Job Discussion Forums

[SeanESL]

Hello,

I am hoping to get some advice. I was offered a 1 year contract to teach at the Shandong Institute of Technology and Business in Yantai. The pay is 6700 RMB for 20 "teaching periods" or 7500 RMB for 22 "teaching periods per week. A teaching period is defined as a 45 minute class. he contract also included 2 office hours. The position includes an apartment and no health insurance with one month paid holiday. I am interested in the position and the school/ location but I am concerned about the teaching periods. Are teaching periods any different than teaching hours?

Any advice and guidance is welcomed.

Thank you

[Non Sequitur]

Same thing. 'Contact hours' is an other way of expressing this.
If it's Oral English then 20 hours pw is doable. But if it's writing then the marking is in your time. 20 hours is the max and when you get your timetable you may very well have less hours.
Not been to Yantai, but did a one year gig in Qingdao at a similar vocational school. Being near the sea keeps the summers and winters bearable.
Kids are honest local province students drawn from Shandong in the main.

[currentaffairs]

Sounds okay to get going. Perhaps ask for 7500 RMB for 20 classes?

[Non Sequitur]

Yeah but assuming they want you to start 1 Sept, time is getting short.
I'd spend time on other conditions right now rather than haggling over a few kwai.
Look at the 'job offer checklist' thread for ideas.
Airfares is one that stands out.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

I wouldn't take it. Twenty hours of just one subject is extremely taxing if the teacher puts in the time to master the material. If there are two subjects, then that's even more time required for preparation. Throw writing into the mix, and there goes your free time. One writing class will eat you alive.

Teaching writing to a class of college-level native English speakers is difficult. Teaching writing to Chinese students--- even those who are advanced, fluent speakers is unbelievably taxing.

[currentaffairs]

Yes, I would either go for more money or less classes (around 16-18). 20 classes is definitely full-on, especially at the university level.

[SeanESL]

Thank you for your replies. Is 20 hours per week typical?

The position also offers an opportunity to teach a business class which is related to my major. I would like to take the opportunity so that I can teach this class but I am not sure if they will really arrange for me to teach business or if something will change in the end.

[JoeThePlumber]

14-16 hours a week is typical. And 7500RMB per month seems to be a decent salary for that work schedule these days.

[Non Sequitur]

The '20 hours' is the max.
As mentioned elsewhere when you get your timetable you might get 16 or 18.
The '20 hours' comes from the standard SAFEA contract.

[SeanESL]

I asked the hiring contact if the contract could be written with 18 hours per week and the reply was that the minimum is 20 per week.

If 20 per week is the maximum that I could be required to work then why would they only work me 16-18 hours and not the maximum?

I would like to accept the position because I am a new teacher and need to get experience but I do not want to be obligated for something that I cannot do.

[Non Sequitur]

They are covering their butt.
As stated the standard contract says: max 20.
They don't know how many hours you will be teaching as it depends on final enrollments and also if they get their full complement of FTs.
My advice is quit obsessing on this. There will be enough challenges in your first semester without trying to get a non-standard contract. Also if you are too disruptive they'll close-off the conversation.
If you are working with an agent/intermediary they will be reluctant to be seen pushing the requirements of what they would see as a nit-picker.
Their relationship with the school is more important than you.
Sorry if you find this unhelpful but you have to be told the realities.

[cdchristy]

Lots of good advice here, but I would like to add a few things.

In my opinion, OE classes are relatively easy to teach. Depending on your style, you can present an interesting topic and do Q&A. Some schools even allow movies to be shown occasionally (at least at the 2 universities that I have taught). You can make use of English vids or topic-related vids to support your chosen topic.

For non-OE classes like the business classes aforementioned, these classes (in my experience) are composed of non-English majors who for the most part ting bu dong ying yu (can't hear and understand English). They simply want to get the credit and move on as they will probably never need English again. I found these classes to be far more draining because it is much harder to peak the students' interest.

[Non Sequitur]

Agreed. Likely all your OE classes are freshers or the same year at least.
In that situation one lesson plan pw covers them all.
I only use movies as a reward after mid-semester assessment and after finals if I have a spare class to fill. Plus it allows me to compile marks so win-win there.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

[Non Sequitur]

I think OPs prospective school may be a provincial-level associate degree outfit.
I don't think their freshmen do bootcamp.
I agree with Bud that when things settle down in the new semester OP will be doing 16 or even less.