Job Discussion Forums

[Iceberg7811]

Anyway I dont want to bore you with details. Basically my school is changing my load from teaching oral english to teaching four different subjects. including a business subject.

So if i cancel the contract. Or break the contract. Can I get another job in another province?. And if I decide to come back to Shanghai once this resident permit has expired will I have a problem obtaining a new one?.

Thanks a lot for your help.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[Iceberg7811]

I havent spoken to them yet. But I know that they will say "yes, no, ... It has to be done". So I am preparing myself for that. Really they are not very flexible.

I just want to know what are my options before I negotiate with them.

Seems that if I am teaching more than Oral English my salary should be higher. But to be honest preparing for 4 subjects every week is just too much. My contract did not include any prep work by the way. It is meant to be just 20 teaching hours. They also dont give me any materials I have to find those by myself.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[tomstone]

I once negotiated with a school by threatening to quit if my "demands" (actually, working and living conditions) weren't met. I told the FAO that I was justified since they had broken the contract. Sounds like that's what has happened to you. Use it as a bargaining tool.

[Iceberg7811]

Yes I want to use the threat that I will quit. But I also want to know the consequences.

[tomstone]

I'm not sure I understand. "Consequences" would be they don't do what you want, so make sure you're not bluffing. After-effects would be the discretion of a new employer not accepting your reasoning; i.e., you didn't quit with good cause. There would be no legal consequences.

[Iceberg7811]

I am not too worried about that. I just want to know that if in the future I want to come back to Shanghai and work. I am talking maybe 2-3 years down the line there will be no problems with the foreign experts office.

[tomstone]

I can't think of any reason why there would be.

[kev7161]

I think the most important point I'd bring up in my conversation would be . . . qualifications. Are you qualified to be teaching business and other subjects? What led to this decision by the school? Why is it that you don't get a choice - - are you the only teacher at the school? Who's going to teach your Oral English classes? Are they having to recruit someone to do them? If so, why not just recruit someone (instead) to do the courses they're asking you to do? Someone who may be more qualified?

I'm all for people coming on to Dave's and asking for advice and feedback, but a few more details may be helpful.

[Beyond1984]

"my school is changing my load from teaching oral english to teaching four different subjects. including a business subject." iceberg7811

I have taught oral English as well as two academic subjects in the Middle Kingdom. In my experience, finding exciting topics to keep students of oral English engaged for 16 weeks was much more difficult than teaching subject matter.

Who knows ... maybe you can use the same lessons in different subject classes (provided that the students are different in each class). Combining history with literature or sociology with psychology ain't that hard. And economics can be taught alongside any discipline.

But if you are expected to teach the hard stuff, like organic chemistry, physics or calculus, it's a different story.

As far as lack of materials is concerned, don't sweat it. With an internet connection and nytimes.com and a USB and a copying machine you can have really dynamic humanities classes using information just hours old, all with minimum prep time.

-HDT

The tone of your posts suggests that you hoped to semi-retire here with a light teaching load and no class prep. But as a Foreign Expert, maybe it's time to roll up your sleeves, step up to the plate and hit a homer, not scamper away to ever cushier pastures. If your hard work goes unrecognized, look elsewhere as the end of your contract approaches.

[xiaolongbaolaoxi]

Yes, you will live in PrepWorld, but one possibility is that you will now be teaching the same students in four different subjects as opposed to only Oral English. As long as you and the class have learned to live with each other (if not actually like each other), this can be a wonderful experience... Talk about class A in class B, write about the material in class B while in class C, make and talk about graphs from material in class c while in class D. The connections can be more fun and interesting for everyone. Or not.

But, find some good sites you like with wonderful worksheets you can use in a pinch. Although a paysite, I liked www.teachervision.com it has its issues, but for me, I liked that a lot of things shared a basic format... students basically had a clue to what the task was so you were teaching content not procedures.

I would not do this every class, but a deck of word searches and crossword puzzles linked to class vocabulary can be a good way to get yourself out of a pinch and still be loosely tied to the subject matter. http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/

(hint, cut and paste it into word so you can save it for later... teaching portfolios, exchanging lessons with other teachers, backup lesson plan book in case the powers that be want to see something NOW, etc.)

Just a few thoughts.

And as always, xiaolongbao in the class can work wonders...

XLB

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Do it the Chinese way:


You want to change the situation?

Ok.

I want to discuss pay.

You give me more money.

No?

Bye bye, you broke the initial agreement.


Nothing more.