Job Discussion Forums

[kev7161]

In America, a prospective teacher does, basically, two things:

1. They fill out an application and submit it with their resume, letters of reference, and any other paperwork a school district may require. Nowhere on the application does it ask for age, race, sex - - and a picture is not required ahead of time.

2. If the school district is interested, the prospective teacher is asked in for an interview. Often an applicant will bring in their teacher portfolio (which is a host of lesson plans they've put together, reflections on past lessons, awards they may have received, etc.).

And that's it! If they presented themselves well at the interview, references check out, and their application/CV seem okay, there's a good chance they'll get the job. If they are fresh out of college, they often will be assigned a "mentor teacher" who will likely be teaching the same level right next door or across the hall. The newbie teacher will have easy access to their mentor teacher when the need arises. The principal (remember him/her?) will monitor the new teacher's progress throughout the school year. If, after that initial year, the school is dissatisfied with the teacher, they will not renew the contract. If the new teacher can do well and keep the position for three years (in Kansas), then they'll reach tenure and may be offered a long-term contract with all the safety and benefits that ensues.

This is not a glowing praise for the education system back home, mind you. However, what I've listed above is certainly a more professional way to hire teachers. It's not based on the aforementioned skin color, sex, age, or other appearances (usually) - - it's based on qualifications and (alleged) previous performance. If schools back home asked teachers to "audition" for their job, the school systems would, in all liklihood, be suffering more than it already is! Prospective teachers are "auditioning" during their college years when they student teach and they have qualified college professors visiting as well as the assigned professional teacher they are with for several weeks to give them assessment and feedback. If they do well during their college term of student teaching, they earn a diploma AND a teaching certificate.

Sure, it's a risk when hiring anyone and I'm sure schools in China have been burned more than once when it comes to hiring foreigners. But it's a risk on both sides. I still maintain that the school needn't keep an FT for a full school year if he/she is not performing to the school's standards. However, I've yet be sat down and be evaluated at both schools I've worked at here in China (for good or bad). I can count on one finger how many times the principal or any administrator has observed my lessons this year and given me feedback. Am I a good teacher? I like to think so, but I'm sure not going to find out from the people I work for!! I can't imagine what it would have been like if I were or were not hired for my current job based on a demonstration!

[william wallace]

I've hired and fired and been asked to recommend teachers quite often over the years. A good long 30-45 minute interview is mostly good for me.Then you have the option of sitting in on a class.The schools that lazily ask for the demo,usually have the highest turnover of staff, in my experience...It's just all around asinine, unless of course the person in question has openly admitted to never having taught before. I for one, do not tacitly mistrust the character and quality of someone applying for a FT job...and I think that launching point is quite significant to what I do from that point on.To me it's a no-brainer.

[Mydnight]

I hate demo classes with a passion. I don't really see the point of them if you have SOME experience under your belt. I mean, what do most people know about "teaching styles" anyway. I think demos mostly serve to see if they students think you are handsome/beautiful enough or if you are funny.

I hate them especially for company classes. There have been a few times that I have done demos and the center I went with just wanted to use one of their cheaper teachers instead of me after I blew the students away. On those occasions, I steal the contract for myself.

Merc.

[Steppenwolf]

[vikuk]

[Katja84]

I wouldn't mind demos in principle but I don't like the fact that in most cases teachers would probably have no idea of what to expect from the class - it would not surprise me if the employer had no idea of the number of students or their level of English at asking you to do the demo (and I would be very surprised if they told you the truth anyhow). This type of demo would just advantage the type of teachers who can walk into a class with no planning and charm the students with their charisma, whereas teachers who prefer to plan well and may be excellent once they are in their element (once they know their class and have learned to prepare for their needs) can be really disadvantaged. Someone once told me that teaching is 10 % acting and 90 % planning, and it would be difficult to ensure that a demo measured both. Unless of course the prospective teacher had had a chance to sit in on the class or something beforehand...

[hewlettpac]

For me, as part of my job, demo's is a must in regards to marketing purposes. English First a new branch in Xuzhou expects nothing less. From what I heard discovered after been here a short while I have done 6 demo's myself and no one sign up. Rumors are that it's too expensive to study here. The Chinese teachers said otherwise saying we need to be more dynamic and focus more on keeping the demo exciting like a game show, not like a proper lesson.

[william wallace]

I see demos as the dark dancing monkey side of this business.I have worked for about 40-60 schools over the years, and I would say under 10 approximate anything near education,so demo ? I can make people listen, and I can make people laugh....no demo needed. Then if you are THAT good, you get the well you shouldn't be here then- No way to win in this kind of scenario

[mike w]

Absolutely no demo!

The vast majority of Chinese hirers who request one wouldn't know good teaching methodology or classroom management if they jumped up smacked them on the nose. So what is the point?

