I was born in Taiwan, grew up in Illinois ever since I was one month old. Moved to Taiwan recently after graduating university and attaining a TEFL certification before I left the states. Any way I’ve visited schools near me, I’ve sent resumes with the cover letter being the email, I’ve followed up with phone calls, everything. Only places that are in the boondocks (2 places in the month that I’ve been searching for a job) want to interview me. I had a place actually tell me that they only hire “foreign teachers”. How am I not foreign? And why is foreign code for white?
I have the ideal midwestern American accent
do not require ARC, have a Taiwanese ID
graduated university, did fairly well
have a TEFL certification
am not sketchy, have permanent housing, highly unlikely to randomly disappear
It scares me that these schools are hiring Americans right off the plane because most of the classmates I’ve had in my English classes I wouldn’t consider fully literate.
[quote=“noamchomsky”]I was born in Taiwan, grew up in Illinois ever since I was one month old. Moved to Taiwan recently after graduating university and attaining a TEFL certification before I left the states. Any way I’ve visited schools near me, I’ve sent resumes with the cover letter being the email, I’ve followed up with phone calls, everything. Only places that are in the boondocks (2 places in the month that I’ve been searching for a job) want to interview me. I had a place actually tell me that they only hire “foreign teachers”. How am I not foreign? And why is foreign code for white?
I have the ideal midwestern American accent
do not require ARC, have a Taiwanese ID
graduated university, did fairly well
have a TEFL certification
am not sketchy, have permanent housing, highly unlikely to randomly disappear
It scares me that these schools are hiring Americans right off the plane because most of the classmates I’ve had in my English classes I wouldn’t consider fully literate.[/quote]
You have a Taiwanese ID so they consider you to be an overseas Chinese. That is why you come through a different passport channel to the white people.
Perhaps try applying with your American passport and asking for a work visa ?
What is your tefl qualifacation? You say you have an “ideal” accent. Well that sums up the whole “problem” in Taiwan itself. You see they have these ideas about what is ideal. You ideal accent is more marketable than mine being a native speaker but non American but my skin colour is more marketable than yours (for teaching). Yah it is all about what they can sell to the students.
The ideal is this
White
Young
Female
North American accent
Bubbly
TEFL (whatever)
Doesn’t ask too many questions
Good with kids and willing to play clown
Doesn’t say boo to a goose
How many did you tick ? I ticked two
Did i forget anything?
Perhaps try applying to the most “respectable chains”. Apparently there are some schools around that base employment on qualifacations and experience. They are hard to find but apparently there are some.
I know that TLI used to hire folks in your situation. It’s been a long time ago that I worked for them, but I bet they still do.
There will be someone out there with the sense to see that a face doesn’t make a teacher. But it’s true that the cram schools are selliing a “foreign teacher” product to parents/students–not really an English teacher.
So your aim should be to find someone/some place that takes learning more seriously than window dressing. And then do your best to be a great TEACHER. When people realize that they have a professional and not just a clown, they’ll shocked at the value they get for their money and you’ll be in demand. Jia you!
This unfortunately is a recurring topic here. [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/skin-colour/53341/1 thread[/url] has a list of links to previous threads, hopefully they can be of some use to you.
In my email I state that I am a citizen of both the U.S. and Taiwan. Today I called a place very close to me, within 5 minutes, and the person I talked to on the phone actually remembered me from when I dropped off my resume. She told me that the parents are looking for white faces, blah blah blah and so on. She said that I should start out as a Chinese helper teacher and then said something to me I didn’t understand in Chinese. I told her I was a foreigner but not a foreigner in this system and she said she understood but could do nothing about it.
This placed I called was not an ideal position for anyone. They were offering THREE hours a week.
They do not care that I am an American. They don’t even consider the diversity that I could bring to a school. I feel like I am going to have to do an extremely hard sell to get a job like in the movie Pursuit of Happiness but it’s not in my personality to be overbearing like that.
without proper discrimination laws, schools will hire the teachers that they believe gets them more customers. If the customer wants whitey to teach thats who they’ll hire. It sucks and it’s racist but you can’t fight the system. As a white Brit I was hired and told they wanted me to put on an American accent because thats what they believe is correct english and the kids could understand it. Heaven forbid that they get a rounded education!!
If it’s any consolation, the waste-of-breath from the CLA who “mediated” the dispute with my school last Friday (by spending 20 minutes chatting with them before I had even arrived) said that employers cannot discriminate against race, skin color, or ethnic background.
Yeah, brought me a whole lot of comfort too.
