Job Discussion Forums

[waxtadpole]

I have taught English for 3 years, one year in China, but the whole time in private language schools.

I now wish to take advantage of the short hours and long holidays available in the public sector.

How do you find a good University? Is it possible to tell from the job advert? I know what pay and other benefits I want but in what ways if any can you get a feel for how fairly you will be treated once you are there.

Alternatively, has anyone worked for a Uni that was a) in a great place and b)was good to work for and is usually hiring.

Thanks.

[Sechelt]

Public schools in China are a mixed bag affair. The hours are fewer and you're pretty much left to do as you please (within reason)- they're so happy to have FTs, most don't get exicted if you deviate from the assigned texts (which are a joke). On the other hand, admin. can be a stickler when it comes to any issues which may arise. As you have no doubt experienced (and read on Dave's), FAO's are to be largley mistrusted and avoided for everything except what is absolutely necessary.
The Dalian University of Foreign Languages almost meets your requirements. Dalian is a beautiful and reasonably clean seaside city, in Liaoning Province (N.E.). It has hot Summers and mild Winters (often cloudy, but with only moderate rainfall- most years). Given we are talking of China, DUFL (Dawei) was a reasonably good place to work. Most of the teachers are quite friendly and co-operative, as is the Vice-Dean of the School of English. The FAO (MS. Shi) is a royal b****, but not much more so than others... If you sign-on, you have a choice between the U. hotel or a living allowance (Y1,500/mo., if memory serves correct). The only trouble is: you may have to arrange it for yourself.
If you sign-on in Summer, you may be lucky in getting hooked up with a Dean who has an apartment to rent. On the other hand, if you're late, don't expect anyone in the FAO office to help on this one. If you go with Dawei, ask the other FT's about rental agencies in the area, there are a few.

[ymmv]

[nolefan]

I have only been here for 7 months so do take my advice with a grain of salt. I think the best unis are the small ones that have not had to deal with Laowais before; they are genuinely thankful that someone even considers gracing them with his/her presence.
Sure, there are a few growing pains here and there but if you play your cards right, the sky's the limit. Also, it helps to be in a school that has not had to deal with the backpackers and other midnight-runners... the athmosphere is almost sain.

If you're already in China, I'd recommend choosing your next destination (city/province) and contacting some of the schools directly. You can visit them, speak to other F.E. and judge your accomodations first hand. If you're intersted in a position right now, PM me as my uni needs another teachers asap.

[ChinaLady]

take the time. spend the yuan. go visit the school. meet the FAO. meet some students. get into a foreign teachers apartment. go to a classroom. talk to some Chinese english teachers. AND, talk to some foreign teachers who are staying for another year AND a teacher is is leaving.
it is worth the time and the money.
the pictures on the web are NOT accurate. most are digital drawings or enhanced photo's.
I visited a top tier school in Shanghai. great campus. lots of traditions and culture. huge statue of Mao. super Chinese teachers BUT they would NOT let me meet a foreign teacher or see an apartment. I was shown the outside of the housing building.
and a really nice classroom that was for grad students classes only!
what are they/were they hiding? and why?
did not sign with them. happy I am where I am
and . . . yes, I visited the university I am with.

[Ludwig]

I think the answer to that is not too overly difficult. If it is within the borders of the Mainland then, the chances are, it is terrible (with literally two or three exceptions). Do not think anyone with wealth and sense actually goes to a Mainland university. At my university here in HK (which is in the top three in SE Asia for its technical undergraduate degrees) we have many, many Mainland undergraduate students - indeed, they have their own courses and this will continue to grow. They could not accept all the Mainlanders that applied for positions last year. Interestingly, some of Mainland students that I teach inform me that their parents actually own private training centres on the Mainland (usually along with other, unrelated businesses). I say that is interesting as I also seem to see ridiculously low 'wages' quoted on the Mainland for �teachers� (I employ scare quotes as I do not believe that real teachers would actually ever work for what amounts to 250 quid a month) yet the parents of these students pay some $4,000 HK a month tuition fees. One girl has two sisters who are also here with her which, of course, equates to some $12,000 a month purely for fees on the part of their parents (read, �father�). Then you have living expenses and rent, etc. In total, I would guesstimate that he must pay a minimum of $20,000 a month for his three daughters to live and study in HK. Of course, owners of language centres on the grim Mainland such as this guy can not afford to pay their staff anymore (that is why they turn up here in their huge blacked-out Mercs with two number plates).

I suppose, however, it must be quite rewarding for the average �teacher� on the Mainland who is at a training centre to know that he is putting someone through higher education, that is, that they are fuelling the privileged life style of a Mainlander and his family!

[A Token of My Extreme]

The Extreme way to tell if a University is good or not is to go to the campus in the evening and meet a few Chinese teachers and seduce them. From this My Extreme can then make some preliminary judgments about the University on the basis of the teachers sexual enthusiasm , their fluency in sexual positions and whether or not they are willing to tip My Extreme for Extreme performance. Following that, My Extreme then tries to seduce some of the students and My Extreme uses the same grading points as were used for the teachers. Universities with no sex life should be avoided. Universities that have teachers who are easy to seduce, tip well and don't mind Extreme relationships with students are ideal, but this kind of excellence is naturally very rare indeed.

[Roger]

There is a list of universities and how they compare to each other based on the students' top scores (which are as reliable as an African weather forecast). What I mean to say is that top universities will treat you, - perhaps! - with a little more respect than those in lower echelons. Pay will be more or less the same, though.
There are way too many seekers of study places, which inevitably leads to many of them being channelled into universities abroad. Good business for English and Aussie institutions of tertiary education - but it's a double-edged sword.
Here in China, the standards tend to be leaden, with no tendency of being lifted. Universities are cutting every possible corner. The intake of students is enormous, and the fees paid by students are fat, yet the universities hardly invest any funds into education per se; rather, they put the money into hardware. You get those brand-new, spick-and-span administration towers on new campuses - with the housing units being accessible on mud paths with ankle-deep potholes full of murky water, and the flats without aircon or electricity or both... and showers that act to flush the toilets. In the libaries, books are from yesteryear, and you have to bring along your own materials!

That's China anno Domini 2004!

[THUD & BLUNDER]

[A Token of My Extreme]

[THUD & BLUNDER]

[A Token of My Extreme]

[lao hu]

It's hard to tell from the ads, which are usually misleading in what they don't say.

My advice is to negotiate hard and carefully, especially concerning living conditions and expenses, visas, hours and duties, travel reimbursement, and whatever else you can think of. If they ask for references, respond but also ask them for references among former/present teachers that you can check with. Finally, get it all in writing in a formal contract.

Many universities will try to cheat a little (or a lot) on some or all of these, even if the officials you are talking to seem like the nicest people on earth. I know this from my own personal experience at the Guilin University of Electronic Technology (GUET) and from what I learned from friends at other schools. (See, for example, what I've posted about Guangxi Normal University.)

It is possible to get a good deal, or at least a decent one, at most universities, but you've got to work at it.

[A Token of My Extreme]

[lao hu]

No, I'm not Nigerian. The Nigerian taught at the Guilin Institute of Technology, which is being renamed the Guilin University of Technology but which is also a different institution than the Guilin University of Electronic Technology. The schools are about a mile apart, however, and apparently there are good relations between them in that I had students from the other school show up at the English Corner at GUET. However, I understand that GIT (or GUT) is now establishing its own English corner program and even requiring its English teachers to participate as part of their official job duties.

BTW, I'm now back in the US of A, but expecting to embark on another China caper in a year or so.