In a recent article, I discussed the impact that coming to China can have upon an expat's career. One of the conclusions I drew was that whilst teaching jobs may be the easiest in China to find, they are not always the most useful. A short stint in front of the blackboard may add color to a resume and convince employers that you are the dynamic adventurous type, but too long away from home may leave HR departments and managers picturing you as a drifter with no career direction. I did, though, add the caveat that this was rendered mute if the expat's chosen career was, in fact, teaching. Obviously, if that is the case, things change.

Photo: Hamner_Fotos

The easy assumption to make is that teaching in such a foreign and challenging environment is bound to have a positive impact on a teaching career. To a certain degree, this is true. Teaching in China is never likely to harm a fledgling career and can help teachers to acquire vital skills to aid their development. However, to assume that it is a magic wand that will help teachers to find jobs at home or around the world is a little off the mark. Therefore, I will look at the various implications it can have and the skills it can help a teacher develop.

Teaching at home

Many expats who come to China to teach English find themselves catching the bug and considering taking up teaching as a profession in their home country. These are more likely to be teachers working in state schools with children of various ages. This, then, raises the question of whether or not the spell in China will be helpful to such a career path. This is no black and white issue. However, if I were to generalize, I would argue that whilst teaching in China might not help to start or create a teaching career at home too much, it can certainly help fledgling teachers develop important skills for professional development.

In many countries in the west, particularly the UK and US, there is a distinct lack of trained teachers. This means that there are plenty of opportunities for those who want to teach. In fact, in the UK, many PGCE schemes – teacher training courses – come with bursaries of up to 9,000 GBP for the one year course to help attract candidates. The criteria for acceptance is based much more on tangible qualifications, such as a university degree, than on intangibles like time in China, which means any experience here will have a relatively minimal impact. This is not to say that it is totally useless. Experience in China will certainly bolster a resume or application, by adding an extra ''interest factor” that could perhaps sway a teacher-training application or a job application further down the line.

Perhaps the area in which working in China can have the biggest impact is in the skills a teacher will develop.

Class size
Many state schools in China will boast – if that is the right word – classes of at least 40 children and sometimes even more. Classes in the UK and US are much smaller. In the UK, during the 2008/9 school year, the average primary school was 24.5. The number in the US was also well below the 30 mark. With so many children in a class, teachers will need to quickly learn how to control greater numbers and to deal with groups of mixed ability.

Limited resources
The majority of state schools outside of some of the most highly-developed areas of China's major cities will look decidedly basic to many teachers used to a Western environment. We are talking blackboards, bare walls and rows of old wooden desks. Luxuries like interactive whiteboards – or even regular whiteboards – are almost unheard of. This means teachers need to develop far more fundamental skills to succeed in the classroom.

ESL as a career

For those wanting to develop within the ESL industry and to teach in other countries, having a spell in China on a resume will certainly help, although it may come with a few added provisos. China is the largest and fastest growing ESL market in the world. This, obviously, means there are plenty of jobs on offer. However, with those jobs come their own peculiar challenges – larger class sizes, overly demanding students, disparity in student ability. Because of this, experience in China is valued by many ESL employers around the world. The one footnote to this is that any teachers looking to use China as a stepping stone need to understand that, because the demand in China is so high, employers requirements are often much lower. Usually a degree – and sometimes less – is enough to secure employment. Only for top-end jobs are teaching qualifications required. Even then, a 40 hour or online qualification is often enough. Jobs in Europe and other parts of the world require far greater qualifications such as CELTAs or DELTAs.

Disparity in levels
As a nation of over a billion people, with an education system that is decidedly limited in terms of foreign languages, China is bound to have a huge base of lower level students wanting to learn English. However, with major cities like Beijing or Shanghai attracting so much foreign investment, there are also now many more Chinese at the other end of the scale. This means that teachers must develop the skills to deal with both poles of ability.

Delivering feedback
The idea of mianzi or “face” is a major factor in Chinese society and Chinese education. This is often to such an extent that can cause students to quit or change schools if they feel they have lost face in front of their teacher and fellow students. Therefore, successful teachers in China need to develop strong feedback techniques to help them point out mistakes without damaging student morale.

Demanding students
With Chinese students needing a certain level of English to go to university in the west or Chinese employees needing high levels of English to secure a top job, their demand for English is high and their patience often low. This means teachers need the ability to deal with their students high and often unrealistic expectation - they want English skills and they want them now!

Ingrained habits
China is a culture with 5,000 years of history and long traditions of academic learning. The problem with this is that it has created habits that are not always conducive to learning new skills. These include the idea of mianzi mentioned above as well as the idea of recitation and direct translation. Teachers here need to develop skills to help break these bad habits and push their students in directions that can help their language learning.

While teaching in China may not lead directly to a job back home, there is no doubt that teaching experience in China will benefit greatly those who choose to pursue the profession. Remaining realistic about what a career in education will require, and staying mindful of the things we’ve discussed that can be beneficial to a teacher so as to better develop them and take advantage of the experience, will mean that when time comes to take the leap and enter into education back home you’ll be primed for success.
 

Related Links
The Life Cycle of a Teacher in China
Does Working in China Help or Hurt Your Career?
Leaving China and the Challenges of Returning “Home”
China Beyond the Blackboard: Finding Jobs Besides Teaching

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