Well what do you expect when you employ people who have no tertiary qualifications in teaching? You are right about shoddy standards.
I thought the teachers were the ones who prepared the lessons? I know many schools that have foreign managers in their teaching departments. So it does reflect poorly once again on the problems of running a school.
Anyways running bushibans and language schools are for making money. Actually teaching anything is of secondary importance.
Yes, the reason there are so many unqualified people teaching English in Taiwan is because the Taiwanese buxiban / kindy / language school owners don’t want to pay more for qualified people, or give good training to them. Although a uni degree in early childhool education would be great, I doubt there are enough qualified unemployed people with that degree in the world to satisfy the demand in Asia alone. But you don’t need a uni degree in English or TESL to be a decent teacher: just the basic human characteristics + some general theoretical training + some cultural training + some supervision / mentorship / on going training. And, have the whole thing supervised by somebody with real qualifications. But the locals don’t want to bother. So, they accept unqualified people. It’s the owners fault, really.
Why do people keep repeating the falsehood that it is illegal for foreigners to teach kindergarten?
Show me the law, or stop saying it. Every time int eh last 8 years that this topic has come up, I’ve said show me a law that says it’s illegal for foreigners to teach kindergarten. Despite the fact that the laws are all available, in English, online, no one has ever done it.
On the other hand, I’ve had the police come into my kindergarten while I was teaching English, look at my JFRV visa, and tell me to carry on. I’ve had a kindy owner call the Labour Department and be told that yes, the can employ a foreigner.
Sure, if you’re on a work visa, you can’t do it, but there are other visas - JFRV, PR, and working holiday visas. Also, kindies aren’t allowed to teach immersion English. None of that makes it illegal for all foreigners to teach at kindergarten.
Well, that is very interesting. It sheds light on the discrepancy between the law on the books and the law how it is interpreted by various agencies. I however recall reading articles in the press here that say that it is government policy to … yadayada.
That’s kind of interesting, because I haven’t been able to find a law on the net in English that says foreigner can’t teach kindy. Anyone else got a link or quote?
ACTUALLY, LET’S MAKE THIS MORE EXPLICIT: CAN ANYONE GIVE A LEGAL LINK OR QUOTE RELEVANT TO THE ISSUE OF WHETHER OR NOT FOREIGNERS CAN TEACH IN KINDIES?
STV? LAWYERS? ANYONE? Please, it would be good to know.
Make up your mind which type of “interesting” it is, BJ. 
But, as Bu Lai En pointed out, it’s VERY interesting. Can anyone supply the relevant laws on the subject so we can put this matter to rest?
Hey you soutpiel, that’s very interesting!
Gee, Sat TV, one of your better posts! Erudite and concise!
Good point. I did actually try and find the relevant law, but couldn’t find any laws regarding where foreigners can or cannot teach. But I thought that maybe my legal search skills regarding Taiwan laws may be inadequate, because I have personally seen people busted and deported for teaching kindy. They were, however, on a normal work related ARC…
Anything in a teachers education program could be taught to English teachers in buxibans or kindergartens. Furthermore many Taiwanese buxiban teachers are not trained teachers either. Usually they have a major in English or lived abroad. Very few of the one’s I know have teaching qualifications.
That is still better than some Taiwanese English teachers who have a hard time speaking one grammatically correct sentence. Of course there are some teachers who speak excellent English but I have know some who can’t seem to put together one correct sentence.
Well, if “interesting” sometimes sorta means “confusing,” then, me, I think it’s interesting, too, me. But I don’t know no revenant lore about it. (Edit: Or to be a little more truthful, I’m too chicken to get involved in this thing, and besides, I don’t see how it would help 
.)
Oddly enough, i’ve been here only two weeks but every Taiwanese i’ve talked to about this has insisted that teaching Kindergarten is not illegal at all, whatever implications that adds to the discussion…
When they tell you to not show up because the police are coming tomorrow then you will know that they know it is illegal. Of course I have worked at schools before who did not seem to know the laws.
ok then…
Be sure to post here and tell us how unfair it is when they deport you for something that isn’t illegal.
Seriously, mate… Most locals don’t even know we have ARCs/APRCS/JFRVs, and even more don’t have any idea that most foreigners have to have a medical for their ARC every year. Most Taiwanese think we just get here, get a job with little effort and work very few hours for an engineer’s salary (think 250 000/month). You could fill books with what they don’t know about foreigner affairs and regulations, let alone laws regulating teaching etc…
Don’t let your pot dealer tell you that’s legal, too.
You can’t work in a kindergarten that’s licensed as a “kindergarten”, but you can work in a kindergarten that is licensed as a “cram school”. The reason why, according to a government lady that I talked to 1 or 2 years ago, was the government think Taiwanese toddlers should learn their native languages(Mandrine and Taiwanese) first before they start studying a foriegn language. Furthermore, any teachers who have no certifications teaching in the kindergartens are not allowed to teach in kindergartens. However, this law has no effects on those kindergartens that licensed as a cram school.
Foreigners aren’t allowed to teach children under school going age, regardless of how the school is registered. That is the law. Changed in the last year or so.
Would you mind providing a reference for that? Thanks! (You sound pretty sure of yourself, that’s why I asked … it’s so difficult to find any conclusive evidence on this.)
I’d like to have some information about it too cuz last year I visited a kindergarten with 2 foreigners working in their school, I asked them how it could be possible since no foreigners are allowed to “work”(not even just to work in school as a cleaner or a maid) in a kindergarten. The boss told me because they applied for the business license with cram school documentations. This was just last winter or so.