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maarg
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 24
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 Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 4:20 pm Post subject: teaching adults |
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Are universities and colleges the only places to go for if one doesn't want to teach kids? I don't particularly like children, and can't imagine working with them (the minimum age I could consider would be more less 17-1 . With that in mind, what options do I have in China?
From what I've read, teaching in private language academies means working with kids most of the time... Is that so? Do you normally have any say as to what age groups you prefer to teach?
Thanks in advance for any tips. |
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joey2001
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 697
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 1:50 am Post subject: Re: teaching adults |
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| maarg wrote: |
| Are universities and colleges the only places to go for if one doesn't want to teach kids? I don't particularly like children, and can't imagine working with them (the minimum age I could consider would be more less 17-1. With that in mind, what options do I have in China? |
I don't think there are that many options. I never heard of training centers that teach only adults and exclude children. I guess that by far the largest market for teaching is children.
When I started teaching in China, I didn't want to teach kids either. My employers knew it, and didn't give me kids' classes to teach. Sometimes they really needed a FT to teach kids and they'd ask me, but I refused. I made it clear that I would only teach adults, or high school at best. My school had quite a few company training courses and adult classes, so I was busy enough with those. Other training centers are probably different though. I did accept the occasional summer/winter camp. It worked for me, but I imagine it might be difficult when you work full-time under contract.
I've been teaching kids since then, classes and one-on-one lessons, and found that some of them were not as bad as I thought in the beginning. I even taught a few hours kindergarten, but that wasn't for me. Do you have any particular reasons why you don't like children? Have you ever taught any? |
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maarg
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 8:11 am Post subject: |
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Hi Joey, thanks a lot for your reply.
Why don't I like children? It's hard to give particular reasons, I'd say it's just a matter of personal preference. It's like chocolate - you either like it or you don't...  I find children annoying, especially those spoilt brats type of kids. Ok, some can be quite sweet, but only for a while, and in the long run I don't think I'd have the patience to deal with them. That's why I've never even tried teaching young learners, as up till now I've always had the option of taking only the classes I like. Thus, my experience has been mainly with group and individual in-company classes, and with one-to-one adult lessons. As a stand-in I've had a few classes with teenagers, and can't say I enjoyed the experience.
But I realize the situation in China will be quite different in the sense that I might not be able to pick and choose, so I'm going to give universities a shot first, and if that doesn't work out, I'll have to ask myself if I'm willing to try teaching younger students. But judging from the experiences you've had, who knows, maybe I'd grow to like working with kids? But as I said, I've never taught children, so it would surely be a learning process, not only for them but also for me. |
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joey2001
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 697
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 9:35 am Post subject: |
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| maarg wrote: |
| But judging from the experiences you've had, who knows, maybe I'd grow to like working with kids? But as I said, I've never taught children, so it would surely be a learning process, not only for them but also for me. |
I can't say that I particularly enjoy teaching kids even now.  But the ones I do teach right now are OK, and I'm pretty comfortable teaching them. They are one-on-one lessons however, so it's quite different from a classroom situation. I don't think I could handle a classroom full of kids 
I agree with you on kids (mainly boys) often being annoying spoiled brats, especially in China. However, in my experience girls are much better-behaved generally, and much easier and more pleasant to teach. |
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maarg
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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| joey2001 wrote: |
I can't say that I particularly enjoy teaching kids even now. |
Ha ha, well I guess people don't change that much
| joey2001 wrote: |
I agree with you on kids (mainly boys) often being annoying spoiled brats, especially in China. |
Mhmm, and I thought children in China would be better-behaved than kids in other parts of the world... In that case, I might be better off sticking to my "17 years old minimum" principle, though that may not make me very popular with employers... I guess I'll just have to wait and see  |
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kungfucowboy83
Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 479
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I never heard of training centers that teach only adults and exclude children. |
While i agree i have never seen a school that will turn down younger students, there are plenty of schools that focus on teaching adults. When i worked at a language center out of around 200 students maybe 10 were under 17. Just ask the school about their student ages.
One thing is that you will be working mostly evenings, nights and weekends when you teach at a language center. You would have a hard time finding a daytime weekday job teaching adults, if that is important to you. |
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maarg
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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And what about in-company classes? Are they popular at all? Is there any chance of getting those in the mornings / afternoons?
