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andrew murphy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 51 Location: Australia
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Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2003 11:10 pm Post subject: Treating Teachers Nicely |
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Why do EFL schools harp on about how they value their students, charge competitive rates and offer flexibility in their programmes?
If instead schools said that they value their teachers, charge realistic rates and let students note that they need to make a regular commitment to attending their lessons then they would attract better qualified teachers, teachers would be happier and more committed, and students would be more satisfied.
It seems so obvious to me! Is this too much to expect? |
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bnix
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 645
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Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2003 6:21 am Post subject: I Agree with You...But It Wii Never Happen |
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Sure...it would be great if all of those things you list would happen,but they won't...at least in many "schools"....it goes back to two of the biggest problems in TESOL:
1.Too many unqualified "teachers"(so-called) just roaming around the world,"teaching" to finance their wanderings and to buy their booze,etc.
2.Too many "schools"(so-called) which are really get rich quick,fly-by-night scams that should not even be dignified by the term "school"
Of course,there are many other problems in TESOl, but those are two of the basic "biggies". |
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Roger
Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138
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Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2003 1:16 am Post subject: |
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Most of the time, I get treated decently by my Chinese employers. True, they publicise how they treat and view students, not their teachers; they boast about the high education we are supposedly bringing to class, and they never mention poor management in their own ranks.
But where I feel their attitude should change a bit is in how they perceive myfunction.
It is myjob to teach English, therefore it ought to be incumbent on me to judge the English people bring to my class and take out after it. In other words, I believe only expats can truthfully test the English of their students.
This just is not accepted wisdom here. While you can give a student a low grade you have no power to actually fail him or her. In the end, the school will side with the student and pass him no matter how bad his or her English is.
Some Chinese colleges and universities have been in touch with Western institutions of higher learning for over twenty years (my first employer had entered into a cooperative agreement with East Texas Baptist University way back in 1979!), but none of our ethics and teaching principles have rubbed off here. You must feel being abused and taken for a ride then.
This sentiment is given a major boost when they unceremoniously take you to a photo-op. Your mugshot inevitably is used for commercial purposes. One of my former employers even used it long after I had left his business (a private training centre), still trumpeting that "a native English teacher" is giving classes, when in fact I was working elsewhere. When a student asked them to see me they told her that I had been posted to - Hong Kong to run their branch there (where the boss actually ran an import-export business with Filippino staff).
In sum: Keep smiling, and they will smile, entertain you, sometimes even offer to marry you off, but don't insist on profeessionalism because that is sure to backfire.
Accept a good many shenanigans! It is a child's play! |
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