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Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Triple post...

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Triple post...

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

I once started a thr4ead here asking peers what number of students in a class they considered "reasonable". It was helpfully pointed out by several posters that all depends on the SUBJECT you are teaching; if you give LECTURES then the actual number of participants doesn't matter at all, but if you do so-called "oral English" classes the ideal number should be as low as possible, with some oipining that anything less than 409 is "good".

In my experience, the Chinese couldn't care less about the number of students in one class - except our paymasters. The more they can cram into the same room the better for their economics.

And this is the main problem anywhere in China: students are not regarded, nor raised to be, INDIVIDUALS that have their own RESPONSIBILITY for their FAILURES and/or SUCCESSES. They are treated, conditioned and get used to being LEMMINGS that follow their teacher-shepherd. And that is why Chinese teachers have fewer discipline and other problems, whereas we see the direct damage this form of mass teaching incurs - students getting desensitivised and demotivated, unable to act spontaneously to a new challenge, impaired in their senses.
Even if you have a class of 30 (what a comfortablly low number...), your students want to be guided as one body, not as individuals. Some of them will get the gist of your instructions but the majority are waiting for your cues. Whether you can spare one minute or 2 per student and class it won't change much for the individual student.

Maybe because FTs are so much more expensive than local ones FTs are roped in to give special exposure to students for which, contrary to the parents' and teachers' expectations, they are totally unprepared. Many FTs give classes that are designed as extra-curricular activities for which parents have to fork out extra money. The higher the teacher's salary the more students should share in the costs...

Don McChesney · Joined: 25 Jun 2005 Posts: 656

If you are a paid teacher, not easy.
If you are a paid performer, then the bigger the audience, the easier it is to get a response.
You teach classes of a manageable size, you entertain bigger ones. QED.

juliagirl · Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 69 Location: California

I have 12 freshman uni classes.....
I only see them once EVERY OTHER WEEK!! Evil or Very Mad

The have a final exam worth 50% of their grade....
and I do not get to create the exam......

okay... this is really gonna be effective....... Rolling Eyes

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

i used to think 50 students in one class was big at my last job (which i quit i might add, for different reasons). i have a new job and my first class at this job consists of 129 students at a university.

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

forgot to add, i'm teaching oral english here in henan.

7969

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I have to ask, do people (our posters) ask ahead of time approximately what their class sizes will be before signing a contract? Or is it something you don't think about because surely they'd have a reasonable amount in a classroom (well, "reasonable" for most parts of the world)?

I knew coming into my job that the most I'd have was 25 (I have 24). My last job, at a high school, I was told "around 30" per class and, sure enough, it was. One class had 32 students but most had a few less than 30.

And, if you do ask, what goes through your mind if they tell you 50 or 60 or 100 and what prompted you to accept that job? Do you feel you thought it through before accepting (such as lesson plans and ideas)? Did you ask about the type of facility in which you'd teach? I'm not getting down on anyone, I'm just wondering how thorough you think you were before accepting the job and how do you feel AFTER accepting the job?

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

i always ask the potential size of classes, and i knew these classes here would be big, but they did not tell me i might have more than 120 in one class. in my mind its just going to be a big group exercise in these classes. the seating is such that i can't even get to the students who arent in the aisles, so that makes it even a bit worse for all of us. at any rate, i'll work here and see what i can do.