Job Discussion Forums

[loboman]

So I work at a school now and teach business.

I took the job because it was run by TAFE, an Australian organization. This is only the second week of classes and I am extremely disappointed at this school and at TAFE.

First, there are no books. For me or for the students. There is absolutely no reference material at all. There is no subject material at all for the business subjects I am supposed to teach.

I came here about 2 weeks before class. I received an email on a Friday night saying that there is a meeting on Saturday morning - this was 2 days before class started. AT the meeting I asked the dos for books and reference materials to prepare class.

I was told that I could use the syllabus to prepare classes! The syllabus has very little information about anything, just the learning outcomes.

At this meeting I was told that I need to prepare a full class plan for the whole semester of classes. Along with a bunch of other crap.

SO here I am with absolutely no class material at all. I found out I am not the first to be in this situation and these classes were not a surprise to the school, they were planned.

I just got an email from the Chinese dos, asking me for my semester plan. My first response was to tell him that I will give him what the school has given me for my class prep - ZERO, but so far I just have not responded.

Right now I am lecturing my classes on the subjects using powerpoints and pdfs that I downloaded from the Internet. Luckily one of the classrooms has a multimedia center so I can use the Internet - when it works. The school gave me about 3 or 4 powerpoints that came from a past teacher, but overall they have nothing for me to teach with.

I figured that TAFE was a quality organization but here the school blames TAFE for not providing books and I asked them to just buy me books, forget about the students, and they give me the deer-in-the-headlights look.

So I am asking all all TAFE locations bottom of the barrel or did I just find the worst one to work in??????

[eslstudies]

TAFE is a huge organisation, but each campus pretty well does its own thing.
The accreditation game is big money, as a TAFE diploma can give automatic entry and course credits in some Australian universities. Most TAFE colleges send their own teachers to run intensive units, as well as bringing down Chinese teachers from the host school to get trained and registered as qualified TAFE providers. I don't know your qualifications, the TAFE college that's running the show or the school you're at. At a rough guess you've been employed to teach a general business type course to boost the students' English in readiness for the units that TAFE will deliver.

My advice: find out which college it is, go to the international page of their website [they all have their own], contact the nominated person and tell them your problem. If you've been hired at the Chinese end [they're paying you, right?], at a rough guess it's not TAFE you should be questioning. Typical China.

[loboman]

[loboman]

[kungfucowboy83]

um what you teach really doesn't relate to your problem very much. The lack of proper materials is a problem no matter what subject. the main point esl studies made

[Anda]

TAFE in Australia can pay from about $15 up to about $60 a class hour. Some TAFE courses are high level and some are for bored housewives so to speak.

Some English course text books are laid out in the index like a full lesson plan for the whole term of classes with teaching objectives etc. There must be business books laid out the same way. Buy one and copy the lessons and get photocopies made for lesson handouts.

Here is an example off the Net to copy and give them with a smiling face. Change a few word so it looks like a straight business course and you have it.

http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?sectionType=listsummary&catid=58015

You click on each sector to get the lesson plans.


Business and ESP
This section contains a range of articles and lesson plans to help you to plan and implement successful business English and ESP lessons

Welcome to Business and ESP. In this section we will be widening the range of Business and ESP topics covered over the coming months.

Write to the web editor if there is anything you'd like to see included within this section. We hope you find the materials in this section useful.


In this section
Business tasks series

In this 20-part series, Adrian Doff provides a comprehensive set of worksheets covering functional language in business, along with business-related grammar practice and language development.
ESP bank

A bank of practical materials for teachers of English who are working with students with specific linguistic needs related to their professions.
Business and ESP teaching approaches

Advice for teachers on a range of teaching techniques used in business English and ESP (needs analysis, one-to-one teaching, using simulations, etc.). Includes lesson plans and worksheets.
Business English career options


Information and advice on career and professional development for business English and ESP teachers
Business skills bank

Practical materials covering essential business skills such as emailing, telephoning, meetings and interviews. (This was formerly the "Skills" section of the ESP bank.)
Working language

In this new series, Mark Powell, the author of In Company, presents a snapshot of everyday business language.

[loboman]

Thanks for the link Anda, however I am teaching organizational Risk Management and Recruiting Strategies.

