Exactly. As long as the parents dictate that side of the biz (kids), they bluest eyes, blondest hair will get the job. Frankly I don’t give a rat’s arse about the children’s ESL biz. I think it should be completely abandoned and begun anew. But that’ll never happen. So, all this talk is just tilting at windmills.
Let me ask about this. Earlier I spoke a greaseball who wanked off ( via webcam) at a barely out of her teens young student. I know who he is and where he works. What would you pundits have me do with this knowledge?
Had she reached legal age of consent as defined by local law? If so, it’s a case of two consenting adults, and none of your business. If not, call the police.
Yup. Call the cops. The guy probably has all kinds of stuff on his hard drive if that’s what he’s into. Good luck getting the cops to do anything about it though.
I’m talking about people I’ve met. If I’d met any young, black women who didn’t sweat all over the children that I thought were perverts, I would have mentioned them, too. But strangely, I haven’t. Why is that, I wonder? Kiddie-fiddling in Asia is predominantly a white male thing. I can’t believe anyone would want to pretend otherwise.[/quote]
Well, perhaps I was being a tad hard on you. It’s unfortunate that all the male teachers you’ve met here have been the over-weight, over-40 sweaty variety that have turned your stomach. However, although I realise that some are somewhat repulsive, but this is not exclusive to this group. I’ve met several young lads (early 20’s) from Canada, US or England that look like 60’s style hippies who just got out of bed and put on three year old clothes that have never seen a washing machine.
I just get frustrated (as I believe the OP does, hence the thread) at being a career educator who takes pride in my work, cares for the advancement of my students and their safety. I just hate it when we are painted with the same tar brush.
As to why you’ve only met perverted looking old men in Taiwan is beyond me. That’s a question only you can answer.
Not all my teacher were men. But the best were. My best Science teacher ever - Mr Beukes. My best English teacher ever - Mr Mansfield (granted he may have looked gay - some ignorant folks would even say he looked like a pedo - , especially being single, middle aged, emaciated and strangely feminine in his demeanor, but he was simply an awesome teacher that invoked in me a life long love of English literature and brought Shakespeare to life). Second best English teacher ever - Mr Oosthuizen. Best history teacher ever - Mr Canova (a man who never used text books but who told the story of world history in such vivid detial one almost felt as if you were there). Best Afrikaans teacher ever - Mr Van der Merwe. Best Biology teacher ever - Mr Horn.
As for my math teachers? Well I was dismal at math and none of then, male or female could ever get me to comprehend the subject satifactorily. Not even Mrs Van der Walt who is one of the few female teachers I had that were really great.
The same went for university, of which I only really had one female Professor that sticks in my mind.
That may be so, but be carfeul of generalising too much. The parents of kindergarten students at a kindergarten affiliated with my school specifically requested me last year for their kids, due in part to my track record and with the excellent rapport I have with all my kids. This self same class is now starting their first grade and will be enrolled in our schools ESL program (which is a two hour a day with a foreign teacher esl program teaching a range of subjects after normal school, and English language based instruction and day care for the rest of the after-school program with a Taiwanese teacher). Initially they were to get a teacher other than myself, but the kids, parents and school manager (her daughter is one of my students) refused and specifically requested me.
Now I may not match your profile of an over 40 over-weight sweaty individual, but I am a 31 year old white male teacher NOT from North America or England.
Yes, as I said in a previous post, I think this is a wonderful idea and I support it wholeheartedly. As I’ve stated, I’m also concerned about the safety of my students. It may also help to root out the folks who have fake degree’s or no qualifications and further discredit what should be a proud profession.
Here’s a post looking for a foreign teacher in Tainan found on Tainan Bulletin:
[quote]Qualifications:
*University Bachelors degree in USA, Canada…
(Specialization in English or language Art preferred)
*Be interested in teaching children
*Be responsible indivisual
*responsible and patient with love of children
*TESL certificate holder is preferred[/quote]
Interested in teaching children? Love of children? Logically this should be an obvious trait in a teacher. What kind of teacher would you be if you found them to be loathsome filthy little cretins? However, on the other hand, this could also be construed as being a little nutty for a male… After-all, aren’t we just a pack of testosterone feuled, skirt chasing, beer swilling, violent primates with not intrinsic instincts for the care of small children?
I realise there is a dangerous element out there. But there are also many very good male teachers (as there are many excellent female teachers, and some shitty female teachers). Best thing would be to do what ImaniOU suggested. Regulate it better. I really do believe that all the interests of a child should be considered and that their safety is paramount. However, for this ever to be successful, we will need more than just a few concerned teachers invloved.
Magnolia, if I misunderstood your meaning, I apologise.
Do you have hard evidence? Do you need money . . . ?
The Thais are getting serious, or so it would appear.
HG
[quote]Foreign Ministry can help screen foreign teachers
BANGKOK: – To avert potential ‘bad cases’ from occurring, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry is ready to cooperate with schools nationwide to screen prospective foreign teachers before they come to Thailand.
Checking the qualifications of foreign teachers before recruiting them to work for their schools is a high-profile concern in the wake of the case of an American teacher charged with murdering a six-year-old girl in the United States 10 years ago, Foreign Minister Dr. Kantathi Suphamongkhon said Tuesday.
Dr. Kantathi said the ministry has always exchanged information with other countries on blacklisted people or international criminals, and that the ministry was pleased to cooperate with schools scrutinise the backgrounds of foreign job applicants for potential criminal records.
“I recommend that schools deliberately scrutinise the qualifications of foreign teachers,” Dr. Kantathi said, “particularly language teachers.”
The foreign minister said that prospective employers should always check with stated past employers and references the applicants mention in their resumes, he said.
“Today is age of information technology (IT),” Dr. Kanthati said, "so schools can use the Internet to contact schools or institutions abroad directly.
Dr. Kantathi ruled out accusation that Thailand was too lax in issuing visas, saying that he considered the visa issue one of his main policies.
He said there was no need for the government to review its visa issuance policy or stop issuing visas to certain countries, but that discussions should be held among agencies concerned to strictly monitor immigration procedures to prevent the entry of inappropriate persons.
Dr. Kantathi’s remarks followed last Wednesday’s arrest of John Mark Karr, 41, who had worked as a teacher of several international schools in Thailand.
Mr. Karr faces charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault in connection with the 1996 killing of the 6-year-old child beauty queen, JonBenet Ramsey. He was deported to the United States on Sunday.
Are you KIDDING? Child sex is a thriving business – for Asian men, almost exclusively.
But it does strike me as strange that they’d require a criminal background check before you can marry their women, but you’re perfectly free to shut yourself in a room with their preteen kids.[/quote]
You are correct, of course. I was thinking about it in relation to the English teaching industry in Asia, not sex tourism in general. I should’ve been more specific.
It’s also strange that men want to be shut in rooms with preteen kids.[/quote]
Well, for one thing, they’re fun, always laugh and make even a shitty day turn out great. Having worked in a corporate environment before, it sure beats “adult” backstabbing, gossip mongering and working with two faced assholes.
There’s no need. As a much-in-demand English-teaching professional who takes great pride in his work, you would of course get frustrated to be tarred with the same brush as the likes of Carr. But no one was tarring you. I took great care to use “some” not “all” when referring to English teachers, and not once said “every” teacher I have met was a pervert. In fact, I was being quite specific about individuals I have encountered in Taiwan; the same kinds of individuals who have been referred to as “dodgy” and "greaseballs by other posters. As you said yourself, there is a dangerous element out there.
We’re all on the same page here regarding the safety of children. If you took anything I said personally, I in turn apologise to you.
And I’m pleased you now enjoy the happy innocence of children after the back-stabbing corporate environment. Though why you’ve only met assholes is something only you can answer!
[quote]Difficulty finding qualified teachers
Yet even as U.S. educators are being pushed to expand Chinese programs, they are running into obstacles. It is difficult to find people qualified to teach.
Only a few universities in the United States offer teacher certification programs in Mandarin, according to Levine, of the Asia Society. Last year, George Mason University added a program to certify Mandarin teachers, but only two people have enrolled.
