Job Discussion Forums

[xiaolongbaolaoxi]

@mat chen... Blasphemy!

[Neilhrd]

In my experience there are two kinds of student complaints.

1. Genuine students who want to learn but whose learning style doesn't suit your teaching style. These need to be taken seriously. However I would make two caveats.

First it is impossible to please every student. What suits an auditory learner won't suit a visual learner and vice versa. If you are getting this kind of complaint you have achieved something. For a start the students are actively responding to your class and not just sitting there like sacks of potatoes. Furthermore you have opened the students eyes to the possibility of different teaching methods and different learning styles and study skills. That is more than their Chinese teachers will ever be allowed to do. In the process you have probably helped the student to discover him/herself and grow up. It is also possible for teachers to consciously adjust their teaching method to accomodate different learning styles. By listening to such complaints and engaging in dialogue with the students you can become a better teacher.

The second caveat is that complaining students have usually been lied to about the nature of the course by the school and have unreasonable expectations. They also usually know nothing about the constraints in terms of choice of books, lack of equipment, teaching hours, test proceedures etc that foreign teachers work under. They often assume that we are the bosses in the classroom when we are not.

My policy is to be honest with the students about this because I believe that the only people who can bring about fundamental change in China's education system are the students and the parents. I call a spade a spade because until students and parents, and often Chinese teachers, have their eyes opened about how the system really works here then they won't stand up and demand the quality of education they have a right to and often deserve.

Complaints of this kind are usually made informally and often with a bit of coaxing the students will confirm the source engage in dialogue.

2. A very different kettle of fish are politically motivated complaints. Every Chinese college and university I have worked in has spies whose job is to report on what foreign teachers are saying and teaching to the Communist Party work unit in that institution. Sometimes these are students. In other places, particularly independent schools renting space on a campus they are planted in the guise of admin assistants, computer technicians etc. Even if you scrupulously avoid controversial topics or criticising the government you may not avoid complaints. That is because these people's listening level in English is usually too low to fully grasp the nuances of what you have said. They may also be trying to curry favour for personal or career reasons by distorting the facts deliberately.

Complaints of this kind are invariably made formally by an apparatchik who has usually never seen you teach, can't speak English. and can't produce any evidence to substantiate the complaint. In these circumstances, particularly if there is an interpreter present, you can nearly always assume that the complaint is politically motivated b**ls**t and ignore it.

[Lobster]

There is also a third type of complaint generated by a lazy, disorganized student who realizes that passing the course isn't possible due to a lack of effort on their part. This student has probably been raised on the adage "there are no bad students; only bad teachers." and is looking to save face.

RED

[mrwslee003]

Complaints were welcome when I was teaching in China-I encouraged my
students to give me feedbacks as to how I presented the lesson.

I address the complaints in class so there was very little chance of
complaints beyond the class. Now, at first, the students were reluctant
to respond but after a few encouaging remarks they did.

I would interpret complaints or suggestions as a positive, active
involvement by the students and it is a good thing. However,
I would treat complaints without names attached differently. I would suggest to the officer who gives me the complaint to have names of
the complainants, otherwise it is not a serious complaint.

My suggestion is to deal with any complaint openly and seriously.
If the student tries to be devious to hide his/her lack of responsibility
I am sure the officer from the school will side with you.

Students the world over, some are more responsible than others.
Part of our goal as teachers is to teach responsibility. That is, to hold
each student accountable to his/her actions.

[hankemhigh]

Unless there is a term assessment that is procedural in nature, I wouldn't consider any complaint.

[mat chen]

The last two years in China I have received more complaints than in my previous thirty yeas of teaching. The complaints are not against me but against me being a foreigner. The government is blaiming foreigners for China's religous wows and demonstrations. I am attacked because the students think I am like them. They think I think like every other foreigner. They don't realize that in other countries you are allowed to be different. Also in China the thinking is that if you pay you can criticize. There is no quality control on the educational assembly line.
Don't fail your students. If you have a student that doesn't attend give them one mark lowere than the lowest in the class. If they swear at you in Chinese, tell them in Chinese that you are sorry and that you are not a good person. Above all don't forget you are the bottom of the bottom here in China.

[Mister Al]

Poor mat..........