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Posts: 32

Governor

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Q: Teaching wrong materials - horrible crime at Web

One of our teachers (not me) mixed something the other day and taught wrong lesson. The supervisor talked to him as it was really really bad and she said it to him as if he committed a crime, not in the normal "by the way talk" (i.e. "Oh by the way, make sure you teach right materials :)", "Oh, sure, no problem"). She asked him to the office for that.

 

Now what's interesting is that the lesson he didn't teach was a real bore, so the students didn't say anything at the lesson and haven't showed any problems, moreover, according to him they were very happy, enthusiastic, talkative, really enjoyed the lesson. BUT after the lesson one or all 3 of them complained about it.

 

I wonder how come these students are so petty? They could've at least told that teacher about wrong materials. And more, they know it may harm the teacher... I'm sure there are hundreds of such examples.

 

Any thoughts on that?

8 years 4 weeks ago in  Teaching & Learning - China

 
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I think, somebody should talk to your Super. What city are you in?

peter02:

Wuxi

8 years 4 weeks ago
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Chhris:

Peter, you are not a native-English speaker, right? How could they get you the Z visa in Wuxi? I heard it's impossible for non-natives to get it in Jiangsu. Are you Chinese? If you are Chinese then there is no point for you to post on these forums since the advice that we can give for your problems will simply not apply to you. Chinese employers usually treat foreign and Chinese employee totally differently.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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peter02:

I'm a native English-speaker.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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MissA:

No you aren't. Native speakers know their articles all the time not just some of the time (except phil, perhaps).

8 years 3 weeks ago
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peter02:

I know my articles but I guess you know my story right?  You know every little detail about my visa and everything? I'm flattered. Yes I asked something here and I wrote what I wrote, do you think I had to follow my life in China in everything that I've written here? You know what - it's fine think of me as I'm Chinese or non-native or whatever, as long as it makes you happy. I don't need to prove anything.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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MissA:

Lol. Please see Shining's comment - he's nailed it. 

8 years 3 weeks ago
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8 years 4 weeks ago
 
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I think, somebody should talk to your Super. What city are you in?

peter02:

Wuxi

8 years 4 weeks ago
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Chhris:

Peter, you are not a native-English speaker, right? How could they get you the Z visa in Wuxi? I heard it's impossible for non-natives to get it in Jiangsu. Are you Chinese? If you are Chinese then there is no point for you to post on these forums since the advice that we can give for your problems will simply not apply to you. Chinese employers usually treat foreign and Chinese employee totally differently.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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peter02:

I'm a native English-speaker.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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MissA:

No you aren't. Native speakers know their articles all the time not just some of the time (except phil, perhaps).

8 years 3 weeks ago
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peter02:

I know my articles but I guess you know my story right?  You know every little detail about my visa and everything? I'm flattered. Yes I asked something here and I wrote what I wrote, do you think I had to follow my life in China in everything that I've written here? You know what - it's fine think of me as I'm Chinese or non-native or whatever, as long as it makes you happy. I don't need to prove anything.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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MissA:

Lol. Please see Shining's comment - he's nailed it. 

8 years 3 weeks ago
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8 years 4 weeks ago
 
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"Any thoughts on that?"

 

Yeah - welcome to China.

Shining_brow:

Also.. it's quite possible the students didn't "complain", but when asked by their tutor how the lesson was, they told them what they did. The tutor then went and complained - because that's how you get ahead in China. Not buy being good, bt by making other people look bad*.

 

(*gross generalisation)

8 years 4 weeks ago
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peter02:

I think this whole complaint system at Wen is to encourage anyone to complain, just to show what they are and what you are here. They "KNOW" how to teach English, I'm sure.

8 years 4 weeks ago
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8 years 4 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1198

Shifu

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Teach from the correct textbook.

peter02:

Thank you, I'll tell that teacher but I think you miss the point. I for one understand that people may make insignificant mistakes and they shouldn't be treated as crimes.

8 years 4 weeks ago
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Spiderboenz:

Teaching the wrong lesson... That's a bit of a big deal. 

 

 

8 years 4 weeks ago
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Englteachted:

Peter the more you post the more Chinese you sound.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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8 years 4 weeks ago
 
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Your story does not make sense, if the students liked it then how did the supervisor find out?

This is actually serious, supplement the materials don't ignore the materials. Lessons are connected in that each lesson is a small part of a picture. 

