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Re: "Looking for highly professional teacher" ad

redjon77 (510 posts) • 0

Well I'll jump in on the defendants side lol, his description of working environment and possible changes to hours and increases in salary make it sound a very nice job for someone looking for a reliable position with future in kunming. Obviously if your some teacher with ten plus years of teaching in various places maybe it's not your cup of tea but someone 'professional' with a little/some experience will be looking at the advert with a positive view I think!

Heller (62 posts) • 0

I wasn't 'stinking' about your 'stuff' at all. I was merely agreeing with the OP and expressing my opinion that that the salary is low.

As i mentioned earlier, 100 Yuan per hour in the current climate for teaching in China is now considered low by most teachers.

My major issue was that you insisted that it 'was very good pay', when in fact i'd wager that if you put it to most teachers with experience, they'd say quite the opposite. Ask around though, maybe i'm wrong.

We can agree to disagree.

Liumingke1234 (3297 posts) • 0

When I first came here in 2006 the hourly rate for an average to bad school was about 80 kuai an hour. Fast forward to 2014. 100-150 is not 'good pay'.

Magnifico (1981 posts) • 0

it's "going rate". why should one school pay much more than what all the other schools in a particular place are offering?

instead of going into every school thread complaining about salaries, why don't you make plans to move to shanghai? it ain't gonna change.

live with it or get out.

Tonyaod (824 posts) • 0

Ok, this will be my last post on this thread 'caus it's too early in the morning to do too much thinking.

@fixitwithahammer, I am not saying the job isn't good or that the pay isn't good for the job done, I am merely stating that what you are offering in terms of pay is inconsistent with what you are looking for. It is somewhat like saying to the real estate agent that I want a westernized apartment in the center of Kunming with great view and great location. It must have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and furnished western style, and I only want to pay 2000 for it. No one is arguing that 2000 can't get you a decent apartment in KM, just not the type you are looking for.

If you are looking for a professional, a professional teacher will not be excited by what you are offering for the reasons I've already stated but will state again.

1) A professional is seeking full-time work where they can maximize the return on their time; not part-time work where they can enjoy living in the city in which they work. Ask any professional which would they rather have, working 3-4 days a week or paid vacation at the end of the year.

2) A professional wants career advancement not simply "professional development" (BTW, professional development is more for people with little experience looking for on the job training, professionals already have that)

3) A professional is first concerned about what they can gain from an employer and being on a winning team. They will be very cautious about an employer that tells prospective employee to come and "make us great"

Again, I'm responding as professional employee with 10 years teaching experience in China. My impression of the ad posting was it is asking too much for what is offered and is spinning it like it's the best job in the world.

I'm not saying it's not a good job, only that it would not attract the "highly professionals" you profess to seek. But then after reading your responses in the thread, my initial suspicion was confirmed. You are not really looking for professionals, you are looking for a hard-working, patient individual whom have a passion working with children; which is fine and in fact is a very good position for someone starting their career teaching English in China, but its a far cry from the professional you keep emphasizing. (BTW, there is a difference between a professional and someone with professionalism, perhaps you are looking for the latter)

Just to give you a comparison, my school offers 12,000+ for 15 contracted lecture hours per week for a subject teacher (usually they end up with around 12, a lecture hour = 50 min). The work involves showing up on time and delivering the lecture. There are a some office hours involved but that requirement is met from the gaps in between classes. To be fair, the actuall time spent at school is around 2.5 - 3 days (20~24 hours) but a third of that time is hanging out at the office doing prep or grading papers when needed. In essence, the working conditions and demands at my school is like less than your school with more pay. Given those working condition, I still would not consider my team professional teachers even if they are teachers by training. They are experienced teachers looking to take a break from their teaching jobs back home or came to China as a backpacker with no experience. I can not entice them to stay, no matter what I offer, because they have no long terms plans of staying in China. The only way I can even begin to talk to them about a career with our school is if I offered them insane amount of RMB to make it worthwhile to stay in China (i.e. the pay must include comparable pay + benefits + retirement plan + paid vacation + whatever else all lump as cash.)

Bottom line, on the one hand you keep talking about having professional teachers and yet on the other, keep offering things a professional teacher would not be looking for. The proof is in the pudding, if it is good pay then I'm sure you will be inundated with resumes fighting for the spot, if you don't get the type of professionals you are looking for, now you know the reason. In the end, all these arguments doesn't affect anyone of us one bit, the "professional" teachers you are seeking already have a much better paying job in KM and probably, like me, had a good chuckle at the ad and moved on.

I do sincerely wish you good luck with your candidate search and I really meant you no ill-will.

Happy holidays

ciao~

chris8080 (226 posts) • 0

A lot of foreigners here have such an entitled attitude they get offended when they are not treated like kings.

Around 120/hour is not bad at all for a full time contracted position.

Magnifico (1981 posts) • 0

@Tony, subject teaching is a different pay scale from ESL teaching.

not sure about pre-school, but it's not appropriate to compare pay scale of subject teaching with ESL. so possibly your entire argument is moot.

GoK Moderator (5096 posts) • 0

There is also the definition of professional, that is subjective.

If professional is merely the opposite of unprofessional. Then the professional 23 yo: turns up 15 minutes early, prepared for class, not hung over, never skips class, and is polite when communicating with others. In other words they behave professionally.

For many schools (I use that term loosely) ESL centres, that is all they want.

Once you move out of the 'informal' sector into the public sector schools, definitions of professional move up accordingly.

kevlar (42 posts) • 0

I would also expect said professional to know the correct way to use the word 'whom' (but I wouldn't expect them to teach it to pre-schoolers) :)

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