I agree with some of the points from both Pony and Andrew a foreign manager does not make it better.
Andrew is totally right, they need you more than you need them, especially in the isolated places.
I have been teaching here for 6 years and came over first for the adventure, money was not the issue. The schoool was decent and paid my airfare 2 weeks into the contract and raised my salary by 500RMB. I did not ask for it. I didn't care but they wanted to show me something. I finished my contract and moved south but went back to visit the school for their 75th birthday and I have such great memories and feeling towards the school.
This placement would not suit everyone small city I am the only foreigner, no western anything but it suited me fine.
I met some great foreign teachers who were so committed and doing a great job.
I have never been ripped off by the Chinese in China but the foreigners is another story.
Take heed of what Andrew says though.
Cheers
Here are my final observations about teaching in Shaanxi
DON'T ALLOW SCHOOLS IN BACKWATER CITIES LIKE XIANYANG USE THE ARGUEMENT THAT THE LOWER COST OF LIVING JUSTIFIES TAKING A LOWER SALARY THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE OBSCURE INTERIOR CITIES FIND IT MUCH HARDER TO ATTRACT NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS SO ARE MORE DESPERATE. BASICALLY A LOWER SUPPLY MEANS THEY ARE FORCED TO PAY HIGHER.
I actually worked for Aston for a summer intensive programme in Dongying Shandong province and earnt 12,000 RMB in 7 weeks and had no problems with them. Anyway my final word for English teaching in backwater cities in Shaanxi and Shanxi like Xianyang is. Don't believe any stories that because you are in a backwater city the cost of living is lower therefore that justifies taking a lower salary. In a strange way the opposite is actually true as schools in more desirable and well known cities particularly coastal cities like Qingdao on the fact that the city they are in is well known and plenty of English speakers want to go there. I know this as I was earning 5,000 RMB in backwater city with a low cost of living and was interested in moving on and teaching in Qingdao but found out that the school I approached was only offering 4,500 RMB a month and was reluctant to go any higher despite the higher cost of living. I have also
found this fact reflected in blogs about English teaching in China.
THE TEACHING AUDITION THAT MANY SCHOOLS BACKWATER CITIES CONDUCT LIKE XIANYANG ARE NOT TO BE TAKEN SEROIOUSLY THEY ARE BASICALLY AN ILLUSION TO GIVE THE SCHOOL STAFF PARTICULARLY THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS STAFF A SENSE OF IMPORTANCE AND AN ILLUSION OF POWER WHICH CAN BE USED TO COERCE YOU TO ACCEPTING LOWER TERMS IN A CONTRACT.
Yes, I know numerous members of the English department and foreign affairs office sit in the back row and do their best to look professional, dignified and important and go through the motions of glancing at you during the demonstration and taking notes but this is an illusion and a farce. Simply put the fact that they have lured you into their obscure school in an unknown city in a backwater region is good enough for them and they will drop this entire deceptive act should you show signs of moving on. Especially if you meet the criteria of being a native English speaker with a university degree and are of European ethncity. I have seen this first hand as when Emeline turned up at Shaanxi Polytechnic she got a case of sudden homesickness and wanted to go home the foreign affairs staff paniced and basically begged her to stay as they were that desperate as they knew how hard it is to find another native English speaker in Xianyang. I also know of a Black Jamican who made the mistake of handing his passport over to an agent who forded it to a middle school in an obscure city in Shanxi without his consent. He then went into the audition trash drunk on bijou (Chinese rice spirits) making a deliberate attempt to fail so he regain his passport and go back to Shanghai. He went to the bathroom 3 times during the 15 minute audition and needed to steady himself by leaning against a table for the duration of the audition. Not only did the school hire him despite this they kept physical possesion of his passport on some false premise that they needed it for processing despite the fact he had already got a foreigners residency permit for one year to stop him doing a runner. They also agreed to pay him 5,000 RMB a month to make it more desirable for him to stay.
