Asian teaching English in China.

[hyperbizarre]

Hey guys,

After a very long struggle, I've finally found a teaching job in Shanghai. I'm Thai but I began speaking English when I was 2 years old. I'm more fluent in English than I am in Thai. Nevertheless, I still have this nagging concern about discrimination from Chinese students.

I've read and heard so many things about the sort of struggles Asian teachers have to endure. I once heard that a teacher was once forced out because he didn't look western.

Could anyone tell me if this sort of discrimination still exists? Has this mentality changed over the years? One would think that an international city such as Shanghai, will have a more open mind compared to other cities in China. However, one can never be certain.

If anyone could tell me how the situation is nowadays, I would really appreciate it because I'd like to know what to expect.

Thanks guys

[gfell]

Yes, unfortuntely the sad reality is that "racism" still very much exists in the English teaching industry, and especially so in Taiwan. The blame is not on the students, nor the schools, but on the parents of these kids.

Being born a native English speaker, but having a non-caucasian appearance can go against you in your search for well paid teaching jobs. Unfortunately this is a reality we have to accept at this stage. If a schools hires "Asian" native English teachers, then their is a possible chance that student enrolments at that school will decline.

As for non-native English speakers not getting a teaching job, it's not because of your appearance mainly, but because of the fact that your accent is rather thick and difficult to understand. That's why many of you wont get replies from job applications even though the recruiter hasn't even seen your face yet.

You just have to accept it the way things are I'm afraid. My real sympathy goes to native English speakers of a non-caucasian appearance. These guys are totally qualified, yet the colour of their skin limits their success. Totally wrong.

[waixingren]

I hope Shanghai is more accepting than other parts of China. But, you might run into problems. Just be prepared and do your best. Prove everyone who criticizes you wrong--never give them a even the slightest reason to question your abilities.
Good luck.

[kdavid]

I believe that the Chinese get very hung-up on appearances and the way the in which things are presented. They also aren't very trusting of each other. I've heard many parents comment that ABC (American[western] Born Chinese) couldn't possibly be western because they didn't have white skin.

Along the same line of discrimination, I've also heard parents say that teachers with black skin "must be" from Africa, and therefore not have a standard accent.

These types of comments just help display the utter ignorance and inability of some Chinese to open their minds and see past their own nose.

Hang in there. It may take some time, but once you establish a reputation of being a good teacher many people will look past the color of your skin and shape of your eyes and see that you can do the job just as well as anyone else, if not better!

[exported_kiwi]

Yeah, I agree with all the above suggestions, just hang in there and prove your worth. Sadly, discrimination is prevalent here in China, hell, they even discriminate against each other so don't feel too bad if you're discrimnated against.....good luck and keep on rockin!

[bosslove72]

Well, as a person born in America but who happens to have black skin, I find the racism here to be at times terribly wrong. I have a Master's Degree and have worked as a teacher in America as well. It goes along great until they either meet me or see a picture of me. Then it is where are your parents from or your grandparents, looking for the answer Africa. But Kiwi is right, the Chinese are very racist against their own people. I have heard family members telling other children that they are ugly and these kids grow up hearing this and believing it. It is amazing! In Beijing there was a girl from Sweden who barely spoke English but got a high paying job because she said she was American and she had blue eyes and blond hair. Yes she was beautiful, so she got the gig, I welcome her to it. When their kids can't speak a lick of English and they paid so much for them to learn. Whose fault is it?

My students constantly test well in the CET - 4 and 6 tests, so I know that I am a good teacher. It's just something you have got to deal with here in China. Although I tell you the amount of ignorance here can be mind blowing!

[Tradewind4]

The thing you have to understand about "teaching English in China" is that it's not really about teaching English. It's really about advertisement and the school trying to sell itself to parents. The school's English teachers are not so much teachers as models or poster boys for the school. The school is not hiring a "teacher" so much for his/her teaching skills as it is for a pretty blue eyed + blond haired face.

In essence, this sort of blatant discrimination is not much different from Western modelling agencies preferring blue eyed blonds.

I was born in Shanghai and moved to the States since age 7. I know from speaking to native chinese and even relatives still living in China that many Chinese (particularly those with new wealth) are incredibly pretencious people. They prefer appearance over substance. These people do care so much that their children learn good English so much as they can tell their neighbors in a gossip that their kids attend some overpriced boarding school with blonds teaching them english. Why would you want to work at a place like that? In 20 years here in the States, I've been back to china twice for a total of 4 weeks.

