It is unprofessional scum like you (and your buddies who replied
to this OP) that give all decent English teachers who do the right thing a bad
reputation.

I feel the need to point out that EF Dongguan wouldn't know the meaning of "decent" if it slapped them in the face with a chainsaw.

I spent three months of a 12 month contract at EF Dongguan alienated by a misogynistic boys club. A group of male teachers - in fact let's just be honest and call them sex tourists - are constantly sexually harrassing the school's female Chinese staff, openly having sex with female students (breach of professional boundaries) as well as prostitutes (breach of Chinese law; breach of the school's contract), the worst of it being the one who openly bragged in the teachers office about forcing a young Chinese woman to have sex with him (breach of basic human rights; breach of Chinese law and frankly a breach of my ears too). Horrifying.

Male teachers at EF Dongguan are openly encouraged by management and colleagues to take full advantage of the unregulated and illegal sex industry. What happened to teaching being a respected profession, and to teachers being responsible people? EF Dongguan makes a mockery of teaching as a profession in so many ways, not least by hiring men whose raison d'etre is to sleep with as many young naive Chinese women as possible, an activity for which teaching English provides a thin veil of disguise. Exploits are discussed during working hours (as well as when you are socialising), so you'd best get used to it. The DoS is a part of it so you have nowhere to go should you feel uncomfortable in any way. My induction at EF involved an afternoon of drinking beer and witnessing some of the most vile, chauvinistic conversation and behaviour I have ever experienced. Male 'teachers' harrassing Chinese women as they walked past us. Utterly humiliating for them and for me as a visitor in their home country.

If the person who wrote the above quotation DOES work for EF Dongguan, I would suggest taking a long hard look at the meaning of double standards and of the word hypocrisy. Have an honest conversation with yourself about the fairness of your expectations of staff when you present no clear boundaries and no example of decency yourself.... how the confidential nature of a manager/staff relationship is consistently breached and no level of trust can be established. EF Dongguan is a place where decent teachers who 'do the right thing' are marginalised, ignored, alienated and manipulated.... whilst the remainder of sexual deviants employed there are heartily congratulated and promoted for their 'efforts'.

I had to leave EF Dongguan without giving any notice because my colleagues were told if they broke their contracts they would face fines, be blocked when attempting to cross the border, and/or face deportation. Clearly the organisation would have little power to do this but behind these lies is an implied intention to make it as difficult for you to leave as possible. The contract stipulates that unless you have a "valid reason" (working alongside a sex offender? probably not valid enough) EF can withhold payment for your final working month. This is not good practice, and not a risk I was willing to take, given the circumstances.

I am posting this because other female teachers have the right to know the situation they would face working at EF Dongguan. Travelling alone in Asia has its risks but one should be able to expect her western employer would not contribute to this but provide a barrier against it. Teaching abroad should be a fun, challenging and enriching experience for everyone. My experience in China transpired as anything but. I had no concept of how naive I was before I arrived at EF Dongguan. Had I known then what I know now, I would have given the establishment a very wide berth indeed. What a sad situation for all involved.