TEACHERS DISCUSSION FORUM
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Raoul Duke - 2008-03-19
In response to Re: teachers (steve)

Still a couple of problems here...

For one thing, China is not doing much to make itself very attractive to real, qualified teachers. Salaries tend to be very low...geared to giving the school management a certain level of profit rather than being internationally competitive. Also, the reputation of schools and practices here is starting to be heard...no matter what the reality of your school may be, the overall image of teaching here has been badly damaged- and perhaps deservedly so- by the methods and history of what seem to be the majority of places. The top teachers have plenty of choices in places that pay them top salaries and maintain more stringent educational practices.
There are real international schools in China that pay much higher wages and actually expect performance out of students in order to pass. THESE places generally have comparatively little trouble getting good teachers.

Then, there's little training or qualification a Western teacher can get that will prepare them for the realities of teaching kids here. Class sizes are huge. The classrooms are chaotic. If a student acts up, and the foreign teacher disciplines them, it's usually THE FOREIGN TEACHER who gets in trouble. All too often, grades are changed arbitrarily for kids with rich, influential parents. There's nothing I know of that can prepare a Western teacher to accept stuff like this.

LOTS of schools here want entertaining, engaging, effective teachers...but they also want to pay them 4,000 RMB a month, and take away all control of the program and outcomes from them. It just isn't going to happen...you can't have it both ways.
Long-term, big-picture bottom line: the teaching isn't going to improve until the schools do.

Messages In This Thread
teachers -- jinghui -- 2008-03-15
Re: teachers -- Raoul Duke -- 2008-03-18
Re: teachers -- joker -- 2008-03-19
Re: teachers -- steve -- 2008-03-19
Re: teachers -- Raoul Duke -- 2008-03-19
View Thread · Previous · Next Return to Index › Re: teachers





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