Yes WEB's materials suck but be a professional and teach what the students should learn. Education is not about entertainment.

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8 years 4 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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Did you consider that when teachers are hired they should do their job properly?
What about you hire the plumber to fix your tap but he instead changes your light bulb?
Well, never mind ...
Now I understand your previous question better and can guarantee you, you will hard time to find any other job in OK institution ...

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8 years 4 weeks ago
 
Posts: 32

Governor

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Alright thank you all. I guess teachers like that one shouldn't have a right to have 1 mistake and it should be told them by the supervisor in a very serious way and looks like even westerners here support the way that supervisor talked to him (that was the point). Thanks..

Englteachted:

Peter: Very good run, you had me fooled with your first few posts but now it's clear that you're Chinese posing as a Foreigner.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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peter02:

This is so not true  but keep dreaming.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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8 years 3 weeks ago
 
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If this person did indeed get a bollocking then it is hard believe it is their first infraction. Study Advisors in the school have a plan and a schedule. Teaching a different lesson for whatever reason requires them to adjust their entire course schedule for the students.

 

That said, someone who is incompetent enough to not know what they are supposed to teach at a scheduled time requires some guidance. It is not up to the teacher to decide what they think is boring or not. You are an employee, do your job and you will have no issues.

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8 years 3 weeks ago
 
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I can see 2 sides, depending on the situation.

 

1 - if there was a full curriculum which may lead to some serious exams, and was integrated with other teachers, etc - then yeah, it's a serious enough problem to warrant calling in to the supervisors office - however, accidentally reading Chapter 12, instead of Chapter 13, is not a major crime, and the super should only point it out, and presume the teacher won't make the same mistake in the future - the teacher should already be aware of the fk-up!

 

2 - Web has said 'here's a book, here's a curriculum... no-one really gives a sh!t except the supervisor' - then no, the school can go get fked. If it has NO consequences anywhere else, and the students were actually involved, and they.. you know.. learned something - then it's a win!

peter02:

It's the 1st one and that what was so interesting about it.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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Interesting. When I taught I knew I was good at my job and was was happy to throw away the lesson plan if it didn't suit the students needs. I had a lot of flexibility as long as they got where they needed to be at the end of the course. I had no problem with teaching stuff that wasn't technically part of the course either ("guys, your prepositions are genuinely crap. Brace yourselves for tomorrow..."), and my boss actively expected me to be moving beyond the textbook in a way that was suitable to the particular students I had, so he would never have tried to force me to use particular materials. This was good because WOE F*CKING BETIDE anyone who interfered in my classroom.

 

That being said, I was under the impressions that WEB was one of those schools that took on under-qualified newbies? If this is the case, then those guys should have been clinging onto the structure and methodology embedded in their textbook like it was a life raft in an ocean.

 

I suspect there probably was a problem with the class he taught. Anyone's who has spent any significant time in China ought to know that direct confrontation is not the approach most Chinese will take if they have a problem. My guess is they weren't happy but didn't want to talk to him directly. 

peter02:

Web is very different, I taught in Suzhou and it was like you described, it was pretty good and the supervisor was great. The teacher I'm talking about is experienced, I think it can happen to anyone. The problem I see here (and I told him that) that it's not the students it's more of an approach to these kind of things by the supervisor and the way she talks to us about little things like that.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

If it's as you suggested in your comment to me above - a full curriculum with other people relying on that lecture being taught - it's NOT a small issue!

 

I would think most supervisors would be having a word to said employee, and given that supervisors tend to be lazy arses, why would they go to the employee, when it's easier to summon them into the office?

8 years 3 weeks ago
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Posts: 2

General

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Peter02  - If you are a native English speaker then I live on the moon!

It seems a very strange co-incidence that you are a 'teacher' in 'Wuxi' yet exactly the same thing happened at the WEB centre that I work in around the same time you have mentioned.

WEB doesn't have a 'curriculum' per se ( you can look up 'per se' in your dictionary as you probably won't know the meaning). It has lessons on different topics that are designed to be an hour long and suitable for students at whatever grade/level of English they have, in other words they are randomly chosen.

In the case at our WEB centre the teacher took the wrong lesson to class. All lessons are in files and have a code - (LS, LIS, BIS, BS etc). The teacher took a 'BS' file instead of a 'BIS' file (easy mistake to make) and the error was not known until three-quarters of the way through the lesson when one student asked why he was teaching BS to a BIS class?