[zielwolf]

I saw this kind of thing quite a bit in China. Teachers with the right looks (ie blue eyes, blond hair) get first preference. It's really unfair of course, but this is a country where surface harmony is everything. Underneath it all, the volcano might just be about to explode, but as long as things look shiny and nice on the surface, that's all that really matters.

So, as horrible and just plain wrong as it is, any number of hirers in China might not even care about how good a teacher you are or even how good your English is, as long as you fit their stereotype of a "Westerner" looks like then you will likely get the job!

Also, I found that in a number of Chinese schools I worked for, my reason for being there had little to do with teaching students English. My classes were never incorporated into the general curriculum, there was never any assessment required of my students, & I was pretty much told to do as I pleased; but when it came down to it, The Exam (written by the Chinese English "experts" in Beijing) was all that really mattered and certainly someone as lowly and unqualified as I, a native English speaking qualified English teacher, wasn't allowed within a mile of The Exam. In fact when it came down to clashes between me, native speaker, and answers on the state written exam papers which were just dead wrong, the exam paper inevitably prevailed. I was told to stop confusing students by giving them advice about the language on their state issued exam papers.

I quickly figured out that I was just there for show really, it was a way for the school that had me, being a foreign teacher, to charge higher fees.
With this knowledge in hand, I sat back, relaxed, finished my contract, took revenge by causing a minor but very public scandal [I told one of my classes that the real reason I didn't have a girlfriend was that I was gay LOL], and got out of China to look for something more fulfilling.

[mikexiao]

I feel very sad to see that so many foreign friends' comments on Chinese educational racism, or even all the people's racism only due to different skin color or eye color.

I was born in 1974 and have been abroad for many times, Europe, Asian, America, appr. 40 countries. Deeply in my heart, I really love China just because it's one of my motherlands. During the past 20 years, it has changed so much, but unfortunately not up to the level that most western people could exist. Educational reform in China is a failure, one of the worst failure in Chinese policy reforms in these years. And the trend to chasing economy drives people mind into some deformed degree.

But now I think as the younger generation grows up, they are easier to accept differenct opinion, they are more open to the world and they are considered more universally-considered in the developing China.

As westerners or the people in other countries, most can't understand the way of doing or thinking of Chinese. This is logical and for Chinese, it's a long way to go and to reach a higher modernization and really harmonious world, but not a show case.

Hope the teaching experience in China will not give you the only bad expression. Hope you could come to China next time and get different feelings.

[yeng]

Originally Posted by zielwolf

I saw this kind of thing quite a bit in China. Teachers with the right looks (ie blue eyes, blond hair) get first preference. It's really unfair of course, but this is a country where surface harmony is everything. Underneath it all, the volcano might just be about to explode, but as long as things look shiny and nice on the surface, that's all that really matters.

So, as horrible and just plain wrong as it is, any number of hirers in China might not even care about how good a teacher you are or even how good your English is, as long as you fit their stereotype of a "Westerner" looks like then you will likely get the job!

Also, I found that in a number of Chinese schools I worked for, my reason for being there had little to do with teaching students English. My classes were never incorporated into the general curriculum, there was never any assessment required of my students, & I was pretty much told to do as I pleased; but when it came down to it, The Exam (written by the Chinese English "experts" in Beijing) was all that really mattered and certainly someone as lowly and unqualified as I, a native English speaking qualified English teacher, wasn't allowed within a mile of The Exam. In fact when it came down to clashes between me, native speaker, and answers on the state written exam papers which were just dead wrong, the exam paper inevitably prevailed. I was told to stop confusing students by giving them advice about the language on their state issued exam papers.

I quickly figured out that I was just there for show really, it was a way for the school that had me, being a foreign teacher, to charge higher fees.
With this knowledge in hand, I sat back, relaxed, finished my contract, took revenge by causing a minor but very public scandal [I told one of my classes that the real reason I didn't have a girlfriend was that I was gay LOL], and got out of China to look for something more fulfilling.

Good day! Newbie here. I was amused by your story. It's refreshing to know that despite the discrimination Asian English teachers are experiencing, here you are telling us also the other side of the story. Thanks very much for sharing. Good luck!