I am an established Forumosa.com poster but prefer to remain anonymous for this post. Nothing interesting is being hidden here. I just prefer it this way.
I am in my second year working at a buxiban at which I am happy and the pay is reasonable. I like Taiwan and am considering building a career in TEFL or related fields here. I have a TEFL certificate, good university degree and hold an ARC.
My question is what next? All or any advice very gratefully recieved.
I am considering starting my own school, probably on the buxi/anqin -ban model at some point in the future but will need to work for several years to save enough money. I want to broaden and deepen my knowledge of TEFL theory and practice and the market in Taiwan during that time.
It seems that my main options are to stay at my current school or, at the end of my contract, to change to a public or private elementary or a kindergarten
(I have looked into university teaching but have decided to stay away for the moment because of competition, average pay and non-recognition of distance learning degrees.)
Staying at my current school involves fair pay, good boss, good students and convenience. On the downside it could possibly involve stagnation and growing boredom if I am increasingly unable to learn from my teaching and progress. I realise that this is partially up to my attitude but must inevitably also be dependent on the environment.
Changing to an elementary could be good in that I could get more time with the same group of students and more opportunities for different activities and teaching English through other subjects (a bilingual elementary would be good for this although as I am not a certified state/public school teacher in my country of origin I don’t know if I qualify).
It could be bad because of large class sizes and poor curriculum, organisation and/or management by boss/es.
Kindy could be fun although I think I still like teaching elementary-age the most. It would also take a lot of energy.
Have you built a base of privates or something like that? There are a lot people in search for quality teachers. If you turn yourself into one I believe you could go around charging no less then 1,000+/ hour for any teaching you did (privately) and have an overabundance (sp?) of work. I have a feeling you could start teaching small (challenging) groups by yourself and that might be pretty satisfying.
Unless you have a very close Taiwaneser friend, I think it would be hard to do any kind of business stuff without first learning the language (I could be wrong though, happens all the time).
The challange of learning Chinese has kept me busy for quite some time now. Knowing some makes teaching more fun too. (I’m assuming you don’t speak and read, call me out on it if I’m wrong).
Do you agree with the teaching methods at your current school? Is your current school aiming at the right market? If the answer is “Yes” then I suggest you stay at your school and refine this system…while at the same time earn enough to open your own place. Become an expert on the style you want to develop (if in fact you want to open your own school).
As you are doing this, educate yourself on exactly what the parents want and what the students need. Difficult balance…but it can be done. Ask other teachers what kind of systems they use…know every major system, whether you agree with it or not. Develop your own theories; think of your classroom as a lab.
It sounds to me like where you are right now isn’t so bad. DB is right, use the school as a lab and refine what you do.
I am ready to open a school now and that is what I am doing next month, but it has taken 4 years of learning and sometimes learning the hard way.
I don’t really see the point in taking an uncertain jump out of where you are into something that you don’t know. Time and a little patience and the right opportunity will surely present itself. I would recommend learning the language, if you haven’t already, to prepare for any future venture into your own business.
It sounds (to me) like you want to improve your professional knowledge of TEFL, in which case you would be well advised to undertake an advanced TEFL course, CELTA being the minimum. In the long run, having a profesional qualification will benefit you far more than, say running a school, should you later decide to leave Taiwan.
I think that you are wise to tap into the collective wisdom of the board. Certainly, some of the people who post here have experince owning and running schools.
But I agree with Soddom. Can you please clarify your long-tem goals? Is it to teach, or is it to run a business? I may be off base, but seems as if running (managing) a school involves a whole different “skill set” than teaching. It’s great to make money and be your own boss, but if you really love teaching, then you may not be doing much of it if you are busy running your own school.
Thanks very much to all of you who have helped so far. Regarding Chinese ability; I am at somewhat of a plateau in that I can hold simple conversations and can get by well in everyday situations but I lack specific vocabulary and intermediate and advanced grammar knowledge. That is certainly something that I must reapply myself to over the coming years.
I also appreciate the questions about goals. It would be nice to have an ‘escape route’ as it were, by having specific skills and qualifications that I could apply in other countries or my country of origin. I already have a CELTA certificate, though. My desire to expand my knowledge and experience is more to aid me in understanding ways of teaching well than to gain another certificate, diploma or degree. I feel that, provided I have enough self-discipline, I can do some background reading in order to improve my theoretical knowledge.
Of course I like teaching. I’ve been thinking about that point recently; that as a school owner/manager I wouldn’t get much time to teach the students personally. But I take to heart Durin’s Bane’s points on another thread that in Taiwan some degree of micro-management of curriculum may be necessary. In the first couple of years, I could well be teaching some of the time myself, and subsequently teacher training and curriculum development could satisfy some of the desire to be ‘hands on’. And in a small business, you still get to know the students and their parents. Other sorts of satisfaction could come from planning and implementing successful systems.
So I’d like to combine business needs and good teaching practices in a school run by me.
