Employment & Professional Development

I've been told that I will get a "new contract," and when I asked what's different about it was told that only the wording is different , and the government has created new contracts for all universities.

I haven't seen the new contract yet and don't know what the differences are, though I will compare the two in order to be very clear about any and all changes.

But first, I'd like to know if it's true that all teachers at public universities are getting new contracts.

Thanks for any information on this.

Technically speaking, everyone receives a "new" official SAFEA contract upon renewal, meaning the red serial number will vary from year to year (or contract to contract).

You didn't specify whether your university was referring to the official SAFEA contract or contract addendum. We have not heard of any planned future changes to the official contract.

We have contacted our SAFEA consultant Gavin Xu and have asked him whether he has heard of any impending changes to the official SAFEA contract. If he is aware of any future changes to the official contract, we will post that news on the site. However, it's very possible that your university was referring to the addendum and simply "covering" themselves by stating that the changes are coming from the "government."

If you can clarify which contract they were referring to, let us know.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I gather if we are to believe that any changes (such as those that might affect bonuses) are instituted country-wide by the government, then there would be no possibility of negotiating with or questioning them?

With just a few days before classes commence, I've not seen the contract, my schedule, or been told what in fact I'll be teaching, so there's a certain amount of apprehension building up.

Hopefully this is just a relaxed approach on the part of administration and not anything more underhanded.

Hi Wayne,

We just received word from our SAFEA consultant, Gavin Xu, that the only difference between the former and new official SAFEA contracts is the stipulation of a one-month probationary period. Historically, probation periods were always addressed in the contract addendum and were usually a three- to six-month period. However, it is unlikely this would apply to foreign teachers who have already completed a contract.

Conditions stipulated in the SAFEA contract are, in fact, modified and clarified in the contract addendum. While the official SAFEA contract itself cannot be modified, its terms can certainly be modified in the addendum--and often are.

According to Mr. Xu, there is no information about any planned changes to the official SAFEA contract that would affect bonuses or salaries.

Still not sign of a contract, which brings me to some other thoughts.

More than any interest in bi-cultural romantic relationships, I'm intrigued by the psychology of the business/employment aspects of living in China. I frequently find myself pondering, for example, what could be the possible reason that foreign teachers don't find out their schedules until the last possible moment, when Chinese teachers have known theirs for two months.

Our foreign teachers at our university will, we've heard through various sources, begin teaching in two days. We do not know what we will teach, or when, nor do we know when will we find out. We've asked in various diplomatic ways, sensing that if their not telling us making demands may work against us. But it's starting to get a bit ridiculous, and to seem almost deliberate.

Teachers will need to do makeup classes as well, and some are completely new to China, and yet we just have to wait in subservient acquiescence until such a time as the authorities in question feel it's the right time to give us the minimal possible notification of schedules, classes, etc. For the newer teachers this can be quite stressful, and I can't say that I'm particularly enjoying the waiting game, though I'm putting together some lesson plans I can use rather generically for first day lessons.

While it may be merely a matter of logistics, it seemed necessary to give Chinese teachers as much advance notice as possible (some were given options or advice to choose books for their classes), while another imperative is to give foreign teachers as little as possible (choosing a book for the first weeks would thus be impossible). If I were to give the benefit of the doubt, I would say that the leaders wanted to wait until all the foreign teachers are present so that they could consult us about what is most suitable for us to teach, and thus make the best possible arrangements for all concerned.

However, we are not consulted at all. If one was very cynical one might think they either thought foreign teachers were completely superfluous and our job was so easy it required no preparation, or else that they wanted us to flounder. In the end the possibilities remain suspended in consciousness while the second hand ticks.

So, this brings up a few questions.

1) If there is an underlying social or psychological reason for not allowing teachers sufficient time to prepare for an already backed-up schedule (including make-up classes to be completed in the first 2 weeks), what is it?

2) What approach do you suggest teachers take to get the information they need to perform their jobs?

Thanks in advance for any information or ideas that might shed light on the subject, or help deal with what can be an undesirable set of circumstances.

Wayne wrote: If one was very cynical one might think they either thought foreign teachers were completely superfluous and our job was so easy it required no preparation, or else that they wanted us to flounder.

I think a good part of the answer lies in your first inference.

Specifically, I don't think the teaching and learning of English is particularly valued in China, academically speaking. Most of the students don't see the need for it and virtually all university administrators deeply resent being forced to hire foreign teachers to meet their national "exposure to a native speaker" requirement. Throughout the entire country, the students who get assigned to English as a major are the ones who scored too poorly on the Gao Kao (national college entrance) exam to receive their top choices.