The majority are only interested in your ability to entertain, and to see if the students (and sometimes parents) 'like' you.

As a professional teacher I have never been asked to do a demo when being hired by a professional organisation. The true professionals know what they are looking for in your resume and during the interview, and do not need to see how well the monkey dances.

[Borderline]

Luv a duck! Cor blimey, governor! What's going on here then? What's the problem with demo lessons exactly? Get with the times! Demo lessons are now an integral part of the present-day high-end sector of the TEFL industry, especially in China, which is at the very forefront of this exciting and dynamic global enterprise. Unfortunately, given the sorry state of the current TEFL industry in China, demo lessons are a necessary evil; a way of separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. In comparable industries I believe there are now similar expectations. I understand that potential pilots have to give more than a few 'demo flights' on a simulator � in addition to showing qualified pilot status and proof of previous flying hours, and I hear that candidate surgeons now often have to perform 'demo surgeries on a computer simulator � in addition to showing qualified surgeon status and producing evidence of prior successful surgical operations. Why should the soldiers in the trenches on the Far Eastern Front of TEFL be any different? Why should they be able to simply waltz into a cushy number purely by dint of a TEFL certificate of sorts and a few classroom hours of frontline TEFL experience?

I'll be coming to China in a few weeks in the managerial role of DoS with the industry leaders, EF. I for one will be inviting potential teachers to do at least two or three demo lessons as part of the vigorous interview process I intend to implement. As with the issue of compulsory ID cards, the only people who object are those who have something to hide.

Is the knee-jerk negative reaction to demo lessons displayed on this forum simply a reflection of certain wanna-be FTs lacking the confidence and general what-with-all to 'hack it' ��� with the 'big boys' ��� of TEFL? Those willing to prove their worth as serious, able, sober, and coherent FTs � in an authentic and dynamic classroom situation � have no qualms about executing successful, interactive, and meaningful demo lessons, even at the drop of a hat. It is their job and so they can do it at a moment's notice in the same way pilots can land an aircraft, surgeons can remove an appendix, and mechanics can fix an exhaust when called upon to do so. Why should FTs in China be mysteriously exempt from such market-driven expectations?

[7969]

[7969]

[Rooster]

Really.

Why would anyone want to work for 9k per month in Shanghai? I wonder what they pay elsewhere.

Based on my experience/knowledge, most of the EF teachers are recruited from abroad. They generally are idealistic, in my opinion, and can be easily suckered into accepted such a paltry sum.

If EF asked me to do 3 demos and then only offered me 9k, .... I'd say " Sit on it and rotate."

I also wonder what they pay the DOS.

[Mydnight]

Seriously.

I make more than 9k here a month and I am barely doing anything...



Sad.


Ill come back here later and fill this thread with the negative energy of a boxcar full of electrons later. I'm going to go "climb the hill" with my students.

One more thing, though.


SORRY TO BORDERLINE WHO WAS BEING SARCASTIC.


Demo classes are:

1. Essentially unpaid classes where you benefit little if nothing
2. Generally used to showcase if the teacher looks good enough to be marketable
3. An invasion into the FTs spare time
4. Generally unneeded.

What a demo class should be:

1. Small classroom with a few students and other teachers attending
2. NOT OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC
3. Evaluated by professionals and other teachers in a objective fashion
4. About 20-30 minutes.


SORRY AGAIN.

[clark.w.griswald]

Seems to me that there are two types of demo class being discussed here which is a bit confusing:

a) demo classes given by new teachers as part of the job application process;

b) demo classes given by existing teachers in an effort to get more students

My comments relate to a) above.

I am not surprised that the majority do not favor demo classes. I can't think of anyone who would choose to do one if they didn't have to. But havibg worked in places that require them and other places that don't, it is clear to me that they do serve a purpose.

The purpose from where I see it is for the school to get an idea of hwo suitable the candidate is, not as some window into the versatility of the teacher as some have suggested here. This is why I really get the impression that the anti-demo sentiments tend to come from a misunderstanding of them rather than a genuine belief that they are not valuable.

Clearly a teacher with experience in the classroom (assuming that the teacher has an aptitude for teaching) should have no problem with the demo. Newbies may find it a bit daunting but if nothing else it can be a good chance to get some actual classroom experience.

Kev I take your point about the differences between here and back home, but perhaps the reason that teachers don't give demo's to get jobs back home is because they already have - the pratice teaching that they did as part of the certification. The problem here in China is that the 'teacher' is not always a teacher and therefore it seems clear to me that the request to have the applicant give a trial of what they are going to be employed to do is not such an unreasonable request. Afterall, a tesacher is at the forefront of the school and mistakes can be costly.