If anything, push the fact that you are a much better role model to the kids because you look like them and they are more likely to be motivated to learn because your own abilties prove that it’s possible for a Taiwanese person to be a fluent English speaker more than if someone who looks like a foreigner is trying to persuade them of the same.
Also let them know that you understand Taiwanese culture better than the vast majority of foreign teachers and therefore will make a much easier transition to the school’s environment and policies than someone who knows nothing below the surface of the local culture.
They are just giving what the customer wants. Flashing your passport will help though, you could probably find something but you also lack experience, right? You also don’t know people to refer jobs too, it’s tough at the start.
Finally, you can find many threads talking about the English industry in Taiwan here…google.
Yes, the free market has spoken and it is ugly as it reflects the ignorance of the masses. I do have two referrals. I live next door to an ex school teacher who referred me to a jr high/hs. I got nowhere as they said the job was filled and to try again next semester. Who knows if it was or wasn’t. Also I know someone that works at a Christian school and he’s referring me, not sure what is going to come from that.
I think I’ve faced more discrimination here in a few months than I have in America in my whole life. I have a feeling that I would have a better chance of being hired by a white guy that is in charge of hiring than any Taiwanese person.
@Stuartca, British accent white face > American accent Taiwanese (Chinese) face
I wish I was still a manager of a cram school. I would have hired you for just that quote lol
Yeah in Britain we have a word for those ignorant masses and it is “Plebes” or “Plebs”.
Sandman will fill you in on the details and definition of what makes a pleb or plebe. He holds them in great disdain
Yeah you are right that you have a far better chance of being hired by a white person. That is really sad but so true. However the white person is not the one usually making the economic decisions and therefore will be over ruled in many instances
Uncle Tomas advises you to take whatever work you can get that falls within the range of what is acceptable to you. Having to run around to different gigs is often part of the job. Three hours here, eight hours there, four hours at another place. Once you get a chance to get in and prove your mettle, a lot of doors will open. It won’t be all roses and chocolate, but a confident person who works hard, learns, and looks on the bright side of things will generally work this out. If my Nigerian brother (with a SA passport) could do it, so can you.
Keep trying. Things will eventually come together.
Have you tried private Elementary schools? They love hiring people who they don’t have to provide ARC’s for. You probably just need any US degree and you’re good to go.
try kindergartens. since it became illegal for foreigners to work there, there has been more of a demand for people like you. you’ve got the ID card so in case of a raid, you’ll be the Chinese/computer/art/anything but the English teacher. are you Taipei? i think that the discriminatory practices have declined in recent years with schools learning the hard way that white face ≠ good teacher. if a place rejects you because of your appearance, then i don’t think that’s a place you would want to work for anyways. be patient. look for well run schools that care about their students and the education they’re getting. when you find one, and they are out there, they won’t care what you look like if you can teach.
I’ve applied to everything in Taichung and nearby cities, kindergartens, public schools, private schools, even the one I was talking about that was offering only FOUR hours.
Taichung. I have the opportunity to move to Taipei, would it be any better? Perhaps the consumer is more sophisticated in Taipei? Also, I am being patient. My parents are pressuring me to find a job before the current hiring season is over as if there were no diminishing returns from the effort I put into finding a job and the results that I get. It takes me no more than 30 minutes a day to send a resume with cover letter as the email, and a phone call to follow up.
Hah, being black is definitely better than being Taiwanese-American when it comes to getting an English teaching job. It’s the no mans land of foreigner-but-not-a-foreigner.
The buxiban owners may be more prone to your way of thinking or used to the idea of ethnically Chinese native English speakers, there may also be more foreign-owned schools.
Racism and discrimination are alive and well in the world, as they always have been, despite what your North American upbringing has led you to believe. Don’t expect anything you hate here to change overnight, cause it’s not going to.
All the venting in the world on an internet forum isn’t going to help you come to terms with it either. Either choose to abandon those thoughts of negativity and accept things for the way they are and try your hardest to make the most of your time here, or move to a place where you and your skills would be more valued. Teach ESL to underprivileged kids, Chinese kids in the States, etc.
What’s the point of choosing to live any part of your life feeling like a second rate citizen when you don’t necessarily have to?
Ha. Good thing you aren’t actually black then. Cause you’d really be crying a river then. And possibly also writing three novels on racial inequality in the Far East.
So move back to the U.S. where your skills are recognized in that case?
As for “poor sample size,” sure. I’m sure you’re right. I only know … I dunno … 15 or so Taiwanese Americans here. Working in teaching, software development, translating, engineering, etc… you get the picture. Poor sample size. Better than your “one,” though.