When I was teaching oral English, I would receive my teaching schedule and textbooks anywhere from one to two weeks before the beginning of classes. Despite my years of experience in the classroom and my popularity with the students, I came very close to being terminated (not having my contract renewed) because I allowed my skin to become too dark during one Golden Week holiday (I had spent the entire week tanning at the beach). I was specifically ordered to stay out of the sun "or else." It was then that I realized the cold hard truth: Despite whatever qualifications and experience I had, I was teaching at this school because I looked the part. There was really no point in deluding myself any further that I was teaching at this university because I was considered special or particularly valued as a result of what I brought to the classroom.

Of course, the situation is radically different today and I don't think it has anything to do with a difference between the two universities: The difference is that I am now teaching in my field again. They need a Western professor to teach medical psychology, psychiatry, and statistics. I am (for the first time in six years) actually consulted three months in advance about not only what I will be teaching but am also given the courtesy of selecting the specific days and class periods. Although this was all par for the course back in the United States, in China, it's like I've died and gone to heaven.

Having just written all of this, I don't think the multilayered and profoundly complex Chinese bureaucracy is the most efficient system in the world. There are many times that even the Chinese professors don't know what is happening until the very last minute. They too are subjected to unexplained last minute changes in schedules and meetings, not just foreigners. The big difference, of course, is that they have learned how to expect the unexpected (and not ask questions) while we, instead, wave our SAFEA contracts in the air, yelling "not fair."

A good friend of mine back in Haikou, a Chinese colleague, once told me: "In China, if you don't have patience, you have nothing."

I think he was right.

Hello Dr. Greg:

There have been some new developments. As it turned out, schedules appeared less than 24 hours before classes were to be taught, only to be altered a couple days later so that our schedules could be filled with the maximal number of contact hours our contracts allowed. It worked out in such a way that classes we'd already taught we would never teach again. It appears there were too few classes to fulfill the imperative of teachers teaching the maximum load, in which case new and undesirable courses needed to be devised to fill the gap. One teacher is burdened with a rotating weekly schedule of topical classes aimed at an array of non-English majors, including at the least desirable hours.

Meanwhile, while I extended a half year contract, I am now told that I gave up my bonus for the first term, as opposed to it being compounded to the second term. So, I lost the one way ticket for the first 6 months, and will only get a one way for the 2nd, even though it's ostensibly and extension of the first, and up until it was "too late" all discussion indicated that the bonus would be extended as well.

Patience, as you suggested, would be an indispensable asset while living and working in China, but as cars barrel down at me leaning on their horns on my light, and as people step in front of me in line, I wonder if "patience" isn't so much a virtue of the Chinese character, as is "resignation". Somehow I'm not really prepared to be resigned, which is what is really required, while I certainly can be patient. In the end one may need both to survive, but mere survival may be an insult to one's actual worth.

Hi Wayne,

I do think there is a difference between exercising patience and engaging in martyrdom. Aside from that, a few employers have been known to misconstrue extreme kindness and generosity for gullibility and even stupidity. My own experience has been that if you give an inch, you will very likely be expected to give a mile.

My earlier reference to patience was primarily in regard to timing. Specifically, and especially in China, it's critically important to learn not just when to speak but how and to whom.

Many former inconveniences and problems during the course of my stay in China have worked themselves out simply because I gradually learned how not to react. Many problems have been considerably worsened because I spoke too soon and to the wrong person. These are the types of lessons in self-restraint I was referring to. I certainly wasn't suggesting that you should let people abuse you to the point where you feel life isn't worth living.

You are currently in a bad situation. Foreign English teachers at your school are obviously disrespected and treated like chattel. Depending on how your contract addendum is worded, you may have even been cheated out of your completion bonus.

The question is what is the best way to deal with this?

The short answer is to start looking for another job that you can go to after you finish your current contract. Will it be useful or effective to express anger at your current employer or threaten some sort of retaliative or punitive action? Probably not, not if your long-term goal is to continue living and teaching in China.

However, after you leave and are successfully working at another school, you can always write a brief report or review of the school by name and warn others that they should not consider working there. We'll be more than happy to publish it on this website for all to see.

Unfortunately, doing that won't help you now with your problem but it may give you some satisfaction to know that you will be protecting others. If not for my first employer in China, it is unlikely this website or the Foreign Teachers Guide would have ever been created.

Best of luck with this and let us know where you land next fall.

Hello Dr. Greg:

Good news. Fortunately, we foreign teachers were ultimately able to resolve our schedule problems as well as contractual issues. It was a terribly rocky start to the term, but in the end everything's turned out quite to my liking. In short, we are simply getting a standard deal, but that's becoming increasingly difficult to find these days with more and more tales of opportunistic undercutting of teacher's pay or benefits cropping up and a concomitant increase in teacher's workload.

Hopefully it's smooth sailing for at least the next term.

Thanks again for your suggestions and other input.

Wayne