GoKunming Forums

Is it just me, or?

Tonyaod (824 posts) • 0

@AlexKMG

Most people have the false belief that Foreign teachers are recruited for their teaching ability, it is not. We are recruited to full-fill function and the function is to either attract students at a private language center or as a trophy in Public universities so that they can report to their higher ups that they have a vibrant international program. THAT'S IT, no more, no less. Sad, but that is the crux of the problem.

@Chingis, cloudtrapezer

The fact that nationals of one country is operating an enterprise in a foreign country negates the facts of the business environment? There are many paid advertisers on GK that are Chinese and probably harbors the same views and are scratching their heads over the big deal over this argument. Are those sponsors not as important as our sensibilities? Should the web master alienate their customer base?

And since we are on the topic of political correctness, here are some winners from the personals:

"Pretty hot chick out there?

I am a foreign guy and 26 years old, looking for a female partner for casual sex and fun sometimes.

I want a female friend between 25 to 35 (not married please) for relaxing time and fun and sex."
—————————————————————-
Is anyone, bored, alone and horny?

Hi, Is anyone, bored, alone and horny?
If so, let's fix this problem, lets have some fun on skype today.
—————————————————————-

Isn't sexism and chauvinism just as bad as racial discrimination? And yet where is the uproar over this? Should these ad be removed as well?

cloudtrapezer (756 posts) • 0

Article 13 of the PRC Labour Law states that employees or
applicants for employment must not be discriminated against on the
basis of nationality, race, gender, or religious belief.

The Hong Kong Race Discrimination Ordinance makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against another person in the arrangements the employer makes for the purpose of determining who should be offered that employment.

The editors of Go Kunming should pay particular attention to the latter as their website is hosted in Hong Kong and presumably subject to Hong Kong law.

Quester (233 posts) • 0

Maybe Kunming is more accustomed to sexism and chauvinism? More is the pity. Ideally we would have none of those...

eric25001 (41 posts) • 0

An alternative that I give is hire a maid from the Phillipines. They speak very good english as many or the ones you would want to hire attended Catholic school. When a child is 6 months old they should start to hear and interact with the english speaking maid and when the child is 5 or 6 they should speak english and chinese like a native. Just my opinion.

I speak English and my wife speaks Chinese to our baby. From my observations in several places Panama, Italy, Germany, China) the children grow up with both parents ability.

Maybe robots and IA and brain implants will make this a non topic in 50 or 100 years.

The Dudeson's (1106 posts) • 0

I was working with black guy together quite a few times and their canon was that it sometimes sucks but it is not always as bad as it seems.
Plus some of those guys also mentioned that most of the schools and (the customers/parents) are crappy anyway, so good riddance.
As in everything in China these days, there is a shift in awareness about what is essential and what quality is.

In terms of school having those demands they are not to be taken serious as education institutes, obviously. Plus it's a market demand of the customer's market 'education'. Those schools following this path are businesses and not education institutes.

About the 'white face money machine' I don't know where some of you guys work, but in the last few years, I found jobs that wanted professionalism and high teaching quality, so I am sure that there are bad schools like that around, but if you work for those it's your own fault and then you shouldn't complain about it.

About capitalism, I don't know much about the U.S. but the most capitalistic market place I ever went to is P.R.C. On paper it may be a socialist country but I have never seen a place that is so in love with money and where the tiniest service has to be paid for. Everyone is crazy about profit and people would screw their grannies over for just one Jiao of profit. So that's what I feel capitalism is like, compared to China, the United States is a Hippie Socialist Joyride.

About qualified teachers, define qualified. Does a two week on campus TESL certificate already make someone a good teacher? Or does it have to be University diploma to be a master of the craft.
Do you guys know how many teachers in Europe are not equipped with a teaching degree?

So why is China such a stronghold for the demand of certification, even more than in bureaucratic Europe?

Furthermore...do you mean good teachers or qualified teachers? Because there is a big difference.

