Job Discussion Forums

[englishgibson]

I've just refused to finish up a course at one center that i teach part time. After my 10 lessons I noticed that I shared the class with 4 other teachers and that seemed to be a hell lot to me.

This course is supposed to go on for 40 lessons and now it is in the middle. So, every other foreign teacher exept me got in between 1 to 3 lessons there.

Looks like I've done a fine monkey show there, although I feel horrible. Apparently, students're asked to provide their feedback on foreign teachers and judge them pretty quickly. And, classes are advertised in a way that students get more foreign teachers to "SEE".

Now, on the beginning of the course, a couple of weeks ago, I asked to have this class by myself, although I was told that students should experience different accents.

Since I did not feel the course was going anywhere academically and student turnover was high, I've decided to quit it. Tomorrow's my last monkey show there and I'd like to carry on my lesson in a professional manner. I guess I'll just tell my students that i am too busy and other great foreign teachers will take over.

Have you shared classes during one course? If so, what good or bad experiences sharing your classes have you had?

Cheers and beers to the ones that won't sell themselves short

[arioch36]

really depends on the other laowai. Of course, if you are a 22 y/o "backpacker" or the 50 y/o has been who couldn't care les about teaching it doesn't matter. If the other FT is a good teacher that is on the same wave length, it can be great. If the other teacher is someone who does nothing in class, lets the students do nothing, then it really sucks, and ruins your chances of doing anyuthing useful in class, and it makes it hard for the students to see you as anything other then a monkey

That's why I now like to teach freshman or students who have never had a FT.

[Anda]

Sounds like you are teaching at an institute and this is common. My part time boss is more worried about what he pays a foreign teacher than their teaching ability. I�m used to doing one lesson and then Chinese teachers do two lessons with the same students.

Institute owners are only worried about loosing students due to students not liking the teaching methods of a foreign teacher than teaching results. Currently my boss has me teaching the classes that like my teaching style and he has a new foreign teacher starting for the ones that have complained about my teaching style. So is life.

I�m set up for teaching privates now and intend to go more this way for part time work in the future as it is easy to work around making one student happy than a class of students.

[englishgibson]

so, what's the most liked "teaching style" of foreign teachers in china???

cheers and beers to combos in chinese classrooms as well as to the most stylish foreign teachers

____________________________________________________________
i often choose clothes that expose my arms and legs in class, since students are really interested in my hair

[Anda]

In general "the most liked teaching style" is where the teacher is very entertaining but requires no effort from his students. Most bosses including my part time boss are too stupid to realize this and wonder why after a time parents pull their kids out of their so called teaching institutes. So is life!

[therock]

[7969]

[SnoopBot]

[englishgibson]

while i agree to a point on what arioch's written above, i'd be worried givin'such a percentage to something or someone...nowadays, kids in chinese schools are well taught what to expect from "these foreign academics"...and then when they come to a fine language training center, they're well reminded what to expect as well

teaching elementary or intermediate students that've never had a FT is just like programing a already programmed computer...imagine how much work you'll have erasing all those "files"

once on forums someone posted a thread that he'd prefer to teach only students from beginners and i replied with a deferent view on that one...after my recent experiences in guanxi province, i really see his point on there...can't remember the name of that thread though

sharing classes with other foreign teachers is a marketing strategy of centers in my opinion. it's got little to do with any academic goals. in any case, if students wish to learn for a longer time and move on to the next level in the same center, then why not changing a teacher ones they pass and finish one level? well, they often come for one level (a few days) course...and then sometimes they move on to another available center elsewhere

cheers and beers to all the easygoing FTs that allow centers to advertise

[eddy-cool]

I covered for a few of myu foreign colleagues, and it worked quite well. Your case, however, is definitely different.

This summer I shared summercamp classes with other FT's; the timetable foresaw two periods of teaching by a Chinese teacher followed by an FT. The afternoon lessons were again done by an FT - but a different one.
It wasn't so good for everyone; some FT's hit it off better with their students than others. Experience or lack of it clearly showed. Some of my colleagues were teaching in China for the first time.

I was then asked to continue teaching in a summercamp, this time for adults. The institute has a new intake every month, so their teachers are long-termers too. The same sort of timetable was in place - four periods in the morning by two different teachers, one in the afternoon. What helped make it workable was a little notepad on the wall in which each teacher entered their next lesson's details. Thus we didn't reduplicate anyone's work. Plus we didn't have any school-selected materials to follow. I can safely say my lessons fitted in with the rest, and student feedback was positive.

[englishgibson]

i wonder how important the student feedback is ..i know it's essential to the employer