In this case the teacher was not reprimanded at all - and why should they be ?

Teachers are not machines, they are human beings who sometimes make mistakes no matter how much care and attention they put into their job. Perhaps the students could have pointed it out to the teacher earlier, but they didn't. so there's no point in complaining about it later.

Incidentally, how do you know the lesson you DIDN'T do is a complete 'bore' if you didn't do it?

Peter.......native English speaker.....Wuxi.....????? Of course you are!!!!

 

 

 

peter02:

I'm a native english speaker and I work in Wuxi and wrong lessons happen all the time so I'm not sure what are you talking about and which Web you're mentioning here (I couldn't care less though), also I mentioned this case that happened not to me but to another teacher here who provided me with details (that's how I know everything) and the only reason I wrote all about it is because the way our supervisor brought it up to him, which is very unprofessional. And by the way, this happened in December, not in February and I just thought to get some views about it. You may think of me as anything you like to me you do live on the Moon.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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Chhris:

Which country were you born in? There are more and more of those Eastern-Europeans who moved to the UK and 5 years later got citizenship and passport. Since China only cares about where your passport comes from you can get hired to teach English even if you were only sweeping streets in the UK and got the passport after 5 years of doing that. I wonder what China is gonna do about it later. Degree from a native-English speaking country as a new requirement perhaps? Korea does that now.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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8 years 3 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1845

Shifu

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"Your friend" should be more professional when it comes to his job. I used to teach for five years and I never taught the wrong lesson. From one of your answers above you agree that it was part of a curriculum that involves exams. I can understand why there would be complaints.

peter02:

He is professional, he just needs to be more accurate. We all thought it could've been said in a polite way to him. That's the point.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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8 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Peter

Nobody believes you are a native English speaker because your English is not 'native'

 

In the case I described earlier there is no curriculum and no exams, hence, no problem!

 

 

peter02:

"Nobody believes you are a native English speaker because your English is not 'native'"

 

Hahahaha!! The way you write it really makes me laugh , speaking for everyone,  I'm sure now that you're Chinese, you write (sound) like one and I understand now your behavior. I pity you.

8 years 3 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

FTR - I don't care whether you're a NS or NNS, Chinese or not.

 

But, since you have actually stated that you are indeed a NS - then I'm prompted to dissect (because there are NNS English speakers who are great teachers and know more than NS, and there are NS English speakers who suck and should never be a teacher!)

 

Your collocations and grammar are off. You have a problem with using articles (inconsistent). There are problems with punctuation - but I normally ignore that cos we're on a forum. Basic (common Chinese) word formation errors.

 

Word choice is definitely non-standard.

 

All of the mistakes above are characteristic of Chinese NNS English speakers.

 

(I'm a former IELTS examiner, and I've graded thousands of Chinese writing tasks. You're not getting a 9!)

8 years 3 weeks ago
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MissA:

Yep, shining. Also putting random quotation marks around things that aren't actually quotes, as peter has done in his question. Icnif does this too but as he doesn't pretend to be anything he isn't I just deal with it. But seriously, it does my head in.  

8 years 3 weeks ago
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Posts: 13

Governor

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I don't understand why has it switched to the OP's identity? Who cares whether the OP is NS or not, that's not what he asked about here. He didn't say that it was right to "mix the materials" he just asked our opinion on supervisor and students behavior on that.

 

From what I see in the OP's description their supervisor sucks and students can easily betray anyone for a little thing and that's really bad IMHO. Of course I'd suggest to be careful in the future and everything but the best thing is to get the hell out of that place - not all SVs are jackasses.

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8 years 3 weeks ago
 
Posts: 28

Governor

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Peter, just tell your teacher that the best thing here is to ignore, things like that happen all the time, just be careful next time. Good luck.

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8 years 3 weeks ago
 
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A:  "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "S
A: "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "Shenzhen agent can connect you with an employer, who's authorized to hire waigouren ... and can sponsor Z visa." It's not like every 10th person you meet in Shenzhen's hood can sponsor work visa ...  The only way to change student visa to labourer one is just a regular way by: 1. Finding an employer, who'll apply for an Invitation letter; 2. Exit China and apply for Z visa in your home country's Chinese embassy; 3. Enter China in 30-days after Z visa was stamped into your travelling instrument ...As I am aware, you won't be able to switch to Working permit by remaining in China....,so make ready for a return to your home .... -- icnif77