Job Discussion Forums

[Delltron]

I feel like I have hit rock-bottom in teaching university students in a separate international school in China. Although I was initially enthusiastic about my job, I now loathe walking into my classes, just as I would any other job back home. My students are generally unmotivated and unresponsive. It is becoming impossible for me not to reflect the same unmotivated attitude toward them. I have tried so many strategies to engage them, and everything has failed. They are repeating the same mistakes over and over again, I have a lot of absences every day, and people always walk into class late, despite my class policy and my appeal to the school authorities for assistance.

Every day I walk out of class feeling defeated.

I am beginning to conclude that the problem is with me and not with the students. I am a failure of a teacher. I spend hours preparing for classes each day, but it seems this does nothing. I have tried activities, games, movies, and etc. There must be a fundamental problem with my personality that is creating a barrier between the students and I.

I have written this message because I am out of ideas of what to do, and because it is comforting if others can share similar experiences and strategies of overcoming them.

[Glenski]

If administration doesn't offer advice or assistance, it's not you. Accept the situation and go with the flow, or find another job. No need to be miserable.

[Mrs McClusky]

Mate............. Get a drink and a fag and start reading. By some Chinese standards your classes seem normal.
Is it your first gig?
Are you alone? (important)

Sounds like my first gig in China. Soul destroying.
Do you have positive hobbies outside work?
A good social scene is helpful. If you don't have this......... Start working out, big time! The buzz will help. Don't drink a huge mount, but DO drink. Enjoy the chicks in bars.
There may be something missing from your classes but make no mistake, Chinese students can be mind-numbingly lazy.
Also, be strict, be the boss. What you may see as being reasonable they will see as being weak. Never lose your rag in class. Chuck a few out, make them lose face. Make the fools stand in the corner. Don't expect to be loved if you are being a western style teacher. Make them work, but now and again, let them watch a crappy movie in English and do a quiz about it.
Stay strong.............. You might be crap, but chances are it is your students who are crap. By posting this it shows you care.

Come on everyone, help this dude out.

By the way. By being strict I eventually did become liked, then I buggered off to Bangkok for 5 years.

[denise]

Ouch! I'm sorry you're having such a rough time.

I agree with the other 2 responses. And I'd add that it's never entirely the teacher's fault or entirely the students' fault. It's our responsibility as teachers to do the best we can--be prepared, try new things, abide by our own standards (especially re. attendance--teachers showing up late set a bad example...), etc. You can modify, vary, be strict, be a joker, etc., etc., and some of what you do will appeal to some students, but you can never fully control their reactions. Do what you can, but don't be so hard on yourself.

And if you really, really don't like the job (but is it teaching in general, or is it just this job), then maybe it's time to move on, for the sake of your own happiness.

It's Wednesday, which is like Friday here in the Gulf, so I'll drink my Wednesday evening drink to your good health. Hang in there!

d

[rafaella]

It's a depressing situation but take heart from the fact that you are not alone. I'm sure many teachers have encountered at least one group of students who have made them wish they had chosen any occupation other than teaching!

You've obviously tried to find solutions and the fact that you took the time to register here and ask for advice suggests that the problem is not entirely yours.

I think Mrs McClusky has hit the nail on the head with the comment about being a western style teacher. Granted, there are techniques for teaching EFL but the reality is that students' expectations and learning styles vary tremendously.

When does your contract end? If you can bear it, stick it out to the end but start planning your next move. That in itself should help you remember there is something beyond your current situation. Make sure you have other interests too or you'll end up dwelling on this even when you're out of class.

Don't let this put you off teaching. For every difficult, unmotivated student there are a lot of great ones.

Finally, do you need/want to stay in China? Perhaps another country would suit you better.

[Teatime of Soul]

Ever considered teaching younger kids, (4-14)?

If you want to see progress and enthusiastic students, you'll find it there. But, make no mistake, it is work.

[fladude]

I have the same problem in US public schools, teaching on the reservation. So don't take it hard. I don't know if its applicable but at first I felt like I wasn't making a difference and that I was a job failure, but started working with at risk kids and at least that gets me through the day. I might not teach anybody anything, but if I can keep one kid from killing himself, then there is that.