That’s why exchanges such as the one that brought the 10 Chinese teachers, as well as two Arabic instructors from Jordan, to the United States are so critical, said the State Department’s Farrell.
“This will help us get a jump-start,” he said. The initiative to bring foreign teachers here will be complemented by a similar effort to send Americans overseas for language training, he said.
{snip}
The Chinese government, however, is trying to do what it can to promote Chinese language. Hanban, or the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, a nongovernmental organization funded by the Chinese government, has been instrumental in providing materials and in some cases helping school systems recruit teachers from China.
This summer, Hanban worked with the National Association of Independent Schools, a group representing U.S. private schools, to send a nine-member delegation to China that recruited 19 teachers for 16 schools.
{snip}
For their part, the Chinese teachers who trained in Dupont – still full of energy after a long day of lectures on “The Culture of the American School” – were eager to share their language and traditions with U.S. students.
Said Shijun Chen, a high school teacher from Beijing: “We feel very excited and very lucky to bring our culture here. It will be a really good challenge for us.”.[/quote]
Because if the legal age of “consent” is 13 in Japan, its hardly a crime is it.
It seems at least as far as the media (worldwide) is concerned, to be very much a white male thing. But do you have any statistics to back up the white male thing? Not that I’m saying you’re wrong, but its easy for us to build up an assumed picture based on media.
Remember things like STD’s, paedofilia, homosexuality… they’re all caused by foreigners (if you pay any attention to the local media)
Real statistics are probably very hard to come by in much of Asia. Rather than present the truth, shameful things are well covered up by their respective governments. Its very much the mentality of many people in Asia. Sadly, the more these sorts of things are covered up in this part of the world, the more it will happen.
There’s the stereotype and there’s the reality and often those two don’t match up. Don’t the statistics show that female pedophiles are almost as common as male pedophiles? There were certainly a lot of high-profile cases in the U.S. in recent years of female teachers seducing underage schoolboys. I’m sure a lot more of that goes on than is reported. The stereotypical image of the pedophile as a creepy-looking middle-aged guy who sweats a lot is just that…a stereotype. Pedophiles come in all shapes, sizes, sexes, and from all walks of life. You can’t spot one just by looking at one. Unfortunately it looks like people like Magnolia seem to have completely bought into the stereotype, without much in the way of facts or statistics to back it up…her posts seem to be saying, “There’s a fat, bald, sweaty middle-aged guy…look at him, he must be a pedophile!” (Does Magnolia not realize that the reason they’re sweaty is because they are fat…fat people sweat a lot more than thin people, especially in places as hot as Taiwan in the summers. There’s nothing “creepy” about it.)
There’s already a seperate post on this but thought this should go here as well.
Here’s one way NOT to create a more positive image of English teachers in Asia:
Sex and Shanghai Morality
One of the most fascinating China blogs is Sex and Shanghai, in which a mid-30s English teacher describes his conquests. We don’t particularly admire his behavior, and in fact some of the details are downright disgusting. However, the writing has flair, the author has something to say and there are some good insights into Chinese society through the steady stream of girlfriends. feer.com/tales/?p=293
Trouble is he has claimed to be teaching at about 4 universities around Shanghai and there is now a massive manhunt on for this “foreign garbage”.
I sure wouldn;t want to be teaching English there at the moment:noway:
[quote=“Hongda”]Trouble is he has claimed to be teaching at about 4 universities around Shanghai and there is now a massive manhunt on for this “foreign garbage”.
I sure wouldn;t want to be teaching English there at the moment:noway:[/quote]
Oh the indignity, the outrage, such foreign muck! Let us avert our eyes from the standard daily brutality we dole out to our fellow Chinamen*, after all they are us, and weed out this foreign scum. He must die lest we never again stand proud!
You “foreigners” that dare to come to our land, it is you who must behave!
HG
Forced prostitution, stealing and selling children, creating murderous work environments, dumping poisonous crap directly into the air and water and guaranteeing thousands if not millions of lives are cut brutally short with vile cancers and the like, the torture meted out in our police stations and prisons, the murder and mayhem commited by stae sponsored thugs in the pursuit of brutal land grabs, etc, ad nauseum.
