Job Discussion Forums

[Guest]

Hi everyone

After being at this School for nearly two years, they have now decided to change the rules regarding Foreign teachers.

One of the best parts about living in this School (for me anyway) was the fact that we did not have to put in any office time and would simply return to our apartments after each lesson, meaning we actually only worked less than 11 hours per week.

We all went along happily with this - until the Headmaster decided that we should spend time in the office. I have not been informed yet, but two of the three new teachers who arrived here from the U.K. last week have been told that they should sit in the office from 9 - 4 Monday to Friday.

There has always been a "spare" desk in the relevant offices for us and when I first came here in 2003 I tried it for a while. For a couple of months I would go to my office and sit with the 9 Chinese English Teachers. For a while they would chat to me, but within 30 minutes they would revert to speaking in Chinese and seem to completely forget that I was in the room. I accept that it is much easier for them to speak in Chinese and it did not concern me, so I gradually stopped going there as much. Don't get me wrong, they are great girls and a couple of them are still my friends.

The Chinese teachers all have a computer on their desk, whereas our computers are in our apartments. So, last week I noticed new computers appearing on the "spare" desks - which means the Headmaster is deadly serious about this.

Now, my problem is this - I think that we probably should spend time in the office - as most teachers (foreign or otherwise) have to. The question is - how much time? I am VERY aware that what we accept now, will affect the lives of future teachers here, so it is a responsibility which we cannot take lightly.

The three younger Teachers here now are all against office time because they were told by us when they arrived here that we had no office time. No they have been told they have to be in the office 7 hours per day, so it is no wonder they are upset.

Also, for the young guy from the U.S.A. who has been here nearly and year and for myself - nearly 2 years - it is like changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game - simply not cricket!

Bearing in mind that the Chinese teachers spend from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on some nights to 9.15 p.m. at School, I can understand why they are upset at our relaxed lifestyle. On the other hand, they have not left the comfort of their own Country and stepped out into the unknown and accepted huge changes in their life - including food (bl**dy rice).
I think personally that some allowance should be made for this. After all you have to make it attractive for people to come here - or nobody will.

No doubt 99% of you have to do office time, so I would just like to hear how much of it you do and if the Chinese teachers ignore you etc. etc.

I bought myself a Printer and I prepare all of my lessons in my apartment. I suppose I COULD do that in the office - but what would I do the rest of the time?

Comments please

[Guest]

Oh, I forgot to mention that the four other teachers here are all leaving in June, whereas I am not. So, it is an option for them to simply refuse to do office time, in the case of the guy from the U.S - on the grounds that he has never had to in the past.

I am willing to go along with whatever is decided upon but I think it would be best for the five of us teachers to have a round table conference about this - and they have agreed.

Then, one of us should represent the others and front the Headmaster.
That one cannot be myself however as I have been quoted as being "as subtle as a train smash".

[Ariadne]

Hi Rhonda,

I'm at a university teaching 16 hours a week. The FTs do not have any required office hours. I also prepare all my lessons at home.

Going from 11 hours a week 'face' time to 35 hours a week constitutes an enormous change in your job! Why does your boss think it is necessary? Does he plan to pay you more? I guess I could understand a few hours a week of office time to meet with students and/or parents, but beyond that, what purpose would it serve?

I know you really love your job, but you might not like it nearly as well if it turns into a 9-5. Oppose the change if you can.
.

[Ajarn Miguk]

[deezy]

That's ridiculous, Rhonda! Even here at an EF we don't have to BE in the office unless we have to be there for lessons, training, or marketing. We tried being at the office for the 40 hours we are supposed to work, but we ended up twiddling our thumbs (well, at least, the teachers did!), and feeling a tad resentful. They do their lesson planning where it's most convenient for them... and that's often at the local coffee bar!

For 11 hours of teaching the maximum time I would ask a teacher to be in the office is an extra 5 hours (for lesson planning). Personally I find I get much more done at my computer at home.

The only thing we ask is that if a teacher is scheduled 'in' then they have to be able to get into the office within 10 minutes if they are needed (for demo's, placement tests, unplanned PR activities).

If the teachers give a good, well planned lesson I don't care where they are at other times. (Well, that's not precisely true... if they're having too much fun I'd want to join them).

What your school wants is to have 'resident, visible' laowei teachers so that anyone visiting can see you. It's for looks! But beware, if you do go in for all these hours, you will end up working extra hours!! On one of my days off I go into the office for Chinese lessons, and I have not yet been able to 'escape' after the lesson without having some work to do!

[7969]

i go to my office about once or twice a week to read a newspaper. the two chinese teachers with whom i spoke with most, both left, one after one month of working there, the other after this past term. so there is little of interest for me in the office. i show my face to let them know i'm still around, and that's it. i do believe they would like to see me there more, but there is simply nothing i would do except say hello.... i'm not a small talk person, so in my mind, its a waste of time. i spent enough time in the army sitting around doing nothing..... but i had to put up with it there

after looking at my contract again, it seems to say nothing of office hours. i have to say, this school has been more than fair to me. dont back down and accept this change in mid-stream, i wouldnt agree with it, that's for sure.

[Old Dog]

Rhonda, you must all resist. Or you can appear not to resist but to say "Yes" but then do your own thing. What he is suggesting is not only a waste of everyone's time, yours and the Chinese teachers - but it could also be regarded as a cruel and unusual form of punishment.

