Job Discussion Forums

[Kaysera103]

I am a Canadian studying TESL and minoring in INTL Studies. I am writing a paper on the difficulties that female ESL/EFL teachers have in countries where women's rights aren't as liberal as they are in the 'West'. Is anyone willing to share their experiences with me?
Thanks
Kay

[chi-chi-]

A great place to post regarding this is the Korean and Japan forums.
Cheers!
Chi-Chi

[Aristotle]

[kait]

I appologize that I'm posting this in the Taiwan forum, but most of the stories are about my experiences in Japan.


When I taught in Japan, I would often go home for lunch. My then boyfriend was staying with me but was not working. The people at school thought I left work to go home and make his lunch. It was quite a revalation when they learned that my boyfriend would have lunch waiting for me. The ladies at the office were actually very excited about it -- a man who cooks!!!

I have had a few situations where students have made lude comments to me in their first languages, and the other teachers have dismissed it because "they're just boys." I found, strangely enough, in Japan, that the Japanese teachers affiliated themselves more with the Japanese students than with me, as a foreign teacher. To illustrate, my Japanese teacher was out of the room when one of the boys started saying in Japanese the phrase toddlers use when they want their mother to breast feed. When the Japanese teacher returned, I told her what had occured. She flat-out lied to me about the meaning of the phrase and said that he was just playing with me, and I shouldn't be upset. ARGH!

I also found, in Japan, that I had to be very careful at the enkais(mandatory office drinking parties). Culturally, anything can occur at an enkai, and no one will hold you responsible. They can blame the alcohol, even if the party has only just begun and no one is drunk yet. I found that some of my male co-workers were very protective of me, and I appreciated them more than I can express. Others would take advantage of the chance to talk ad nauseum about my anatomy, to hang on me, or to offer me rides home with questionable intentions. I had to be certain to have my own way home, or to have arrangements with one of the people I could trust.

The only other significant (perhaps only because it happened recently and I am still pretty peeved) event, that may loosely be considered sexist is at the hands of a Westerner. I am the only female native English speaker in my office. The "guys" go out to the pub a lot and do whatever it is the guys do together in pubs. When I have attended these events, they have played drinking games -- often about car models and rock history. This puts me a bit outside the loop. Although I have a lot of teaching experience, and I receive very positive feedback from my Chinese co-teachers, my upcoming raise will be less than the guys have received because my direct supervisor utilizes an innovative evaluation technique that he refers to as "mates rates." Again, I don't know if I could say this is sexism, so much as my failure to schmooz the right people over beer. A different woman may actually qualify as "a mate."

[Polina]

Adult students have made all sorts of harrassing comments to me in class, right in front of everyone, and absolutely noone has ever gotten angry at them. At most, and only occasionally, an older woman will say something really sweet to them in Mandarin, which sounds like she's really on his side.

Taiwanese men on occasion have spoken about pornography in a way which was obviously intended to make me angry, made demeaning remarks about women in class - my class, have made comments about my body, have asked if I wanted to have children and said I'd better hurry, have asked if I had a boyfriend and then implied that I needed one, have even threatened to rape me ... too many things to remember. And the one time I bothered to complain to my - Western - "manager" about it, I was blamed for making the students dislike me. Taiwan.

However, at my present school, I don't tolerate anything - I stand up for myself even if it means risking my job and staying in Taiwan - and I think my school would be okay now, but good schools are very rare. Every dog for itself in Taiwan. Human eat human.