Job Discussion Forums

[peruisay]

My school is claiming that May holiday is one day. One.

I can't really say that it isn't. I'm not sure. The only source I can find is an old post on Shanghaiist which claims three days - while a comment explains that 3 days means 1 day (due to weekends being included).

I'm lost. Anyone know?

[shaneb35]

i'm pretty sure that this year it's May 1-3. I know how these Chinese universities work, there is no schedule and you find out at the last minute.

[80daze]

It's officially 3 days - Saturday - Monday which means you get all 3 days off! If you don't usually work on Weekends then it means you only get Monday off, maybe this is what your school means by 1 day.

[johntpartee]

Well, you'll find out at the last minute, as usual. I often find out that classes have been cancelled when I show up at an empty classroom.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[Silent Shadow]

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[Silent Shadow]

Good post cleric.

You actually mentioned in your initial post that it's not just holidays that FTs are not informed about. So, when you mentioed griping FTs that's why I brought up the topic of exam scheduling (apologies to the op, but it's all part of a general malaise).

The point was not about, how easy it is to deal with. I do plan ahead and usually get things sorted out in advance. The problem occurs when admin schedules dates, times, or room locations at the last minute even after I've been on their backs for weeks about it. The week before the exam arrives. Admin still doesn't know. I go to the last class before the exam, and still can't tell the students where it is.

It's a teacher's responsibility to know such information, rather than a student, so students needn't feel awkward about not knowing. It makes the teacher look unprofessional, because he's a staff memeber of an organization. The organization that doesn't know a fundemental peice of knowledge. The teacher works for an organization that can't organize itself, properly. So I can either leave, or carry on and gripe about it until admin gets its finger out.

It's not that big a deal, and not worth leaving for, but my point is, it is a genuine gripe.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

shadow, the original question about the dates of the holiday has already been answered, so let me continue off topic a bit.

the lack of response from admin is a general malaise as you say and it encompasses many areas of FT life in China. if you yourself are already onto the admin about things and they dont reply then that's a reasonable gripe. the secretary we have here is fairly good and if i make a request its usually granted and fairly soon after asking. on the other hand, the secretary we had before this one was a disaster and never answered anything, no matter how many times you asked. my points primarily address those who complain yet dont get proactive in the face of admin ineptitude.

we had two FTs here in the past and both of them were non stop complainers about everything, and they went to the secretary about everything. i also witnessed one of these fools blowing his stack on the phone to a student assistant in the office about one of his problems. the other FT had a couple of issues that were easily fixed and another FT made an offer of help. that offer was never accepted but the complaining continued. not sure why anyone would prefer to keep the agony going but i am happy to say that those two FTs were not asked to stay and they both left the school as soon as their contracts were done.

[Silent Shadow]

Yes, I agree. I too, dislike complainers who don't try to sort things out by using advanced planning and foresight. One positive aspect of admin complacency regarding this issue, is that it's helped me acquire increasingly better planning skills and foresight over the years.

My previous school got it right most of the time. My new one, while not useless, and unorganized, on first impressions, seem not as with it, as the previous one.

Time to hone those planning skills again!

[chengdu4me]

I know when the holidays are because my son is in 8th grade. Trust me! He KNOWS when he is not supposed to be in school! He has the entire year mapped out before the school year ever starts!

[wangdaning]

I've known about my May holiday since the beginning of the fall term. Mandatory holiday is May 1st-3rd, meaning that is what everyone gets. I have the whole week, as missing Monday class would throw the whole schedule off. Your holidays should be in your contract, my school gives us a calendar each year. Makes life easier. Now if they could only tell us about why people die in the accommodations my life would be complete.

[lionheartuk]

The school I am at gives us a calendar too which details all the days off including holidays and exams and other little bits of information.
We have the first four days in May and we have a 4 day break in the middle of June.

[dakelei]

I'm teaching at a high school and we were told only last week that we will have ONLY the weekend off and not Monday. To me this is a flagrant violation of the law. Some teachers had already made travel plans that they were forced to change or cancel. I've been here in China 7 years and am used to this sort of thing but I'll admit this one really took me by surprise. All of my Chinese colleagues, and the students, are very upset but of course nobody will say or do anything about it.

[JamesD]

Here's a heads up on the rest of the year in the way of days off and work-exchange days. Bear in mind this comes from the fed's schedule for recognized national holidays for businesses and MAY not apply to some schools, universities, language mills,.......

June - off June 14,15,16 - exchange days 12th and 13th

Sept - off Sept 22,23,24 - exchange days 19th, 25th, and 26th

October - off Oct 1-7 - exchange day Oct 9th