"Oh, you're one of *those* teachers..."

Today I heard something that really got my goat. I had been talking about the work I have been putting in to get my classroom just right for my students this week as we start a new unit when someone said, “Oh, you’re one of those teachers. You make us backpacker teachers look bad.” Then he went on to ask about a job at my school and how he could get a fake cert to work there.

It was all said in jest (hopefully), but I am a firm believer that those things said in jest have some elements of truth. It took a great deal of diplomacy to swallow my tongue and not say, “No, actually you make yourself look bad with that kind of attitude toward teaching and my school wouldn’t hire you even if your name was Maria Montessori and you held an MA in early childhood development.”

The lackadaisical, “the-teaching-industry-in-Taiwan-is-a-joke-so-I’ll-play-the-part-of-the-comedian-telling-it” attitude really, really pisses me off. I am sick and tired of lazy, no-good SOBs coming here and poisoning the classrooms of children with their horrible lack of interest in teaching, treating it as simply a better way of making money than staying at home and working at a blue-collar job. I’m sick and tired of people who cannot own up to the fact that they don’t have real teaching qualifications and therefore feel that they can write off having any culpability because of their lack of teaching skills and training. I am sick and tired of those people who treat teaching as simply the easiest means to stuff their pockets with cash. Why do people feel that teaching is just a job to fill the time between paydays? Why do these useless wastes feel that they deserve the title of “teacher” when they are simply the English-speaking trained monkey complaining about their station in life yet perpetuating it with their lack of motivation to become a better teacher?

I know there are plenty of people out there in Taiwan who are not like this and who have a genuine interest in not only teaching the students put in their charge, but also in improving their own teaching techniques and methods. What one lacks in training can easily be made up for in a desire and effort to improve, grow, and achieve as a teacher.

Does anyone else underline the difference between simply “teaching English” and being a real “English teacher”? Am I the only one fed up with these losers?

Some backpacker teachers make themselves look bad. Others do a good job. Of course no one likes a backpacker teacher who does a half-assed job. Then again, I have had college professors with PhD’s do a half-assed job. So I guess we could say that having a backpack is not as important as having more than half an ass. :wink:

[quote=“ImaniOU”]

Does anyone else underline the difference between simply “teaching English” and being a real “English teacher”? Am I the only one fed up with these losers?[/quote]

I grabbed this off of the University of Washington website. This should answer your question about what is the difference between a real “English teacher” and everyone else…

Once you have earned your BA in English, completed your English/Language Arts Endorsement requirements, and completed all other required prerequisites for the teacher certification master’s or post baccalaureate programs you’re interested in, you’ll be ready to apply to a teacher education program and earn your certification for secondary education.

If you don’t meet these standards, then you “teach English.” This includes TESOL/TESL/ESL majors or certificate holders. Nothing wrong with that, you’re just not a real “English teacher.”

I believe what Imaniou wants is recognition that she actually cares about her job. Unfortunately in every field there are people who work hard and those who just get by.

ImaniOU wrote:

A couple of simple “We are not worthy!” emoticons would have been sufficient to show my support of ImaniOU’s sentiments. Unfortunately they don’t want to cooperate this morning.

Brilliantly said mate!!!

I totally agree. But some people can’t teach, regardless of what qulifications they have in the teaching field.
I think that it is a persons outlook and motivation that really sets the professionals apart from the losers, not whether one owns a backpack or not.

[quote]Once you have earned your BA in English, completed your English/Language Arts Endorsement requirements, and completed all other required prerequisites for the teacher certification master’s or post baccalaureate programs you’re interested in, you’ll be ready to apply to a teacher education program and earn your certification for secondary education.

If you don’t meet these standards, then you “teach English.” This includes TESOL/TESL/ESL majors or certificate holders. Nothing wrong with that, you’re just not a real “English teacher.” [/quote]

What a load of bullshit. I’ve met amazing teachers with no qualifications whatsoever.

Brian

You are most certainly not the only one fed up with it…

As someone who used to manage and supervise foreign teachers, I feel your pain… I was lucky in that most of my teachers were genuinely interested in doing a good job… But there were also a large chunk who were only too willing to stroll into class 15 minutes lte wearing their ripped jeans and dirty t-shirts and then complain when their pay was cut due to lateness…

I had one guy who never wore shoes, smelled bad, and only had the kids color pictures all day… who was later truly perplexed and confused as to why he was fired… (no disrespect to the shoeless amongst us)…

The fact remains, that this is a fault of the current situation and environment in Taiwan… and to be quite honest I don’t really blame these types… after all, if you’re travelling and need to stop by somewhere to earn a bit of dough, then Taiwan is a great stop-gap…

As long as the industry is as open as it currently is there are always going to be these types…

And I actually had the same percentage of locals as foreigners that I would consider to be crap teachers…

Cheers!

