.

C = credentials R= really A= are P= poo

when they can be bought over the internet, or earned by only putting 75% of the time into their completion.

Tessio · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:16 pm Post subject:

Someone typed : "Give yourself a few years, and you'll no longer wonder about the ineptitude of Chinese staff -- you'll just come to accept it."

In other words - get a real job and do not "teach" at a university!

seperley · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 36

I have been teaching longer than most of the CTs here have been alive.

We shall see what else develops this week. None of the other teachers here have experienced this YET.

Last week, we had Friday off. I received an email from the FL Department sometime after 10:00 pm. I woke up on Friday morning and found an email from the idiot FT liaison informing me of the preemptive activity that day.

I was working 22 hours (not by choice), so I appreciate the time off. Perhaps the school will drop another class so that my schedule is manageable at 18 hours. In addition to my class time, I have another ten hours' riding buses to another campus.

I have given up on trying to get a response from this school, so I'll wait until someone comes looking for the grades.

foreignDevil · Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 580

KarenB · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 227 Location: Hainan

mondrian · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:03 am Post subject:

seperley · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 36

We were told about the National Holiday schedule on the Friday before, and were told that were were to teach that Saturday and then the Sunday after the holiday. So we really got three days off. The interesting part was that when the FTs went to class on the weekend days, our classes were the only ones in session on those days.

Come to think of it, I still don't have books for half of my classes.

I heard nothing from the FL Department regarding grades for the canceled class. I will wait to hear from the department before I turn in anything.

cj750 · Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 3081 Location: Beijing

Same thing in classes in the program I work for..but I found that the reason the FTs had to work on Sat..was the Chinese teachers snagged all the time slots where classes were free during the week...in other words they were quicker on the draw..having advanced notice and took all the weekly free time to make up the classes in advance...

dajiang · Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 663 Location: Guilin!

sounds to me like it could be useful to have a closer relationship with your department.

i dunno, like take the FAO out for dinner sometime. and the rest of the bunch as well. i hope they speak english, and otherwise i hope your chinese is okay enough to have somekind of dialogue going.

not to say that these kinds of things wont happen anymore, but at least you wont feel too awkward to contact them in the future.

perhaps not what you want to hear, but you're stuck with the foreign language department.

Dajiang