Job Discussion Forums

[nathanwt]

Greetings all!

I am planning to teach in China for the first time this coming fall, and I am debating between seeking a position in a university versus a private language institute.

If you have taught in one or the other, and have an opinion on which is better and why, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks so much!

Nathan

[Denim-Maniac]

For me, its a training centre/language institute all the way. I have quite strict criteria for who I will teach and training centres give me the opportunity to work with adults in very small class sizes.

I have two classes at the moment, one has 5 students, the other has 6. Both are streamed by ability and although I do have one 17 year old student, the average age of the rest of them is probably 25. Im just not likely to get that in a uni class hence my choice.

[TexasHighway]

More than a decade ago, I worked at a private language institute for a year and a half. My students consisted of spoiled, lazy rich kids and whiny, obnoxious businessmen and their concubines. Never again! Ever since then, I have only taught at universities. In comparison, I find university students are a delight to teach. I love teaching them and I also love the low hours and three month paid vacations every year!

[MisterButtkins]

in a nutshell, university teaching is easier and private schools offer more money. Though if you have high qualifications, there has been discussion recently about joint-venture universities, which offer more money than most private schools

[roadwalker]

Both can be a crapshoot, but I would guess that there are more possibilities for very good learning (to teach well) experiences in a private language school, as well as more possibilities for a hell-on-earth experience. For language schools and universities both, the main problems are bound to be management or lack of it. So your housing situation, pay issues, isolation/transportation issues are more likely to be the things that bother you, rather than crappy textbooks, lack of direction as to what it is that the students are expected to learn etc., although the latter issues may be big issues. It's easier for charlatans to start a language school than to start a university which is why I think the possibility is greater for horror stories in private enterprise.

Unis can vary a lot too, but less likely. The style of instruction is generally different: unis will more often than not expect you to lead and encourage conversation from English majors. You may also teach composition, literature, western culture, business and related subjects. With the language schools, you will more likely use the skills and methods you learned in your Celta/Tesol/tefl course. Unis will give you more autonomy.

I prefer universities for the free time, and the holidays. I also like the attitude of my students, generally. And I'm not really that sold on the communicative method of teaching. Perhaps it's the highly structured nature of it. In a university classroom I can go by my personal strengths and generally don't get much interference from the school.

On the other hand, I think teaching in a private language school really helped to prepare me mentally for teaching and to get organized. If you think you need work on issues like grammar, or have difficulty speaking in front of a group I would definitely recommend a year or more in a private language school, provided it has resources for the teachers to access for help, suggestions and feedback. And provided it's not one of the nightmare schools we sometimes read about here on Dave's. Good luck.

[therock]

[TexasHighway]

the rock wrote:

[Denim-Maniac]

Roadwalkers comments are quite apt for my training centre choice which I mentioned earlier in the thread.

I enjoy the communicative method and want to use my CELTA stuff ... Im planning to do a DELTA later too, and the training centre environment is one I need to work in for that really.

Im quite lucky as I have done this for over 6 years, I have a lot of material and a fairly good reputation. Im left to get on with it in much the same way as you uni guys are. Things may not be as simple for newbies though.

[danasoverseasemail]

[xiguagua]

[MisterButtkins]

less hours + more vacation time = easier job, doesn't it?

Unless you are assigning loads of homework and grading things left and right university teaching is easy. You might plan 4 lessons a week, and after 1-2 semesters you use basically no prep time, because you already have the material. You can give interview tests, which require no time to grade, and have many other advantages as well.

I think it's easier, but I haven't actually worked at another type of school. When I say 'easier' what I mean is 'less hours to work'.

[Non Sequitur]

[mnguy29]

Four years teaching in China and I have done both. I would never go back to teaching at a training center. They seem like they are ALL about money and really dont care much about their teachers being over-worked or even their students. You teach the same thing over and over which became very boring after six months. Yes, more money but when you break it all down in the actual hours worked and paid holidays etc that you get at a Uni, it is probably about the same. 25 classes at training center, 14 at Uni. I did not like having to wear a tie to work either.
I also agree that some of the students were whiny, spoiled brats with wealthy parents. Some did not even have a job.

[teachingld2004]

I have the same "Problem" as the poster. I taught in Korea 8 years in hogwons, and just finished 2 years in a University. Both have their good points. THe hogwons paid more, but the hours were more also. The University paid less, but the hours were less and the vacation was more. They both had their good sides. I love little kids, but the parents were a pain in the butt. In University, if the students did not want to come, they stayed out. I plan to come to China for a year, and have decided on University. (now my problem is which one to pick, and where to go because I do not know China). University salary is not high, but I do not want to deal with parents. I am sure the same situation in Korea is in China. Only thing I notice is that in China the classes are larger.

[dox]

The more I read on here, the more I get the impression that universities are less likely to screw you over. Not that it's always the case, but the horror stories sure seem to involve private training centers.