Logicus
- 2010-02-24
Yup, one should neither blame nor discriminate against former foreign teachers of training centers.
Most of 'em had initially made the mistake of taking a position there on account of the misleading and slick advertising, and higher than average salaries offered by such outfits, as well as the ease that foreigners not holding bachelor's degress can get such jobs due to dishonest training center bosses being able to wangle Z visas for their foreign teaching staff without such tertiary paper qualifications. Maybe there are also some willing workhorses among job applicants who have a genuine desire to bite the bullet of doing the job well as opposed to going through the motions of doing it without necessarily achieving much, which is what many foreign teachers do in Chinese classrooms at public schools, colleges and unis packed to the gunwhales with students. The latter situation is always a lose-lose scenario for students, but money for old rope for lazy foreigners, of which I'm one, and unashamedly so! Why work yourself to death for a high salary when you can have an easy life for a salary more than 1/2 of a high one by working basically parttime hours by western standards without any pressure from your head of department regarding your teaching?
helmut wingnut
- 2010-02-23
Yo Turnoi, I hear your criticism of Aston and it's brethren, but I wouldn't go so far as to say, as you have, that one shouldn't hire a teacher who's had the misfortune of working in such environments. Working for a poorly run school doesn't mean a teacher runs a poor class or is under qualified. I've worked at Aston and ultimately left because of the greed, corruption, incompetence and all-around ugliness of the local boss-man. However, I don't think the idea behind the kind of education Aston provides, or the way it is intended to be implemented is bad. In fact, I'm sure I could run a successful Aston school myself. Why the Chinese bosses and managers always lose the forest for the trees while they snap jiao in two with pincer's grip is a bit of a mystery. Don't business schools or sources for business training teach anything about taking a wider view and not just ripping off anyone and everyone for small amounts of money and in so doing undercutting the possibility of the lasting success that is built on quality of teaching, camaraderie, and a sense of a dignified purpose?
Ah well, the point is, the teachers aren't to blame for getting saddled with a shitty, morally and spiritually bankrupt excuse for boss, with his beak clamped hard on the nearest 5 mao note. There just to be blames for coddling such a despicable creature, and sacrificing successive ranks of good people to toil under the fold of P-rickdom.
I've met several really good Aston teachers, and I wouldn't hesitate to hire someone with Aston or EF on their record, because they probably had to bust there asses, make their classes very entertaining, teach kids just out of diapers while parents watched on, and otherwise have their teaching metal tested. The Aston books are actually quite good, and a teacher could learn a lot about the communicative method, etc., just from teaching with them.
I'd rather hire a teacher with significant experience in the hell of private schools, then hire someone who just went through the motions in a public school without ever having to really teach in an intensive environment.
Private schools ideally are a good idea, with small classes, a wide range of levels, and quality materials. Unfortunately, they take teachers for granted and often treat them like shit.