Job Discussion Forums

[Dish Washer]

I have some questions about the classroom monitors.

1. Is a monitor in every, single, class?

2. How are they chosen?

3. Why don't monitors communicate with the foreign teacher, instead of telling a coordinator or director to pass on a message about wanting more grammar, more listening, or games, or whatever.

I'm a newbie who's curious about this, as in the west, we never had monitors in class.

Do neighboring countries of Vietnam have monitors? Is this just a Vietnamese concept?

[Andy123]

A monitor is a nice name for their job. They are there to watch you. It is a power thing. Yes, other Asian countries have them but this concept seems to be the most accepted SOP.

One time a campus manager of one of the largest schools in the city told me to tell the other teachers that she had listening devices in the teacher's room. I'm certain it was BS. It is just a way to tell the teachers to be careful what you say.

[snollygoster]

You mean the "Snitch". She (it usually is a she, but not always) is expected to check that you are doing exactly what the boss wants, and ask the students if they like you.
Fortunately, the "monitor" is usually employed in the schools with shaky reputations and shady management- they are looking for any excuse to tip you out if you dont play to the party line.
Also, if you do any real teaching, (you know, with a modicum of academic integrity) the students may not "like" you because you actually have expectations of their academic progress and may even encourage (force) them to do some study or participate when they just want to speak Vietnamese, eat and drink in the class-room, take long breaks, and use their mobile phones.
If they dont like you, then the parents and other finance suppliers may not re-enrol. So if you want to be a teacher teacher instead of a happy clappy nice guy who plays games for no purpose other than to be a rock star, then maybe you are not a "good" teacher. Turf him/her out or we may have to pay for a Work Permit- get a new chum for 3 months and do the same!.

Your "monitor" is a snitch.
If you have a monitor (I dont mean a TA for low level classes) then you are working for the wrong school (is schoool the correct word? I dont think so- child minding facility.-Rip off joint)

[Oh My God]

[otto88]

hihi.. snolly, you crack me up.. lol

[flyingmonkey]

But I thought that Vietnamese students had a lot of respect for a teacher's authority.

[VietCanada]

My school puts an experienced (usually) Vietnamese teacher in the class with me. I love it. I work with these people to get the best possible outcomes for my students. Of course part of their job is to write reports about me, that is not a big secret.

If you can do the job with a reasonable degree of competence then classroom spies are not an issue. Keep the lines of communication open. If your school is run questionably then keep your resume out there and your options open.

You can go crazy worrying about stuff like this.

[The Mad Hatter]

I don't know where you heard this about class monitors. Ive never seen one and I dont know where your explanation of one comes from because I've never had this. Its been my experience that anything that happens in the class will get back to the school support staff - good or bad. That's different than a co-teacehr. Schools like ILA & AHS have a Viet teacher in the room, and that's not the same as monitor. They are good to have around actually. You have to remember in general the culture is pretty much monitoring one another in their own way , always being curious, watching things. so it's just a fact of life here that you are in a fish bowl and you get used to it.

[Andy123]

Mad Hatter we are not talking about co-teachers. I know for a fact that many, many schools assign a class monitor (student) to classes. Trust people like Snollyguster and others who have been here awhile.

It occurs in several Asian countries as well.

[deadlift]

A few years back doing some volunteering travel, and I agreed to do some teaching at a small university in one of the smaller cities.

When I arrived at one particular class, I noticed an older man dressed in woeful business attire, sitting at the back of the class. He stood in stark contrast to the other dozen or so 20 year old women students. For the whole time, he said nothing, even when I addressed him directly. I am quite sure he didn't even speak English.

I didn't bother asking anyone about it, but I am sure that there's a dossier mouldering away in some office somewhere, filled with information about my and my students' favourite pop-stars, and a list of adjectives we could use to describe them.

[The Mad Hatter]

Maybe I have never seen a monitor because I have never worked in a school that has any. Having an observer in the class such as an old man with a clipboard is not something to be alarmed about. Ive never heard of such a thing. In the old days there were stories of an official person in class to watch but it was very rare when you had one. However the practice of snitching, or telling on you to the staff is easily accomplished by anyone. Gossip is continuous. They don't need a monitor to make it any easier when they are talking constantly right in front of you anyway.
I think these stories are created by misunderstanding how the group moves against you at times in some schools for whatever reason they dont like you. Then, some students may acts strange or appear to be trying to make trouble for you as if on purpose. When this happens, watch out, because it could be just them, or it could be from staff. Ive seen both ways. If the staff is collecting feedback they don't limit it to just one monitor, that would be highly unlike them. You must assume you are constantly being observed, as a teacher you are. Dont trust anyone to tell you who the secret monitor is, everyone is always watching you here because thats the nature of this society. Just do the job and dont worry about it. Thats the job. try to make this attention work in your favor.

[snollygoster]

In the dim distant past, the government used to send "under cover" spies into the class-room. It was hilarious, because although they dressed as normal people, they always wore their Police issue green socks.
Another give away was that they could hardly speak English as well as the other adults in th class, and they only ever tuned up for one class.
When asked to introduce themselves to the rest of the class, the embarrassemt set in as they couldnt speak enough English to do it.
The question about "Whats your job" was never expected so never rehearsed, and some were for example "Engineers"- Oh how interesting- Electrical, Mechanical, structural, or bridge?" "Yes" So can you tell me a project we might know that you were involved in? Silence--Oh dont be shy- we want to get to know you better.
Suddenly he/she had to go because he/she was "busy".
Of course the other students would then cotton on and ask about the interesting choice of socks, and red faces began to show. Havent seen any of them for a few years now.

[LettersAthruZ]

Never had actual "monitors" in any of the classes in any of the schools that I taught at! Hmm......maybe a Southern thing?

Generally, what we had was a Vietnamese T.A. who really came in handy to translate to students when I would go off on a tangent and blather about some complex concept! Very handy to have them around, the T.A.s......

....now, of course, EVERY SINGLE THING that occured in that classroom was reported back to The Director, so, again, we didn't need snitch Monitors....we had T.A.s for that purpose!

[Danaa]

[LettersAthruZ]

Right - "monitors" / "Teaching Assistants".....

SameSame