Well, yes and no. It has always been my policy as an ESL teacher, and generally the policy of other teachers I know, not to talk about religion and politics in the classroom, and I guess to be selective in who else you chat to about these subjects privately.
When you sign a contract with a school it will probably have a clause to the effect that you will not spread religion or do anything that could be construed as being against the government. And I think that anytime we visit another country we hardly want to be seen as causing policital problems, not only in China.
Many contentious subjects are talked about freely amongst the Chinese. They are not stupid and they are becoming more and more informed about what is happening in the world. Nevertheless as foreign guests on their soil, we need to act sensibly. So appearing to take sides on issues such as Tibet, Taiwan, communisim and the way the government runs the country in general is not a wise move. It may be that you would talk about these things privately, but not in a public situation like a classroom, where it could be construed that we are trying to influence students policitally.
I have had instances of adult students giving opinions that made my hair stand on end! When that happened I just said, "These are not things we talk about in the classroom, our lessons are not on these topics", and steer the conversation away.
Often students, and especially adult students will ask quite pertinent questions about politics, our views, how things are done in the West etc. You can't avoid these subjects altogether. They are part of our life and Chinese people are often very inquisitive about how we live our lives and how they are different. This is different from us as teachers bringing up such subjects. If I have been asked about religion/politics/whatever, my general response is 'I am not really supposed to talk to you about religion/politics/whatever, it's not why I am here teaching you. But I guess I could say....." and then I went on to talk to them about those subjects but in a general way.
Some of the school text books talk about Bible stories, and Christmas and Easter are becoming big deals there, so those opportunities open themselves. And when it has been appropriate I have often talked about democracy in general terms, most of the world works on that basis. Where to draw the line is where we seem to be dictating our ideas, or criticising the way the Chinese government works.
One last thought on Taboo subjects...have you been into an airport lately? Have you seen the signs by the check-in desks? If you mention the word 'bomb', boy you are in trouble. Even in jest, we are told we should not use any words that may suggest a bomb or similar. I guess every country has its little 'taboos'.
And one thing is for sure, once you have lived there for a while you get to know that whether you like their methods or not, the government is doing its best to keep its people fed and employed, and thats a lot more than many countries are doing these days.
Showing posts with label ESL teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ESL teaching. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Getting your first teaching job.
There are many different ways to get your first job. Once you have been there for six or twelve months, you will be aware of the system, but until then it can be a bit of a minefield.
If you Google 'teaching ESL in China', you will come up with dozens of sites to choose from. One of the most widely used is Dave Sperlings site. He has jobs for all over the world and it is kept right up to date. He also has a special job board just for China. There are jobs advertised for every kind of teacher from kindergarten to top universities.
The first thing you need to decide is what age do you want to teach? If you love kids, then go for the younger ones. If you are a bit past young ones, then go for high schools with students aged 15 to 18 or universities. You will know what is best for you. Once you have decided this, then look for jobs within your preferred aged. If you have been a teacher in your home country, you know what you want. If not, then be aware that the younger children are usually in what by western standards are large classes, 40 to 60 children, and many of them have become very spoiled. Chinese people are often noisy when they are relaxed, and Chinese children are very noisy in break times, so be prepared for that.
There are four main ways to get your job.
1. Apply to a school through a link on a website. You will deal directly with the school and eventually sign a contract between the two parties. The person you deal with will probably have pretty good English. I will talk about contracts later.
2. Apply through an agent. You may get a reply to a query from an agent but you won't know this. There are many independent agents out there. They make their money by saving the school the hassle of dealing directly with the teacher. They will send you the contract and act as a middle man between both parties. For their efforts, the school will pay them, generally equal to one months pay for the teacher they find. So if your job will pay you 6,000 RMB that's what the agent will get. It's very good money for them, often for very little work. However, although there are some good agents out there, there are some real crooks too. Avoid an agent by the name of Frank Zhang from Shanghai. Be very aware that what the agent offers you, may not be what you actually get at the school. My advice is, once you are settled on a school, ask for the email address of one or two foreign teachers who work at that school. Email them and ask for their opinion of the school. If everything is above board, they will oblige. If not, they will beat about the bush. In that case, think carefully.
3. You may know someone who is already teaching there, and they can recommend a school. Assuming you trust your contact, then this can be fairly fail safe. Even so, study the contract carefully.
