Job Discussion Forums

sharpe88 · Joined: 21 Oct 2008 Posts: 226

Good answer. It's not about revenge and collective punishment. Also as a "professional teacher" you have to have a thick skin.

sui jin · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 184 Location: near the yangtze

I agree with 'theincredibleegg' : you have not earned this student's respect, you have cowed her into submission. How can her 'negative feedback' be "completely untrue"? It was her opinion of your class. Maybe she expressed herself poorly and rudely, but she must have had some reason for giving such an opinion.

In any class of thirty or so students, teaching any subject, there is bound to be at least one student who thinks you are wasting their time. Some students love to rote-learn , some can only accept 'Chinese style' teaching methods, some hate playing games. As long as you can justify and make sense of what you do in terms of learning and practicing English, why worry about the odd brickbat?

The Ever-changing Cleric · Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 1523

ymmv · Joined: 14 Jul 2004 Posts: 387

For example, this thread.

suanlatudousi · Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Posts: 384

If you don't take the job seriously then jump on plane back home.

The Ever-changing Cleric · Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 1523

donb2222 · Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 134

message deleted

LanGuTou · Joined: 23 Mar 2009 Posts: 621 Location: Shandong

To plays Devil's Advocate and not having real knowledge of the precise situation, what if the girl that sent the text message was actually telling the truth? Maybe all or most of the class did dislike your teaching at that moment of time but only one person would stand up and say so, albeit anonymously.

It doesn't necessarily follow that the class dislike you or your standard teaching. In the OP, you stated that you changed in some way from your normal teaching plan. Did you ask the class if this was the problem?

Chinese students do not like to openly criticize, that is common knowledge!

I have a writing course to teach. It is stated within my teaching duties that I have to teach science majors how to write an English paper. I know it is boring and tedious because I hated the subject when I was a university.

Trying to teach a bunch of students with very average English ability how to write a technical paper is one topic I have yet to find an entertaining method of doing. I know some of them hate it, but do they complain? No, of course not because it is not the Chinese thing to do.

In the first instance, my suggestion would be to look at whatever change you made to your teaching plan and/or teaching style to determine if that was the catalyst for this reaction.

themanymoonsofjupiter · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 205 Location: The Big Link

donb2222, i think you have a good point. i had many great relationships as you describe, but not simply because i was a foreigner. sure, i was probably much more likely to be approached due to my white skin, but i don't think that was the only reason. i had earned the respect of the students by giving them challenging, interesting, and (when possible) fun lessons, while also being willing to talk before and after class (and also in the school cafeteria, on the bus to town, etc). however, i never let fun get in the way of teaching, if it were necessary. i have had to teach the boring subjects like LanGuTou, and it's ok to admit to them that's it's boring but necessary. students of that age, especially in china where a test means everything, know that & will respect that. i have built this same relationship with my current american students, and it has nothing to do with being white.

i don't think, however, that it's a good idea to give the class surveys during the class. it seems to indicate that, first of all, you don't really know what you're doing, and you need their help. secondly, it gives them the impression