Job Discussion Forums

[EBlack]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to teaching in China and am doing my best to not get screwed over by whatever school I decide to move forward with. I'm a 23 year old white female with some teaching experience (not certified though).

I'm looking at teaching with Proficient Kindergarten in Foshan City, Shunde district. The pay would be 9,000 RMB a month, 23 teaching hours or less per week but I would need to be at the school 8 hours a day. Accommodation would be provided and they will pay for my visa costs. I'd be teaching students from ages 2 to 6 years old. I generally enjoy working with little kids.

-Does anyone know if the school is a fair/good one to work for?
-Do the working hours/salary seem fair?

I'm also considering a position with the Guandong Country Garden school, teaching kindergarten, but the hours are extensive... not sure I could handle being with the same group of kids for the entire day, 5 days a week. Has anyone else ever worked as a homeroom teacher for GDCS kindergarten?

Finally, I've gotten a job offer from a private boarding school in Dongying, 6,000 RMB per month, teaching primary school-aged kids... 24/classes per week. I don't think I'd really like to live in Dongying, so I'm not sure about signing it... any input on this?

Any info you guys could give me would be great. Thanks so much!

[themanymoonsofjupiter]

9000RMB per month does not justify needing to be at the school 8 hours per day, teaching or not.

don't know about the second one.

6000RMB per month is not nearly enough for 24 hours per week unless the other benefits are far above & beyond what most people get offered.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[RonHex]

im guessing you will be teaching english to more than 1 class? many kinders have an international class with a full time FT thats responsible for everything from trips to the toilet to morning exercise

anyway if your teaching more than 1 class ur average day would prolly be showing up at 8am to greet parents, teach 2 or 3 classes in the morning, have a 2 or 3 hour lunch break (while the kiddies sleep) then you would teach another 2 lessons in the afternoon. depending where u school/house is located you could be up at 6 and home by 6:30.

if you enjoy teaching little kids then go for it and hope like hell the kinder has a good setup. just dont get stuck teaching 30 kids (all different ages) without an English speaking co-teacher... unless you Chinese is good enough to explain exactly what you want the students to do.

[nickpellatt]

What exactly does the 8 hours a day on school premises cover?

If it means you must be at school between 09.00 - 17.00 (which is 8 hours) and your contracted teaching time, plus breaks are included in the 8 hours, maybe its not so bad?

Is there a teachers room with internet etc?

If the other terms of the contract are agreeable, flights, travel bonus etc...I dont think this sounds to bad a deal for you seeing as kindy is the age group you like working with.

First job in China....it could be a good start for you. As suggested, you could try and ask them to cap the contract just on class hours, but there may be other FTs there working to the terms of the contract and its unrealistic to expect better treatment than them as you are new to China, and no certification etc.

[midian3x]

I agree with Nick.

[monkeymind]

In my experience, in kindergarten it's much better to have the same class every day. I've found that classes that you only see once or twice a week are really unproductive. Most of time is spent trying to settle the children down, and you won't get very far in lessons unless they already have a strong basis in English (think 4-5 words a week/review/review/review). Maybe that's just me though.

Anyways, 23 teaching hours/week and 8 hours a day in the office already sounds extensive to me. What exactly are the hours at country garden school?

[EBlack]

Hi everyone. Thanks for your responses.

I decided not to go with Proficient Kindergarten because the "foreign" teacher the school put me in contact with gave me a bad feeling... it didn't seem like he spoke English as a first language which seemed like a bad bad sign.

I was offered a position with the Guandong Country Garden school as a homeroom teacher for a kindergarten class. I'd be with the same kids all week, same class... basically from when they get up in the morning (7:30 am) to when they're done with school at around 5 pm. I'm assuming I'd get a lunch break in there somewhere, and I know I get time to do lesson planning. There's also an hour of playing outside with the kids. I think the total actual teaching time is around 24 hours a week. It's an IB school, so the benefits they offer are good, but they're only offering to pay me 8,000 RMB (after tax) a month.

Does this seem a little low to anyone else? I thought an IB school would pay more, especially for the hours it looks like I'd be working.

What salary should I try to negotiate up to? Should I even try to negotiate?

Thanks for your help!

[hot_water_hillbilly]

[Jeremiah]

Where did Eblack mention skin color Hillbilly?

Perhaps you're the bigot and feel some inferiority?

[EBlack]

@ hot_water_hillbilly: if you're going to comment, i'd appreciate if you actually answer my question; i'm sure your input would be valuable, especially if you've taught in china before. i haven't, which is why i came to this board to ask for advice .

the kindergarten, by their own choice and admission, said they were putting me in touch with a foreign teacher who was from the state of oregon in the usa, was a native speaker and had been teaching for their school for over two years. when i e-mailed him, the response i got was full of grammar, spelling and syntax errors, to the point where i couldn't understand some of the sentences. i don't think english was his native language. that doesn't mean he couldn't be an amazing kindergarten (or basic oral english) teacher, it just means that the misrepresentation by the school (along with a few other factors that seemed fishy) made me uneasy enough to choose to pursue other job possibilities.

hope that clears things up!

[SED]

9000 a month?

So, you are making 1,327.83 USD a month for working as a teacher (Kindergarten no less) full-time in an alien environment?

Erm...

I just signed on with a school doing Kindergartens in the day and primary in the afternoon (which works out to 8 hours a day)

And I make 100 RMB an hour, which is from what I hear BELOW the standard.

This is 800 a day, times 5 for a week.

I think someone is ripping you off...