Interesting that it's come to this - a choice between teaching in China or flipping burgers. Granted it's more an intellectual exercise than it is anything to be taken seriously, but I feel this is a good thread because it can also address the fact that there are and have been for a long time many FTs in China who went there with few qualifications. Even in this forum, such teachers have been referred to as incapable of getting a job beyond that of a pizza deliverer in their own country. Truth be known, many of those "pretend teachers" ended up doing a damn fine job while choosing to develop their skills as teachers. Others did not.

I think that there is a very real feeling among China's foreign teachers that things are just way too sketchy now. That is, there's no real security as private schools are facing harsher penalties for employing back pack teachers and the like, and universities etc. are seeing more clearly the need for hiring experienced and credentialed teachers.

Someone in this thread mentioned taking the time to get the training to be a legitimate teacher. Great advice. One reason this advice is worth heeding is that there is a quickly growing need in the West for qualified teachers because of the growth of international schools and a rapidly increasing influx of foreign students. Generally, these international schools pay quite well and have excellent benefit packages.

After seven years of teaching in China, I can empathize with anyone who has found it a rough go. Nevertheless, I'm glad I did it. Sure there were some hard times. In fact I ultimately developed a simple mantra in regards to employers: "One lie, goodbye." Needless to say, that meant "goodbye" more often than I would have liked. It took a couple of years to find a job I could really get into and an employer I could trust implicitly.

Bottom line, though? I really love China despite its hardships. Fascinating really - absolutely fascinating.

I think it important to note, too, that often when one becomes seriously involved with another country one's eyes are a little more open. That is, we notice the negatives more than we would in the comfort of our own environs.

I will return to China, but not as a teacher. That ship has sailed. But there's so much more to see and so many ridiculous platitudes and assertions that have been thrown out by those who've really not gotten out and about and form their opinions based on a small sampling of such a wonderfully diverse and dynamic country.

Does the education system suck in China? Yep. Generally speaking.