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Posts: 119

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Q: Are foreign teachers in China expected to truly teach or just be a white face/clown?

I'm going to start teaching soon, and I've heard different kinds of stories from people. Some say their schools didn't ask them to give out homework, correct tests, etc...so the kids didn't care, and expected to have fun during class.

I got no problem with having fun, but if they just treat the whole thing as a joke, how am I ever going to keep discipline or even interest in learning English?

12 years 41 weeks ago in  Teaching & Learning - China

 
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Posts: 144

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Basically Chinese are raceiest and they love white skin only.

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12 years 23 weeks ago
 
Posts: 783

Shifu

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Training schools young kids 5 8 year olds a real clown,9 upwards ok,i teach in a Primary school very good public school all students have a notebook which their parents see everyday if the Chinese teacher lets you fill it in you can easily run a class,but try also to make it fun they study very hard and need a little fun

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12 years 23 weeks ago
 
Posts: 19

Governor

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I am part R.Lee Ermey... Part St Augustine.

NEVER cut them slack.

Tell them up front- you have better things to do with your time than entertain a bunch of 

Sha bi's.

Love the one who want to learn  like crazy and shame the rest either into following or leaving.

I do play guitar-  but that is a treat, not a curriculum item.

Stop trying to make sense of idiots...

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12 years 18 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2604

Shifu

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You have a valid point and argument. Most of the training centers only care to take the customers money. It was said many times just make sure you do the demo good that's the most important thing because they can collect the money. To put it simply blunt to you they don't really care how you teach it's as long as you can get the customer to buy into what they are selling. 

Are you willing to go along with what they are trying to sell? If you believe that what they are trying to sell is not worth buying it's best not to be apart of that company and look elsewhere. Because many schools, training centers in China only care about taking the students money. You can play poker skip classes, make the students finish a jigsaw puzzle and only say 2 to 3 english words. It doesn't matter to many of the companies. 

You won't ever be giving a test in any of the centers or most of the schools you will be working for. It's not a requirement. They want you to talk to the students and practice their oral english. 

As far as discipline is concerned many discipline students by yelling at them. I've seen chinese and foreign give students the same type of treatment. It doesn't matter! You can try to discipline the kids one way but if they are use to being disciplined by the teacher yelling at them they will know when to stop when the teacher yells so be expected to learn how to yell at your students if that is what they are use to. They won't understand your disciplinary actions. 

NileRafter24:

So how do you know all this? hmm?

12 years 17 weeks ago
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12 years 17 weeks ago
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12 years 17 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4

Governor

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what do you expect,if you are told that you should use activities  like games and songs in class,remember your teaching oral English,so how can you give homework in Oral class,you correct them as you teach,so nothing much

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12 years 12 weeks ago
 
Posts: 196

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I call it the white monkey syndrome, you are in fact a white monkey that is rare and is able to do tricks, they make shit loads of money off you and pay you in peanuts.
Your are a special monket couse you can speak so they can make even more money off you and pay you some more peanuts, if you are a really special monkey that can speak and dance and tell jokes then they can make even more money off you and pay you a few more peanuts.

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12 years 12 weeks ago

Come on thumbs down everything I say. rnrnPlease I like it thumbs down some more.

 
Posts: 9

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I think its if the face fits  ie   white,puts bums on seats and gets the fees rolling in

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12 years 4 weeks ago
 
Posts: 6321

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It all depends on the school or university you are teaching. Some want  a Foreign Monkey who will enntertain the students and bring in the Yuans.
HOWEVER, not all the fault lies on the school alone, many of the teachers have themselves to blame. There are schools that want a serious teacher and give their expectations to said teacher. The teacher (may be 20, may be 50 years old) on the other hand, just wants to party, or chase girls/boys. Often they dont prepare for class and try to "wing it" or play gaymes until inspiration hits them.  Some will show movies to the students while they themselves take a nap or nurse a hangover, etc.
Please note, I am NOT blaming ALL teachers, but there are many who behave as described a bove and then complain that they "dont get no respect".
Finally, there is also the bureaucracy issue. Maybe the school wants a serious teacher, maybe the teacher wants to do a good job BUT there are so many bureaucratic hurdles to overcome, books that do more harm than good yet we are sometimes required to use them anyway, etc. that many teachers just give up.

