China has become a land of opportunity for expats as it offers a wide range of teaching jobs in different areas particularly in the ESL world. China has also opened its windows to many international education programs bridging aspiring Chinese students for overseas studies to the major English speaking countries in the world. So, many core subjects such as Mathematics, Sciences, Economics and Information Technology are now also being taught by foreign teachers or “Foreign Experts” as the Chinese government so refer.
Although not all foreigners come to China to work for a living, many expatriates who have the difficulty of finding jobs back in their home countries because of several reasons such as: recession, poor economy, underpaid labor, age requirements or professional qualification have been enjoying the generosity of China for years. Every key schools in big cities around China have foreign teachers. Many Middle Schools and High Schools in small cities, and few primary schools require the presence of foreign teachers in their campuses. Authorized Language schools that operate at nights and weekends need to have foreign teachers for them to be marketable. Many Colleges and Universities have hired foreign teachers, too. There are also schools that run without legal documents that still hire foreign teachers. The boom of foreign language teaching in China is on the rise and if you get one, you may consider yourself luckier than your local counterpart. Many foreigners have established and some re-established their lives through their teaching Career in this part of the planet.
However, on the other side of the story, some foreign teachers left China with bitter stories to tell their family and friends back to their countries because of their horrendous experiences due to cultural differences and their inability to adapt and control untoward situations. These issues often lead to students’ complains, unsatisfied parents and unhappy school administrators that finally turns to an unhealthy employee-employer relationship that cuts the string that attaches each other.
Although there are some unsuccessful teaching experiences caused by what is mentioned above, many expats have enjoyed their privileges as teachers in China because they have learned to become adorable.
Many foreign teachers learned how to Nag Nicely because when in China, you should master the art of nagging. When in China, you must know how to wait, and wait, and ask then ask. If your request was not done, ask again and wait again. If it is still undone, nag more and repeat the process until your request finally gets there. This is of course annoying but yelling and throwing tantrums won’t help. China gives importance to face and so you should learn to value yours, too. Others have learned to be instant entertainers. They have realized that to be a likable foreign teacher in China, you should be ready all the time. In classrooms, many have realized to be careful with the class "spies". There are also few who have finally realized that simplicity and sensitivity in some aspects are necessary in adapting to a new culture.
If you are planning to come to China and you like this post, and want to know more essential tips of how to be an adorable teacher in China, you may click on the book cover to read some more.
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