Job Discussion Forums

[goose]

Does anyone know why they ask for a University degree to work at a college or university here in China? I have a degree in Arts and when applied for a job in Guangdong province at a college they asked for my degree. So I showed them it and that was that. They never took a copy of it. Then when the term started they got me my residence permit and foreign experts certificate without any hassles. So my question is, when they are asking for the degree is it the schools policy or is it the policy of the government in order to get the work visa/residence permit??

[Volodiya]

I'm not sure I understood your question, actually. I assume you told your university you had a degree as part of your application for the job. They then wanted to see it. You showed it to them. They're happy, you're happy.

Having a degree makes it easier to persuade the authorities to document you to work in China. If you hadn't had a degree, it could have been a harder sell to get you documented.

That's it, in a nutshell (in my understanding of Chinese Law, and Administrative Practice).

[SimonM]

[Volodiya]

Simon wrote:

[englishgibson]

First of all Goose welcome to the forum!

As I understand Goose, the point is that the government should check the teachers’ credentials accordingly, but it does not.

Expanding on Goose’s point here, I have seen many teachers in China with little education so to speak. However, having a degree of any kind is seemingly not as relevant as one might think. Many teachers in China end up teaching “Oral English” with no clear point. Further more many teachers do not have a clear goal of achievement in their courses and they do not even have any exams on the end of their courses. I’ve known quite a few teachers teaching at Universities/Colleges and teaching “Oral English”. All they had to do was to “motivate” their students to speaking English and attract more students for next terms.

In private language mills the courses have their goals and exams set, though many students do not reach that “Independent” or “Competent” levels, where teachers’ University Degrees shall be more appropriate.

By the same token, I know that there are Universities/Colleges and private schools that need well qualified teachers with that BA or even MA or other specialization, although that needs shall be more appropriately divided and addressed by the schools as well as by the Chinese government to avoid double standards, confusions or teachers with BA degrees teaching “Oral English” and Academic Managers with no BA degrees managing schools’ academics or the whole franchises.

Cheers and beers

[Taishan]

A 'degree' is not a qualifcation to teach English.

That's called a Bsc in education or a Pgce or and Msc or Phd in education.
A CELTA is a certifcate to teach English, which is well regarded, and there are hundreds on almost meaningless two day TEFL courses giving out certifcates.

Degrees may be needed by local government to obtain a Residency Permit for Foreigners or as a reqirement for an employer, these vary from PSB to PSB and employer to employer.

[clark.w.griswald]

It seems to me that from the governments point of view, the requirement of a degree helps to justify the employment of a foreigner over a local. If asked about why a foreigner is being employed to do a certain job the government can tell the public that the person is a native speaker of the language and has at least a university degree, then that helps satisfy certain criteria for the employment of foreigners over locals.

From a schools point of view, a teacher with a degree or higher is likely to be more marketable to students than one without. If a school could advertise that all of their foreign teaching staff had certain tertiary qualifications then you can be sure that some students are going to be impressed by that.

[Chris_Crossley]

[jotto]

First, let me say thanks to Chris_Crossley for giving me advice a long time ago about coming to china. So far I have enjoyed my time and teaching in China. I have been looking for employment at a university or college for many months now with no luck. I have an Associate's Degree and many places have said that they cannot hire me. I don't have the qualifications or they are unable to get the necessary papers for me. I understand their reasoning but where are these people working without degrees?

[mlomker]

[Volodiya]

Mlomker wrote: