{"id":1560,"date":"2018-02-08T10:21:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T02:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2018\/02\/08\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/"},"modified":"2024-12-30T19:38:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T11:38:05","slug":"the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"The 8 Do\u2019s And Don\u2019ts of Teaching in China"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>China is the fastest-growing <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/market\/\" title=\"View all posts in market\" >market<\/a> worldwide to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) and provides a huge amount of job <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/jobs\">opportunities for English speakers<\/a>. Ever thought about leaving your boring life behind to teach English in China? If so, you should<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FtOiB81-B1sUiI1GBIG7hjhy-ssJ?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"1.gif\" width=\"640\" height=\"213\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">China is the fastest-growing market\u00a0worldwide\u00a0to teach\u00a0ESL\u00a0(English as a Second Language)\u00a0and provides a huge amount of\u00a0job\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/opportunities\/\" title=\"View all posts in opportunities\" >opportunities<\/a>\u00a0for English speakers.\u00a0Ever thought about leaving your boring life behind to teach English in China? If so, you should seriously\u00a0consider the following tips\u00a0in order to\u00a0live a stress-free and enjoyable life in the Middle Kingdom.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/#1_Do_respect_your_host_school\" title=\"1.\u00a0Do respect your host school\">1.\u00a0Do respect your host school<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/#2_Dont_choose_a_job_based_on_salary_alone\" title=\"2. Don\u2019t choose a job based on salary alone\">2. Don\u2019t choose a job based on salary alone<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/#3_Do_immerse_yourself_in_Chinese_culture\" title=\"3. Do immerse yourself in Chinese culture\">3. Do immerse yourself in Chinese culture<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/#4_Dont_be_afraid_of_asking_a_lot_of_questions\" title=\"4. Don\u2019t be afraid of asking a lot of\u00a0questions\">4. Don\u2019t be afraid of asking a lot of\u00a0questions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/#6_Dont_be_babble\" title=\"6. Don&#8217;t be babble.\">6. Don&#8217;t be babble.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/#7_Do_read_your_teaching_contract_carefully\" title=\"7.\u00a0Do read your teaching contract carefully\">7.\u00a0Do read your teaching contract carefully<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china\/#8_Dont_Be_Destructive\" title=\"8. \u00a0Don&#8217;t Be Destructive\">8. \u00a0Don&#8217;t Be Destructive<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Do_respect_your_host_school\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #e33737;\"><b>1.\u00a0Do respect your host school<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Always be mindful that your school has gone to great lengths\u00a0to invite you to come and work with them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Should any teething problems arise, communicate effectively and act professionally at all times. This will help stand\u00a0you in good stead.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 13.5pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Dont_choose_a_job_based_on_salary_alone\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #e33737;\"><b>2. Don\u2019t choose a job based on salary alone<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Choosing a <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/teaching\/\" title=\"View all posts in teaching\" >teaching<\/a> job in China based on salary alone is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In addition to your <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/dictionary\/english\/proposed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">proposed<\/a> salary, you must\u00a0consider other factors like the school\u2019s location, your accommodation, the working conditions and class sizes. There are many different types of schools\u00a0that you can choose from, including public schools,\u00a0non-governmental schools, universities, and training institutions (<strong>expect a more detailed article from us soon to discuss each of those school types<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Teaching salaries\u00a0in China vary greatly based on your company and are usually\u00a0based\u00a0on your educational background and the status of your degree. If you have an\u00a0advanced degree or significant <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/teaching-experience\/\" title=\"View all posts in teaching experience\">teaching experience<\/a>, you can expect a much higher\u00a0salary. As for your taxes,\u00a0you will be required to file a form at year\u2019s end depending on whether your\u00a0school makes automatic tax deductions from your monthly salary\u00a0or not, and\u00a0will also need to\u00a0figure out\u00a0whether you have to pay more\u00a0in taxes\u00a0at the end of the year. But if this sounds a bit too complicated, just\u00a0ask your\u00a0employer for clear information on the matter\u00a0before signing\u00a0your\u00a0contract.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Do_immerse_yourself_in_Chinese_culture\"><\/span><b><span style=\"color: #e33737;\">3. Do immerse yourself in <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/chinese-culture\/\" title=\"View all posts in Chinese culture\">Chinese culture<\/a><\/span><\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">You\u2019ll get the most out of your experience in China if you try to live and breathe as much of the country and the culture as you can. Go ahead and sample the <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/food\/\" title=\"View all posts in food\">food<\/a>, learn some of the language, <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/travel\/\" title=\"View all posts in travel\">travel<\/a> in your spare time and rub shoulders with the locals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If all else fails, there\u2019s no shortage of Western creature comforts like McDonalds and Starbucks!<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Dont_be_afraid_of_asking_a_lot_of_questions\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #e33737;\"><b>4. Don\u2019t be afraid of asking a lot of\u00a0questions<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">To ensure you get the job and conditions that are right for you, you should ask the recruiter or your potential school as many questions as possible. Get the answers emailed to you to avoid any misunderstandings. Ideally, all crucial information should be included in your teaching contract.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Once you arrive in China, keep asking questions. The more questions you ask about this incredible country, the more you\u2019ll discover.<\/p>\n<p>5. Do challenge your students&#8217; ideas, and encourage them to do the right thing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">You shouldn&#8217;t disagree with everything they say, but ask them to support their claims with textual evidence\u00a0and encourage other students to come up with different interpretations. Putting pressure on students&#8217; ideas makes them think harder to come up with convincing arguments. It also helps them develop the\u00a0necessary\u00a0skills to speak persuasively and debate with their peers. Debates and arguments help a discussion become more lively, engaging, and interesting. If these debates start to get personal\u00a0and\u00a0students offend one another, think of a few ways to\u00a0turn\u00a0the conversation back to the text. You should challenge their\u00a0interpretations of the text, not the students themselves.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 13.5pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FnqAgGc24jlgrDGyixnNT1UenE8z?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"1.jpg\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #888888;\">Photo credit:\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #888888;\">www.souhu.com<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Dont_be_babble\"><\/span><b><span style=\"color: #e33737;\">6. Don&#8217;t be babble.<\/span><\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">New teachers are usually nervous, and nervous people often babble. The more words you say, the less value each word has. I once heard that teachers get to say about 10,000 words before the students stop listening, and that new teacher use up their words in the first week. Choose your words carefully<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Do_read_your_teaching_contract_carefully\"><\/span><b><span style=\"color: #e33737;\">7.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #e33737;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Do read your teaching contract carefully<\/span><\/span><\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You have to sign a contract\u00a0in order\u00a0to formally accept a teaching position in China. Before you do this though, take the time to\u00a0read and understand it\u00a0thoroughly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Generally, a Chinese teaching contract is made up of two parts \u2013 English and Mandarin (the English section is a replica of the Chinese section. Keep the following warning in mind before signing anything with an employer:\u00a0<strong>Every condition and item you sign\u00a0up for\u00a0is based on the Chinese version of the contract, so we highly recommend you have it checked out by a Chinese-speaking friend because the English section is not always as precise\u00a0as the Chinese one.)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 13.5pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">You should sign and date both sections once you\u2019re happy with the terms and conditions.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_Dont_Be_Destructive\"><\/span><b><span style=\"color: #e33737;\">8. \u00a0Don&#8217;t Be Destructive<\/span><\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">No one will humiliate a student intentionally; however, it&#8217;s mostly the shy kids who\u00a0get embarrassed the most without our\u00a0realizing it. As teachers, it is our goal to build students up; while we think being shy is just a matter of breaking a student&#8217;s comfort zone, it just doesn\u2019t\u00a0work\u00a0that way.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 13.5pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fk4132tP72i1MjMxk7vEOjaNdVGP?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"2.jpg\" width=\"848\" height=\"566\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #888888;\">Photo credit:\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #888888;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.xianguo.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"broken_link\" target=\"_blank\">www.xianguo.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Another way a teacher can\u00a0come off as\u00a0destructive is by\u00a0taking\u00a0everything out on the students. We should never hold our students responsible for not knowing something they haven&#8217;t been taught\u00a0before. For instance, after having\u00a0taught something and gone over it numerous times, even though the majority of\u00a0the\u00a0students knew\u00a0and understood it, others still didn\u2019t quite\u00a0get it\u00a0and it may feel\u00a0very frustrating if\u00a0all of your\u00a0classes\u00a0are\u00a0like this. In this case, a teacher should find out the reason why this is happening\u00a0instead of being\u00a0destructive.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fkm7ORum5lwyS1ihwdOCQG4eI0Nn?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"GIC2.jpg\" width=\"1030\" height=\"983\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FmO0rtKmh3kKE5hjmxR-_B4vpOgP?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"GICA.jpg\" width=\"682\" height=\"431\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China is the fastest-growing market worldwide to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) and provides a huge amount of job opportunities for English speakers. Ever thought about leaving your &#8230;","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[60,386,1780,306,29,34,1209,1968,701,1687,3576,214],"class_list":["post-1560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pro-tips","tag-china","tag-chinese-culture","tag-food","tag-hiredchina","tag-jobs","tag-jobs-in-china","tag-market","tag-opportunities","tag-teaching","tag-teaching-experience","tag-the-8-dos-and-donts-of-teaching-in-china","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1560"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25555,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560\/revisions\/25555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}