Shunde Teacher
- 2010-05-06
I have read the posts on this subject and feel that those who are wanting to come teach at this school, should know some more information.
There are 7 foreign teachers working at the college at this time. The college is located a 20 min. bus ride to the city of Daliang. The bus leaves directly from the campus and buses run at least every 15 min. It is a 45 min. trip to the bus station in Daliang which connects you to most cities in Guangdong. Access to Guangzhou from this station is easy and convenient as there are many buses going to various places in Guangzhou. Daliang is a clean quaint city with many shopping centers and markets. Access to foreign foods (grocery) is quite good and there are many Western style restaurants. There is a movie theater that plays English movies often and many recreational activities in the city.
The Department which hires foreign teachers is different from the possible departments the foreign teacher will work in, so the "FAO" can not or does not support the teacher on academic considerations, such as class size. When many of us signed up we were told by the hiring department that class sizes would be around 30 - 45 students. Some have been lucky enough to have a class of 30, but others have had classes of 70 students, one oral English class was around 90 students and another was given a class with 140 students! The average oral English class size this past term seems to be around 65. As one can imagine teaching Oral English to 65+ students is not an easy task. The teacher has very little time for any individual attention and is lucky if they remember everyone's names by the end of term. What makes it harder is that only about 10% of the class are seriously motivated.
Some teachers have asked that a 'maximum student' clause be written into the contract. It was quickly refused by management. The reason being that nobody knows how many students they will let enroll until the time comes and class size is the responsibility of the individual departments. There is no protection for the foreign teachers in the area of class size. Those who sign on next year, may just see class sizes of 100+ being normal, seeing as the college's intake next year is going to expand.
The living accommodations are run by a different department all together and the foreign teacher is required to pay rent. Again the hiring department does very little to intervene on the foreign teacher's behalf should a problem arise, sighting the different department as the reason.
Despite the grievances with the HUGE class sizes, teachers here are for the most part, happy. All of the hiring and departmental staff are friendly and as accommodating as they can be. We are always paid on time (often early!). The campus is beautiful but seriously lacks food choice variety (1 restaurant, 1 little noodle shop and many canteens).
If you don't mind large class sizes and being a 20 min. trip away from the city, then this would be a good choice of school for you.
I hope this information helps those who are looking at signing with SDPT.
JP
- 2009-12-31
Hi Expat,
I'm currently teaching Oral English courses at Shunde Polytechnic. I've been here since January 2009, and so far I am satisfied with the campus and overall environment of Shunde.
It's true that in comparison to major cities in China (Shanghai, Beijing, HK, etc.) Shunde (Daliang, Ronggui, etc.) has had little exposure to foreigners. I am unaware of any definite/negative reason as to why few foreigners venture here, but I have met a handful of foreigners over the year, most of them teachers either at Shunde Polytechnic or other institutions in Shunde or Guangzhou.
Shunde is as you said 'land scrapped' and is sure to become yet another metropolis in time. However, there are a few towns that have maintained a relatively traditional image, for example, Jun An (ancestral home of Bruce Lee).
Living expenses in Shunde are minimal in comparison to Shenzhen or Guangzhou, and traveling to either city from Shunde is quite convenient (by bus: 45 minutes to Guangzhou, 2.5 hours to Shenzhen). Shunde Harbor is also a two minute drive from campus and ferries make daily trips to Hong Kong (Tsim Sha Tsui, 2 hours by ferry). A slight inconvenience is that the school is situated outside of both Daliang and Ronggui, but there's a bus that stops on campus and will take you to either area within 25 minutes.
Hope this helps, happy new year 新年快乐!
Peace,
JP
Jone Gui
- 2009-02-27
Shunde, a industrial city of 2 million population, located in Guangdong province, South P.R.China, is famous for Cantonese food, futnature, flower planting and household appliances. it is composed of several towns .
Average cost of single life in Shunde is about 1500 RMB which covers every thing. This is only for reference, the true cost depends on how you invest in your life.
sightseeing palces in Shunde: Baoling Buddhist Temple(15RMB for admission), Shunfeng Park (free enter), Qingjhui Garden( 200 years history,15 rmb for admission), Ancestor's house of Bruce lee( wold famous Gongfu master).
Shunde is 2 hours by ferry from shunde port to HONG KONG, 40 minutes by bus from shunde bus station to Guangzhou subway gate at present. rail road under construction will make 15 minutes of travel from shunde to down town of Guangzhou
Adam
- 2008-12-05
shunde polytechnic is located in Shunde district of Foshan city,Guangdong Province, P.R.China.
It is a public college financed by local Goverment. so far, it has 8400 fulltime students and 6300 part time adult students. 30 majors are offered in 11 departments. international education programme of TAFE with Australia North Sydney Institute and BTEC with U.K Adexcel Education Comittee are going here. Foreign languagees taught in shunde polhtechnic are English and Japanese, yearly average hireing of foreign tachers/ experts is 10.
Shunde polytechnic is about 40KM from Guangzhou. it is close to shunde port at where five ferries a day to Hongkong. life cost in shunde is lower than that in Guangzhou.
Sightseeing in Shunde: Baolinsi temple (Big), Qinghui garden(200 yaesr old), Old house of Bruce Lee's Family,Xishan temple(small).
There about 2 million people living in Shunde.Shunde was called "The Catpital of Household Appliances and Furniture". Shunde food is famous for its typical south China style.
NatthanM
- 2004-10-11
If you look closely, you'll notice the place she's talking about is in the South of China, not Liaoning. That said, I don't really have any better advice to offer. I thought I remember seeing a couple of posts about that school on Dave's ESL Job Information Journal, or the forums over there. You might want to go search them over.
Dos
- 2004-10-06
Can't provide any info on your school I'm afraid, but Dalian is a modern city, though quite small (for China). If you are looking for 'traditional'China I am afraid you will be dissapointed, unless you go to some tourist spots.
Just about all cities these days are concrete goliaths.
> Can anyone provide information on this school? It's a fairly new
> university, situated out of the city, and there are not many
> foreigners there. I think there's a reason there aren't many
> foreigners there, but...?
> How about Daliang? Life there, near there? Is this old traditional
> China, or is this an area that's been landscraped and newly paved?
> Cost of living around there? I'm told Guangzhou has a rather high
> cost of living compared to the rest of China (along with Shenzhen).
> Thank you in advance for any info, comments (good & bad),
> recommendations, etc.
Can anyone provide information on this school? It's a fairly new university, situated out of the city, and there are not many foreigners there. I think there's a reason there aren't many foreigners there, but...?
How about Daliang? Life there, near there? Is this old traditional China, or is this an area that's been landscraped and newly paved? Cost of living around there? I'm told Guangzhou has a rather high cost of living compared to the rest of China (along with Shenzhen). Thank you in advance for any info, comments (good & bad), recommendations, etc.