Job Discussion Forums

[ms_casillas]

I am pretty stressed

If I go to China, I will teach at a Public University.

I have never taught at a university... Just a hogwan in Japan
and here but never Univesity

How do I do this, if I accept? I dont have formal university teacher training and am
freaked!!

thanks!

[bradley]

First, find out what classes that you are teaching. I find teaching at a university easier than at hagwons (I did this in Japan). And ask the other foreign teachers what they do in their classes. Ask the school if you can talk to any current teachers. Also, see if their is a textbook. Or get advice from teachers here after you get your schedule.

[ms_casillas]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, I would be the only expat teacher
there, and they said there are textbooks, thank goodness:)

It is in Suzhou

[7969]

[ms_casillas]

hahaha thats for sure ! well, the best expat teacher

[Mister Al]

Which uni in Suzhou?

[bradley]

I am lucky to have foreign colleagues in Shenzhen. It's nice to get advice or bounce ideas off each other.

[7969]

[daveups]

[ms_casillas]

Why do people pick apart what you say? who cares about
being perfect, hogwans and Japan private school; people don't care
they get the message. Whats next? are you going to correct my spelingg?

[7969]

dont get too stressed out over it. bigger challenges lay ahead for you

[suanlatudousi]

You wouldn't do an appendectomy on your mother without training and you wouldn't try to run stock investments for your neighbors. Don't try to be a teacher unless you're trained.

[7969]

[cps82856]

Do not expect:

--To be treated with respect as a teacher by anyone--administration, other teachers, or students;
--To have in-depth discussions about language acquisition, pedagogy, or intercultural communication with anyone--administration, other teachers, or students;
--To be given reasonable notice about anything having to do with the combination of a time, a place, and an activity;
--To be given, or have reasonable access to, any materials--textbooks, photocopying, or audio-visual equipment.


You can expect:

--To be treated, at best, as a curiosity, at worst, as an outsider, by everyone--administration, other teachers, and students;
--To never being told the facts, all the facts, and nothing but the facts by anyone--administration, other teachers, or students;
--To not getting everything you bargained for in your contract.
--To being asked to do more than you bargained for in your contract.

If you can:

--Never complain, point out shortcomings in anybody or anything, or say anything that indicates you are less than satisfied with everything in your life;
--Always smile every minute you are outside your quarters;
--Focus on entertainment, not learning;
--Ignore the sleepers, the cell-phone users, the chatters, the chronically absent and late, the eaters, and those studying materials for other classes;

You will be considered a model foreign teacher by everyone--administration, other teachers and students--and you may keep your sanity.

Whether you will find any of this personally or professionally rewarding is an entirely different question you'll have to answer for yourself.

[China.Pete]

"How do I do this, if I accept? I don't have formal university teacher training..." -- Ms Cassillas

Neither, by and large, do most of the FTs working in such places in China. As a previous poster has suggested, expectations are typically very low and support nearly nonexistent. The textbooks could be a real plus, especially after the first few weeks when fresh ideas begin to fail; but you will need to wait and see what they're like. And the fact that you will be the only FT (hopefully not because the rest all up and left the previous semester!) means that you might also have an opportunity to make a more positive impression with students and faculty than some of our less illustrious FTs have been known to do. In short, teaching at most universities in China may requires far less ability than holding down a job at a language school almost anywhere else.