Daryl

The best teacher I ever had was my grandpa… and he was just a carpenter (the wood-working type not one of the singers)

can u wear somethin identifying, like a pink hat so i can stay clear of U? Cause I don’t have any professional qualificatioons, I just do it to make $$, not as a career…

u snd angry…

aren;t normal teachers who work in high skules/colleges/Univ’s and grant credits in english considered english teachers?

Aren;t ppl working in Bushiban’s, cram skule’s, etc. etc. merely engilsh tutors?

that was my take on it, like I;m aiding da student in a buxiban environment so he can excel in his highschool or Univ’s prof class, where he is learning english.

No, not unless they want to be. You are paid to teach, to care. If you can’t make even a halfway convincing show of trying then you’re a disgrace to the people who try to earn their money.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a cop picking his nose while people run red lights in front of him. It doesn’t matter if you’re a musician going through the motions in front of an audience that has paid good money. It doesn’t matter if you’re a mechanic pretending to fix something or an accountant who doesn’t care about how much tax his client has to pay.

You’ve entered into an agreement to do something useful and to be rewarded for it. If you feel it’s not useful then make room for someone who sees things differently. They deserve the money more than you do, and the students deserve a better teacher, because that’s what they’ve paid for.

Teaching doesn’t have to be your career. You don’t really need massive qualifications. But if you are taking money from people who are paying you to help them then the least you can do is make a little effort. How are you going to go about aiding da student in a buxiban environment so he can excel in his highschool or Univ’s prof class, where he is learning English? You have to start by seeing yourself as a teacher, by believing that you have something of value to exchange for the poor bastard’s money. Describe yourself as ‘merely’ anything and you’re belittling the whole endeavour and all the other people involved in it.

It’s no wonder Imani sounds angry.

I’d blame the schools before I blame Joe backpacker.

If I ran my own school, I don’t think it’d be too hard to mold a Joe backpacker into a more than decent teacher.

Teaching isn’t rocket science and it would not take much for a school to have a program where all they needed was a “monkey to go up front and do tricks”.

I think it’s cool when someone gets into their job and wants to be “one of those teachers”, but I don’t think it’s cool to slag on those that decide not to be (one of those). I’ll even go so far as to say that it’s not worth the average Taiwan Teacher’s time and energy to go the extra mile. Why? Because the school you work for won’t pat you on the back, give you a raise, or even a “Well done Scott” for your extra effort. Screw them (those schools that suck) and well done to you guys (you know, if you’re one of those teachers).

miltownkid - Professional English Monkey since '02

It’s probably not even all the schools’ fault…the whole attitude in Taiwan doesn’t lend itself to separating professionals from wannabes (or don’t-really-wannabes, in this case!) in most fields. “Chabuduo” [good enough] is the standard.

As long as parents want the white face (usually) in front of the classroom, having that white face will be enough to get hired. I agree schools should ask for more, but the market is what it is, and has to take some of the blame. Ultimately, if the government got off its “pigu” and realized that listening to people who know more about English than they do might be a good idea, some sort of general improvement might take place. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

As for Imani’s complaint – which is so valid! – I don’t think she’s dissing people without qualifications. I’ve met her. I think she would be very willing to help someone who sincerely wanted to improve as a teacher. Her complaint, IMHO, is about those who come to do little more than fill a volume of air in the classroom for a minimum time and take home the money.

What you are doing is not necessarily the problem webdoctor… I have employed plenty of people who are temporary, not wanting a career, only doing it for the $$ yet are still able to approach the job with a sense of professionalism and good faith. This is what is important (in the current qualificationless environment)…

I have met plenty of “qualified” teachers I would NEVER re-hire…

It is in the approach that people take to work that makes the difference…

Cheers!

Daryl

[quote=“ironlady”]It’s probably not even all the schools’ fault…the whole attitude in Taiwan doesn’t lend itself to separating professionals from wannabes (or don’t-really-wannabes, in this case!) in most fields. “Chabuduo” [good enough] is the standard.