Working evenings would be fine, but weekends... not so much. |
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joey2001
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 697
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| maarg wrote: |
Mhmm, and I thought children in China would be better-behaved than kids in other parts of the world... In that case, I might be better off sticking to my "17 years old minimum" principle, though that may not make me very popular with employers... I guess I'll just have to wait and see |
Some might be well-behaved, even in China. I've met a few very nice, polite, respectful kids in my time here. But have you heard of the little emperors? I think that might cover a large part of children in China, especially relatively well-off urban ones. You know, the one-child policy is responsible for that. Couples are allowed to have only one child, so (if it's a boy) they spoil that one child to death. Needless to say, a classroom full of those kids can be a real nightmare to teach. I've done that, and it's one experience I don't feel the need to go through again
| Quote: |
And what about in-company classes? Are they popular at all? Is there any chance of getting those in the mornings / afternoons?
Working evenings would be fine, but weekends... not so much. |
The training centers I worked for had quite a few of those company classes, some in the companies, some in the training center. Unfortunately class times are usually either before or after office hours. I did a training course for Samsung office staff once, and it started like 7:15 AM every morning. I did NOT enjoy getting up at 6 on weekday mornings, but I did like the students in that class. And yes, some classes might take place on weekends, including Sundays. 
The problem is, people have only time after work/school or on weekends. That goes for kids as well as company classes. Some of my former training centers did have daytime adults' classes, but there were usually just a handful of students attending those, mostly bored rich women (some of them mistresses of rich Hong Kong men maybe?) with nothing to do other than playing majiang or taking a class. |
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maarg
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| joey2001 wrote: |
| But have you heard of the little emperors? I think that might cover a large part of children in China, especially relatively well-off urban ones. You know, the one-child policy is responsible for that. Couples are allowed to have only one child, so (if it's a boy) they spoil that one child to death. Needless to say, a classroom full of those kids can be a real nightmare to teach. I've done that, and it's one experience I don't feel the need to go through again |
Yes, I've heard of the policy. And with that in mind, I guess the tendency to spoil the one and only child is rather natural... Ok, in the end I think I'll stay as far as I can from childrens' classes, for my own well-being and for their safety
| joey2001 wrote: |
| The training centers I worked for had quite a few of those company classes, some in the companies, some in the training center. Unfortunately class times are usually either before or after office hours. I did a training course for Samsung office staff once, and it started like 7:15 AM every morning. I did NOT enjoy getting up at 6 on weekday mornings, but I did like the students in that class. And yes, some classes might take place on weekends, including Sundays. |
As I'm doing mostly in-company classes now, I'm quite used to starting at 7.30 / 8.00, and I don't really mind doing that (as long as the offices are not too far from my home). Not that I particularly enjoy getting up so early, but I'm willing to sacrifice, because I definitely prefer corporate clients to having a mixed-ability class with a bunch of people of different ages, who hardly know each other and may have unrealistic expectations. Corporate clients are usually more relaxed and easy to work with (if, of course, you accept the fact that they often won't do their homework or study at home, due to lack of time / motivation). And finally, there are no kids in companies!
So the 'mornings and afternoons' routine is alright with me. But I also have one Saturday class currently (the guy is too busy to have classes during the week), and I'm honestly hoping it's the first and the last time I'm teaching at weekends... From what you're saying though, it would be hard to work full-time, teach only adults, and have weekends off in China, so I guess I'm back to square one, hoping that some uni will take me |
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joey2001
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 697
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 9:39 am Post subject: |
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| maarg wrote: |
So the 'mornings and afternoons' routine is alright with me. But I also have one Saturday class currently (the guy is too busy to have classes during the week), and I'm honestly hoping it's the first and the last time I'm teaching at weekends... From what you're saying though, it would be hard to work full-time, teach only adults, and have weekends off in China, so I guess I'm back to square one, hoping that some uni will take me |
I'd say your choices are not limited to unis. You do have experience as a teacher (where are you teaching?). I can imagine there are a number of training centers/schools in China that would hire you, even under your condition of not having to teach kids. There are some teachers who prefer teaching kids. I had a colleague once who only did kindergarten, and wouldn't teach anything else, least of all adults.
