Employment & Professional Development

Hello, first off, as a big fan of psychology as well as Asia in general I want to say thanks very much for the great site, I've found it very informative.

I'm starting training as a primary school teacher (7 to 11-year olds) this week and will be qualified next July, 2012. I also have a BA in history. Preferably I want to live in a tier one or at least tier two city if possible and only for one year at this stage.

My question is what type of educational establishment should I go for to teach in China? Universities seem the most appealing to me because of the freedom to plan your own lessons and good working hours. Also, I'm aware I will be qualified to apply for jobs in lower tier British international schools.

Am I qualified enough to land a good chance of getting a job at one of these establishments? Are there many jobs around in universities or international schools?

Should I bite the bullet instead and try to teach at a good private English language school?

Location, working hours, freedom in lessons plans and ease of getting a job take precedent over high wages for me.

Thanks very much for any reply you can give and keep up the excellent work.

Sion

Over the years, our collective advice has consistently been that certified or licensed educators—who are interested in experiencing mainland China—should only apply to and work at Western-credentialed international schools. The reasons for this are, first: your salary will be comparable to or even better than what you would earn back home, second; you will have a real peer group and, third; you would receive credit for your teaching experience in China when you return back home because the curriculum is standardized at international schools.

As you inferred, as a newly certified teacher, you will not be very competitive for teaching positions at international schools. Assuming you can’t land a decent position at an international school, should you then pursue an oral English teaching job at a university or private English language school? The answer is only if you can afford to take a year off.

If you go that route, then you should know that you would need to refer to this period of time on your résumé as one used exclusively for travel (or something other than EFL teaching). Not only will teaching EFL in China for a year not help you back home, it could potentially hurt you.

Imagine a recent graduate of medical school who, instead of continuing his internship and residency at a hospital back home, decides to spend a year in China as a visiting scholar learning about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)--primarily as a way of receiving free substandard housing and a small stipend to be a tourist. To the degree TCM is not practiced or even recognized at the vast majority of mainstream hospitals back home, this medical school graduate cannot expect this year to be beneficial to his career and many senior residents and practicing physicians will be highly critical of him for taking that year off. Certainly, none of his colleagues will say to him, “Oh, you learned about using herbs to treat illnesses, how wonderful. Pray tell, which tree bark should we be prescribing for patients with chronic hypertension?”

If you can afford to take a year off from your career, in every sense of that term, then pick a first-tier city and apply to British international schools first and then high-ranking Chinese public universities second as a “safety.” While the highest-ranking public universities in China are the ones to openly hold the most contemptuous attitudes towards EFL as an academic subject, the English levels of their students will be adequate enough to work with in the classroom.

I would avoid English language schools at all costs unless you have it on good authority from someone you trust that the school is not an unscrupulous language mill. In addition, as most foreigners employed at private language schools are not college graduates, you will be the constant victim of jealousy and petty games of one-upmanship.

Be careful and best of luck with this.

Appreciate the advice and great answer, thank you.

Out of interest, what do you think are the actual chances of getting employed at an international school? It just doesn't seem like there's many of them about and so I'm guessing competition must be pretty tough for those few places that are available.

Thanks again.

I haven't performed a Google search on this but I am guessing there are at least three to four British international schools in mainland China teaching curricula approved by the U.K. Department for Education. Still, you're right, that's not very many.

Without at least a couple of years of experience, I don't think you'll be competitive. Thanks to the horrendous condition of our world economies, these international schools are getting a lot of applications now because the teaching salaries are the same as or even better than they are back home, the relative cost of living is still lower, and you receive full credit for the work experience when you eventually return home.

You've got nothing to lose by trying anyway, right? Who knows, someone may have to leave with short notice, which would create an unexpected opening.

Also, I know of at least one American international school in China, TEDA International School, that accepts teachers who are certified or licensed in any Western country. If this school is not alone in this policy, that could open up a lot more possibilities for you.

Thanks for that, I will definitely give them and others a try.

Ideally I know I should have taught English in China before I started training in the UK to be a teacher. I know a year of "traveling" won't look good on my resume but I really feel like teaching in China or possibly Thailand is something I have to do at least once and soon and I love both countries enough (having backpacked round both) that I'm prepared to an extent to take a paycut and less than ideal employment conditions.

Wherever I end up teaching, at least following the tips in your guide I'll be doing everything I can to make it a fulfilling year for my personal self.

Cheers.

For the purpose of applying to Western accredited international schools in China, the experience I referred to above would have best been earned in your home country, not in a China EFL position.

If we can agree that Asian TEFL (unregulated facilitation of listening and speaking skills) is not a viable career move for anyone, then using it to subsidize a half-year to year of travel in mainland China, Thailand, Korea, or even Japan is one of the few "legitimate" uses of it, at least from my point of view.

Best of luck with this and feel free to check back in at a later time to provide us with an update.