Xuzhou Aston

[jleigh140]

My name is Jessica Foreman and I have recently completed a 6 month contract at Xuzhou Aston. Xuzhou Aston is affiliated with Aston Educational Group, however, it is run by a franchisee. (Mr. You) The school provides very nice accommodation. However, all positive attributes are overshadowed by the fact that the boss at Xuzhou Aston is extremely dishonest and disrespectful.

The first problem with Xuzhou Aston is that Aston sells itself on small class sizes. (18 students per class). When I signed my 25 hour contract, I was told I would have 6 outside hours which means teaching in public schools. However, two weeks after my contract was signed, I was told that I would instead be working 15 outside hours. These classes had 50-70 students in primary school and middle school. I understand that this is pretty typical for teaching in China. The entire reason though that I signed with Aston was to avoid teaching classes this size. Be aware that if you sign with Xuzhou Aston, you will be teaching more outside hours than Aston classes. You will not be given training for outside hours as well.

Two teachers negotiated that our boss would pay our bills in exchange for us teaching outside hours. We had the usual problems that you will have when dealing with business and bosses in China- took a month to get internet, etc. The problem was our boss had simply re-routed part of our bills into the other teachers’ bills so that he would not have to pay them. We found proof of this because we contacted our building and saw how much money had been paid for the bills. Our boss told us to get a receipt. At the same time, he called the building and told them to refuse giving us a receipt and not talk to us anymore.

Also, if you do not meet your teaching hours, you will be required to come and sit in the school with nothing to do. One day, I was required to sit for 8 hours in order to meet my monthly hours. Schedules were continually changing. The night before my day off, days off were changed and I was required to go to flyering. I didn’t find out until 9pm and missed flyering because I had already made plans. I offered to do flyering on my other day off. I was refused and docked 200rmb pay. Also, Mr. You doesn’t have a problem with becoming “friendly” with the teachers. We have told him on several occasions that we are not comfortable with him making sexual references, giving us full-frontal hugs, and slapping our butts. However, this seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Mr. You’s henchman will also be allowed to come into your apartment for “repairs” at any time. Actually, he is spying to see if you are using too much electricity. (When Mr. You was paying my bills, he asked me to not turn on my heater in January. This request was denied) He claims that they never enter when we are not home, but it is very common to come home and find cigarette butts on the floor. Another problem is the way the Chinese teachers are treated at our school. Aston provides Chinese teachers with contracts. However, our boss refuses to use them and writes his own contracts which are disgusting at best.

Some may say this is business as usual in China. The biggest disappointment to me however is how Aston Educational Group, which sells itself as an American company, refuses to support the teachers in these matters. We have contacted people up through the ranks throughout the entire semester. The most that has happened is… well nothing. The only reason the teachers at our school stuck through with our contracts was because we had a very dedicated foreign manager who did his best to shield us from as many problems as possible. Unfortunately for Aston, the manager is stepping down and the school will have no foreign manager because he’s constantly forced into positions which contradict his morals and values.

Apart from all these problems, I would highly recommend teaching in Xuzhou. The city is a great size- large but you can walk everywhere. The food is delicious and the people are friendly. However, I would not recommend working for Xuzhou Aston. I have heard positive things about JESSE, which is a program that puts teachers in public schools, and English First in Xuzhou which is owned by a foreigner. Also, the universities in Xuzhou hire foreign teachers and pay 150rmb an hour. If you have any questions regarding my post, I will be happy to discuss them.

guessitsjess@hotmail.com