Job Discussion Forums

[asiannationmc]

[jimpellow]

I think in short you are having a hard time grasping certain realities of mainland Chinese.

They will always push to get their end of the contract. Then more than likely, and more often than not, they will keep pushing to see how much more they can get out of you. To carry a Western concept of what a contract is, as others have jumped on you for, is not necessarily the key to success and survival in China.

What we see as compromise, they will see as weakness. Hence, to be firm and adamant whenever you can is the proper response.

It would be logical and considerate of them to have put that student in with another class, but Chinese do not exactly excel at either.

As for the finger scan / time clock issue, that too is rather cultural. In Western countries professionals are not expected to clock in, and in countries like the United States it is illegal for them to require you to do so. But in countries like China where the employer holds all the power, it is normal and expected.

Chinese also confuse man-hours worked with quality. Very common at the top of these schools for the headmaster to increase the workloads for all involved save himself. He will then reap any rewards for enslaving everyone else, though as you see, it almost always hurts the actual productivity and morale of the staff and students.

(If you don't believe me on the above, go to dinner with a group of Chinese big "bosses". They will brag about the number of xiao lao po's they have and how many workers they have. Then tour said factories and witness all the idleness and lack of productivity. It never registers with them.)

The Chinese see you as a very spoiled and undeserving creature. They will try to push off on you as much as they can, so they can sleep at their desks all the much longer.

Rarely will you find someone in these schools, or in the RPC for that matter, who does not see the World though every-man-for-himself lenses.

So keep doing your job and picking your fights when you need to. Rare are the jobs in China when it will ever stop. And remember, it's about the students.

[SearchingChina]

[direshark]

They're in their rights, are they not? They figure they're paying good money for you to work up to 25 hours a week - so why shouldn't they give you more work if it lessens THEIR schedules? That's just rational and impersonal economics. You might take offense at the fact your work now includes freeing up their time and not efficiently teaching English, but hey, so long as you're an employee you're a utility to be used up until your contractual limit.

[asiannationmc]

[davelister]

[likwid_777]

After taking in the tripe that the other FTs speak at your school, this may be difficult to stomach. Just teach the classes to the best of your ability (without losing your mind, of course). When I was in China, I was working with all of these guvnas going on about solidarity, Tibet, this and that. FFS they didn't even know what they were talking about, they just wanted attention.

[Unchained English]

"I don't think OP's complaint is with the 25 hours a week really, it's the fact that they've added classes to make up that number for no reason except to seemingly make him miserable.

If on your first day you show up, and there's 25 classes, then no problem, it's what's in the contract. If there's 12 however, and class sizes are already small, and for no specific reason they decide to double your classes, you do have cause to complain simply because it's a total dick move."

So, if they cancel classes because of tests, is that also a dick move? You can't have it one way. Either it is wrong in both cases, your pay should be deducted for those days off, or you realize you signed a contract to teach up to 25 classes.


"It's like I posted above - if your contract says no office hours, should you refuse to answer a simple question from one of your students after class has finished? It's your right as per the contract, but there's some unwritten human law about not acting like an asshat, or at least there should be."

When I had more hours I didn't have to worry about questions after class because there were less students in the classes and I could answer their questions. We finished before the class hour ended and either came later for classes (like the first morning class) or if it was before lunch ended earlier. If the best class gets my lesson finished in 10 minutes, they can have 30 minutes of a movie. If the lower level classes need 45 I'll wait the extra 5.

Just because it says 25 doesn't mean it has to be 25. But if you want to do a dick move and complain every time the school makes changes and cause tension between you and your school, that's your prerogative.

I have found it better to have the school complain to you, not you complain to the school. Then you can bring up a complaint to match theirs. They usually stop there and allow you to do things the way you want.

[roadwalker]

The Chinese are different from you or I...not true. You get the good and the bad just like everywhere else. They're as likely to take advantage of you as anywhere else. And they're as likely to be decent bosses as anywhere else. At least that has been my experience. People are people, even if the language and cultures are different.

If I sign a contract in the States, or in China, or in Europe or in Latin America or anywhere else, I expect to be held to the terms of the contract and that my employer will also be held to it. On the other hand, you'll have a better chance at reasonable terms and reasonable scheduling if you don't take the "I know my rights!" attitude with employers and show an ability to be flexible.

The school has its reasons for scheduling OP for a one-student class. If it's for dickish reasons, so be it, but I can think of other possibilities too, such as a favor to a VIP.

[Listerine]

[JRJohn]

I am kind of in the same position as the person mentioned above. It is a BIG jump to go from 12 hours to 25 almost without warning, and in my case I am asked to go from 14 to 25. No it's not that Nano is being lazy, it's the inconsistency, the way that the management think they can just suddenly bully people into taking so much more on. It was suggested that I do 27 hours plus club activities and I said NO!
Of course I can take on more lessons. Of course I will be paid 2000 yuan more if I go from 14 lessons to 25 a week. But my concern was threefold
(a) My school has a habit of changing class times at a moment's notice. That has led to confusion, and with more classes there is more scope for confusion, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

(b) I happily taught 20-22 lessons in the past, but there was only one or two lesson plans and limited homework. I have been assured that this will be the case. But because I was told my workload was X and now it is Y I am less trustful.

(c)I am concerned that they wanted me to move up to 27 hours plus extra club activities. I know from experience that that can be too much. For the record,twelve hours is too little for me.

The organization I am with makes it feel less like a public school than it should. It's the feeling of being on a sliding scale leading to something like one of the dodgier Korean hagwons. We are not there yet, of course.

As it happens I also pay FULL RENT. This is particularly difficult and inconvenient for new teachers arriving in Beijing where I am, because we have to pay 4 month's rent up front. Some teachers in China don't have this problem. Nano, if you DON'T have this problem you have an advantage over me. I can afford to live here now, but Beijing rents are going UP in the long term.

One day it will be like living in Tokyo. Please don't tell me that teachers in Tokyo have it easy.

[water rat]

[asiannationmc]

[water rat]

[SearchingChina]