Job Discussion Forums

[jeffinflorida]

My school�s ethics � or lack of them.

I mentioned that the school I work at wants me to photo copy the textbook right?

Ok now what�s your take on this� The school asked me to pass at least 80% of the students and fail less than 20%.

So what�s wrong with this policy you ask? The students pay 25,000 rmb a year to attend this Canadian affiliated college so they ain�t exactly poor kids�

I have 3 classes. 2 of these classes have 66 students and the other has 41.

In each class there is a high percentage that do absolutely nothing at all. This percentage is possibility over 50% in each class. They are the laziest unmotivated bunch of people I have every worked with.

My belief is that 40-50% will fail the test I am going to give next week. It�s on 5 chapters and so many just don�t pay attention or cannot answer a single question that I have ever asked them.

The test I am giving next week is really going to be hard. Maybe 25-30 true/ false and 25 �30 multiple choice, 10 definitions questions and 2 �4 complete the model. ( Fill in the Johari Window and Maslov�s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, and the ERG theory. Right, this will be hard for them.

The first test many tried to cheat. This exam I will have 5-6 different tests with the questions and orders all different and will take them to a large room with only one student per row and will ask 2 or 3 other Fts to proctor. I don�t allow cheating.

I told them no books, no notes, no bags, no phones. I told them that if I catch them with a note I will give them a zero, take all the money in their wallet or purse, and confiscate their mobile phones. No joke.

But, the school wants me to pass 80% and I know this isn�t going to happen. So let�s assume that 50% fail. What do I do?

Another teacher in my school gave an exam � an A test and a B test. Can you believe that 50% passed and exactly 50% failed? And the 50% that failed had ALL THE SAME ANSWERS as the other test! The school had a meeting with this teacher and asked him to give a 2nd exam to the whole class. The students that passed also had to take it and they were not happy.

I have told my students that I will give 5-6 different exams but I did not tell them that I will not mark them as test A,B,C,D,E,F etc. For all purpose they will all look the same but they will have the same or different questions but in totally different orders�

I have issues about passing students that do absolutely nothing and just try to sleep or sit there and read books while I lecture. Many of them don�t even bring their text book of ever take notes. Plus some of the richer students have already told me that they will give me money for a passing grade when I asked them what they will do when they fail the exam�

So is this issue my own personal problem or is the school just on the �We take your money and print you a Canadian degree wagon train�?

By the way their chinese teacher already told me that they complain about me for being so strict - the no sleeping, playing on your phones, and coming to class issues...

[Mister Al]

Jeff

Mark the papers and pass/fail those who pass/fail. Make sure you sign and date every paper next to the grade. If the school wants to bump up the grades that's their concern. Don't even think about bowing down to the schools standard of ethical behaviour. They are only trying to pass the responsibilty of their problem on to you. Same with the books....let them copy if that's what they want.

[Worldly]

[ispeakgoodenglish]

Set the exam so hard that 80% fail so the little princes and princesses have to explain to their parents why they have wasted 25,000 on a school that is abusing its place by hiding behind the parent uni while not adhering to international educational standards...

From what you are saying it would be hard because non of them are interested knowing they will probably pass if they sit the exam or not...

[Tarheel 13]

This is not a question of ethics or morality.

It is a question of economics and what is right by ALL standards here in China.

Put yourself in their shoes, because that is all that really matters in this Chinese educational system. They pay big money to go to school. They have stopped competing. They have made it. Time to cruise.

The teachers understand the above. The students understand this reality. More important, the administrators and parents who foot the bills understand this reality. If you do not understand this reality, then you might want to mature quickly with respect to it.

I have a similar reality. I smile, nod my head, am "so friendly and co-operative", and I will be invited back to teach anywhere in this country from the references I will no doubt receive at the end of my tenure.

Can I live with this? Absolutely. No sweat of my paycheque. I am only here for two reasons, and I only came by the 2nd reason by chance: (1) To see and experience this wonderful culture, and (2) to assist these students, some who really want to learn, with their English.

