Job Discussion Forums

[julian.teacher]

I taught Grade 7 and Grade 11 at Ma Jie High School from February 2009 until early April 2009. I had to quit the job and return to my country for health reasons.

About the school and the place: Majie High School is located in Hejiang, a cheap town in the rural Luzhou area. There is no English spoken in Hejiang. The school hires two foreign teachers each semester, the only foreigners in town. The students are very excited to have foreign teachers, however, the general level of English is very low. There are 70 students in each classroom which is not the best condition for an Oral English class. Still, these are not reasons to blacklist a school. Whenever I faced difficulties in teaching I saw it as a challenge and the school let me do as I pleased.

The reason why I blacklist Ma Jie Middle School are withholding pay and threatening and pressuring me to stay. I also don't think that the school contact person is very sensible when dealing with people and conflicts.

I quit my job on April 1st, right before I should have gotten my March salary (5000 RMB).
The school did not accept the reason why I quit, withheld the March pay and accused me for breaking the contract. Either way, there'd be no legal basis to withhold money, because the contract terms we agreed on don't include a breach penalty for the teacher.

' If the teacher does not have a proper reason to terminate the contract he will not receive the completion bonus '

About the completion bonus: ' The school grants a completion bonus of RMB 5500. The completion bonus shall be paid before the end of the semester '

Then they showed me a contract I never signed and tried to punish me for something I never did.

1)I did not break the contract. I left because of a serious psychological condition. You don't have to be an expert to say that it is dangerous to be abroad with this condition. I emailed them a psychological report subsequently.
2)I never signed the contract they tried to threaten me with. What I am talking about is the standardized contract for foreign experts. I did not sign this because I was not hired on a working visa. The contract my employment was based on has a completion bonus instead of a breach penalty. However, they wouldn't pay me for the month I had already worked for and they even came up with empty threats that they'd call the police because of my F-visa-status.

I am aware of the fact that the school contact person has to employ white faces, and that me quitting conflicted with this duty. However, in this case the contact person did not react rationally or cooperative.
Not returning phone calls or text messages, postponing appointments and rushing away from me in the corridor did not give me the chance to reply to their threats.
Furthermore, the contact person did not react sensible to my psychological condition. I don't think he is very sensible when dealing with people at all. When the other foreign teacher told him he had cancer the only thought the contact expressed was that he feared he might loose a foreigner.

Within the next days they increased the pressure by telling everybody that I am causing trouble and that I am trying to leave. They even got the other foreign teacher involved and set up a dinner with students to lure me to stay. I feel sorry for everyone who was made to be involved.

I even offered the school to take photos for advertisements to make the best of the situation but they would not accept the offer. Then I told them that it is my duty as a member of the foreign teacher community to blacklist a school that withholds pay. After that they gave me 2000 of the 5000 RMB and said 3000 were for 'punishment and advertisement fees'.

I generally advise every foreign teacher not to sign a contract that includes a breach penalty for the foreign teacher. It might be necessary for actors in a movie production or project-based employments such as in research. It is not necessary for Fruit Salad, Hangman and English Ball!
Instead, negotiate a completion bonus, like I did it. This provided, let's hope that schools pay the money you have worked for.

Blacklisted School: Ma Jie Middle School, He Jiang, Lu Zhou, Sichuan, China
http://www.hjmjzx.com/
合江县马街中学

[suanlatudousi]

1 - You were working illegally

2 - Were you aware/diagnosed with your "serious psychological condition" prior to coming to China ? If so, then did you know that people with disorders such as schizophrenia are barred from receiving living/working credentials. So, my ultimate question is, did you disclose this information or did you lie and claim no such history ?

3 - You clearly state you did not sign the SAFEA contract becuase you were not hired on a working visa.

4 - Their supposed threats to call the police - well, there is little likelihood they'll call the police to admit they illegally hired a foreigner.

To sum up - you were working illegally and so have no recourse and/or right to bash the school as it all being their fault. Yes, they pressured you to stay because you signed a contract.

Methods of the school are suspect as is your willingness to work illegally.

These are the consequences of working illegally.

Hopefully you're getting the proper mental health care you need - whatever the condition may be.

[julian.teacher]

To answer your question: the depression had developed during my 8 months-stay in China, so there was no history or diagnosis before I signed the contract.

I am aware that you can't sue a school based on an F visa. However, even with a Z visa you won't get far. This is why we have the teacher's community.

What do you think about the SAFEA contract anyways? Should there be a breach penalty, no matter what job it is about? Or should foreign teachers be able to step out of a contract, that is, quit their job, like they can in their countries?
I think there is no need for a breach penalty when it comes to a weekly session of oral English and English games. If the school and the teacher agree on including it in an appendix, that's fine, but the SAFEA contract doesn't give them a choice. I think that's a weak point of the contract. I think foreign teachers should be able to quit their job.

