Job Discussion Forums

[BigWally]

Some of the best surfing in Taiwan is found in Kending, well actually just a little bit past Kenting in Jalishuei. Lots of local surfers there, and the beach is clean and warm. That being said, on the right kind of day you can easily surf at Baisha or any of the other "less busy" beaches around Kending.

I've heard good things about the east coast. Some big waves over there thanks to the continental shelf only being about 100m off shore.

Not much good on the west coast, as a lot of the coast is used for industry and military purposes, the water is a lot dirtier there because of that.

[crianp]

Hi Mr. White, thank you for starting this thread and for taking time to answer these questions. I have been teaching in Korea for the past year with my contract ending at the end of August. I have been to Taiwan 4 times in the last year and really enjoy the overall environment compared to Korea. Here are some questions I have:

1. What are the chances of me finding a job in September? I have been applying at the moment however alot of jobs I see start at the beginning of August.

2. I am particularly looking for a job in southern Taiwan closer to Kaohsiung, again (sorry) what are the chances of me securing employment there?

3. Is there any place where I can find a 'blacklist' of schools in Taiwan?

4. Hypothetically speaking, is it possible to obtain my teaching certificate locally and switch to public school? If I became a Taiwanese citizen at some point, would working in public school be a secure form of employment for the foreseeable future?

5. If I cannot secure full time employment, is it possible to work to part-time jobs in the same city?

I have a few more questions but my free period just ended at work, thanks alot.

[pacrimwanderer]

[Jetgirly]

Okay, I have a question. And it's a rude one! Yet I still get polite answers!

I teach ESL in Canada. I am teaching at (public school) summer school, and for the first time I'm working with some students from Taiwan. I've taught students from Mexico, Italy, Algeria, Spain, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, Korea, China, Moldova, Vietnam, Bulgaria and Belize, and never really formed a "generalization" about students of a certain nationality before (actually, I will say that I think most Mexican students attending international schools are spoiled)... but these kids from Taiwan are W-E-I-R-D. My teaching assistant actually refers to them as "Creepy Kid One", "Creepy Kid Two", etc. The kids are not related to one another. If you didn't know better you would think they were mentally disabled (I checked their files; they're not). They don't respond to stimuli like verbal instructions ("close your book"), gestured instructions (pointing to their book, making a "V" with my hands and closing the "V"), THEIR NAMES, other students, etc. They clearly understand what I'm saying because eventually, when they realize the class will not continue until they acknowledge what has been said or done, they will respond normally. When they talk amongst themselves in their first language they rarely acknowledge the other has spoken, so I know it's not an English thing. One of them will say something, the others won't turn their heads and look at him, won't say anything back, etc. They try to engage in really odd power struggles about things that are really minor but necessary (for example, turning around and facing the screen when we watch a movie or leaving my personal possessions in the classroom instead of taking them home... Why on earth would any teenager think they could continue to argue after a teacher asked for the student not to take DVDs off their desk and put them in their backpack after school?). Every other student from every other country follows my instructions (which are NEVER arbitrary or pointless), but the kids from Taiwan, sitting on opposite sides of the room, not communicating with one another, will totally ignore me.

So is this a Taiwanese thing? Is this what it is like to teach in Taiwan? If so, how have you adapted your practice? If not, why why why did I get a handful of Taiwan's oddest kids in my class?

[Rooster_2006]

[123Loto]

[Jetgirly]

The kids range in age from eleven to fourteen, and they are all immigrants to Canada. Some have JUST arrived in the past three weeks, others have been here for an entire school year or longer. They all live here with their families. The weird behaviour began before they were identified to the class as Taiwanese (I'm sure that someone from Moldova or Belize can't tell a Taiwanese accent from a Hong Kong accent, though some of their Chinese classmates may have been able to figure out they were from Taiwan... je ne sais pas). I've talked to their parents and their parents are all polite, friendly individuals (however, their English doesn't stretch far beyond "thank you, thank you"). Two of them have siblings in summer school and their teachers have also identified extreme passive behaviour (in the young ones, which I guess progresses to this passive-aggressiveness as they hit puberty).

