Job Discussion Forums

[KidfromBrooklyn]

A question for the Honorable peanut gallery.

Should a qualified teacher holding a degree and having jumped through all the hoops presented by the Chinese be offended by non degree holding tourists being paid the same monthly Salary?

Should foreign teachers be offended by racist Chinese remarks? Should we be ticked off when the pay when it does arrive is late? Not as specified in the Contract.

Should we take offense to an attitude of "We can do whatever we please" you know cause its our country. Even if an agreement is broken.

and does anyone know of the regs regarding accomodation. At my school we have not a facility to wash dishes and clean veggies before cooking. All this work must be done in the bathroom in close proximity to the throne, in the shower area, where the washing machine empties.

What should be done about a foreign teacher who sucks up to the Chinese Manegment, you know makes out that the school and China is a beautiful, wonderful, Red Sun Rising kind of world. This type of behavior coming from a westerner actually make me feel very ill.


A: Leave the school in pursuit of Happiness

B: Suck it up, be a team player, and pretend nothing is wrong?

well there it is. What do all you China hands say?

[jamesmollo]

It seems you are on to a bad one? get out and find somewhere better.
It's as simple as that. Nobody likes a cry baby

[arioch36]

C: Pretend to suck it up, pretend to be a team player, and wait for the right momen, especially wait to get paid first.

Sorry for the cynicism, but I once tried to be "professional" telling a school that since they could not give me a legal residence permit, I would not come back for the second term, but I would finish out the present semester.

So they thamked me for sticking out the term, apolgizing that they didn't get me my legal RP, and told me they understood that I should be working and living in China legally. Right?


Not hardly

[Anda]

Um, it seems that you have got on the wrong side of management plus have a bad management. There is no cure for that except to leave. Accommodation is more or less what gets offered. Most government positions offer reasonable accommodation however. Are you working for government or private? There is what is considered a standard at Universities and government set ups.


If you can't arrange a better wage than a backpacker that is your fault not his. There are those that earn a lot more than me here in China; that is their luck or ability. Good luck to them.

If someone is on Cloud Nine then let them enjoy the moment.


If you don't like working with other Westerners then get a job where you are the only Western teacher. I have been doing this for many years. It is easy to find such jobs. Fu-ning teachers College is after a teacher now and there are no other Westerners living in the city. Good luck but with air fares! Accommodation is now good as I improved it during my stay. Only took two months to get it cleaned up to how I wanted it. Um they only want to employ for ten months a year also. They haven't been able to find a gift horse since I left. Nice quite little industrial city except for fire crackers going off day and night. You get all this and 4,500 a month so go for it!

[loboman]

This post should be under the Bitter teachers Thread, no?

A wise man whom I once met in China told me this: If you don't like your job go find another one.

[wailing_imam]

Um (Anda's fav opening),

Um, salary? No-one's fault but your own.

Other teachers? Don't worry about what others get up to. Do your job and go home at the end of the day.

Accomodation problems sound grim. Need a lobbying group.

Doesn't sound like a very fun place to be fair, but I bet it's an experience! If you really can't handle it, hand in your notice, but agree to complete the term. See if things move in your favour this time.

Um,

WI

[loboman]

[arioch36]

lobo

[Dan The Chainsawman]

China is way to much like South Korea. Seems a very common theme in the ESL industry in Asia at large is to screw over teachers.

It appears though that at least with China switching jobs isn't so difficult.

[KidfromBrooklyn]

Thank you all for the concern and well written replies.

As for the pay. Qualified vs. Unqualified, I fault the school and the attitude towards Foreign teachers that comes down the chain of command. Being that, "we pay all the foreign teachers the same." My summation is that, said administration wishes only to pack a body in the classroom in order to present a picture of Academic standards to the high tuition paying parents of the students.

So where's the respect for genuine Academic Achievements? Why the prerequisite of "at least a Bachelors Degree?" Summation. There is none. Pack a body. It is truly sad, but apparently the reality of all of our lives.

Agreeing on a Pay package is done in private and is no concern of others. The cat is out of the bag usually over beers and a few discrete questions to the backpacking members of faculty. Again not the fault of the employee. It is the attitude of the employer.

As for a foreigner with honorable brown nose. I have observed this type of behavior for as long as I have been in China. It is everyone's own choice on how to conduct you daily life. However I have remained true to myself and my beliefs that there truly is a common denominator to all of mankind and to organizational problems. Such as Human Resource problems and the Management of a large organization.

Therefore taken for grated that the Chinese side will use decisions based on their training and experience, we Westerners {IF} employed in a spirit of TRUE co-operation should then in fact, be able to have input. The end result being the best of both worlds in benefit of the school and students. A yes man provides no constructive growth.

Pretty long winded.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[Lorean]

Why would qualified managers work in ESL

[Dan The Chainsawman]

Any number of reasons stemming from they actually enjoy the work and country to they are wanted criminals in their own country.

[KidfromBrooklyn]

The question actually is very vague. Implying an answer that all of us "should" already know.

I think that while a Qualified Manager would avoid a position with a "Training Center". These places are unquestionably profit motivated and are to be avoided if you like to teach people English as a second language.

However when a Chinese University or a Public Government run school puts out an offer to hire qualified teaching personnel, people with qualifications usually respond. Folks could be looking for overseas employment for a variety of reasons, the one that rubs me the wrong way is that FT's are on the lam from their home country. That "could" be the fact for some but I would guess a very small percentage. Then again if they were truly on the lam how would anyone know?

In my humble opinion MOST, FT's are a very caring group, and do not deserve the racist remarks, and poor treatment, that we are subject to at the bequest of our "Host."

[loboman]

[NeilBarker]