Job Discussion Forums

[Quest]

I am a person looking at teaching english in China in late Feburary/early March. I have been talking to a recruiter in southern China who was highly regarded by a friend who is now teaching. I sent the recruiter a CV and resume over a month ago, including a professional video of myself. The recruiter has said they really like my work and I believe them. However this person has not been able to connect me to a school who is interested in hiring me after showing my work to AT LEAST 5-6 schools (probably more). I do not have a degree (college diploma) but have skills that feature patience and the ability to work & live with people of different languages/cultures. I have also been taking mandarin lessons for the last 3 months and have learned 40-50 basic sentences and am able to count to 1000 as well as tell the time/date.

Since I am black, I need to know how much of a factor race is. I understand that it is a factor to some degree, but how much? I know that there are fewer places hiring during spring break, but to not have ANY responses has left me wondering. I have been very hesitant to mention anything about race to this recruiter because of the nature of Chinese customs and have thought that I would never want to bring it up to someone from a school. A friend in Taiwan has told me that if this recruiter hasn't found me anything, then they are really out to lunch.

If you are a person of colour, or know somone of colour in China or elsewhere in Asia, please let me know your thoughts. How are people of colour treated by schools? How are they treated by the locals? Should I mention my race when posting a resume or responding to job postings. Can you tell me of any schools that DO NOT have a problem hiring black people. Should I look outside China (even though I have no degree).

If you would like to add your thoughts but are neither a person of colour or can share an experience of someone who is, please do not. Your willingness to help is greatly appreciated, but your lack of personal experience does little to help me.

[SongGirl]

Dear Quest...I am not a person of color (although I am even "worse", namely all colors mixed together!) but I have an experience I can share. Or at least an anecdote. I am currently living in China, trying to make a living since I have had one bad experience after another, but the man who is currently hiring me now, a Chinese with true visions for "better international understanding" is planning on filling 150 positions until March. Well, I have no idea how he wants to manage, since I am right now the only teacher he is employing and he can't even provide decent accomodation, so I asked him whether there were no other applicants at all? He said, yes, there were a few from South Africa but...and well, that is where the story ended for him, and where he would stop giving me any information at all. And that is where I understood right away. He will not hire these people no matter how much he needs teachers, and no matter how great their CVs look. He will probably do the same that has been done to you--not answer their requests...because he will lose his face, and they will lose theirs. Generally, not even with Caucasians, they care much about your educational history, or our experiences. That was at least my experience. Yeah, a B.A. sounds great to most of them, but ideally, what many schools expect is a tall blonde with blue eyes. I am not tall blonde with blue eyes and I have had many Chinese people come up to me and say, oh, you are not how I would imagine a German/American (I am both) to look like. Now this is how I see things here but schools are often very much more interested in the imagine they can build in the public than whether they are good teachers or not. They will borrow you out to other schools for a day or so against a nice pay and photograph you without asking, put you in their brochures even though you are just visiting. The Chinese are not racist for that matter...not in the sense in which we know it. They are just plain ignorant. They might be pursuing the West, trying to get their bite off it, but they are still a culture that has been isolated --and is still isolating itself-- from the rest of the world ever since their civilization got started at some point way before most of ours. They are very proud, and even the young people will still tell you that China is the best country in the world. Yes, they dream of going to college in the US or Canada or the UK someday, but they have no idea what awaits them there, and telling about them, well, to me it has proven to be in vain. Ironically, the Chinese people is made up of numerous ethnic groups--they even oppress each other, still. In China, some people are simply better than others. We met a young Mongolian woman one day, she had the most beautiful facial features and you could see she did not comply to the general Chinese ideal...we knew she was Mongolian so we asked her about her Mongolian name. She refused to tell us in front of her Chinese colleagues, and her reasons were obvious.

The Chinese have a hard time to accept and realize what all is out there in that world--they do not understand why I should not speak Chinese! They do not understand how I can have a German mother and American father--they do not understand the terms multicultural, or cultural at all when it comes to things not Chinese. I had a Chinese American colleague before, she was from California and obviously looked very Asian. The people could not understand why she did not speak Chinese, and she was told that she was not really an American...she was also told that she was not really a Chinese. What failed them to understand this simple idea was that there is a lack of a profound awareness, that psychological link that to us seems so logic. It just doesn't exist.

In the school I just worked at, we had a Native American visit for two weeks to study. He was pretty dark, had all the typical features and the long hair...and most students as well as teachers were simply afraid of him! Of course they never bothered to find out more about who he was, how he came from, about HIS culture. They will ask you whether you have the Backstreet Boys in your country and which cars you drive and if you are married but they don't really care much--and don't want to know--about things deeper than that.

Imagine going through Wal-Mart and seeing shelves of Whitening Cream--the girls bleach their faces to look more like whatever it is they are admiring in a white face. My facial skin is dull, I have large pores and blackheads and I personally feel very ugly at times...and they keep coming up to me telling me how beautful I am. They are obsessed with it.

I know I am getting off the topic here, Quest, but I hope I was able to explain how I see things here. I came to China only three months ago so I am far away from understanding their culture (if possible at all)...it is just as amazing as frightening, it is as beautiful as it is disturbing and almost threatening at times. It is an adventure, that is for sure. That is how they are here. It is not a personal picture of an ideal they are drawing...at least I don't think so. I think what encourages this thinking is the Western propaganda (which is only used in advertising and not for politics of course). Being isolated from the rest of the world also means that once you introduce something new in a good manner, it will be soaked up like crazy, inhaled and imitated.