In other words, you might want to compartmentalize your western views and beliefs and unlock them when you're back home.

[malu]

[Sonnet]

I like Worldly's advice.

It's understandable that you're frustrated with a number of your students, and with your employer and their demands & practices.

However, if you were to give a test which were unfair; which didn't include only material covered in your course thus far (content validity), or which didn't feature only questions/tasks of a type with which the students are familiar (context validity), then you would be acting unethically - a teacher who gives his class an unfair test just to ensure enough of them fail is every bit as unethical as the teacher who gives his class an unfairly easy test just to ensure that enough of them pass.

Be fair. Give a fair, valid exam. Don't allow cheating - I like the idea of multiple papers in different orders! Think about what to do regarding the pass/fail rate once the test has actually been administered.

[tw]

Remember that education in China is a business. Your job is to justify why parents have to shell out 25,000 RMB a year for their children to attend this school. Your job is also to make the school look good by passing as many students as you can. Failing too many students, in this case over 20%, will not mean the students are complete idiots or failures, but that your exam is either too difficult, or that you are a terrible teacher.

Forget everything about ethics, just worry about your pay check. Put the grades into Excel and try to pass more students.

[Sonnet]

Well... education everywhere is a business. School premises, resources, expenses and staff salaries have to come from somewhere - and whether you get your money directly from students or from the government, you're still a business.

So, I don't think we need to buy into this viewpoint of doing things unethically - give your students a fair chance of passing, but if they fail, then they fail. Any teacher/administrator here who falls into a "just go with the flow to protect your paycheck" school of thought loses any validity or credibility in complaining about anything else unethical in China. (As an aside, has anyone else noticed that it's often the "go along with the deception and take your paycheck home, don't rock the boat" brigade who're so vehemently anti-China in the off-topic forum?).

And, well, if a significant proportion of students do fail the course, then it'stime to reflect on things. 20% is a fairly high fail rate in any case, in my experience. If more than 20% of the students fail, it's time to look at why:
- Were the students entered into a course they shouldn't have been in?
- Were there too many students, not enough time, insufficient resources?
- Is there anything that you, as a teacher, could have done differently?
- Or, if it's more likely the institute's fault (for some of the possible reasons listed above, or for others), then are you, as a teacher, happy working for such a place? Would you work again for such an institute in the future?

I know that this might all sound horribly idealistic to people here, but - we don't need to be overly cynical. Our students suffer if we are. I'm not some fresh-off-the-boat newbie, either; I've worked for a number of places in China (and elsewhere), and I've been a director of studies here for a year. It's not impossible to be an ethical teacher here in China.

[Worldly]

[johnchina]

Jeff, some foreign institutions have a policy whereby if the pass rate for their overseas partner institution courses falls below 80% then an inspection takes place, involving people from the overseas institution visiting to see what's happening. This might be a key reason behind the 'request'.

[malu]

[Mister Al]

Tarheel 13 and tw

You should be ashamed of yourselves. Living and working as teachers in China we are all aware of the dilemma.......Financial Considerations v Academic Standards. We are teachers and as teachers we generally do want all our students to do well. It is very nice for all concerned if this occurs. But as a teacher you shoud set your own academic standards (or at least follow some official guidlines that demonstrate that the students have some academic ability) and let the organisation worry about the financial problems. It is always good practice, as an employee, to take some of that into account when setting your exams but you also have to look after your own reputation. Neither of you seem to care about this or even consider if your behaviour is ethical or not. This is about you- not about Chinese culture or any other culture for that matter. If you worked somewhere that encouraged teachers to beat the students every morning because that's what parents expected and the school promised to do this, would you be happy to do that because the school asked you to? Would you start thinking about ethics in this situation?

I think that most would agree that as a teacher you have responsibilities to yourself, your students and your employer. You have to try to get the balance right and keep your self esteem intact at the same time. You guys just seem to do whatever you are told to do. How sad.

[ispeakgoodenglish]

[vikuk]