I would say that I'm a real teacher. Just because I don't have a degree in education doesn't mean that I'm not qualified. The qualifications here are just different. My students are learning and I put a lot of time and effort into planning my lessons. I teach business at a university so maybe I feel like it's more of a real teaching position than when I just taught English.

I've gone back and forth on this. I've been here 8 months. I teach a private school, supplementary after-school program, evenings and weekends to 9-13 year olds. I also teach the native Chinese teachers.

For the first 2 months, I was determined to English the hell out of everyone and soak up as much Chinese as I could. Later, I found a stopping point, basically that I'm not taken all that seriously and that Chinese is effin' tough.

I'm at a point now somewhere in the middle. Yes, I am a real teacher (even have a teaching degree in the states), but my standards are lower. English is not for everyone, and most of my students are forced to be there and not there by their own choosing. Therefore, if the students who don't care can simply speak 1 sentence during the 90 minutes I'm with them, I'm happy. I'll teach to the kids who do, I can see them clearly benefit. For the kids who do care, learn 2-3 new words and a new sentence structure. Then play a game that hopefully reviews and reinforces both old and new material. They can leave having gained something in English, therefore they've learned and I've taught. I'm a teacher.

China doesn't need a country that speaks English, just a small percentage that can.

although i'm a good teacher here, im not a real teacher because i cant teach in my home country i knew that form the time i was applying for jobs in the states.

Why do you think you aren't a real teacher?
I know professors where I teach who have nothing more than experience in their fields and BA degrees who teach their students like champs. I know professors who have their Masters in Education and a PhD in another field who really shouldn't be teaching a dog a new trick, let alone college students how to do their thing in the real world.
Depending on the age of your students, and if they have opted to take your class, you're going to get different results.
Young children maybe 15% are willing and open to being in the class they are assigned to to accomplish the tasks of that class. If you reach that 15%, especially in another country, and one as tough as China, you're doing awesome.

It really depends on the school, op. At my first Chinese teaching job, it took about a day or two.

I taught (IT) in three different countries before I came to China. I taught in offices rather than schools, offering certifications on various bits-and-bobs. When I got into English teaching here (because working IT here is a nightmare, and no one wants to hire a foreign IT teacher here, for some reason, though they could damn well use one), the difference were obvious right away.

So the first three English teaching jobs in China were basically "Look at the foreigner! Dance foreigner!" They didn't care what went on in the classroom as long as the students were happy. My classes had no associated tests, and were expected to be entertaining rather than informative. The Chinese colleagues made it clear to me that I was not a real teacher, even the friendly ones. Some, when I was teaching very young children, would bring their adult friends to my classes and call me 外国小丑, or 'foreign clown'. My understanding is that a lot of schools are like this.

It was particularly infuriating, as the Chinese teachers I've worked with (except at the current school) have only ever had rudimentary English skills. If anything, they just drilled errors into the students' heads, and gave them a false sense of confidence that quickly crossed the boundary into self-delusional arrogance. Students who couldn't put a sentence together, or even say one word clearly, would correct my English.

I don't blame the Chinese. 9/10 foreign teachers don't even bother to do their jobs, or even show up to work half the time; they just fake their way through their awful, terrible classes and are just looking "sailor moon pussy" (as one respected colleague put it) or some extra money to fund their sight-seeing. Even the good teachers get culture shocked, and tend not to finish their contracts. The Chinese adjusted to this by defining a foreign teacher as an entertaining retard, because that was the only way they could make hiring a foreign teacher feasible. If I was a Chinese teacher making a quarter of the salary, I'd hate those crackers too.

In my current school, I am actually expected to teach a proper class, just like I was back in the other three countries, and the school is extremely results-oriented. I make a lot more money than a lot of English teachers to go along with that responsibility.

Except nearly everyone is still poisoned with the idea that I'm not a real teacher, just an entertainer, and it is nearly impossible to get through to my students. I'm a polyglot myself, and I have been continually keeping up-to-date on applied linguistics since Uni. It has been an uphill battle to get the students to actually clench their teeth and put the kind of effort they need to put into my classes, and to realize that my classes are meant to be rewarding, rather than entertaining. I know what it takes to learn a language, and it's not fun, and it is not passive. But the schools have had to convince the Chinese as a whole that passively watching an entertaining foreigner is the only way to learn a language, because an entertaining, useless foreigner was generally all they could ever provide.

China is a teacher's nightmare. Not much more to be said. You can try to take the ethical path, and be the best teacher you can be in spite of everything, but you'll be pushing a boulder of tourist teachers up that hill.

If you know how to effectively pass on the information you teach to your students then you're a teacher. If you're a foreigner who's just teaching to make a quick buck and you don't know what you're doing then it's safe to say that you're not a teacher. I majored in art but I plan on being an art or ESL teacher when I settle in the US permanently. I am a teacher and proud of it.

