I then asked them what their grandparents did and most said they were peasant farmers. So I
asked if any of them were happy with their farms and did these kids consider their
grandparents to be successful or not.

China's economic growth in developed provinces has been compressed into 30 years, two generations.

In the U.S. and most of the Western world, post-WWI or WWII is 70 - 95 years ago, our own economic evolution. Western high school kids have absolutely no conception of what an agrarian life would look like. Yet many of our Chinese students are today eating Spring Festival dinner with their grandparents, surrounded by chickens and pigs.

Chinese students now still personally experience China's economic transformation. Sadly, I suspect in another generation students will no longer be able to eat freshly killed chicken and homegrown vegetables on the farm while listening to their grandparents stories of China's past, of struggle and hunger. Soon they will be like our children and grandchildren in the West, untouched by the values of physical labor and respect for the working man, buried in their internet lives with no grounding in the way that the world's poor still lives.

Thank you for your kind words. If you read between the lines you might even get an insight as to my own motives for teaching. After all, society tells us that in order to become successful we must take, take, take from wherever we can in order to amass as much material wealth as possible.

There comes a time in ones life when giving something back becomes just as important, if not more so.

Inner motivation is often influenced by outside forces though.

Here's a good case in point:

In a class of 16 year olds I was asked to tell them how to become "successful". I asked them what they thought defined the word "success".

Of course we soon had a list of material things such as big house, flashy car etc etc etc, because this is what society tells us success really is, right?

I then asked them what their grandparents did and most said they were peasant farmers. So I asked if any of them were happy with their farms and did these kids consider their grandparents to be successful or not.

Of course there was a resounding YES!

As you can imagine, these kids were then thrown into total confusion because society tells them that success is quite the opposite to what their grandparents are/were.

The subject continued to be discussed for a further 3 hours, and I don't think I've ever had such a bunch of attentive kids in all my time teaching.

So yes, inner motivation is most important providing you are able to restrict outside influences.

Agree. But as things progress, the Internet becomes more and more riddled with rubbish so it becomes more and more important to research information before regurgitating it.

In my opinion it all comes down to your own motive for teaching in this crappy world of ESL.

I do - have a fantastic and famous relationship with (my) students.

if that is true then they should be proud of it.

We look forward to the further adventures of this fantastic famous teacher.

Flash your Poncho, Nevada.

Fox, you've been on this board for a year and have never bragged about your teaching ability or the deep affection that your students have for you.

This pinyin sandwich poster has been here 5 seconds and:

"I do - have a fantastic and famous relationship with (my) students. So that the students and parents are so happy they request you for all classes and even insist they will only attend your classes."

His inability to write a complete sentence aside, he is a "hero in his own mind".

Teacher student relationships are critical in the learning process. Teacher arrogance is an obstacle, not a "fantastic and famous" asset.

Rich men don't talk about their wealth. Smart men don't discuss their intelligence. Skilled teachers.....

Incredible that both you and trump d'tard feel this way. When I used to work part time in a training centre, I used to have students contacting me to ask what my teaching schedule was so that they could book my classes.

There is nothing narcissistic about it either. Being popular with your students makes you feel like you are doing something useful.