Job Discussion Forums

[Big Poppa Pump]

Here in China we have the little emperors running around insisting they are little emperors with their spoiled brat mentalities and insufferable parents and grandparents who spoil their kids rotten.

Lots of disrespect in the classroom, cursing in Chinese and English at times, and a tendency to blame things on the teachers that really are the fault of the student.

What sort of thing do you face in your location?

[mozzar]

I have a forty five year old one-to-one class with quite a high up businessman three days a week. He arrives 15 minutes late, often wanders off in the middle of a sentence as he remembers he has something to do and then occasionally ends the lesson early. It�s been the same with the previous two teachers as well over the past two years. It�s a little bizzarre and extremely frustrating when it comes to trying to plan absolutely anything.

[basiltherat]

1. blatant lying when giving an excuse for taking time out of class (which 95% of the time equates to 'skiving') .

2. cheating in exams. It is regarded and defended here as 'helping your friend'. OK it can be prevented to some degree but it is nearly impossible to eliminate it altogether.

I guess it's all part of the culture so we just carry on regardless.

Best
Basil

[naturegirl321]

Plagarism

[spiral78]

Plagiarism has become quite fun here. The university invested a few years ago in a software system that automatically checks each submission against both previous submissions and the literature in the field.

We make awareness of the system a part of first-year courses.

Actually, I thought most modern unis had this...

[Teacher in Rome]

Basil, I read a really good article about alternative tests on Lindsay Clandfield's blog "Six Things". It's called "Six ways to subvert tests" and I'm hoping this link will be allowed by the mods:
http://sixthings.net/2010/09/25/six-ways-to-subvert-tests/

In my area (state school Italy) I'd say the biggest problem is school timetables (8.30 - 1.30 bums on seats, apart from 10 minutes break when the kids can stretch their legs) combined with less than ideal eating habits - sweet biscuits for breakfast, slice of pizza at break. By mid morning, the kids are bouncing off the walls.

[riverboat]

I only teach working adults, and don't see all that many behavioural problems. However, given that the market here is all about one-to-ones or groups of 2-4 people, behavioural problems from the odd student can cause real problems when they do arise, and include:

a) Learners who are obviously being forced to attend the classes by their employer, who come in body but not in mind or spirit, and make a bare minimum of effort and often refuse to do anything but written exercises. Which, when I'm supposed to be teaching "English for meetings" or "English for negotiating", can make essential role-plays/free practice very difficult.

b) Lateness and/or students randomly not turning up. Not really sure if this counts as behavioural or not. But if I'm teaching a meetings or negotiating course to two people, and one doesn't turn up, it means half the lesson plan has to go out the window, and its really annoying.

c) Learners trying to score points off each other, interrupting each other and trying to generally show off and/or flirt.

d) Learners frequently reverting to French during the lesson despite repeated reprimands

e) Learners not doing homework

...but generally, I find that 80% of the people I teach have a really good attitude in the classroom.

[Dragonlady]

out of date

[denise]

Hmmm... a general lack of adult life/study skills. Some of the students are a bit immature for university students. My kids this year are quite a bit better than the norm (and I teach the lowest level), but we often have to remind them to bring pens and paper to class, tell them that missing class to go shopping with their family is not ok--hard, when the family is calling the student and telling him/her to leave class--etc. Back in my day, if you wanted to skip class, you did--but didn't negotiate with the teacher, ask him/her not to mark you absent, etc. You just skipped class and accepted the consequences.

There's also a culture of "helping" here. Most of the students learn not to do it during exams, but teachers still get pressured to "help" with attendance records and informal assessment marks.

But the students here are some of the nicest I've taught anywhere. They really are cheerful and just nice to be around.

d

[Sashadroogie]

Non-adherence to official ideology can be a problem with younger students from time to time, and even more rarely we can detect evidence of Trotskyite deviations. But usually this, and cases of minor anti-social behaviour and hooliganism, is dealt with effectively by re-education centres. Though indeed a short spell in the Army and shorter hair cut is sometimes the only solution for the more recalcitrant cosmopolitan elements of the student body.

[Big Poppa Pump]

[Sashadroogie]

Give me the child for seven years, and I will give you the man.

It's never too early to indoctrinate.

[Big Poppa Pump]

I say start when they are still in the womb. Hook up speakers to the mum's belly and live broadcast good party messages right to the fetus.

[Sashadroogie]

There are no mothers' wombs in our society any more. A bourgeois abstraction that has been replaced by scientific reproduction centres.

[Big Poppa Pump]

That takes most of the fun out of reproduction.