Having a BA in Edu, doesn't make you a teacher the same as having a BA in Science doen't make you a Scientist. Experience makes you a teacher, at least two years of full time teaching. If you are finding by then you are getting results, your classroom management is not sending you around the bend and most of all you like doing it you can safetly say you are a teacher. Coupled with the respect you get from your Chinese Colleagues and ex students makes it sink in even more. I teach at a University. Training schools are usually different as the Foreigner is a symbol. I taught in Korea and it was the Foreigner that got the students for the Boss, but the Bosses there were complete.........
When I came to China I didn't want to be a symbol any more, I wanted to be a good teacher, so I put a lot of work into it which has paid off after four years of teaching!
If your school tells you to dance and sing, get another job if you want to be a teacher
One month of teaching here is not enough to guage what you are, even the Chinese teachers need to get at least two years of experience before they are considered teachers and then they are only given junior classes.
Don't be too hard on yourself, research your lessons, get to know your students, be firm, set an example and above all don't stress!
I get paid to Teach so yes I am a Teacher, 4 years ago I was flapping around like a chicken with it's head chopped off.

While there's more to teaching than qualifications, if you wouldn't be allowed into a classroom at home then you're not a 'real' teacher. You may actually be a better imparter of knowledge than a 'real' teacher in your own country (to be nice) but probably not (being truthful). The standards are so low here that any career oriented ESL teacher would probably be ashamed to add China to their CV, especially if they want to work in the Middle East or Europe.

Personally, I came in expecting to be a monkey despite the CELTA qualification and was not disappointed. Three months in I'm now  treated less as a monkey and allowed to deviate from my company's crappy 'method' and engage my students in a proper teacher-student manner. They appreciate, finally, that the unqualified people they had before were useless and that the only way to justify their ridiculously high fees (a full third more than EF) and make money is by giving a better standard of education. And that means not just employing the first white person they see. I'm sure they'll regress, but it's better than it was.

I do my level best to work within the confines of what is expected of me (fun! song! dance! noise!: yes!... think, reflect internalise, engage: no!). 

I also try to balance that with my own desire to do the best I can for the kids. It's challenging and frustrating and I haven't found the proper balance yet.

It is a learning process and like most learning process it takes time. Ok, you have come to the conclusion you are not a "real" teacher. What makes you not be a real tieacher? Teaching style? A piece of paper that says you went to "teaching school"?  I assume you have a university degree and you are a native speaker. Good. Now, take stock of your abbilities and see what works and what not.  If you ever studied a foregn language, take a gander at your old books, they have great ideas for giving a language class. Give short (no more than ten minutes)  "lectures" about western culture or that of your hometown and discuss the similaties and differences between yours and your students. Believe it or not, just beause your students are Chinese does not mean that they all have exactly the same culture.  Give them info on our mores, etiquette, . I have even had a lecture about all the different cutlery we use in the table.
Depending on the language ability, I discuss different topics like "if women ruled the world"(this one gets GREAT participation! Boys show thier contempt and girls are quick to respond. Most participate), global warming fact or fiction, if fact what can we do about it, etc.  Take news , both serious (japan earthquake) or funny and have the students comment on them (always ask one or two "Why?" to get them to actually speak and not just say yes or no.). Sports, relationships, are great topics as well.  I sometimes will go to the "Dear Ann Landers" type of  advice columns and discuss the quesiton with the students and see what they would recomend if they were the "friend" that the writer was asking advice from (here the colums have everything, child rearing, relationships, friendship problems, etiquette, etc.).

What things do foregn teachers do that reduces our esteem? Showing too many movies in class, playing too many games, doing all the talking, making jokes and being clowns (note, humor is a GREAT teaching tool, BUT one has to be careful not to go overboard. Our class is not a "Comedy Club").
Also, it helps a lot to get the advice or "pointers" from teachers you respect, both Chinese and foreign.
On a final note, I was once invited by one of my Chinese colleagues to attend his class.  His teaching style was to read from the text book verbatim, while the students up front under lined passages from the book, the ones in the middle sort of read along and  the ones in the back played with thier phones. On paper, they may be "real" teachers but in practice?
Bottom line is that you are as good or as bad a teacher as you allow yourself to be. What I try to do is see what the expectations of the students AND of the school are and if reasonable I try to accomodate. Some have asked me to give emphasis to western culture (reasonable) while others have asked me to help them prepare for the CET 4, or 6 (unreasonalbe).
By what you tell us, you prepare for your classes and you take your job seriously. I think you can be a great teacher, just dont give up and never be afraid to re-invent yourself. Things that work great for one class may fall flat on another, and  vice versa.
I do not consider myself a great teacher, I still have a lot to learn but I do stand out from some of my colleagues in that I do not just show movies, play games , tell jokes etc. as too many do, be it out of ignorance, or not caring or even simple lazyness.
Best of Luck!!!!!!

Define "real" teacher. What you call a real teacher is the perception and the conditions that YOU have to created.

This comes from YOUR mind, and this does not affect us.

I'm not going to accept somebody elses label just because in their opinion they think its right.

I'd say students here aren't real students