[Delltron]

Ｉfeel a little better now hearing others' experiences. Ｉaccept your advice, and Ｉbadly needed it. The answer, surely, lies in being more strict. Ｐｅｒｈａｐｓ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｃｒｅａｔｅ　ａ　ｂｅｔｔｅｒ　ｒｅｓｐｏｎｓｅ．　　

[wiganer]

I always found that being a complete fascist in the beginning and then lightening up mostly worked. Chinese students I have found can be fantastically endearing or bone idle lazy and unresponsive - but even this approach failed with a class of girls one time - not one boy in that class and the girls just crosstalked the whole time - but that class was beyond help. 95% of the time, you have to be the boss, you have crack the whip and they seem to respond to that most of the time.

I agree with Mrs McCluskey (a childhood crush of mine!) that this is probably your first time teaching, now you know what can't be enforced which is their timekeeping, what you can enforce is crosstalk when you are speaking, mobile phones, bringing in pen and a paper - these are rules that are enforced easily I have found.

I don't know how old you are but the bigger the age gap, the easier it is to maintain discipline - especially in east Asia, also you might be at a shitty university where you are teaching unmotivated students who didn't pass the entrance exam - that is a problem but the good news is that it is not you, it is easy to take it all personally but what you need to remember is that they know the rules, they know they are not going to be failed and they will graduate, there isn't that much you can do in regards motivating them to learn.

If I had classes that bad and the admin didn't care - it would be film time until June.

[sainthood]

I think most have already said it....

I have mostly good classes (a couple are great), and of course, a crappy one!!

I've tried encouraging them, motivating them, getting them excited about their future.

I've done guilt trips. And embarrassment. And punishment.

And, I've done shame.

Next stop on the road - maybe the last stop - is to just walk out. Give them homework, expect them not to do it, and kick them out of class. If it's the whole class, just walk out.

Either that, or (probably "and"), start with person A - get them to ring their parents in the classroom in front of everyone (make sure your Chinese is up to scratch, or have someone you can trust to translate). Get the student to tell the parents that you, their English teacher who is trying to help them, is sick and tired of their lazy-ass childish attitude, and that the parents are better off throwing their money to pigs, for all the good it is doing. Get them to tell their parents that you've given up on that student, you're ashamed and embarrassed to have to put up with them in class, and you refuse to even bother teaching them any more.

That'll get you a change in attitude! Guaranteed!!!

As hinted at before, you won't win many friends, but if you hang around in that university long enough, you'll find a few of them will come back to you and give you a lot of genuine respect... and even like you!

(FTR, yeah, I've kicked students out. And this term, I've told them if they don't practice, ie study, don't bother coming to class! Telling them I respect their parents more than they do gets the message across - to some!)

You probably know, and need to be reminded - yeah, there are a lot of shits in the classes, but there are also one's you come to love! Enthusiastic, excited, interested etc... work with them!

[Captain_Fil]

[naturegirl321]

When that has happened to me I know it's time to move on. To another school or another city. That usually helps.

[Mrs McClusky]

[Mrs McClusky]

[Delltron]

This thread is making me feel so much better.

Yes, I teach in what is called an International Department at a sub-par university in Changchun, Jilin Province. Most of the students were not successful in the college-entrance exam, and their parents are generally very wealthy, connected to the party, and etc. It is clear that many of them don't need to do well in school because their parents will connect them with a high-paying job by means of guan xi. I've had the opportunity to teach university students who are not in the International Department at this university for a part-time job last year, and these students, coming from poorer families and without the inherited social mobility of the former students, were much more motivated and pleasurable to teach.

I also should have said up-front that one group of students is actually going fairly well, but the other seems doomed for reasons listed above by me and for reasons touched upon by others above, whose experiences parallel mine.

I wonder if in such a case watching films is not the best idea. The effort I put into teaching the students goes straight down the drain if I'm not being met half-way.

Certainly, without question, I will be leaving this situation next year.