Job Discussion Forums

[loboman]

[danielb]

No, they aren't university courses. They are TAFE College courses.

[flutterbayou]

Mİndtools is good for building class resources and you can use a great deal of the material for free. Here is the Homepage:

http://www.mindtools.com/

The SWOT page:

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/SWOTAnalysisWorksheet.pdf


You needn't need to be a member to use most of the materials, but can pay for more services. I've used free Mindtools for 6 years and haven't worked my way through all the stuff yet.

[loboman]

[sojourner]

For the information of non-Aussies, "TAFE" stands for Technical and Further Education. Apart from trade and technical courses, TAFE colleges also provide some professional courses such as in accountancy, as well as general education (eg, for high school dropouts who now see the need to resume their education), ESL classes for immigrants, "hobby" courses, etc. Thus, TAFE would be similar to the polytech sectors in Britain and NZ, as well as the community colleges in North America.

I believe that the highest qualification that a TAFE college will grant is an Advanced Diploma. It is not regarded as being equivalent to a university Bachelor's degree, even though a TAFE qualification might take just as long to complete as a uni one. (However,some employers might actually prefer a TAFE qualification to a degree, as they might regard TAFE training as being "more practical" than what unis provide). In Australia, as someone has already touched on, the completion of a TAFE qualification would not only allow one to be admitted to a (related) degree programme, but there could also be a provision for partial credit.

( To confuse the matter somewhat, although TAFE and university sectors are completely seperate, a couple of unis happen to run their own TAFE colleges ! Swinburne University is one; RMIT, also, I think).

The TAFE sectors are a state-government matter.Should the OP think that his own particular college isn't doing a good job, he might want to raise the matter with, say, the office of the Director-General of Education ! But before going to such extremes, he/she should first try to contact the appropriate department within the college in question. It's quite possible, though, that the Australian college is doing the "right thing", but there has been a "breakdown in communication" with respect to what the China-based college is meant to be doing !

Peter

[danielb]

Loboman, you don't think the level you instruction should be aimed at is important? That's my point.

[sojourner]

Have the OP's students (and their parents) been told that the course is only a TAFE one ? There is the possibility that the Chinese-based organisation has told the students that they are enrolled in a university degree programme ! (Maybe, the term "advanced diploma" means the same in Chinese as "degree" ! )

Witth reference to Daniel's post, the OP should ascertain whether he/she is meant to be teaching at a degree level , or not. But the matter should not rest there. If I were in the OP's shoes, and found out that the programme was actually at a TAFE diploma level, I would then ascertain what are the expectations of the students. Should their understanding be that they had enrolled in what the institution claimed to be an " Australian university-level" programme, I would resign. I would want nothing to do with an organisation that engages in such blatant misrepresentation.

Peter

[sojourner]

Come to think of it, if some Chinese students were to successfully complete a TAFE diploma programme, they would probably be better equipped to cope with the demands of the workplace - as well as, probably, having a deeper theoretical understanding of the subject-matter covered in classes - than those who have been through a degree programme at a lower level Chinese university !

Peter

[loboman]

Tell you the truth I know very little about this school. It is a technical college and I was hired to teach 3 different business courses to senior students.

First impressions being very important to me, this school has treated me nicely but from the educational standpoint I posted that there are no books, no references materials. They have ONE book for one of the classes - they were nice enough to make me a photo copy but it not a very useful book - especially note for 13 weeks of a class to teach from.

I have not spent much time with the students. I come to class, I teach, I leave. I gave them my email address and phone number in case they have a question they can contact me. I don't keep office hours.

Whether or not they get a TAFE degree, a school degree, or several degrees means little to me.

My largest concern is I have nothing to teach these course from and TAFE / The School seem to care less.

[eslstudies]

[loboman]

[Optimist]

Hi Loboman

I have worked for TAFE in China before and have been well supported. The expectation that you should prepare your own material is standard operational procedure - in Australia too.

TAFE employs professionals with industry experience and wants them to use that expertise to deliver up-to-date, industry relevant content that will prepare the student for the real world. Textbooks seldom cover a syllabus adequately and are often outdated soon after they are printed.

Essentially the syllabus gives you the structure (what needs to be taught and assessed) and you are expected to use your knowledge and experience to deliver the content. Given the resources available online you probably won't have to reinvent the wheel

If you don't have that knowledge and experience then you are in for a difficult time but then one has to ask whether you should be teaching that content if you don't have the knowledge and experience. If you agreed to teach that content perhaps your employer believed whatever you told them about your knowledge and experience??? Hmmmm

Perhaps you prefer the Chinese structure: Lesson 1: Chapter 1, Lesson 2: Chapter 2 etc. Regrettably for some, this is not what teaching is about in Australia.

[eslstudies]

[clarrie]

Loboman, I would actually be checking what level you are supposed to be teaching. Very few TAFEs offer degrees in any discipline and in China you are more likely to be teaching for certificate/VOCATIONAL diploma requirements!

[loboman]