Job Discussion Forums

[rogerwilco]

In most of my classes I have been able to identify which students are reporting to the administration about me and my lessons.

A few of the students seem to be trying to gain favor with both me and the administrators by also giving me information about the administrators or about conversations the administrators have about me.

I find most of it to be amusing.

[cormac]

I've always assumed that the monitors report whats going on, and I try to keep them on my side of things. As for other spies.... Chinese students if unhappy will let the administration know.

I have to admit though I only have two unhappy students but thats more that they were forced to do english than that they're unhappy with me. My university administration stays away from me. It seems they're afraid of speaking english in my presence.

[flyingscotsman]

They are all spies - especially if they don't like you or they lost face because of you.

One day I walked past the headmasters office and saw her and a student of mine. They were giving him money. I pegged him as a spy. One night I was in the little town close to the school and I saw him. I happened to have a girl with me.

The next day I got called into a meeting to remind me not to have girls in my room.

Coincidence? Umm methinks not.

View ALL students as plaque carrying rats and you'll do fine in China.

[eslteach]

[dog backwards]

I disagree with the blanket statement that one should consider all students as rats. This could be the case in some situations, but not all.

My experience in university and college settings is that the ones who chronically skip class are the ones who will do the most complaining.

The monitors are a question mark, though you can usually learn their inclinations and the fairness of their reporting by listening to the students' comments about them when the monitors skip class. The monitors are caught between low-level administration and students. The weak monitors will trash you to gain acceptance by their peers. The strong ones who want to succeed in an honest fashion will side with the teacher when the teacher is considered to be effective. If the FT finds himself in a school that is generally considered a nuisance in principle, the monitor who takes his job seriously and tries to be objective in his reporting may find his life to be a living hell.

I learned this at one university. I had a monitor who was quite bright and who had a commanding presence in class. She was on top of things throughout the term, but the pressure from the "group leaders" was too much for her. She ended up quitting her position as monitor, thus giving up her scholarship. The position was making her physically ill.

When I found out about her problems, I asked her why she gave up her position. Her reply:

"I became sick and tired of telling the administration what it wanted to hear."

They're not all rats. My experience is that (given the chance to do so in private or anonymously), students will give a fair evaluation of the teacher.

[igorG]

An evaluation of a Teacher should not be provided by the students for varieties of reasons. Here below are some of the reasons;
1) Bias students
2) Students that don't know enough about the subject
3) Students that are unclear about the teacher's role in the classroom

Students that are given such powers as to evaluate their teachers sometimes attempt their own agenda in the classrooms.Then, some students become vindictive, which may and offten does damage the academic goals as well as dynamics in the classroom.

Most importantly, such practices as the OP has suggested usually undermine and/or compromise the teacher's position. Hard to imagine that a teacher's job may depend on the students' views of him/her. Doesn't the teacher come to teach something the students may not know well or at all? Doesn't the teacher deserve more of a respect than have his students evaluate him/her? Do the local teachers get as much attention as the foreign ones do in this respect anyway?

Any evaluation of the teacher ought to be done by professionals, which most of the educational sector in this country lacks so much. Sadly enough, it seems that foreign experts that've been in the country for longer period of time aren't considered for such purpose.

[mat chen]

Just do the job and forget about the BS.

[tianfuoe]

Find out who the class monitor is. Give them the job as your T/A. Let them do your running, copying chores. Give them extra points for it. Problem solved! They wont say anything bad about any teacher that is making it easier for them to pass the class.

[chinanoodles]

[Neilhrd]

In my experience student spies, although they exist, are rarely dangerous unless you are doing something really unprofessional like chatting up female students. The vast majority of students either apathetically tolerate you or actively want to learn. If you don't disturb the former, and encourage the latter, most of the time you will have no problems.

The really dangerous spies in my experience are not students. It is common in universities and colleges in Nanning for young Chinese teachers to be ordered to slip into the back of your class to act as spies. They never introduce themselves and surreptiously take notes or photograph your board work. I deal with this by pretending that they are new students and asking them to introduce themselves to the class, or direct questions to them. They are always embarrassed and usually disappear fairly quickly.

Another issue is computer technicians. In several colleges I have worked in these guys are the paid spies. When you want something fixed, or help with using the computers to teach they pretend to be clueless. But if you install teaching software, or leave files copied from your USB on the school computers ready for next lesson then they will either delete or tamper with them. They also spy on your web browsing history. Deliberate sabotage of equipment before a foreign teacher's class e.g by removing soundcards or changing passwords without warning is also common. The idea seems to be to make you look stupid in front of the students. What they hope to gain by this is unclear.

As a general rule in Chinese universities and colleges the students are rarely the enemy but never trust anyone in the administration.

[chinanoodles]

[El Chupacabra]

If they have eyes, they are spies.