I have been in hiring positions for years and so far (in 15 years teaching in China) I have met 5, 6, or maybe 7 good teachers that had teacher qualification, the best teachers I ever hired or worked with were cross-career or unqualified teachers.
And it makes sense, those teachers coming from other careers and going into the teaching field, really wants the job.
Teaching is not a science, like medicine, physics,.....it's an art.
The qualified teachers I had to interview, were all huge disappointments (except one).
I even had a talk with a CV based- Superteacher, that openly told me how much she hates teaching, and kids, but she would take the job if the pay is right. Oh yeah and as general principle she doesn't give demos and she never takes a job with a probation period.

So when I hear qualified teachers are a must, it just gives me a good old chuckle. I am not saying that there aren't amazing qualified teachers doing a hell of a job. But to be honest compared to the amazing unqualified teachers giving the same or even better performances the (qualified ones) are in a shrinking minority.
But if it makes people feel better being recognized for a degree proving, spending 4-6 years in college, as a singled out, selected group that is exclusively allowed to render teaching services, disregarding their professionalism or quality, sure! Why not this way I am sure that salvation of the education industry is certain...lol.

Plus you do know how many teachers are needed in this (and matter of fact every country in the world)? It would change our (teachers) pay grade a lot, having waiting lists, and classes waiting for a qualified teacher. So count me in!!! lol

So I understand that certificates do what they are supposed to do certify that you spend a certain amount of learning a certain subject but understand that in terms of practical application, certificates don't mean anything (at least in the teaching field, and to me), since nothing it says shows anything of the skills in the field.

About the law
Gokunming is not hiring teachers with the post in question so I think they are not responsible for what posters, put up in the classifieds section.

yankee00 (1632 posts) • 0

@The Dudeson's
Teaching isn't simply about entertaining a class. It also requires not only qualifications, but also skills/ability and experience, hence why certificates like TESOL and CELTA require the learners to have one part theory and one part in field.

Any job can be learned in the streets but not all the aspects of the job will be learned correctly. Deciding that a talented teacher's own opinion is sufficient to teach a subject in class is taking a risk. If teaching younger kids, it would be more advantageous for the kids to have a teacher who is naturally entertaining, but who has also learned pedagogy and the subject the subject they are teaching rather than having someone who knows how to get the attention of their students but has no knowledge in teaching techniques and just repeats what is written in the books. Messi or Mozart were not simply left to apply their talent on their own. They were put in a nurturing environment with theories and techniques specific to their field and that help them reach their potential ability with experience. Although not everyone is naturally talented in their practising field, they can still access the learning environment (university, school)

About the ad: it doesn't matter if they mention it or not in the classified, they are going to apply those previous demands in HR anyway. The ad isn't the problem. Simply rewriting the ad while omitting the racial part is like being administered pain killers as a definite solution for a spine fracture.

The Dudeson's (1106 posts) • 0

@Yankee
I couldn't agree more in terms of ethics and huge responsibility for the well being of the student.
I also didn't mean teaching equals entertainment what I meant was: improvisation, proper planning, techniques, student interactions, communication, TEAMWORK, motivation etc...
I didn't mean people being unprepared or undereducated, I was working with civil ailrine pilots, engineers, musicians etc. together, and non of them had a degree in education or related fields and only some had TESOL, CELTA, or such. They were at least as great as qualified teachers were.

I have been to a one of those teaching seminars and they are nice and informative but I think they had little to do with classroom/school reality. Also I have never heard of one that is tailored for the Chinese market in terms of resuource & supplies shortages, terrible administration, inefficient management, differences in work ethics, teamwork, teaching hours....you name it. None of it. Some China experienced teachers had a few ideas but there was nothing even mentioning those issues.

I went to that one after a few years as teacher (all grades), and that made a big difference. Did they give a few hints and ideas?.. yeah sure. But I don't think that they really make a teacher (me) more qualified to be a teacher,per se.

about the ad,
I agree the problem still remains that some schools only hire preferred races. But the problem lies with the demand from customers for idiotic reasons. I recommend (if you can) hire racially diverse staff from as many different countires as possible to show the parents, that we are all the same. Customers first freak out a little bit, but after some time, they get over it sooner or later. Or leave, equally good.

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