Job Discussion Forums

[theincredibleegg]

Atleast once every lesson i encounter a student who doesn't wear glasses eventhough he/she needs to. In consequence, the student in question can't read the board. This is of course very difficult for both me and the student. The funny thing is that the student is usually interested in what's on the board. Yet, the student doesn't recognize his/her need to purchase or wear glasses.

What's up with that?
These are kids from Chinese middle-class families. Parents in China spend a lot of money on their child's education. Glasses shouldn't be an issue. Why is this? I'm puzzled.

[samhouston]

Maybe they'd lose face by wearing glasses and thereby publicly advertising their physical inferiority. So instead, they squint and strain at the teacher and the fuzzy blackboard and fail to learn much of anything, all the while responding "yes I'm fine thank you" to the teacher's concern over whether they can see. Ahh, honor intact.

[theincredibleegg]

but they actually walk up to the board in order to jot down whatever is on there.
My hand-writing is clear and fine, so that can't be the issue.

Is it really that bad to wear glasses in China? If they don't like glasses, they can always wear contacts... but they don't

[kev7161]

Sometimes my students can't make out what's on the blackboard due to the glare from the lights or the sunlight. I will close the drapes and that usually helps. I've also learned to use only white or yellow chalk in most cases as other colors can also be difficult to read. Ah, what I wouldn't give to be able to have a white board and markers in my room!

[theincredibleegg]

[samhouston]

[dialogger]

Go easy on the red markers. Red can have negative connotations in China when used to mark or write someone's name.
The change from chalk to whiteboards was the highlight of my last year at my school.
Does OP wear glasses? Can you initiate a discussion on positives/negatives of glasses?
I had male students in their early twenties wearing dental braces so peer esteem wasn't an issue there.
Hobby glasses ie non prescription are available, cheap and effective.
Bit of a mystery there!

[bnej]

I'm really not sure this message board is the place you'll find a meaningful answer - have you tried talking to the parents?

[killian]

ask your co-teachers if the school has vision tests? i've noticed the same.

maybe they aren't PROPERLY doing their eye exercises.

[evaforsure]

Many parents refuse to allow the use of glasses by their children. Often the child will buy the glasses on the sly and even keep them at another students house to avoid detection....

[bnej]

[Neilhrd]

I have experienced this problem in China at all levels from primary school to university. I think there are a number of factors which haven't been mentioned.

1. In China myopia seems to develop in much younger children than it usually does in the west. As a result it simply doesn't occur to a child who has never been able to see the board clearly that they should be able to.

2. The quality of opticians in Chinese cities. I have some personal experience of this. I wear glasses myself and need special lenses with a substantial prism in the left eye to correct a parallax error. Even in a second tier city like Nanning it is impossible to find an optician who knows how to test my eyes properly let alone what a prism is. The tests they use which involve boards with shapes that point up, down, left or right are easy to guess and useless for testing the ability to read. I have also frequently had eye tests where the frame used to insert test lenses is set at completely the wrong focal length from my eye. This produces a blinding headache after a few minutes and a totally misleading diagnosis. The result is that some students who need complex prescriptions may simply be unable to get them. Often these students will have tried wrongly prescribed glasses and found them to be no help and so abandoned the idea of using glasses altogether.

3. Chinese teachers refuse to allow short sighted students to sit at the front of the class. The seating arrangment in any Chinese state school classroom is dictated from on high at the beginning of the semester and cannot be altered by a teacher whatever the needs of the students. Predictably this causes some students to simply give up.

4. It is assumed by most people in the Chinese education system that issues concerning student welfare, such as students who need glasses, are none of the teacher's business. Attempts by foreigners to raise such concerns will usually be ignored and if you persist you are likely to find yourself branded as a trouble maker and your contract not renewed. I think but can't prove that this also applies to junior Chinese teachers.

[Dagmar]

I am also an experienced China teacher and encountered this problem, surprisingly with top University kids as well as the College kids, but I also come up against this problem over here - not infrequently.
It has no answer, the best thing to do is a temporary solution...I generally:
first- chastise, tell them their eye muscles will become worse and then they REALLY won't be able to see at all;'' believe me, I am telling you the truth..''
two - move them to front row desks ..
three- give them a peer to take notes from which come from the board .. this one, do not let them chose the peer student, chose someone YOU know to be hard working and reliable.
I use peer teaching for a huge number of problems..like the mix of abilities in the classes etc and have found the pairs generally become good friends after a short while, even when they are an unevenly matched pair, all the better..one pair became big sister to a rather immature boy who was a lovely child, and had only one interest in life, playing his guitar. He never became a serious student, but it helped him a great deal as she saw to it that he knew what he was supposed to be involved in.
(NOT A LOVE COUPLE, IF POSSIBLE SPLIT THEM-- I HAD NO IDEA UNTIL I CAME TO CHINA HOW PASSIONATE THE CHINESE ARE!!- It really surprised me.)
There is enough work getting the students to work properly, by which I mean using margins, title and dates on all work etc without making more work than necessary. My way is usually, take the most agreeable way out of any problem but firmly.
We are not 'chinese' teachers, the government brings us over to bring OUR skills to add to theirs, not to repeat their mistakes, though I do listen to what they have to say carefully!
Teaching is an individual - human profession, in the classroom you are alone and must think on your feet and by the feel of the class what the best solution is. I am not frightened of Management as I know I always do my best at all times though I have (very rarely) had words with these 'pen-pushers'. I learnt on my first trip, that they are very powerful, which took a while to sink in, as the way I saw it, without teacher, all their pen-pushing would be useless.
I was told the 'sight' problem had to do with the eyelid and almond shape of the eyes, however we are not doctors, so I leave that to medics though there was a craze for an operation to have the eyelids removed when I was over there. I too bought some glasses whilst out there, as all my year's luggage was lost at Manchester tarmac when they had a terrorist alarm, by Emirate airlines, and still use them daily!

[nobleignoramus]

I previously worked with people from Sri Lanka, and the most glaring difference between them and Chinese lies in the incidence of wearing eye glasses or contact lenses. (Maybe some students not wearing eye glasses wear lenses?).

Among 100 Sri Lankans nary two had a need to improve their natural eyesight by technical means, among 100 Chinese between 25 and 30 will wear glasses.

I am not sure they all need to, maybe their parents think it is better for them or more socially acceptable?

[vikuk]

Welcome back R - under yet another name