4. If you are just gaining your TESOL qualifications now, your school will possibly have contacts with schools they recommend. This is also a pretty safe bet. But they may be limited to the schools or cities you could choose from.
Also keep in mind that the Chinese mind set is not to think too far ahead. Forward planning is not big. If the Director of Studies you are dealing with is not Chinese they are usually better organised. But the Chinese bosses often leave things to the last minute. If you need to do something next week, then we will think about it next week. So, sometimes they advertise for teachers, starting yesterday. Don't fret over it, this is one of the things you need to adjust to. If you need the school to get you a visa by the 30th, you'll probably get it on the 29th or 30th.
When you first start looking for a job you will be totally bamboozled by the possibilities. In the end, to get my first job, I decided what age group I wanted to teach and approximately what part of the country, then I applied for many jobs. I got tons of replies, saying, yes we want you, come here, come now, we love you, blah blah blah. To cut the hassle down, I just started asking for them to send me a contract to look over. I would email a school, get a reply and immediately ask for a contract. Once I had seen the contracts I could sort out those obviously unsuitable, and concentrate on 2 or 3 that really appealed, and worked from there.
I am not an agent, but I do have a few contacts. If you want some help, just ask.
Posted by China Chris.
If you Google 'teaching ESL in China', you will come up with dozens of sites to choose from. One of the most widely used is Dave Sperlings site. He has jobs for all over the world and it is kept right up to date. He also has a special job board just for China. There are jobs advertised for every kind of teacher from kindergarten to top universities.
The first thing you need to decide is what age do you want to teach? If you love kids, then go for the younger ones. If you are a bit past young ones, then go for high schools with students aged 15 to 18 or universities. You will know what is best for you. Once you have decided this, then look for jobs within your preferred aged. If you have been a teacher in your home country, you know what you want. If not, then be aware that the younger children are usually in what by western standards are large classes, 40 to 60 children, and many of them have become very spoiled. Chinese people are often noisy when they are relaxed, and Chinese children are very noisy in break times, so be prepared for that.
There are four main ways to get your job.
1. Apply to a school through a link on a website. You will deal directly with the school and eventually sign a contract between the two parties. The person you deal with will probably have pretty good English. I will talk about contracts later.
2. Apply through an agent. You may get a reply to a query from an agent but you won't know this. There are many independent agents out there. They make their money by saving the school the hassle of dealing directly with the teacher. They will send you the contract and act as a middle man between both parties. For their efforts, the school will pay them, generally equal to one months pay for the teacher they find. So if your job will pay you 6,000 RMB that's what the agent will get. It's very good money for them, often for very little work. However, although there are some good agents out there, there are some real crooks too. Avoid an agent by the name of Frank Zhang from Shanghai. Be very aware that what the agent offers you, may not be what you actually get at the school. My advice is, once you are settled on a school, ask for the email address of one or two foreign teachers who work at that school. Email them and ask for their opinion of the school. If everything is above board, they will oblige. If not, they will beat about the bush. In that case, think carefully.
3. You may know someone who is already teaching there, and they can recommend a school. Assuming you trust your contact, then this can be fairly fail safe. Even so, study the contract carefully.
4. If you are just gaining your TESOL qualifications now, your school will possibly have contacts with schools they recommend. This is also a pretty safe bet. But they may be limited to the schools or cities you could choose from.
Also keep in mind that the Chinese mind set is not to think too far ahead. Forward planning is not big. If the Director of Studies you are dealing with is not Chinese they are usually better organised. But the Chinese bosses often leave things to the last minute. If you need to do something next week, then we will think about it next week. So, sometimes they advertise for teachers, starting yesterday. Don't fret over it, this is one of the things you need to adjust to. If you need the school to get you a visa by the 30th, you'll probably get it on the 29th or 30th.
When you first start looking for a job you will be totally bamboozled by the possibilities. In the end, to get my first job, I decided what age group I wanted to teach and approximately what part of the country, then I applied for many jobs. I got tons of replies, saying, yes we want you, come here, come now, we love you, blah blah blah. To cut the hassle down, I just started asking for them to send me a contract to look over. I would email a school, get a reply and immediately ask for a contract. Once I had seen the contracts I could sort out those obviously unsuitable, and concentrate on 2 or 3 that really appealed, and worked from there.
I am not an agent, but I do have a few contacts. If you want some help, just ask.
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