IF YOU ARE A NATIVE SPEAKER OF ENGLISH OF EUROPEAN ETHNICITY AND HAVE A UNIVERSITY DEGREE DON'T ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE PAID LESS THAN 5,000 RMB A MONTH ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE TEACHING EXPERIENCE
I know that as many schools outside of the more well known cities like Xi'an will actually employ black Africans to teach English and pay them over 4,000 RMB a month. I know this because I have been to parties in Shanxi where there has only been 1 or 2 white people there and 20 or so Black Africans from Nigeria, Cameroons and none from South Africa. I also know that the Baoji University in Shaanxi employs a Black African. I also met a German teaching English in an elementary school in Xianyang whose English was far below the level of a native speaker.This indicates that as a native speaker you are a sought after commodity in back water regions and should not settle for a salary of less than 5,000 RMB a month if you have a university degree and especially if you have experience. I remeber speaking to an American who was considering buying an Aston franchise but decided not to as Aston could not guarantee a supply of native English speakers to teach in his school further highlighting the scarcity of native English speakers in backwater regions and highlights the leverage you have avaliable in contract negotiation.
SCHOOLS IN BACKWATER REGIONS LIKE XIANYANG ARE FACED WITH THE REAL POSSIBILITY OF HAVING NO TEACHER THIS STRESS RESTS ESPECIALLY HEAVILY ON THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS STAFF SO ANY CONCEPT THAT YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE GAME OF THEIR LEVEL IS ILLUSIONARY.
I know this as I have seen the way the foreign affair staff act when representatives of the education ministry visit and the school does not have its quota of "foreign experts". Colleges like Shaanxi Polytechnic Institute have at least one or two staff members in the foreign affairs office who spend a huge amount of time looking for foreing teachers and go to great lengths to find them. For example I remember been asked and prodded on numerous occasions if I knew anyone that wanted to teach in Xianyang not only that when my mother visited she was asked frequently about sourcing teachers.
BE SURE TO HAVE A PLAN B OR EVEN C IF YOU ARRIVE AND THINGS ARE NOT TO YOUR LIKING.
I
When you arrive in a city like Xianyang you may feel vulnerable and simply want to sign a contract simply to get settled and feel a sense of security this is a moment that may be exploited whereby the school may attempt to get you to agree to lesser terms. If you however convince the school that you are prepared to move on they will stop attempting to ammend the contract
Reading through this post it really seems to me that Andrew has a rather combative attitude when it comes to contracts and employment in China.
Have you ever considered that your attitude might have been part of the problems you so often encountered? Just a thought ...
Also ... teaching audition?? Sorry, but no foreign teacher I've spoken to or I've worked with at SXPI has ever had a teaching audition. Maybe there is a particular reason why the Chinese teachers feel that some foreigners need inspection more than others.
Also, just a strange question for you ... any ideas why the students remember you as Banana Man? We thought it might be to do with a game or your favourite food or something - please enlighten us!
I really do fail to see how my "combative" attitude could be percieved as a disadvantage as a source of a problem in light of my experience to dealing with contract negotiations. Given that upon arriving as Shaanxi Polytechnic Institute (SXPI) I went in with a mild co-operative approach and got talked down from the 4,000 RMB advertised monthly salary to the 3,000 RMB monthly salary with no end of contract bonus (despite being there for a year) which I allowed myself to be pushed into. As I opposed to the more assertive approach I adopted which got me an instant salary increase of 500 RMB from 4,500 RMB to 5,000 RMB a month along with a 5,000 RMB bonus for completing a 6 month contract in contrast with the 0 RMB bonus I got from SXPI for completing a one year contract. So I would really appreciate it if someone could enlighten me as to how I was worse off by adopting a more assertive or maybe even combative approach when called for because personally I just don't get it.
For those of you who think this philosophy lacks cultural sensitivity, is distasteful or non-pc way for a foreigner to act in China. Perhaps you should go down to a generic Chinese train station in a generic inland city and tell me how you get on with a mild co-operative approach to buying tickets or boarding a train or even attempting to obtain a vacant train seat during busy times. Or perhaps you could hang around the markets and see what happens when a couple of middle aged Chinese women act when a market place disagreement comes up I mean it is hardly "harmonious" is it.
Anyway from what I have seen when used apporpriately an assertive or maybe even combative approach can get results when used apporpriately. For example when at SXPI I made constant requests for the better part of a year for a buckled bar in my wardrobe which was used to hang clothes on to be replaced used the mild, polite co-operative approach needless to say nothing ever happened. However upon my next placement I soon discovered I had been given a faulty computer that would basically shut down after a few minutes of been turned on due to a faulty fan. The schools reaction was to send a technician to tinker with it only to have it break down in the same way as soon as the technician left. This phenomina repeated numerous times until I made it clear that I wouldn't make a token appearance at a speech contest until I got a personal guarantee from one of the Chinese managers would completely replace the computer the next day. The manager agreed to this as he did not want to lose face when he couldn't deliver the token foreign judges he had promised. Needless to say the next day the computer was completely replaced.
