Job Discussion Forums

opentin · Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 22

Hi everyone -
I've been living in China one week now, and teaching English for about 5 days of that week...I'd just like some thoughts on my situation, I'm feeling OK about it, sometimes good something bad, I would like to know if this is the regular experience of a new teacher -

I teach for a private school in Anhui province, which basically farms out teachers to other schools, public and private, as well as corporations...So far everyone there has been very nice to me, really helpful and things like that - the boss is very nice to me...however the conditions are not what I expected.

First of all - starting teaching 2 days after I arrived, in a neighbouring city no less. This was very stressful for me as I have no training and no experience. Anyway, it went better than I thought, somehow I managed to wing it. In the contract it says I teach 20 hours a week, but for the next month or so I'll be teaching more (with overtime).

I am finding the workload quite heavy, as there are about 13 classes and 10 different text books, so I am swamped in different textbooks (some good, some crap) with hardly any teacher's editions or even audiotapes.

I just don't feel like I have the energy to trawl through 10 different textbooks a week and make 13 different lesson plans, especially as I don't know what I'm doing particularly.

Is this type of situation normal? How much effort should I put into lesson planning? (I know this is a terribley subjective question, but yeah - if the students will be content with me teaching mainly from the textbook, there's no point in making more work for myself)

Any help, wise words or encouragement would be appreciated,
opentin

Ludwig · Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 2:19 am Post subject:

This is all quite normal, particularly for untrained rookies on the double-dealing Mainland. Why perform uncontracted duties? What is the point of a contract if it is not followed?

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

They are farming you out to make money of course---but I guess that's why we are all here...Do you mainly teach in your home city??

I can only think of 2 things to do. Tell them you cannot do any overtime yet. Say you are jet-lagged-culture schocked-can't sleep or whatever...Places try to gently force you into things. Just be clear that the hours in the contract are all you want - at least for now. You might also suggest you would hate to get into trouble here doing anything illegal. I realyy don't know if what you are doing is legal or not..(Not trying to get you worried-it happens to everybody.) But if it's not it can give you a bargaining point...One school tried to send me to a different town-not as overtime. I wasn't pleased and said I KNOW that I am only supposed to work at the place named in this little book you gave me! They really couldn't say more about it...

Good luck I know running to different locations can be really tiring...I hope you are being well-compensated...As for lessons stick to the books . Don't put extra pressure on yourself...

Lee_Odden · Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Posts: 172

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

I don't consider 20 hours a particularly taxing amount of work time; spread over 5 daysit works out to just 4 hours a day... I don't really see you as being overworked!

But having to use 10 different kinds of materials is a bit annoying; however, you didn't say a word on what you are actually teaching. Are your students up to your expectations? Most of the time, they aren't up! The books can easily be ignored! You can design a programme that helps lift their skills to a higher level.

What is a reason for worry is the fact that they make you work in public schools; this means you are being used illegally. Is your status in your training centre kosher? Do you have a work visa and residence permit?

Talkdoc · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 696

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Doc,
I appreciate your humour but you don't know how old I am. I do agree that teaching English is a pretty tiring job; I would put the daily ceiling at 5 hours. If I have to do more - and currently, I do more on two days a week by one period - it's extremely exhausting.

Then again, if you do your job with a minimum amount of motivation and enthusiasm you are loaded with energy. But many of us are not well motivated - they are interested in the dough, and they overload on work hours. Then they burn out.

Most training centre jobs require a presence time of around 20 hours a week. That's why I said the OP's workload is not excessive. My second post in China was with a training centre; when I took up my position my boss suddenly changed the conditions to mean that I must spend 12 hours a DAY in his office or/and classroom whereas I had negotiated for 12 hours a WEEK...

Well, we sorted out our little disagreement, but I still had to pitch in 36 hours a week for the first couple of months. Most of that time was spent doing nothing in his aircon office; but that too was...TIRING!

millie · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 413 Location: HK

David Bowles · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 249

Do you really need a bachelor's degree AND 2 years of relevant experience to get an FEC? I knew the first, never heard the second before... But don't worry, 'co-conspiring in the perpetration of a fraud' is something Chinese people do every day- you're not really in China if you're not doing this in some form...