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12 years 4 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1008

Shifu

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It's the parents. It's always about the parents. I've known well qualified good teachers come and go because they wanted to teach, but the drunk who can sing, dance and play guitar stays. Go figure

Techtronix:

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winners!  Principals will do anything to please the parents because they are the ones paying the fees. Qualifications be damned - just keep those mothers smiling and the money will keep flowing!

10 years 2 weeks ago
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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4

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i dont know how to start but when they give advertisement for english teacher y they bother abt from which country they belong ?
they are much concerned to white monkeys as i am experiancing it y dont they see there ability ogf talking and teaching i dont know why they need the white people .
i believe they are good at english it doesnt mean they are the the only one to teach .

crimochina:

they want native pronunciation and terms that are specific to countries like usa uk aus can etc.remember the people in this country are ignorant to the outside world they think the engl in uk is the same as the engl in usa

12 years 3 weeks ago
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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
Posts: 9

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America took the English language  and destroyed it,yes i agree a white face makes the money for the schools, but i myself think it is so  hard too teach the English way here in China

HugAPanda:

We didn't destroy it. We just adapted it and made it ours. 

12 years 5 days ago
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Jíliú.hé:

how would you what proper English is supposed to sound like.

12 years 4 days ago
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ronuk:

Because i am English  

11 years 50 weeks ago
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12 years 6 days ago
 
Posts: 18

Governor

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I think, the best solution is to ask your leader what exactly they want from you. I've been teaching here for 5 years now and I have discovered that at public schools and universities they want you to dress smartly, behave like a Chinese teacher (strict, calm, conservative and father-like) take a shower twice a day and teach the book they have given you at the beginning of the course. As for private schools, you don't have to do the things mentioned above, just come there and do something to make students laugh and like you in general. That was my experience.

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11 years 35 weeks ago
 
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  The class is what you make it; i've walked into a new teaching position where the student's previous teacher had been a joke, and all the kids expected me to be the same. It wasn't difficult to turn it around though, once you engage them they generally want to learn. As for homework that's up to you. The school most likely won't give a damn if you give it or not.

But are teachers treated as a joke? Actually I was just remarking to a colleague the other day as I was taking off my bunny costume, having played human climbing frame at our summer school party for five hours, "This is the first time in my life I feel my services have been truly valued and i've been really taken seriously in the workplace."

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11 years 35 weeks ago
 
Posts: 6

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I understand now why they hate so much to have a black teacher hehe!
funny chinese people don't really care about the way to get to results only the results matter for them...

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11 years 34 weeks ago
 
Posts: 703

Shifu

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Depends on the school and the class.

 

Most students want to learn while enjoying the class at the same time.

You need to be able to teach to be respected by the students, and also be able to keep them enjoying the classes to be liked by them. That is for teenagers and adults, but for young kids maybe the school just wants a 'white monkey' who can babysit.

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11 years 31 weeks ago
 
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My experience is in private training centres. The students/parents pay a lot of money to be taught by white native speakers. It is a business, and the customer is always right. The schools provide what their customers want. Most of these centres have 100% glass classroom walls etc. You are just a goldfish in a bowl for people to look at. So long as you are friendly and speak with in a clear voice, they are happy. The teaching material they provide is pretty much useless and boring.

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11 years 30 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1201

Shifu

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Depends on the schools themselves...............the teacher does his job according to what they atmosphere asks for..............End of Story

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11 years 30 weeks ago
 
Posts: 38

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     God Bless you, All good teachers.        

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11 years 21 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1968

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I work in the government school system in an officially bilingual school, one of very few.  The other foreign teachers and I are held to the same standard as our Chinese colleagues; our classes are observed regularly for both delivery and content; we interact with the parents, etc., etc., and I have never felt less like  a "white monkey or black monkey" or whatever in my life.  The other teachers with whom I work say the same thing -- in fact, foreign teachers are infrequently let go for not being up to par (in the Admin's opinion, not mine).   It's quite the tightrope but the salary is good and the perks are quite good too.