However I would advise any foreigner to avoid getting in a physical confrontation when out drinking no matter who is at fault. As no matter how much stronger you are than the average Chinese guy or despite the fact that many Chinese guys cannot throw a half decent punch as you face the real prospect of fighing half a dozen Chinese guys who are quite prepared to use a bottle or knife to compensate for their lack of punching ability.
Anyway I guess the name banana man came from the rugby union jersey I use to wear which had thick yellow and black horizontal bands.
Finally I did not personally see the Jamican guy do the teaching audition trash drunk but I was present in the company courtyard later that day. When I witnessed him swearing his head off while the Chinese guy responsible for finalising the contract seemed to be in a completely different universe apparantly oblivious to the behaviour of the Jamican. I was sure that would surely be the last I saw of the Jamican and thought it was funny when the Chinese guy called out to me to be sure to so the Jamican the way to class on Monday morning. Needless to say I thought it was surreal when they actually did keep him on.
Mmm ... there is so much I would like to say about your post.
I think the first thing I should say is that SXPI hires Foreign Experts according to the quality of their resumes. Therefore, teaching auditions are not required. Pay offers are made according to the quality of Foreign Experts' resumes.
SXPI trusts that Foreign Experts they hire will perform their duties with enthusiasm and diligence, and if that trust is rewarded, then all else follows. SXPI is not a difficult place to live and work if you are a sensible, courteous, motivated person.
Of course you are right, Andrew, that generally in China skilled teachers have the upper hand in the market - it is a simple matter of supply and demand - and anyone would be wise to use this to their advantage. However, I feel it is a little disingenuous of you to appear to be blaming SXPI for your wetness behind the ears.
We came to SXPI 18 months ago and were perfectly happy with our contract. We renegotiated some aspects of our contract when we renewed it for our second year here. None of these negotiations have presented us with any problems.
SXPI is a cool place to live and work. You have lots of free time, lots of friends, and you get to work with really well-motivated, switched-on, hard-working students. My colleagues and I think it's great, and having been here for 18 months now, I think we've got the measure of the place.
I'd also like to underline the fact that this 'Jamaican guy' that Andrew talks about who apparently turned up drunk to a teaching audition is nothing to do with SXPI.
The "Jamican" story was used to illustrate the point that it really is an Foreign English teachers market in regards to teaching in inland backwater cities and as such has relevance to working in any of these regions. Including SXPI. Anyway remember that batering and haggling are key components of Chinese culture and that getting something may simply be a point of if you are prepared to ask for is in an assertive manner. For example in one situation I got a 5,000 RMB bonus for six months while an Australian girl working for the same company got no bonus simply because she didn't ask. Having plenty of spare time is a universal component of being an English teacher in China and if you don't have plenty of spare time you must be doing something wrong or have a matyr complex.
Anyway having plenty of time of is a universal feature of teaching English in China. I find the whole idea of checking resumes a little suspicous as even a teacher with little teaching experience or no degree could simply get paid more than a teacher with a degree or experience simply as a result of applying leverage in negotiating. I have witnessed this first hand at SXPI. Anyway I am sure if you looked around you would have no problem a job that paid more than SXPI even without an impressive CV.
Finally be prepared to take most things you hear in China with a grain of salt. For example "foreign expert" I mean what exactly are English teachers in China expert in? Finally it seems dryly ironic that a drunken Jamican can get paid 5,000 RMB a month meaning that according to mylittlepony's logic a diligant, professional teacher with a good CV must be able to earn perhaps twice that as "SXPI rewards its teachers on the grounds of their performance".
Edited by: andrewwhyte76
Hey Andrew - I just don't think we're going to agree on anything ... :)
Firstly, I don't know how things were conducted when you were here, but these days evidence of possession of a degree is essential before the offer of a job is finalised.
Also our current "Foreign Experts" comprise one qualified UK secondary teacher, one UK-experienced TEFL-er, one ex-university lecturer and one current Guardian Online China Expert. Maybe things have gone uphill a little since you were here ...
Lastly, please take care when appearing to quote me ... having misquoted me already, I'd hate to think you were giving a "rather slippery and bendable concept of the truth" - ;)
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