Job Discussion Forums

[Brian Caulfield]

Interesting isn't it ? When I was training to be a teacher I was constantly told that girls were not getting enough attention in the classroom and not succeeding as a result . Now in China I also notice that most of my best students are women . Partly because I teach an art . Or as In Time would say a left brain activity .
My theory after spending over three years here is that the boys are spoiled in China . They are not taught to do things on their own . They expect everything to be done for them . They expect me as a teacher to make them learn English . This is impossible as anyone who has learned a second language will attest to. You have to look things up in a dictionary and make an effort to find ways of enjoying the subject .

[arioch36]

Is this really off topic? Don't want to get in trouble.

Middle school 50/50 Language school/ outside schools 50/50 but the teens at a language school I taught at, the boys would often skip the class and play basketball, and the school would accept their excuses. They told their mothers they were afraid of me. Strange none of the small girls were!

When teaching for FLD (Foreign Language Department) English Majors, 5 boys to 25 girls (what saint teaches 60 students for oral english?) Most of the boys did good work once they understood it was demanded. I think most of them have been taught over the years to fulfill low expectations

Last year the school tricked me. Yes, I was working as agreed for the FLD, not the International College, but I was teaching Chemistry, Law, and Textile Engineering. 70% boys. Good students, good classes once we resolved the class size problem

[waxwing]

[Shan-Shan]

[SnoopBot]

It depends but the typical University company training class (for me) is this:

1. 15-25 students
2. Average age 35
3. Average English study in years - 15+
4. Average education level
100% 4 year degree
60% Masters degree
10% Professional certification "Pro Engineer ect"
6% Doctorate degree + higher

5. Ratio men to women 80% + men >20% women
(Some classes NO women)

6. % going abroad for business or contract work 90%

-----------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see there are some big differences in the target audiences that you will be teaching.

[thirdrockphoto]

In public schools in China, almost all students study English. I taught for three years at a key university that was very science oriented and I taught all majors so half of my students were female because, well, half the students of the uni were female. Now I teach at another key uni that is very arts oriented and I only teach students who are majoring in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. All the majors are required to take my classes but 90 percent of the majors are female so that's the ration in my classes. I also taught weekends at EF where half of the students, ages 9 to 13, were female. All the teachers I know have similar experiences. The students don't make choices about studying English until college.

[william wallace]

For four years I was involved in Canadian Immigration and I got to see the scores of all those degrees(about 150 in all).There were far too many low grades for me, and I suspect for a well respected Western university.Many folks had 50 %- 60%; it was only years later that I found out 60 was a pass

[waxwing]

But, WW, what do you infer from that? In Britain, at least up until I studied at University, 40% was a pass. (As I recall, a first class degree was 70+, a "2-1" (2nd class, first division) was 60, a "2-2" was 50 and a third was something like 40, then there was a "pass" degree which wasn't really much of a degree. The actual numbers were probably different, but it was along those lines).

An aside, but this is another example of what I so often see, especially from those in North America, thinking that they can judge degrees from other countries in terms of their own system. A particularly pernicious one is the concept that only a "4-year degree" is fully valid - by this standard most British BAs and BScs would not be valid degrees (ignoring the different starting point of a University entrant in the two countries, and ignoring the greatly different educational process in each).

[SnoopBot]

[william wallace]

For my undergrad it was fifty(I think),but to have a major it was sixty, and eighty for an honours.

For my masters it was seventy(but too easy!) and thesis, or eighty and no thesis.

[SnoopBot]

At reputable universities in the USA they use letter grades.

For undergrad degree only a few D's I think max was 2?
F= no credit, C= 4 max.

No C's or D's allowed in core courses (must have B or above)

Usually some type of min grade point average.

For graduate school No C's were allowed at all, the grades must be all B's or above.

The final GPA how to be above a B also.

(If you scored lower you had to repeat the course)


This varies by universities and by quality, I do know some graduates are said to not be unable to read their diploma. Usually these are the star sports athletes types that cannot fail and that are passed by the system.
(These cases are often reported by the news-media)

For the PhD work, the masters degree holder nust have at least a 3.4 GPA and completed a research practicum component.

I've found the elites insure their kids get a 4 year Political Science degree and a 3 year JD professional degree. A total investment of only 7 years with the first 4 years spent in a major like PS which is not the most difficult.

The payback making the big bucks as a well-placed (often dishonest) lawyer trumps all others.

The master plan is to have them to mass wealth and connections then run for public office. (Congress or President)

You can see these types in the US government.

Law School is the most popular field these days as this job cannot be outsourced and the amount of money that can be earned both illegally and legally is attractive to most university students.

Each one of the controlling elite families most have a certain number of politicians, and lawyers to keep the family wealth intact and to insure it grows in power and strength.

To the elites, teaching ESL is at the bottom of the power chain just like serving enlisted in the US military.

This is often why the expat CEO and high level embassy types often look down upon us.

Money talks and BullS#@T walks.

[YankeeDoodleDandy]

At XUST in Xi'an, Non English majors studying for a Master's Degree 60% men. For English Majors, I had two classes 20 ladies and one man and 18 ladies and three men. For part time work on the weekends at private English training schools 70 % girls and 30 % boys

[william wallace]

Thanks folks

[struelle]

For me it depends on the classes .... I teach both Physics and Calc. Not surprisingly the guys gravitate to the Phys classes. I had a peek at next year's figures and it's something like 2:1 ratio almost. That's when they just made the course optional and students aren't forced to take it, the total numbers are down a bit, and it looks like the girls got scared off.

On the other hand, the number of females taking Calc next year is way up, and it may be more than 50%. The class averages last year were really skewed in favor of the girls doing better overall. Something strange like almost 80% avg for them, and only around 70% for guys.

Contrary to what you might expect as well, at least in our school, it is rare to see the seniors taking both Physics and Calc .... we teach a more remedial type of calculus. Those who take it are generally college-bound an just want an easy credit, whereas the hard-core science people load up on Physics and Chem, and wait until university for caclulus. Either that or they try and get into AP, although the competition is fierce.

Steve

[waxwing]