“Practical advice for teaching English in China.”
I want to share some tips with those of you who are thinking
of teaching in China. Let me preface
this by saying that my experience has been overall extremely positive. I would do it again in a heartbeat. That said, there are some challenges to
working in another culture.
The head of the School of Foreign studies, a middle-aged man
whose English name is Tony, told us our first day at Jiaotong that there were
just 3 things we needed to know while working at the university. First: don’t say anything bad to the students
about the Chinese Communist Party.
Second: don’t try to convert the students to any kind of religion. Third: don’t miss class. That would be considered a “teaching
accident” and would be a bad thing.
Beyond that, we have had very little guidance from the faculty about
what they would like us to do or not to do.
We have had to find our way. Here are some tips.
Right away, I found out that there is a student list for each
class. It is not always easy to locate. Sometimes you have to ask several people
where you can find the list. Of course,
it is essential to know who is going to be in the class.
When I first looked at my class list, I was intimidated. It was nearly all in Chinese. Upon closer inspection, I noted that the first
column had student identification numbers. Next to each number there were the students’
names in Mandarin. The student lists are
organized by number, from lowest to highest.
There is no such thing as “alphabetizing” in Chinese.
I recommend getting a notebook for each course. At the top of each page write the student identification
number, one number per page. On the
first day of class, pass the notebook around to the students. Ask them to find their student identification
number and next to it write their name in Mandarin, Pinyin and their English
name. You will use this information to
take attendance. At Jiaotong the
students are supposed to check in each class using a card and computerized
attendance system. Sometimes they forget
their card. Your attendance list is the
key record.
Have each student take a piece of paper and make a “name
plate” with their English name on it.
They will set it on their desk each class. At the end of class, I recommend you collect
the name plates. Keep them and pass them
out at each class. This is a great way both
to get to know their names and keep track of attendance.
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| Name plate and student list |
I can’t imagine teaching without PowerPoint. I brought my laptop computer to China along
with a couple of back-up thumb drives. I
bring my computer and thumb drives to each class. I have had a few instances
where the classroom computer did not work.
I was able to run the class using the notes in my laptop PowerPoint
presentation. I want to be “teaching
accident” proof.
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| Sample notebook page with student name and number |
Try to find out the course schedule and if a final exam is
required or not. This has actually been
quite difficult for us. I think
Americans are more used to dealing with things directly whereas the Chinese
professors seem a bit more circumspect. For
example, I am teaching a class on American society and culture this semester. I asked the Chinese professor who taught the
class before, if I might be able to see the final exam she prepared. She sent me a long message about what she did
in the course, but did not answer my question about the exam. I asked her about having a short meeting, but
she did not seem to want to do that either.
I just let it go.
Try to get to know the other foreign (British and American) teachers. Many have been teaching in China for
years. We get together for dinner once a
week. This can be a great way to get
together, ask questions and get some input.
Finally, I think the most important thing to keep in mind is
to be flexible and have fun. A difficult
moment could make for an interesting story.
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| Class list |
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