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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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 Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:44 pm Post subject: rescheduling of classes (something fishy) |
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i was just handed my new timetable for the second term and it seems something is up.
last term, i had 6 classes of two 50 min periods each, and one class of two 50 minute periods with a group of teachers, and an optional english corner that i attended on fridays after school.
this term i have been reduced to 4 classes of two 50 min periods, with no mention of the class with the teachers. from 14 periods down to 8?
i've had my schedule changed between terms before (expose different students to my wondrous teaching method), but i've never had my workload reduced like this. i even had the teacher that gave me the new timetable explain it to me in some depth just to make sure i understood. i'm still not convinced however. has anyone else experienced this before?
7969 |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 2:28 pm Post subject: ...... |
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| by the way, i'm not complaining, but i just cant believe this is happening. on top of a nearly two month holiday, to have this follow on seems too good to be true. |
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Brian Caulfield
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 1247
Location: China
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| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Don't worry they have something planned for you . My first job here I had my schedule changed daily . If you were in Japan this would mean that they were trying to get rid of you . In Korea and China it means they have something else for you but don't want to tell your right away because they know it will make you angry . Get lots of rest now because you are going to get busy . |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:16 am Post subject: ..... |
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| hahaha.... well i guess they dont know me yet. telling me i have classes on my scheduled day off half hour before they begin makes me angry, however since neither of my phones works right now, they will not be able to get ahold of me any longer. i will wait and see what happens...... LOL |
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Louras
Joined: 24 Nov 2004
Posts: 288
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:30 am Post subject: Doom |
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| Don't want to be the prophet of doom - but be prepared for anything. I would say it's more likely bad than good. Keep us posted. |
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pc-pocket
Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 218
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:32 am Post subject: |
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incoming..................   |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 5:38 am Post subject: ..... |
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| update.... well it seems they think i need a rest after a 7 week holiday and reduced my timetable. i will probably get more classes next month but for now theyve given me a whole new group of students and half the number of classes i'm supposed to work. for how long, who knows..... more to follow i am sure. might as well enjoy it for now. |
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Louras
Joined: 24 Nov 2004
Posts: 288
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:30 am Post subject: cheated |
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| Their explanation confirms my gut feel. Line up another job, my friend. And be quick about it!!!! |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject: .... |
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| nah, no problems really. its pretty easy here and theyre nice enough. a bit incompetent when it comes to handling administrative matters like fixing things in my flat and so on, but i do have it not too bad. and a little while on this schedule will be a nice reintroduction to the school after a very long holiday. inf act, my holiday was so long, i forgot which buttons turned on my DVD player and couldnt find my kitchen light switch for nearly 3 minutes while looking for it. in fact, i even forgot i had a kitchen light until i saw the bulb up there the next day. |
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HunanForeignGuy
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Posts: 989
Location: Shanghai, PRC
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:00 pm Post subject: Re: cheated |
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| Louras wrote: |
| Their explanation confirms my gut feel. Line up another job, my friend. And be quick about it!!!! |
I rarely concur with anything that Louras writes, rarely, almost never...but here, without also wishing to look on the dark side of things, I am inclined to agree with him based on my years of experience in China.
In all of the universities where I have taught in China, and I mean all, there have been moments when certain foreign teachers have had their schedules modified, restructured, cut, amended, whatever. Next, there were strange and nefarious deductions that started to ubiquitously appear on some of their pay slips. Next, there were suddenly complaints, after months of no complaints from anonymous parents and students, which complaints could not be verified, and I doubt if they were ever verifiable. In some cases, when the teachers did not do a runner, they were actually terminated. In other cases, they were tortured so-to-speak until they got the message and resigned. Several were actually fired outright. But again this is only my personal experience of teaching here in China. But I do know, when ruminating this over, that I cannot remember one instance in which an FT had his or her schedule reduced and the outcome to which was positive.
Where I am now in Hunan for example, we are working with a New Zealand teacher, a lady, who has the mouth of trucker. In her four months here, she has managed to physically assault a taxi driver, to hurl a large-sized Coca Cola bottle at, and hit, a cashier in a Carrefour, in full public view, to insult the Chinese publickly in every way possible at a decibel that even Maria Callas would not not have been able to hit, with words that would even make a New York trucker from Red Hook Brooklyn blush. The University took a Chinese approach -- they do NOT repair anything in her apartment; they pay her no heed; her salary is paid whenever it is convenient to them, and of course, demonstratably weeks later than any of the rest of us; all of this went over her head...until they reduced her hours by one-third...with an according reduction in pay and until they floated a "rumor" through out the campus that the next mental case behavior would be the last time. She did of course suffer remonstration on many an occasion but given the thickness of her primeavel skull, she did not take witness. The only thing that worked was the reduction in hours.
I would be concerned...but that is only me.
Last edited by HunanForeignGuy on Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:27 pm Post subject: ....... |
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well rethinking somewhat...... a couple of teachers (chinese) have said to me that they didnt think i was coming back after the holiday (a lengthy holiday imposed upon me due to the schools incompetence in helping me organize the right visa). not sure why they thought i wasnt coming back since i had left half my stuff here in the flat, and they could easily have walked in at anytime to look.
on a related note, not having repairs done (hunanforeignguy), this school has not been able to do anything quickly here since day one. however during the time i was away on vacation my toilet developed a huge crack in it and when you flush it anything in the toilet goes nicely onto your feet. the school was told about this two days ago when i got back and still havent sorted it out. a repairman did show up today with some hand tools but he couldnt fix it and seemingly didnt tell anyone else he couldnt fix it, so as a result, noone else with more capability/expertise showed up.
i may just give this a bit of thought over the next few days i'm not working. having new students (starting from square one all over again) in the second term is not what i wanted, and the inability to repair stuff is bothering me too much. maybe they are sending me a message. my african colleague experiences similar problems..... but he expects that. |
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jeffinflorida
Joined: 22 Dec 2004
Posts: 2024
Location: "I'm too proud to beg and too lazy to work" Uncle Fester, The Addams Family season two
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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i would consider the fact that this could be general - and common- incompetance on the part of the department making the schedule.
It seems way too common that the dean's office always waits until the last moment to make a correct schudule and then they change several times before they get it right.
If you are in doubt about your continued tenure then simply state you intentions to continue working there to the dean or FAO so they know you want to - and plan to- stay there. |
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Brian Caulfield
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 1247
Location: China
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| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 4:34 am Post subject: |
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This is good Jeff . Keep everything on the up and up . I have learned one thing in this job that I have been doing for the last twenty years in foreign countries . You have three things you must always do . First teach English , second collect your money for teaching English and last look for a new job . You got to do these things here all the time . I think China is better than most countries and they seem to allow their teachers to stay in positions longer than most countries I have been in . But it is the same in any profession. You got to go out there and check your value from time to time ,even when you are content with everything .
Let's face it no one gets tenured as a spoken English teacher . |
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ChinaLady
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 171
Location: Guangzhou, Guangdong PRC
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:44 am Post subject: Hours reductions? |
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so, if I follow you guys way of thinking. if my hours are reduced it is a bad thing? so, since I have had my hours increased (pay also) but compacted onto 4 days (so I have 3 days off), this means they like me?
o, yes, the 3 days off are thurs, fri, and sat. cool? yes!
and I didn't ask for that. I did say I would do a couple evenings a week.
and my photo is now in the school brochure.
so, this means, I am ok?
TIC. |
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vikdk
Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 1676
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:53 am Post subject: |
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photo must have your name on it - now that would be a plus point - otherwise it could be advertisement suggesting the school can attract any old banana eating white faced homo erectus  |
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