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Q: 40 hour week and Chinese training schools
Ok me no understand this one.
My SO has just taken on a new job for a Chinese training school. Apparently she has to stay in school in the mornings to prepare lessons and teach in the afternoons with a total of 40 hours per week.
Is this is a normal type of contract, being made to stay at school to prepare lessons instead of home?
Having worked in 5 countries and for large chains and small schools the norm is 24hr per week teaching and lesson prep at home with maybe 6 hours office work per month.
7 years 38 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
Yes, Chinese mills sometimes offer Contract with office hours, which they don't consider as 'working'. Pay is only for '24 teaching terms'.
I consider 'office hours' as working and would agree to such Contract, if I'd receive pay for it. No luck, yet!
You'll usually receive pay only for the class hours with office hours required in the Contract. That's why at Contract negotiating Q: 'Do I have an office hours?' is very important.
You must clear that before you sign Contract, and if answer is 'No', make sure that's written in the Contract and if answer is 'yes' (I) ask for the higher salary.
Also, clear the meaning of 'class' and 'hour' in the Contract. Make sure you know the length of term written in Contract in minutes.
Your SO's condition is, I would say, the norm..Until you get a year under your belt, considering the materials you are given, (i.e Wall Street, Meten, New Channel...my experiences) you will need office hours and home hours to get your lesson plans at a place where you can be comfortable with them. Provided materials rarely are sufficient and will be confusing
Training schools like to utilize your presence also..The foreigner is there for the sales team to show off..The foreigner is there for casual conversations with students...etc...Your office hours are also a part of marketing.
To clarify, my SO is Chinese.
What I have heard this is normal for such teachers. Office gimp/photocopy monkey by morning and teach in the afternoon.
I am glad I have a University contract, go to class, teach, go home. Pay may be lower, but greater autonomy, which is immeasurably better than a 40 hour contract.
icnif77:
All Chinese teachers work that way. Currently, I am in the Public Private School, and I am first foreign Oral English teacher at the School.
I asked about 'office hours' and answer was 'yes, you are required office hours, because sometimes students want to talk to you....'.
However, there wasn't possibility of pay increase, and I told owner, if students want to talk to me, we can always have a talk after my last class. I will stay at school as long as students are in my office.
I maybe talked to 5 students in 4 months I am working here.
'add-it': Contract isn't given, but it can be negotiated. My 'edited' Contract is with 'no office hours' and 'apartment off the Campus' as two perks I negotiated before my signature.
seansarto:
It's pretty much the same for Chinese at training centers, I've observed...Have someone present to deal with potential sales..There's a little more "team" building on the Chinese side though, I'd say....Why it is that way at training schools is because universities aren't so hard up for sales...students are already under contract ...pretty obvious stuff
Yes, very normal!
For both Chinese & FTs, it's also so that they can control them. Control is very important to bosses! Can't let menial employees think they have anything of their own! If it wasn't for those fkn labour laws, employers would have their employees stay at the company 24/7!!!
Also, by having them in the office, they're not stealing students and tutoring them privately - and thus, taking money away from the boss.
As Icnif said - they shold be paying for time - what you do with that time is, somewhat, irrelevant! so, if they want you in the office for an additional 20 hours per week - damn well pay for it!
Wow, thanks for being enlightened guys.
So this is what it really means when you see jobs on ECC and elsewhere stating 15-20k a month for private school teaching.
I would argue that a teacher can only effectively teach 24 teaching hours per week i.e classroom time. Having office time on top must, to a certain degree, wear down teaching efficacy during the week.
Two hours a week doing office hours and placement testing on a non teaching day was enough for me when I worked at an International chain.
Shining_brow:
Obviously, it will depend on your classes. If you're teaching the same lesson to all your classes, you only need 1 lot of office hours for lesson plans.
If you've got 6 different levels and types of classes, it means 6 different lots of office hours dedicated to lesson planning.
If it's 1-1 VIP stuff - it will depend on each student...
When I was looking at jobs back home, 20 class hours was the max!
roystetdoyster:
Yes, 24 teaching hours max per week , with the implication that lesson planning was done either at home or in the staff room, your choice. I usually did most of the lesson planning at home with a weekly photocopying session in the office.
Worst part of office hours was that mine was usually on a Friday afternoon and a student would come in for placement testing just as I was about to leave....grrrr.
Shining_brow:
Friday afternoon has to be the most ridiculous time to allocate office hours! The only logical reason for having it then is to do marking of homework/tests. Otherwise, fairly pointless for lesson planning (which would be better done over the weekend or Monday morning).
Students certainly aren't interested in talking to teachers then... they just want to go home!
roystetdoyster:
Yup that's international schools for you - teachers at the mercy of the timetabling department. Strange though that everybody at DOS level manage to avoid such joy. Strange that....
I just sucked it up, as it meant that I wouldn't work in the evenings. Something i steadfastly refuse to do nowadays along with weekends working. I am available to teach from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday that's reasonable hours me thinks
I do love the 'cannot compute' on the University administrators face when I state that yes by all means you can send me a message on the weekend, but I will read and answer on Monday morning thankyou.
Work life balance and all that, Oh yes we don't have such work practices here. Remember the Chinese rule here - learn from the Barbarians but never be like them.
