Job Discussion Forums

[Kalkstein]

[teenoso]

I was told many years ago (by whom , I forget) , that you should never be late for class here, and never finish early, otherwise the students will (or maybe, have an obligation to?) tell their head teacher.

It suits me because I am almost always early for everything, so I'm usually in class 15 mins before the start. But many people are by nature 'late' or last minute for things , so I can see that might go against the grain. But , as others have said, once you know the problem, it's an easy fix.

In the UK by and large college teachers decided when to finish, sometimes early and sometimes late, but here no, and when the bell rings the students get ready to leave. Of course they have a much tighter schedule than students in the UK.

Also, I agree eating while teaching is unnecessary for teachers and students, especially if there's a break after 40 or 45 mins, but if the students turn up for an 8am start while finishing their breakfast, I am not too fussed.

You say you are a friendly teacher , but one thing in the original post bothered me , and forgive me if I misunderstood -
- you effectively 'called out' a group of students about submitting an anonymous complaint, which they of course denied doing.
I think this shows a lack of respect for them and for the process. After all , students will (and should be allowed to) only make anonymous complaints, because they know otherwise they could be victimised.

[r_br_c]

[Kalkstein]

[nimadecaomei]

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

A posting has just been deleted. Stay on topic and avoid bickering and do not post personal insults, direct or indirect. Disregarding this warning will not enhance one's continued presence here.

[r_br_c]

[Simon in Suzhou]

As many have said here, being late for class alone might be enough not to get renewed. However in China there is the reason you're TOLD that you're being let go and the REAL reason which is often never articulated to you because Chinese people generally like to avoid conflict and/or embarrassing conversations.

I have seen teachers at universities not renewed for having the wrong skin tone, being overweight, hygiene issues, being too touchy-feely with students (in class), and having other foreign teachers who dislike them spread true or untrue rumors about their personal lives. I have seen other teachers lose their temper, shame a student publicly, causing them to lose face, and having whole classes complain about them. All have been ignorant about these reasons.

So, who knows.

[Foo_Fighters_Dave]

Honestly, A and B are reasons for being fired. I am not trying to be rude but being late to class is wrong. You should be 5-10 minutes early. If students are expected to be on time, you should do the same and be a role model to them.

Eating in class: I have never done it. Drinking water in a bottle is fine but to me it comes across as being disrespectful.

I hope you find a new job and change these two things. Good luck.

[chryanvii]

Okay, thank you everyone for your insights and advice! Though it has been a hard week for me to receive all of the criticism from everyone, I really appreciate it, since I think it will make me a better teacher. It hurts at first to know the truth, but I now hopefully can move on and learn from my mistakes.

In fact, this week, I arrived at all of my classes 5 minutes early, even before the computers were open! This allowed me time to get organized, and I even saw the students preparing for their presentation outside the classroom.

I also apologized to the students in my morning classes for having eaten previously in the class, and explained to them that I had no idea I was being disrespectful.

I do want to say, however, that I took a survey of all of my students (using an online APP), and the majority of them said that they either (A) didn't notice or care about me being late, or (B) didn't notice or care about me eating. It is that 7% and 12% that DO care that I have to worry about, however.

Two final things to remark about:

(1) There are cameras in every single classroom, which means that I'm now convinced I was being monitored (so...YES, I shouldn't have been so skeptical, thinking that nobody ever checks the cameras, or that the cameras were dummies).

(2) I am fairly certain the reason my contract was actually not renewed was because of the students I failed last semester for plagiarizing their final papers, and missing several assignments. They were the ones who I think complained.

[Foo_Fighters_Dave]

I do want to say, however, that I took a survey of all of my students (using an online APP), and the majority of them said that they either (A) didn't notice or care about me being late, or (B) didn't notice or care about me eating. It is that 7% and 12% that DO care that I have to worry about, however.


Students will not want to lose face by arguing this point with you. It is wrong to arrive to class late. No exceptions.


I am glad you are taking our concerns and hopefully changing your attitude towards doing an effective job in the classroom.


Good luck.

[nimadecaomei]

I am sure my students would not care if I was late, more time to play around. However, their view of me would definitely go down. I would be seen as lazy and disorganized (think how you would view a teacher). Eventually, I would get brought up for disciplinary action and given a chance to change.

I really do hope the take away from this is not people saying rude things to you. The main goal here is to help you out to make a change that helps resolve your problem. It seems you are willing to change, and that is more than many people I come across.

Good Luck

[Simon in Suzhou]

I took a poll of my students and 94% said i was extremely handsome! ha. Students are not a reliable source of information, for reasons stated above. We had a TERRIBLE teacher at our school and dozens of students came to me (their former teacher) to complain about him. I told the students that if they felt he was a poor teacher they should give him a low evaluation grade at the end of the term, and they all told me, "No I could never do that! I will give him an A, the same as all my teachers!" China.

[RedLightning]

I've never taught in China, but speaking from a universal teaching experience (if there is such a thing), I'd say it's all politics.

Student evaluations/complaints mean absolutely nothing-
If you receive negative student feedback and the administration likes you, it's determined that the students spoke ill of you because your class is very intense and demanding.
If you receive negative student feedback and the administration doesn't like you, it's determined you're not a good teacher and the student evaluations stand as testament.
Another possibility is that admin had a favorable/neutral opinion of you, but since the one student complained to the university president, it was out of their hands-they had to act. However, since this seems to be a recurring theme in your career, I'd wager that admin wasn't keen on you.

Being a good teacher is no guarantee for success in academia

[cdchristy]

At my current school (a private, international, tertiary program), the owner recently called me and said students were complaining about how class was taught. Everything she said had no basis in reality, even she questioned it because she knows that I do my job. The next day, I asked the students relevant questions regarding my teaching methods during the previous class. While doing so, I video recorded them. Their answers affirmed that I taught class correctly and as expected. When I submitted this to the boss, she was dumfounded and angry at the students. Why, she asked, did they lie? I told her, could this be typical Chinese culture? I mean, the students could have blamed themselves for their poor performance. Or, they could choose to save face .and blame and shame the FT.