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11 years 21 weeks ago
 
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As educators, we would like to all believe that we are in fact wanted for our teaching skills. But in China there seems to be a major conflict between what mothers and schools want for teachers. Parents seem to be focused only upon having a native English speaker that is good-looking and makes their children laugh and be happy every day.  School principals and administrators on the other hand are first focused on getting this good-looking native English speaker at a low cost, and teaching abilities are a secondary concern EXCEPT at universities and international schools.  TEFL certificates are not required to teach in China but not having one gives the school a reason to negotiate your salary down.  The reality is that in the end, your looks, "entertainment value" and citizenship from America, Canada, Australia, and the U.K. will trump what matters most in western countries - experience and academic credentials.

 

If China had higher standards, more than half of today's FTs in China would be looking for other work. 

juanisaac:

They just increased their standards not so long ago, and a few thousand teachers left.  However, Chinese employers like to be cheap wanting to pay M.A. and Phd. teachers 5,000 a month- just like Chinese professors. With higher standards, there needs to be higher salaries. When offering such low salaries, or higher salaries with very high teaching hours and the schools are loosing half of their potential good teachers who do not want to come for poverty wages.

So what do you propose should be teacher standards?

10 years 2 weeks ago
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CFTU.Admin:

What they changed in July of 2013 was adding the requirement of a criminal background check, which we really cannot argue with. Every child in the world needs this safeguard.  We proposed a teaching standard on our website which I will make a separate topic here so people can give their feedback and suggestions. We actually met with the Minister of Education in 2012 and some of our ideas were/are being implemented.  Admittedly we were shocked that we were not just blown off.

10 years 2 weeks ago
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10 years 2 weeks ago

There is a solution for every problem.

 
Posts: 19790

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I take a bit different angle regarding my work:

 

For Chinese students, English language is extremely difficult! Maybe even 'annoying' so my goal is to make students like me, first! I try to show them, we can all have fun, while learning English!

Often, I sit in their chair, and make them teaching me Chinese, so they can realize I can be as 'ben' as they are (feel), when I'm correcting their English mistakes.

 

'If they like me, they'll probably accept my English lessons with ease and fun!'

 

At my first class last year in Public School Grade 3 (Principal was in the class), I 'thought' them how to make paper plane and boat. Kids got wild, and they are always happy, when we have an English class.

 

Principal told me last May at my start, students in Grade 4 should recite one lesson from our book (after 1M of classes, every 2 two weeks each grade) in the end of semester.  All teachers in the School will observe 'presentation'.

 

Impossible IMO, after 3 classes with 50 students in each classroom.

 

I picked the lesson for presentation with three different characters, and assigned 6 students (10' before presentation) with three books. They conducted presentation in pairs: one was reading from the book, and other one was repeating it.

 

Presentation was success, and everybody (kids included!) was happy in the end!

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10 years 2 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3269

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It should LOOK LIKE you're teaching so the parents are happy, which in China means you should be standing at all times, children should be looking nose down in books or straight at you, and the occasional choral rehearsal of English words, aided by the memory of the best rote-learner in class. When parents aren't there, emphasis should be placed on being fun for the kids, like a punching bag, climbing rack, bullseye, or if you're lucky a game host.

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10 years 2 weeks ago
 
Posts: 544

Shifu

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Sometimes that's the case (and sometimes, I find Westerners too willing to play the part if the pay is good, and/or they just don't care).

 

I've had jobs before, mostly at kindergartens, where I was expected to just be a dancing monkey, for the children to laugh at. 

 

However, I don't play the role. When I find I'm just there to be a clown, I tell them that I'm an English teacher. I'm not there to be a "foreigner", an "other" to be laughed at, and that the minstrel show is over. I've already done this at a few jobs. 

 

In the US, if a principal from an American school said that they wanted some yellow foreign monkey to play the clown for the amusement of children, be the "foreigner" to laugh at, the principal would be told to piss off.

 

And yeah, I know, "It's different, with Chinese characteristics. It's not the West, etc." I don't really care. Basic respect and dignity isn't something that I forfeit just because I'm in China.

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10 years 2 weeks ago
 
Posts: 928

Shifu

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In training centers, you are expected to both entertain as well as teach. It's a hard line of work, and it may be slightly dangerous if you aren't careful about your methods of "entertaining" (can't offend any cultural sensibilities.)

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10 years 2 weeks ago
 
Posts: 55

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Jetfire is right and I hate having to "perform" like I am on a stage.

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10 years 2 weeks ago
 
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