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linzbc
Joined: 04 Feb 2009
Posts: 29
Location: Arlington, VA, US
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 Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 10:41 am Post subject: teaching hours |
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I read on a website the following:
"Don't accept too many hours right away because other better paying jobs may appear. Teaching more than twenty hour a week can be exhausting especially if you are still adjusting to a new environment."
Do you find this to be true? Twenty hours a week seems low.... |
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typo
Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:41 am Post subject: |
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I dunno about others, but I teach high school level, and let me tell you, students can suck all the energy out of you in 20 hours, easily.
I would refuse anything more than 23 hours. |
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TJA
Joined: 09 Apr 2009
Posts: 27
Location: Greater Taipei
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| Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:00 am Post subject: Re: teaching hours |
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| linzbc wrote: |
I read on a website the following:
"Don't accept too many hours right away because other better paying jobs may appear. Teaching more than twenty hour a week can be exhausting especially if you are still adjusting to a new environment."
Do you find this to be true? Twenty hours a week seems low.... |
It's true for new people especially. 20 hours of teaching can mean 30 or more hours of actual work when you are new. Make no mistake, starting to teach and learning teaching can be like Boot Camp for some people.
I remember when I first started working: 35 hours of teaching a week! Ouch! (How many hours do you think that was overall?) I must have been crazy to do this teaching thing.... 
TJA |
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123Loto
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 160
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| Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:10 am Post subject: |
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I can now comfortably do 40 hours of teaching every week - but when I started that was not very comfortable at all.
If you want teaching to be a fulltime job when you first arrive then do 30-35 hours a week.
If you want a trial by fire, try for 40+, you will learn quickly or you will expire.
If you want to pursue Chinese or anything else then do 20.
20 is the minimum to live on, in my opinion.
Of course, how you handle any workload will depend on your physical ability, your time management and your determination. |
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forest1979
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 507
Location: SE Asia
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| Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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"If you want a trial by fire, try for 40+, you will learn quickly or you will expire. "
How anyone can teach for 40+ hours is a joke. Obviously it helps pay the bills but what pedagogical approach did you employ for the classes? |
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123Loto
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 160
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| Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:06 pm Post subject: |
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| forest1979 wrote: |
"If you want a trial by fire, try for 40+, you will learn quickly or you will expire. "
How anyone can teach for 40+ hours is a joke. Obviously it helps pay the bills but what pedagogical approach did you employ for the classes? |
Uh, yeah, sorry - my post maybe came out sounding a bit arrogant... I was in a hurry 
To answer your implied question, yes, a new teacher at 40+ hours per week would sacrifice teaching quality without constant mentoring and coaching. And even then... 
...so I apologise for sounding like I was advocating this approach for new teachers.
It is, however, possible for an experienced teacher to do it, and do it well.
An experienced teacher can employ strong teaching technique, solid preparation and intelligent systems - and work bloody hard - to achieve excellent learning outcomes. I have seen this done on many occasions by teachers of many different nationalities and backgrounds. However I'm guessing 5-10% of all teachers in Taiwan would have the capability and willingness to deliver 40+ quality hours per week. (I'm making this estimation based upon the teachers I have personally interacted with over the years).
So as you quite rightly point out - what is more likely is that the teacher will grind out the hours with varying (sometimes quite low) teaching quality.
If you want to discuss teaching EFL technique specific to the needs of Taiwanese students I'd be happy to join you with a new thread... as we might be taking this one off topic. |
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markholmes
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 661
Location: Wengehua
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| Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| How anyone can teach for 40+ hours is a joke. Obviously it helps pay the bills but what pedagogical approach did you employ for the classes? |
When my wife and I were at Kojen in Kaohsiung we worked over 40 hours a week (spread over six days) in June and July. It wasn't compulsory, but the hours were there is you wanted them .For two months it's somewhat manageable, but not for longer. We reverted back to 20 odd hours after.
I wouldn't recommend it though. The pedagogical approach is best described as a 'survival technique' and certainly the classes may not have been of the same quality as other times of the year (but they weren't awful either). |
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forest1979
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 507
Location: SE Asia
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| Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:51 pm Post subject: |
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Mark,
Thanks for your honest appraisal.
40+ hours = survival. I bet!!
Pedagogy = concept of secondary importance. I bet it is too!!! |
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daniel_hayes
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 177
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:55 am Post subject: |
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I just posted a thread about working part time in Taiwan. Seems like this topic is applicable to me.
So, for a newly qualified teacher, who also wants to study in their own time, it seems possible to get 15-20hrs/week. Is that correct?
Moreover, is it possible to get a decent job at those hours? Or will the fewer hours mean a poor job? |
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dangerousapple
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 292
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| It just means less money. More and more schools are looking for part time teachers, with the economy being what it is right now. |
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daniel_hayes
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 177
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:45 am Post subject: |
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| Can I earn enough to pay my rent, and a bit of spending money, by working part time? |
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timmyjames1976
Joined: 26 Jan 2005
Posts: 148
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:21 am Post subject: |
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| daniel_hayes wrote: |
| Can I earn enough to pay my rent, and a bit of spending money, by working part time? |
Sure. Live in the county and get a roommate. My first place (with roommates) was like 5000NT/month for rent + utilities. |
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linzbc
Joined: 04 Feb 2009
Posts: 29
Location: Arlington, VA, US
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:37 am Post subject: |
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When you say teaching 20 hrs per week for new teachers, does it end up being 40 hours in the end because of grading papers and lesson planning? Or is this around 20 working hours and that's it? Do you get paid for the non-teaching hours?
What if you have lesson plans provided to you? Does this change things? What about teaching assistants--do they help?
I *certainly* don't want to overwhelm myself. But I don't want to be short on cash. I don't like to work total more than 40 hours per week (in a normal job). But 20 hours seems low... where do the other 20 hours come in? |
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TJA
Joined: 09 Apr 2009
Posts: 27
Location: Greater Taipei
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:49 am Post subject: |
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Some schools pay salary, making the above somewhat moot. You just work a total of X hours for Z dollars.
For the other schools, hourly pay is usually for class time, so prep time and grading time is "for free". But the hourly rate is quite good (compared to what your Taiwanese co-workers make) and so you need to think about the hourly pay for class time as including all duties (prep, grading, etc) associated with that class.
20 teaching hours = 20-40 real working hours, depending a lot on what you are teaching, what age you are teaching, your level of experience, school expectations, what materials are provided for you, etc., etc......
To get a good handle on it, talk to a teacher from the school you are looking at and see what they are doing for workload. Then ask them to think back to when they were in your shoes (describe your skills, etc) and they should be able to give you a decent idea of what hours you would be looking at (and also how quickly that workload can decrease with experience at the school).
All the best!
TJA |
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