[suanlatudousi]

[julian.teacher]

A completion bonus would do - you quit the job, no bonus. You complete the semester, you get it.

Many 'Oral English teachers' are employed to bring fun in an English language environment. Of course there are different jobs in China.
But it always depends on the job.
If you are an actor in a movie and quit in the middle of the production, you create a lot of damage and therefore should be punished.

[Bendex]

''Julian.teacher'' hasn't told the whole story re Majie High School. Let me put the record straight:
1) Julian came to China to teach English soon after graduating from high school in his homeland, Germany.
2)Julian taught ineffectively, causing his students to disrespect him.
3)Julian couldn't get a Z visa as he had no university degree, and was only in his very early 20's. Nevertheless, he blamed the FAO at the school for this, despite his having gone to great lengths to get an F visa for Julian.
4)One schoolday, Julian decided not to teach without informing others in advance. When the FAO and the other FT went to his flat a little later, he wouldn't open the door!
5)Julian has feigned mental illness. The real reason he wished to leave was because he was in love with a person in Shanghai.
6)Julian cared nothing about the school being unable to replace him so late in the semester.
7)Julian's fellow FT did not have cancer, though at that time he was at risk of getting it due to abnormally high levels of certain body-produced chemicals which have since subsided.
Majie High School should not be blacklisted, but instead, Julian should be!

[A'Moo]

[Voldermort]

Back in late July I contacted this high school looking for a job with them. I sent them a rather lengthy e-mail containing all my work history, equal to that of a resume, and a detailed description of my teaching methods and requirements. Somebody by the name of Victor Zhao replied to me with a single sentenced responce "Send me a photo so that we can proceed".

That told me everything I needed to know about the school.

[China.Pete]

Granted this may be a high school which throws largely unqualified foreign teachers at too many students, but by your own admission, OP, you left them in the lurch in the middle of the term for what they may have regarded as spurious reasons. Furthermore, you did so "right before I should have gotten my March salary." This was a clear violation of Rule 1 if you're going pull a runner: always wait until you've collected your current month's pay!

Clearly, this is a school which is somewhat desperate for foreign teachers, and therefore sometimes gets even less than it pays for. I would not work at this school, for the reasons Voldermort alludes to. But for those who post on this site on a fairly regular basis, asking "Is it possible to get a job with just a high school diploma and a TEFL certificate," or who are looking for the "real" China experience, I'd say this school might suit them just fine.

[Bendex]

Voldermort has stated that he decided not to proceed with his application for a post at Majie High School due to Victor Zhao's brief response asking him to e-mail a photo of himself so that he could proceed.
I'm somewhat puzzled why that was enough to put Voldermort off proceeding with his application for a teaching position there.
Victor Zhao works for the Foreign Affairs Department of Majie High School. So far, I've found him to be a very good school Waiban who is easy to get along with. Actually, he never blamed Julian for not being able to get a Z visa for him - a previous poster has got muddled up, it was Julian that blamed Victor unfairly for having failed to do so. Not only that, but Julian didn't appreciate Victor being able to get him an F visa instead.
By the way, one shouldn't presume a school to be a bad one on the basis of it having difficulty attracting suitably qualified FT's. Said difficulty could be due to a variety of other reasons, such as the school's location, and the amount of travelling an FT would have to endure in order to get there!
I'll reiterate that Julian should be on a blacklist, not Majie High School!

[Hansen]

In some provinces, a university degree is not required to teach in middle school. Z visas are up for grabs to those with two year degrees and ESL certification. That may be changing

In defense of the OP, if I was in my twenties and was missing my Shanghai honey, I, too, would be depressed. I would be so sad and miserable and unhappy, how could I go on?

The guys writing skills surpass numerous native speakers. It's unfortunate that many Americans are just plain dumb when it comes to languages. I met a guy from Belgium a few weeks ago. He was fluent in three, four languages. Many Europeans are.

Not sure what he was thinking, to give notice just before payday.

Good luck with that Shanghai sweetie.

[Bendex]

Hansen wrote:

In defense of the OP, if I was in my twenties and was missing my Shanghai honey, I, too, would be depressed. I would be so sad and miserable and unhappy, how could I go on?

If I were in my twenties and lovelorn, I couldn't go on here either; but love is not the issue. It is that I believe Julian has blacklisted Majie High School unfairly. He has presented his side of the argument. I have set out the school's side.
Now I'm quite happy to let the readers of this thread consider all of the evidence, and come to their own conclusions.

[Rinski]