More comments please! I’m very pleased and grateful for the responses so far.
You seem to have thought this through quite a bit and that’s good!
A couple of things…
1.) Owning a school doesn’t necessarily mean that you stop teaching. I have one class that I use to keep my skills sharp as well as training new teachers. It is also good to show the other teachers that you are not afraid to step into the classroom. How much you want to teach is up to you.
2.) You can still be close to the kids but not be in the classroom. One can know the names of a thousand different kids. If you own a school you should be able to know, and instruct them when you monitor QC.
3.) There will be hard days (as in all businesses). For example, I was up at 5am (don’t give up exercise no matter what) and will probably go home at midnight. I will do this until the end of August. Except on the weekends.
That being said, there will be times when you have nothing to do. Then you can go home and do whatever turns your crank.
If you want to open up a school, here are a couple of things to remember.
1.) exercise
2.) two cell phones. one for work and one for personal. keep the one for work off on the weekends.
3.) Drink Long Islands and Greyhounds. Not too many, but not too few.
(sometimes too many can be okay, but under no circumstances should you have too few)
4.) Leave work at work.
5.) Green tea, no sugar.
6.) Have at least two hobbies. This can include #1, but not #3.
7.) Have top-notch secretaries.
8.) Laugh, or giggle, as much as you can.
9.) Kids are fun and fun things are good.
10.) Leave the TV off on days that you work. The last thing you need when you go home is noise. Besides, TV, like theater, rots your brain.
My vote goes for learning how to read, speak and write Mandarin. It’s sounds like you’re in the perfect position to do so if your job is getting boring (you should feel happy about that ). Boring job equals more free time for yourself, use that to your advantage and start studying. I see more and more doors opening up as my level gets higher and higher…
If you need some studying tips, don’t hesitate to message me (or post in one of the language threads).
The comments in this thread are excellent. What is your nationality might I ask? I am expecting to see some changes in the legal structure here in Taiwan regarding the business activities of USA nationals . . . . . . so that might be relevant to some people and not to others, it depends.
One thing that needs to be touched upon is the organization of your own school, should you decide to open one. I remember talking to the Director of the Bushiban Association in Taipei one time and he said that over 90% of the bushiban’s with foreign involvement are organized in the following way: Taiwan wife, foreign husband.
This is important to remember because there are a lot of paperwork details that only the “Taiwan partner” can effectively deal with. And as for staff . . . . . they are often not very stable. So, you definitely need someone there who is providing stability for the Chinese paperwork side of things . . . . . this is my opinion. You can take it for what it is worth. I had several bushibans in the Taipei area for 18 years.
Should Taiwan make English an official language? Then all forms could be completed in English!!! Well, we will see what the future brings.
[quote=“Mr Reasonably Anonymous”]
I also appreciate the questions about goals. It would be nice to have an ‘escape route’ as it were, by having specific skills and qualifications that I could apply in other countries or my country of origin. I already have a CELTA certificate, though. My desire to expand my knowledge and experience is more to aid me in understanding ways of teaching well than to gain another certificate, diploma or degree. I feel that, provided I have enough self-discipline, I can do some background reading in order to improve my theoretical knowledge.[/quote]
RA,
Theoretical knowledge is at best a useful thing to have to establish a set of parameters. Don’t place too much emphasis on what “experts” pass off as gospel. Too many times these “experts” have spent so much time expounding theory that they have lost sight of what is going on in the real world. Don’t lose faith in what you think is right and good.
Folks are talking about having a back-up, or escape route. Lots of money can ensure that more than any sort of degree…the question is, “How does one make a lot of money teaching ESL?” By starting this thread, you are half-way there to answering this question.
Example: Back in my PC Technician days I was paid 8.50US/hour to do work that my company charged 60US hour for. I quickly found out that people were more then willing to cut out the middle man and pay me directly (a very handsome some, most times I still got 60/hour). Then I found out that businesses paid by the project, which =ed even more dollars per hour.
I have a feeling that ESL teaching is similar. If people are quick to pay you (us) 600NT/hour try to imagine how much they make. Even though I’m a small fry, I chuckle to myself when people discuss the differences between making 600NT/hour and 800NT/hour. Both are low figures compared to how much the person who your working for is making (or should be). If you work hard and save hard for a few years, that hard work will be your back up plan. A backup plan could also be picking up a marketable skill right now that could be used back home (for me it’s computers).
Duuuh…thanks…DB…you have provided me with my morning giggle…
And given your assertion that I am too dumb to read your quickly typed missive, maybe theatre does rot the brain…as I have been involved with some 50 productions and seen over 500, my brain must look like that pizza that’s been in my fridge since CNY…
But seriously, why would you say theatre rots your brain?
Theatre is Life
Film is Art
Television is Furniture
friend, I think it would be hard to do any kind of business stuff without first learning the language (I could be wrong though, happens all the time).
). Boring job equals more free time for yourself, use that to your advantage and start studying. I see more and more doors opening up as my level gets higher and higher…