I am starting on my next little project for my website.
I would like to look at the various contracts that bushibans/language schools offer their teachers. The aim is to show what you can expect, as well as what is “good, bad and ugly”
If you have a contract that you would be willing to share (please remove your name, and the school name etc.) Please email it to me so I can put it up.
This is not a black list thing - I do not want to expose any schools etc.
Some of the things that interest me are:
1/ How schools deal with sick - days.
2/ The amount of the contract-deposit that schools want to take ( my school wanted $7000, split over 2 months) but I know some people are being asked to pay up to $24000 over 3 months!!)
3/ The hours issue - most contracts state that YOU must be available to teach a certain amount of hours per week - but they don’t guarantee you a set amount of hours.
4/ Extra work - how they pay teachers who have to participate in school functions (like working on xmas day for a ‘xmas party’ etc.
And a whole lot more…
If it is considered inappropiate to make this request please let me know kindly:-)
I don’t think this is an inappropriate request at all. I am trying to write contracts myself right now, and would like some other contracts to compare with. I will post ours soon.
I think schools should cooperate more on matters of professional interest. Especially with Chinese managers, there is a lot of unnecessary secrecy, even within the school organization itself.
You know what I hate about the contracts they always want you to sign for English teaching? They’re so one-sided.
Usually they bind you to working for them fora certain period of time, with conditions about meetings and teaching reports etc and if you don’t keep it you’re liable to pay big dollars. But in my experience they they never provide for their sideof it - eg they will provide you with the paid hours and the working days etc. Why not have a bond that the school has to pay the teacher and if the school breaks the contract the teacher keeps that money?
Here here, Bri! Where I work, you have to sign a contract first and then the company has the right to try you out for 1 month to see if you are suitable. But there is nothing in the contract that permits the teacher to try the company out for one month and then quit if they think they are being treated unfairly. The teacher is usually bound for a whole year. At least I was.
I think that this set up is terribly unfair because some people are very vulnerable when they 1st move here because of culture shock. It leaves them open to getting trapped into yearly contracts where the pay is far below standard with no option for a raise.
It is not that these individuals don’t read the contracts, but more that they are a bit bewildered about how everything works here. I think this page is a very good idea as it might help future teachers gain insights into how schoools operate before they embark on the quest to find work.
Just an update: I have got a number of different contracts and will share then on-line asap.
However, I have just moved apartments, and internet access will take a while. So I am unable to update my webpage, unless I can find an internet cafe in Kaohsiung which has FP2000 installed:-)