As for losing face, I know it's a huge deal but it seems to strange to me- most students from other countries kind of have "coping" mechanisms to deal with saving face- like skipping over a word they don't know when reading aloud, or saying, "I don't know." Or giving me a petrified look and shaking their heads! I just can't imagine how it "saves face" to sit there with a blank look on your face, staring straight ahead, as the teacher tells you to line up at the door, everyone else is in line, and the other kids in the class are yelling at you to get in line!

[123Loto]

The shutting down response is a coping mechanism for dealing with stressful situations. My experience in seeing students handle stress is as a result of the potential to lose face. I think in your case the students are using this mechanism to handle their culture shock problems - part of which may be the fear of losing face.

And for them, total lack of response is less embarassing than participating and getting things wrong because they are demonstrating their control over the stressful situation of being in Canada (and being in a classroom full of people from all over the world).

But there is only so far that amateur pshycology delivered over the internet can help!

I suggest you contact a community group that specialises in repatriating Taiwanese students into Canadian society.

What training do you think these kids have to handle the adjustment of coming to a new country? Zero!

What life experiences have they had in Taiwan that will help them cope with the transition? Close to zero!

What emotional fortitude and/or social skills have they learned in Taiwan that can help them adjust? Probably again, none.

I think you could really help these kids - the fact that you've bothered to go looking for suggestions about their situation shows in itself that you care a great deal.

I hope that your teaching assistant can be gently reminded not to refer to your students as "Creepy student 1" etc...

The behavior that these kids are exhibitiing is not normal for students in Taiwan. However, they are employing extreme examples of coping mechanisms I have seen here in Taiwan. So reframing how you see them - that they are struggling to deal with massive change in their lives, and not doing that great a job of it - might help you to begin to really change their lives.

Some more information for you:

Taiwanese students at the age of 11-14 in Taiwan live a strictly scheduled lifestyle which revolves around education. Moving between public school to private education is what their life is about 24/7. They often don't join sports groups or social groups and instead move from one highly organised classroom environment to the next. They do this all the time and only see their parents late at night and early in the morning. Many are brought up by their doting grandparents.

That's why was asking what are they doing in thier spare time? Are they left to their own devices? If so, they may find this quite disturbing and difficult to handle in of itself. Doing it in a foreign country could potentially be down right petrifying.

For children, a really difficult thing to adjust to is diet. If they don't get their "comfort food" every now and again they can find this really stressful. Frankly, I have a lot of sympathy for this - and have experienced it myself living in foreign countries.

I have plentymore to say on this subject but need to head to class right now. I am also about to head overseas so my responses from here on in could be sporadic.

Good luck, these kids are lucky to have a caring teacher like you!

[Jetgirly]

I went to the library last night and bought some dual-language English-Chinese picture books at the book sale. I sent them home with the students today and told them, very clearly, they should read the books with their parents. I reiterated this to the parents when they picked up their kids. If they're not going to participate in class, maybe they'll do it in the safety and comfort of their homes. One of the kids smiled today during a game (which he was not participating in), for the first time, which was really nice. Baby steps!

[123Loto]

Good idea! Let us know how it goes... however, perhaps Mr White would prefer a new thread was opened about this?

I'm really interested to hear how things turn out for your kids and you!

[BrytSyde]

Mr White,

I currently live in the states, but will be coming to taiwan at the end of spetember. I know that i should secure a vistor visa before i depart, my question was do you know how long it takes to be approved? Is the approval process difficult? Thank you

[BrytSyde]

One more question, when landing in taiwan and looking for a position you stated on a diffrent post that a person should get there health check out of the way with in the first couple of weeks as to expidite the visa/work process. Where would we get these health checks and how expensive are they? Also, with regards to a a visa should i buy my plane ticket and the aply for the visa or vica versa, or does it even matter at all? Thank you for your help.

[steve_c]

I know this is Mr. White's thread, but I'll chime in, too.

[JZer]

[JZer]