The link you sent me is for business English.

The TAFE website offered me no help.

[Anda]

You do a search like:

"Risk Management Business courses" and get stuff to outline a course with given objective to make the management happy. Afterwards you just do Net Searches on specific subjects and copy and photocopy for students on good information. If the school will allow then you buy some good course books to copy info out of.

I taught aircraft engineering in Papua New Guinea successfully meaning my students were passing government controlled exams that I had nothing to do with. I can't fix a car that alone fix a plane but I can find information and teach my students how to study and what is expected in exams. I was employed to teach English to Russian helicopter crews but was getting bored so I took the extra work on.


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&q=Risk+Management+Business+courses&btnG=Search
...............................................................................................

We identify areas of vulnerability, and make recommendations for improvement compatible with the needs of your organization in the following areas:

Emergency Planning and Preparedness
Loss Prevention
Physical Security
Protection of Sensitive Information
Security Equipment
Security Management
We examine a wide range of risk categories including internal/external loss prevention, employee theft, cargo theft prevention, emergency planning, cash handling, product handling, shipping and receiving, access control, and personal safety.



They need to weigh it all and make the recommendation that puts the bank in the best spot� balancing the upside opportunity with the downside risk. To accomplish this, they need the tools supplied by the bank and the education provided by Focus on Credit Risk Management


The aim of the International Certificate in Risk Management is to:

Provide an introduction to the theory and practice of risk management
Reflect current risk management thinking, regulations and practices and how they impact mondern organisations across the world
Offer a comprehensive and balanced approach
Deliver a recognised entry level qualification and provide a basis for advancement to the IRM International Diploma
Provide eligibility to apply for the recognised membership grade of Certificant (CIRM)
Who should take the programme?

The Certificate is relevant to and will be of value to the following:

Those newly practicing or not yet formally qualified as risk managers
Auditors, accountants and advisors on governance
Project, programme and change managers
Insurance underwriters, claims handlers, brokers and client managers
Loss adjusters and consultants
Safety, health and environmental professionals
Lawyers and legal consultants
Banking and financial services professionals
Anyone seeking a formal risk management qualification
Anyone requiring an entry route onto the International Diploma in Risk Management

[wailing_imam]

This must be your first time teaching this kind of course. If not, where is all the material you have used previously?

What is happening to you is common practice is China for joint-venture type courses. It happened to me in Hubei (I was doing ESL so no probs, as I have plenty of material), but also my colleague running a business course similiar to your own. Fortunately, he was an MBA student and had shit loads of material. We both bailed after a few months, as it become increasingly clear the University and it's Singaporean partner were happy for us to work on L visas.

[loboman]

[englishgibson]

we teach business as well but we have some course books..it's the ACT and some of its content is rather ridiculous
OP, hard to make a guess what's going on at your center, but i can tell you that there's a lot of sh*te around what can be or what cannot be taught in china...authorities are pretty worried and in china the rights to individual centers come with the exact academic material provided prior to the license issuance...then, there's this cloning fever in china and some big companies don't even know how big they really are and then some big ones just want to get bigger (at all costs)

cheers and beers to my business books and their lovely tone

[SnoopBot]

These students will go abroad right? Try to find out which university they will be going to and use that textbook.

Most of my students in the EMBA groups were going to the University of Texas, Austin.

I found out which books they used and got copies, later the department actually ordered every textbook used for the complete EMBA course and gave each student a set to study before they left.

- almost 20 textbooks each (Yes I was amazed too)

Another thing, I know I teach business courses too, but we are being used for language prep as a primary role. Technically, this isn't English teaching..but they want us to explain concepts in a manner that will build L2 English abilities.

To be successful at this endeaver you must use certain Language TESOL techniques. I have found doing the typical "chalk and talk" methods will generate student complaints.

It's sad they give you nothing to work with but again this is China.

[eslstudies]

[loboman]

[danielb]

How �senior� could a TAFE course subject possibly be? It�s not a university course. It was my understanding that senior-level business subjects were those taught on courses such as MBAs etc. TAFE courses aren�t even undergraduate level in Australia though they can count toward some undergraduate studies.