Fox, thanks very much for the kind, though undeserved, words. Actually I think all the moderators do a good job.
Reading your post I see now what you mean. It’s obviously up to the OP to decide how relevant your comments are to her boyfriend’s situation (though I agree that some more experience will improve his teaching skills further). But in any case your comments are very useful as general discussion of the adult English teaching situation. For this reason I’ve relented and brought a few of these posts back here. Sorry for any confusion – I’ve certainly confused myself trying to untangle the twisted threads.
I think classroom management is fundamental to teaching. That means being able to control unrully kids. So it wasn’t really apparent from your post that he had much experience as a teacher. My advice is soild. It sounds like, from what you described, he has limited teaching experience. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t make a fine teacher. I suggest that he find circumstances that allow him to develop as a teacher.[/quote]This is an interesting point. Do you think that effective kids’ classroom management translates over to better managed adult classes?
Most of my experience is teaching elementary-aged kids, but I have some experience teaching junior high and also adult classes. I think some of the experience from teaching kids carries over. For example, I can exude a certain “presence” when needed. For example if a couple of adults are chatting away in the corner it doesn’t take long before they notice that everyone is silent and staring at them, waiting for them to be quiet. However, I feel I need to be careful not to come over as too patronising. Some of the automatic habits developed when managing kids day in day out need to be modified at least to suit older students.
I don’t think it is easy for anyone to start teaching at a school where the students are already poorly disciplined and where there is little support. I guess this is why you suggested method schools. I don’t really know how these work in terms of discipline but from what you say it sounds as if that’s all part of the package.[quote=“Fox”]That is why I suggested a method school. These schools provide training and support. I started teaching at Inlingua in Sydney more than 20 years ago and the experience I gained from that school is still valid to this day. There is a Berlitz school on the corner of Keelung (Jilong) and Zhongxiao.
There maybe other adult schools that would give him a go on the limited experience that he has. I, however, don’t know which they would be. I think most would turn their noses up at what you described. That is not meant as an insult; just a reality check.[/quote]From my limited knowledge of adult schools, there are basically two types. One is the base-level conversation class kind of thing. I think Global Village works like this, and there are others. The pay is the same as or less than kids’ buxibans, but there is often little preparation required. In another adult school in which some friends worked, classes were assigned on a same day basis, so they would probably have a different teacher each time. The teacher would walk in five minutes before class, grab a set of readings from the staffroom, go into class and chat about the readings or anything else for an hour. I have always been suspicious of this approach, wondering if it really counts as teaching. But it’s a start I guess.
There is another kind which though better paid seems to be harder to break into. I don’t wish to be cynical when I say that luck and who you know may play a part. But other things such as solid teaching skills, grammar knowledge, and preferably some Chinese ability seem to be important factors too. And decent, relevant qualifications are also a bonus for this I think.
The method school thing would seem to be a third kind, though I don’t know very much about this. I know something about the Berlitz method and like you I’m not keen. But as you say, it’s a way in, and I have a feeling that starting with a well-organised system – any system – is better than not having any guidance.
but it left me broke and now it’s left me without health insurance because they waited until after my ARC needed to be renewed before canceling my contract (I had already been legally sponsored with my current school for two months by the time they finally admitted they had no interest in continuing my contract). Grrr…