I have heard of one Black teacher in China so far, this is one of those "colleague of a colleague of mine" stories but he was supposedly an absolute star at his school (in a positive way)...I cannot remember where in China that was, but it was a positive experience for someone out there.

You are right, I am not black, I can't speak out of that experience, but I hope I could express just a little what I feel is going on in China concerning other cultures. To them, there is not much besides China, if anything at all. To them, China is the world. I tried to explain the term "culture shock" to my students today. I have tried it many times. I never feel it will ever be part of their vocabulary when they grow up. I HOPE they will someday come to use it...and also, I know that China is moving forward and not backwards so I think it will get better concerning its foreign relations. Generally, for a foreigner, it can be pretty hard here. We are dependent on the will of our employers, have to register with the police, can get into major trouble very fast (e.g. if you don't know you are leaving the park and entering a military zone), and might have our passports taken from us. They just don't trust us too much yet. They let us teach their kids so they can become successful business people in a globalized world but for some reason, we are still a threat to them. I don't know what else to say Quest...yeah, in that point, to make it exact, China sucks

Hope I could help...at least a bit?

Jenny

[dezza]

Hey Quest, take a look at AES. I'm Chinese Canadian and have heard some horror stories from other overseas Chinese who went to China to teach. I asked AES this and they said they don't care if you're yellow, red, black or green they will hire you if you are qualified.

So give them a look, they are posted in the jobs offered forum.

Good luck.

Dezza

[Dragon]

You will not like it. If you are sensitive about race then do not go, otherwise prepare for constnat racist remarks. You're advantage is that you do not understand chinese. Think of it as a blessing not a curse. Chinese people look down upon black people, why, I do not know. They equate you with Africa and if you're American with sex and violence.
go somewhere else and save yourself the trouble, unless you can take it.

[arioch36]

Hi Quest,

Seems there are two questions...racism in China, and being hired in China without a degree.

I have worked in Zhengzhou area, Henan. My first college had ten foreign teachers, one was a black lady from Georgia. This year they have a black man from NYC (students like him, I keep in touch). Of 30 foreign teachers I am aquainted with here, 3 others are black. They have positive feelings about working here, and state they are treated like any laowai (foreigner). Tha being said, the Chinese students have the same stereotypes that black and whites have in the west (yes, black people have the same stereotypes...blacks are good at sports, are more likely to be violent...etc.). But they treat the teachers as individuals, not blacks. They only really have "racism" against Japanese. But I am sure some person can tell you a negative story.

Their are two ways to be hired, illegally and legally. Most private language schools hire people illegally, whcih is not the biggest of deals, but is another issue. But these language schools are more apt not to care about your teaching skills or degree, but are you young, pretty, and yes, white is preferred.
I do not believe the same is true at most colleges and high schools. Certainly not in my experience. Blacks are welcome. But it is increasingly difficult to get a job at a Chinese college without a degree. While they are always looking for people, they also always get many applicants.

My feeling is that kindergarten schools are the most likely to still hire non degree applicants of quality (though the school I know best wants degrees.) My advice, look at some k-schools, apply in person...if you have an interest in kids. Once teaching here, jobs are much easier to get.

[Angel Puppy]

I'm Chinese American and I taught English for a year and at numerous different schools/locations in China. In the class room, the color of your skin is only important in the first impression. Initially, some and/or most Chinese EFL students and schools want the ideal "lao wei" teacher: white, blonde and blue eyes. But, from my first hand experience and observation, as the class progresses, the students care more about their progress in learning English and the effectiveness of the teacher. I've had Australian and Irish colleagues, and the students were disappointed in their teaching abilities as their classes progressed. I do know that most schools are very hesistant in hiring Indian teachers because of their heavy accent. This can be understandable. However, competent schools (the ones that actually care about their students, and not just the money) look for EFL certifications, college degrees, teaching experience, etc.

I did experience students curiously wondering why I can't speak Chinese. It's not because they're ignorant as an earlier post connated to, it's the fact that there's no cultural/ethnic/race mixing in China. There are a billion Chinese people, and 99% of their daily lives they only see Chinese people. Although China is rapidly modernizing and opening, a large majority of Chinese people have not been exposed to the "foreign world". It's your duty as an EFL teacher to teach more than just English. You are technically titled as an "Foreign Expert". It is ideal that EFL teachers teach about the culture, facts and history about their country, the mannerisms in their country, etc., in addition to the 4 facets of EFL teaching. Remember that you are "living and working" in China, this is not your home. Put yourself in their shoes; what do they need to learn and what should they learn.

Frankly speaking, I've learned that the Chinese don't know much about "black" people except that they "play in the NBA". I once asked a class of mine what they thought of "black" people and I received some negative responses. Their only basis was that they "heard it on TV" or "just by looking at them". However, my counter-argument was, "Do you personally know any black people? How do you know that is true?" After I brought up the epiphanies, they began to wonder in another angle and this "cultural exercise" opened their views. I'm not saying that you should go and do a "racial awareness" crusade, but you will be appreciated much more if you can educate them about other cultures that exist in the world.

In short, once the EFL teacher passes the first few days of the students' nostalgia about the teacher's physical appearance, your eventual interaction with the students and acceptance by the students will be based significantly on your personality (Foreign Expert) and effectiveness in teaching them English (EFL Teacher).

Look past your own judgements, look past the Chinese' "misled" judgements, and "teach" your students.