Job Discussion Forums

[boubou]

[patsy]

One of my friends who's a chinese teacher and very qualified told me that the foreigner needs to smile a lot and act really friendly, teaching ability is of no consequence. this was very true at my previous school. maybe some are a little different.

[kev7161]

Here's my take on being able to "do good" in Chinese classrooms (actually, since we're all nitpicking on each other - - it should be "do well". You can be a good teacher or you can teach well - - take your pick).

1. Does a teaching certificate - teacher training - classroom experience help over here in China? It sure couldn't hurt! Especially when it comes to classroom management and controlling the flow of a lesson.

2. Proper textbooks, a pre-determined curriculum, teaching materials (like CDs or tapes with players for example) would be VASTLY helpful, yet most schools (from what I read here) can't be bothered with providing much more than chalk and a chalkboard. If you're in that situation, don't stress out too much, okay? Even the most experienced would have SOME difficulty in that scenario.

3. Lack of preparedness on the teacher's part. This can range from not having ANY materials whether teacher provided or school provided and no sense of goals established both for teacher and students. No syllabus, no course outline, no assessment plans - - nada, nothin', zilch-o. A few talented souls could possibly wing it all semester long with their charm, their guitar, and maybe a book of slang phrases, but I'll bet most would struggle.

4. Lack of support from administration. Why after 20 years (or whatever) of foreign teachers landing on Chinese soil, can schools NOT understand that students treat FTs far differently than their Chinese teachers? When the 52nd FT complains to administration about their inability to get their class(es) under control, why are the FTs still accused of being bad teachers? Would it be so hard to figure out a system that requires head teachers and whomever to actually HELP the FTs? Would it?

You know, my first year here I had not a CLUE about what I was doing. I was the only FT in the senior high department and I was thrown to the wolves without any training or orientation or even a few jovial warnings. I had 50% of my classes with good kids and 50% with rotten ones. I decided early on that I was going to call the shots and I managed to get my own classroom and the kids came to me. I got some audio/visual materials (tape player, TV, DVD player) and also convinced the school we needed some EFL textbooks (I decided on New Interchange). Once I "took charge" (professionally, mind you), things went a lot smoother. But, having teaching experience helped me to decide what I felt needed to be done and how to organize myself and my students a little better.

[vikuk]

[cj750s]

[Katja84]

[dave_merk]

[vikuk]

[dave_merk]

[vikuk]

[eslstudies]

Agreed. There seem to be lots of people forever changing jobs. One year's teaching experience five times doesn't equal five years of teaching experience. Or to rephrase that, some people have taught for five years. Others have taught for one year five times.

[vikuk]

Experience here doesn't seem to weed the "non-qualified" teaching monkeys out of the market - rather the other way round, it gives them hope and encourages them to stay to the detriment of work conditions for the real qualified pro.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

The same thing happens back at home all the time.

Owners of restaurants prefer to hire good-looking waitresses. It's about the money.

Chinese prefer their foreign teachers to be white. Schools employ accordingly.

Don't lash out at white people because of the choices of the Chinese employers.

[eslstudies]

[Katja84]