To me it seems like a good idea to have all the FTs teaching the classes they are most suitable for, and are good at. Employers don't really benefit by forcing teachers into doing work they don't enjoy and aren't good at. I'm sure there are lots of schools who'd be able to make such an arrangement - giving you the adults' or company classes, and those teachers who like kids the kids' classes. I don't see why that wouldn't work |
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maarg
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 10:55 am Post subject: |
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| joey2001 wrote: |
| To me it seems like a good idea to have all the FTs teaching the classes they are most suitable for, and are good at. Employers don't really benefit by forcing teachers into doing work they don't enjoy and aren't good at. I'm sure there are lots of schools who'd be able to make such an arrangement - giving you the adults' or company classes, and those teachers who like kids the kids' classes. I don't see why that wouldn't work |
From what I've gathered reading this forum, it's not easy to find a legal job, with a decent pay and a decent employer, especially from overseas (I'm based in Poland now, and a trip to China only to check the school I'm signing with beforehand is not really an option), so I assumed that setting conditions such as "adults only" might not take me very far. Another thing that may limit my options is that I'm not a native speaker of English (though I do have a relevant MA degree, a few years' teaching experience, and in fact I'm a teacher of English by profession, with the highest possible qualifications for my country). I will certainly give it a try though, because I don't think I'd be happy settling for something I'm not comfortable with. |
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kungfucowboy83
Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 479
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| Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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if having saturday and sunday off instead of monday and tuesday (or tuesday and wednesday) it's important to you make sure it's clear to your employer if you apply to a language center. Sat, Sun are usually their busiest days
personally i really liked having 2 weekdays off then i could go to places when they weren't crowded. |
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joey2001
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 697
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| Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 4:15 am Post subject: |
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| maarg wrote: |
From what I've gathered reading this forum, it's not easy to find a legal job, with a decent pay and a decent employer, especially from overseas (I'm based in Poland now, and a trip to China only to check the school I'm signing with beforehand is not really an option), so I assumed that setting conditions such as "adults only" might not take me very far. Another thing that may limit my options is that I'm not a native speaker of English (though I do have a relevant MA degree, a few years' teaching experience, and in fact I'm a teacher of English by profession, with the highest possible qualifications for my country). I will certainly give it a try though, because I don't think I'd be happy settling for something I'm not comfortable with. |
Based on my experience, I still think you won't have much of a problem. I'm not a native speaker either, and it has seldom been a problem in China. In fact, most of my fellow FTs at the schools I worked for were non-native speakers. They were paid the same as native speakers. The only issue I remember was with one high school class they had arranged for me to teach. The school wanted only teachers from Britain or the US, yes, not even Canadians or Australians!
I think your chances might be higher away from the big cities. Have you considered where in China you'd like to work? It's a big country, and the situation is very different in different parts. Personally, I'd stay away from Beijing and Shanghai. But again, it depends on your personal requirements. Do you need western lifestyle, imported products or hang out with western friends? Or can you do without those? I'd consider these things first before deciding on a place. Living in China is more than just work, and how you experience the place in your free time will be just as important |
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maarg
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 10:40 am Post subject: |
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| kungfucowboy83 wrote: |
| personally i really liked having 2 weekdays off then i could go to places when they weren't crowded. |
That wouldn't work for me... Even after 2 weekdays off I'd be feeling sorry for myself that I'm working when everyone else is off And besides, I'd like to be able to go out on Fri / Sat nights, when there's a bigger chance that other people are doing the same... Provided that I end up in a city that has some nightlife, that is.  |
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maarg
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 11:26 am Post subject: |
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| joey2001 wrote: |
| I think your chances might be higher away from the big cities. Have you considered where in China you'd like to work? It's a big country, and the situation is very different in different parts. Personally, I'd stay away from Beijing and Shanghai. But again, it depends on your personal requirements. Do you need western lifestyle, imported products or hang out with western friends? Or can you do without those? I'd consider these things first before deciding on a place. Living in China is more than just work, and how you experience the place in your free time will be just as important |
I am a city girl, I have to admit, but I realize that the biggest cities are the most popular locations, so even though I'd love to be based in Shanghai, I'm fine with going somewhere a bit smaller, too. Basically, my priorities are: to be somewhere not too cold, because I hate the cold (so Northeast China for instance is definitely out), and in a city with at least a bunch of Westerners, and with a few places to go for a drink / chat, if 'proper' nightlife is too much to ask. On the other hand, I'm not too keen on insects, so I don't know if somewhere very hot would be the best option. But with a bit of luck and decent living conditions, I guess I should be fine. As to the level of pollution, it's not my primary concern, simply because I've never lived anywhere as polluted as some Chinese cities seem to be, so I don't know to what extent that could bother me.
So yes, the location is very important, but what's also important is the job itself. I'm trying my luck with unis at the moment, because 16-20 class hours a week seem just about right (and, of course, that would mean working with young adults / adults). Even though unis apparently pay less than private institutes, I prefer earning a bit less but having more time for myself. But having read all the horror stories on this board, I'm also concerned with who my employer will be and how they will treat me as a FT, so any school that has been bashed on this or any other forum is totally out of the question. And finally, I wouldn't want to worry about the possibility of being deported, fined, etc. for not having the correct paperwork, so I don't think I'll be going to China on anything other than a Z visa.
Ufff... Now I wonder if I'm going to find anything, with all these requirements... |
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