I have never had any "office time" - though, in the first couple of years, they set aside a desk for me in a staffroom. But who wants to spend any time where they babble in local language, never initiate any conversation except to ask if you like Chinese food. I stopped going after a while and reverted to my old ways of doing all my work in my apartment office. However, I do drift through various staffrooms containing English teachers on a regular basis in the Senior School since they do have questions. I don't bother much with the Junior School since I live there these days.

In any case, I have a heavy teaching load and when people say they don't see me much, I simply tell them that of course they won't see me if I'm so often in the classroom in one school or the other.

If the HT insists and you can't decently refuse in the short term, then explain that you'll have to cut back on other duties that you perform on a voluntary basis - no lunchtime English "over lunch/over supper" conversations with students, no help with any of those extra little things that they want help with from time to time.

And, of course, if all the Chinese teachers have laptops with internet connections at their desks, you'd want one too. But I wouldn't rush into this. If you asked and they gave you one, you'd be stuck.

You like your school and your town so you probably aren't prepared to tell them to stick the job. But if you did, you're well-enough-known on this forum, I'm sure, for someone to find you an alternative job in double quick time.

[kev7161]

I can't do much but to echo what some have already said. Basically, if it's not in your current contract, then there is no "must do". If the school wants to offer you and your co-workers more money through June, then that is certainly worth a discussion.

You have said time and again that you enjoy your school and you don't mind the low salary you earn and I think that's great. However, my advice is to stick with your other FTs for the next few months. You can privately go to the person in charge and tell them that, should they renew your contract for next year, you don't mind office hours, but you feel that right now it is not in the best interest for all the current FTs for you to "volunteer" your time.

Our poor Chinese teachers here are required to put in a TON of office hours and they are "told" not to play on the internet, rather devoting their time to preparing lessons. I'm sure there must be some resentment towards me breezing in and out of the office, being there only when I feel I need to be there, but nobody has directly said anything to me.

[Roger]

Nobody seems to see the main reason for the introduction of office hours. Yes, it is unfair to our CHINESE colleagues that we work so many fewer hours, but that has been accepted for a long time.
The main reason is, I suppose - and this is based on many comments I heard from employers - that FTs are often much sought after by other would-be employers, and in fact a good many FTs do moonlight. Your school, Marion, doesn't want you to have a chance of earning extra, and this is hard to accept, it would seem, for many.
So, what to do? In this tug-of-war your school is stronger. Every new teacher can be made to sign a contract that explicitly states that they have to spend time in the office. Perhaps you can claim a special favour as a long-time resident on the premises, but you shouldn't count on it.

You may laugh about one of my adventures a long time back: my second employer was a training centre operator. I had negotiated a deal with his wife for working 12 hours a week; when the boss himself saw me the 12 hours were suddenly meant to be spent in the office in one day, 6 times a week. I wanted to decline, and we arrived at a compromise: 36 hours a week, including 12 hours of teaching. I then ended up being my boss' office pet, being surrounded by office clerks and computer teachers who merrily talked about me all day, seldom with me. I had nothing to do and was free to read newspapers (we had no Internet then!); finally I was released from my office hour duty thanks to the lucky chance that my boss found for me to teach more hours during the day, so the office hours were eventually dropped.

[shenyanggerry]

Offer a 'special wage' of only 80 Yuan per hour for the office time. Make sure that he understands that it's overtime.

Also, if this persists, start looking for another job. Make it obvious that you're looking. The main benefit of your job is the hours. You can probably find another in the same city so you can still see the children.

[Yu]

I have to spend 2 hours in the office per week. It is unreasonable for all foreign teachers to be there all days. Work it out so one person can be in the office during the afternoons or something. Our office is seperate from the Chinese teachers. Students use our office hours like an English corner.
Demand pay if more than 2 hours in the office.

[Brian Caulfield]

It's business . My school employs teachers to sit in the office all day so the new parents can see them . They are not teachers just western faces . In my office the Chinese teachers average five hours a week of teaching . The rest of the time they mark books that are all the same and sleep . Usually they put in four hours of sleeping per day and they all have little blankets to keep them warm .
Chinese workers are the most inefficient workers in the world but they are cheap and are required to put in long hours . I just look at it as study time to practice writing my Chinese characters .
Heh back home everyone is doing two jobs to make ends meet . Don't complain .

[journeyeast]

Just say NO - This is a new trend going on.. Tell your heademaster no//

[Old Dog]

Rhonda, If you all say NO, what can he do? Sack you all and go to the trouble and expense of finding replacements - all for the sake of implementing a practice that has no particular gain to anyone.

Of course, if he divides, he conquers, ...

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for your advice. The four young teachers here have told me to let them handle it - so I will do that and see what happens.

I think their plan is to nod and agree, but then not to turn up to the office (actually it is 5 different offices - one of us in each office).

If the pressure is then placed on us, they are going to suggest that we have our OWN Foreign teachers office, in which case we would at least all be together and could talk to each other. Also, that way, we could "man" the office to suit ourselves, and make sure that one of us is in the office most of the day. That way, we may please the Headmaster plus not cause ourselves too much extra (boring) work. This sounds like a good plan to me, so I will just keep out of it and see what transpires.