As long as parents want the white face (usually) in front of the classroom, having that white face will be enough to get hired. I agree schools should ask for more, but the market is what it is, and has to take some of the blame. Ultimately, if the government got off its “pigu” and realized that listening to people who know more about English than they do might be a good idea, some sort of general improvement might take place. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.[/quote]
Indeed. I wanted to say all that, but it was easier just blaming the school. But think about it… Some schools would rather hire someone who’s English is their second language and hardly understandable (OK, maybe not that bad, but you know) than they would a foreign born Chinese from an English speaking country.

How can you expect a teachter to be whole assed about something that the school isn’t even half assed about (probably more like quarter or less).

I know, I just had to stick up for people with no qualifications (being one and all :smiley:). The comment could have just as easily come out of Joe Masters in TESOL as well. The certified vs. not certified didn’t even need to come into this discussion.

Oops… Didn’t see this part last time :slight_smile:. Still, a few years here of getting shafted by a couple of schools would make a lot of people half-assed who normally wouldn’t be. IMHO not every school deserves a full ass. LOL

There is nothing you can do about people who lack motivation. People who don’t carefully screen their teachers before hiring them even more so. The things I can’t change, I generally don’t worry about.

The only thing you can do is to excel at your own work, and do your best to inspire those in the same profession with whom you come into contact.

I agree with Bu Lai En–qualications generally have nothing to do with teaching talent. The same principle applies to many other fields (medicine and the law being two notable exceptions).

I had one guy who did two of the most amazing demos I have ever seen, had great references, and a glowing CV… turned out to be the laziest bum I have ever had!!! Had to fire him after he swore at and threw something at a kid.

Cheers!

Daryl

There are plenty of jobs out there that only want a backpacker. They’re not interested in hiring a serious teacher. What serious teacher wants to be a review monkey?

I don’t care about qualifications on paper, your character will qualify you for the job. In the same way, your character can see you out of a job. I’ll take an OK teacher with good character over a teacher with an attitude that can teach up a storm. It’s not rocket science.

One thing, no liars. No Macedonian’s (for example only) passing themselves off as British. (I have seen a few though)

If one of “those” teachers is anything like ImaniOU, I think I’d hire them in a NY minute. That is if they’d want to work with us. :smiley: (small town folks)

The ethos of this society doesn’t encourage quality anything. That goes for teaching. I don’t blame the schools or the teachers, like Ironlady, I blame the government who truly set the tone for the whole situation. On another note, can’t waste one’s energy over people who don’t play by the same rules that you do. Imaniou’s complaint isn’t only for this profession, but for the workforce at large. One has to remember that when dealing with these type of personalities/behaviors that it’s a choice someone made to be half ass in their presentation, and if they wanna be half ass, then it’s their ass. Your hard efforts, intergity, and energy eventually gets noticed…

[quote=“webdoctors”]. . . .I don’t have any professional qualificatioons, I just do it to make $$, not as a career…


Aren;t people working in buxiban’s, cram skule’s, etc. etc. merely engilsh tutors?

that was my take on it, like I’m aiding da student in a buxiban environment so he can excel in his highschool or Univ’s prof class, where he is learning English.[/quote]

That sounds like a pretty good take, and it’s pretty close to my take. I’m not TESOL or TEFL certified, and I have no certification in education. I don’t care whether I’m called a teacher. Additionally, I do what I do to make money.

It’s long been my belief that, in the case of an adult, as long as a person isn’t violating any laws or legal duties, then what he or she does is largely his or her business alone. However, it occasionally comes to my attention that not everyone holds this view, that there are some who believe that I have a personal moral duty to operate my mind and body according to their prescriptions, or else I have wronged them. It appears that the existence of people like me troubles such people.

I don’t know about you, webdoctors, but I hope to continue in what I’ve been doing even if it disgraces Loretta and ImaniOU and all the other fine folk out there, and I’m going to continue to collect my ill-gotten, uncertified, unqualified pay as long as possible. I’ve lost sleep over a few things in my life, but I ain’t never lost no sleep over that one.

xp+10K

But XP+10K…

would you say you do your job well? Or to the best of your ability?

Cheers!

Daryl

I think BM’s hit it on the nail here. The original poster seems to think that a piece of paper makes you a better teacher.

I’ve only taught at one school, so my experience is a little limited. Most of our teachers (including myself) have degrees and are thus working here legally. We currently have one teacher here who doesn’t have a degree and has to go to Honk Kong every 6 months for a visa. He does a great job and is very serious about his work. We have also had people with degrees (even some who majored in English or were qualified teachers) who sucked in the classroom or didn’t care about the job.

So Its basically up to the kind of person you are, and how much motivation you have to do a good job.

teggs