Job Discussion Forums

[NorthofAmerica]

Earlier I had been interested in a university position or as a corporate trainer cuz I prefer older students in general and smaller groups. But I've had family things to deal with and haven't been able to start on time for university or with a few other offers.

Now that all that business is over I am thinking about trying to head over ASAP. With the idea of taking a decent job to get my foot in the door and perhaps switching over to a better position once I arrive.

Here's the gist of a job I have been contacted about in Dalian (my top choice)
- Public school, 10-12 years old
- 30ish kids
- 25 hours a week, mon-fri
- 8000yuan/month
- accomodation provided
- private lessons okay

- not sure about airfare yet

Clearly there are details that need to be discussed directly but does this sound like a pretty decent position? Any obvious questions I've missed?
I have a few year's experience so I want to aim for more than just "a good first job"

Opinions? If I sign a contract and decide to break it 6 months in am I asking for trouble?

Thanks for any helpful replies

[Hansen]

25 hours/weekly way too many. 16 is good.

[naturegirl321]

HOw long are the hours? 60 minutes? 40 minutes? HOw many different levels and classes will you teach. At least you can teach privates, taht's good.

Ask specifics about accomodations and materials.

[KarenB]

25 hours a week is quite excessive -- especially since, in addition to actual teaching time, there's lesson prep, grading, reporting (to school officials and parents) etc. There may also be transportation issues -- you need to find out where the accommodations they are providing are -- and if all the classes are at the same location.

Now, one thing you need to find out is how many preps a week. For instance, I teach 12 hours a week (6 different classes of students, each meets for 2 50 minute periods), and have just two lesson preps, because 5 of the 6 classes are at the same grade.

Another thing is if your accommodations are not at the same location, you're going to spend a lot of time on the bus getting back and forth. And the buses are usually full, with a fair share of pickpockets.

Another thing you're going to want to find out is the nature of the accommodations. Now if you're single, maybe this isn't so important, but you're going to want heat and AC, a washing machine, a kitchen with cooking and serving stuff (even if you don't cook most of the time, it's nice to have the option), a bathroom with a Western toilet, etc. All of this stuff is standard -- but you'll be surprised with what some schools try to get by with. The first school we went to provided us with a kitchen -- but it wasn't in our apartment! We had to go to another floor of the building and share a kitchen with several other people! Not convenient, of course.

Another thing to find out is what other expectations there are for the FT outside of teaching -- for instance, are you expected to host students in your home (probably not for that age)? Do English corners? Judge speech contests? Direct a Christmas performance?

[kungfucowboy83]

[theincredibleegg]

Try to negotiate it so that 5 out of those 25 are only for emergency stuff like covering for other staff etc

[Tainan]

Hello,

When I worked in Dalian in 2003-2005, 8000 was what they were offering for jobs like this. Jobs that asked for 16 hours a week were mainly at universities and they paid closer to 3000-4000 a month, so unless there's been major inflation in the past four years this doesn't sound unreasonable. Still, I really think that making 4000 at a university, with far better working conditions, hours, and vacations, and making an extra two or three thousand in private lessons would be better.

I lived in Dalian for two years and not once did it get hot enough for me to want an air conditioner.

As with other posters below, my main concerns would be the location of the school and the location of the apartment. If you mentioned the address I might be able to tell you what I thought of the area. I did some teaching at a middle school on the side but it was quite far away from where I was living and the long taxi drives (bus would have been totally impractical) finally got on my nerves.

As for breaking the contract six months in, there's no way to say. During my two years at a university in Dalian, there were two foreign teachers who left mid-contract. One simply disappeared without words, while the other, I think, gave some notice. Obviously giving notice (enough for them to find someone else) is the best thing, but in both cases I remember our boss being unhappy and in fact feeling personally insulted. If these kinds of feelings are the result then there could possibly be bad consequences; but I don't know about the legal repercussions or whether they could make it difficult for you to find employment elsewhere.

[Itsme]

Unbelievable,
The one question that will make or break the correct response is usually never answered by the OP.
Is a contractual hour an hour? Or is it 45 minutes? A period?
This is usually spelled out clearly in any contract that is well put together.

And I would say that any school offering 8000 is the exception and not the rule.


The average elementary school teacher is teaching about 15 classes a week. The classes are about 45 min long. I was teaching 22 and I could definitely feel it.
I am guessing the OP meant 25 classes per week. Let's assume those classes are 45 min long. Then I would say he would be overworked.