DB, I agree almost 100% with what you've said here. Maybe it's just a semantics problem. (And good on ya, Frank, for posting that article. The abusive state of the TEFL industry, especially in China, is Thank God finally starting to get some notice in the world mainstream media...)

I do agree completely that new teachers coming here usually ARE naive. I sure was when I first came over. But to be "naive" means you don't know any better...and I can't ascribe blame to this any more than I could blame a baby for being naive.

The schools, however, DO know better, and they are as you indicate taking full advantage of that naivete. I can definitely place blame on them.

I hope you're right about the prospects of government-level reform of the industry. It'll close down a lot of these dodgy operators that now make up the bulk of the industry, and it'll send home a lot of those teachers that shouldn't be here in the first place. And the industry will be better for it.

Unfortunately, I'm not too optimistic in China, at least not in the short run. There's too much money being made, there's too much corruption, and there's not much grass-roots demand for real standards here from the customers....who are also naive and also being taken advantage of.