Lesson #13: How Teaching in China is Different from Teaching in the US

In this picture you can see my desk along with the A/C unit.

My life has completely changed over the course of a month. Life has mostly been a whirl-wind of events since July, really. After teaching summer school in June, we closed on our house on June 29. Tim and I were allowed to stay in the house until we left for China in August. Then, I left for my summer teaching job in China on July 5. Once again, I had an incredible experience! The people were so kind and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Then, I returned home on July 23, and all my time was taken up by packing and/or selling all of our belongings and worrying about getting our Chinese Work Visa (Z Visa) issued. That was super bumpy! I accidentally sent mine to the wrong consulate, but they were able to work it out and mailed me my Visa the week before we left. Tim, on the other hand,  sent his to the right consulate; but then was told that he would have to appear in person because this consulate now required fingerprinting! This meant that he had to fly to Chicago and back in one day to get his fingerprinting done, then drive to Chicago and back over the course of two days in order to pick his Visa up once it was issued. He ended up getting his Visa two days before our flight! All of this was happening while also trying to move everything out of our house! We finally vacated our home on August 14, and then flew to China on August 17.

Once we arrived in China, we did have the opportunity to rest during the weekend before starting our teacher orientation/training in Nanjing. The bad news was that we were crammed in a tiny hotel room with all of our life's belongings (not literally, but it seemed like it). The teacher orientation was all day! Tim had to study for daily quizzes as well as his final TEFL exam, but I also was required to submit a couple of lesson plans in their requested format. That meant that we had busy days and evenings all week!

 It was during this orientation that I realized just how different teaching in China really is. I would say the most obvious and probably shocking difference is the class size. I already knew that class sizes were large because I had spoken with teachers in China during my experiences teaching here in the summer. Class sizes are 40-50 students on average (and maybe more).  This kind of raises the chicken or the egg question: I'm not sure if classes sizes are so large because of the Chinese teaching style or if the Chinese teach the way they do because of the large class sizes. Either way, I learned that differentiation is not expected of classroom teachers. We were told that there are students who are unable to understand the curriculum for different reasons, and therefore won't participate; but we should leave them alone and not worry about them as long as they're not a distraction. Instead, we should focus on "teaching to the middle." As an ESL teacher, this concept is very difficult to grasp. I know that children come to class with different levels of English proficiency. In the past, I have actually formed my classes based on English proficiency levels so that students receive instruction that is appropriate for them. Another difference that I noticed is in the content that I teach. In the United States, I was evaluated on how well I cognitively engaged my students and required them to think critically. Here, students are not taught to think critically. Instead, they are just passive receivers of knowledge that they should memorize. My role has changed from being a guide that helps my students discover the answers to a teacher that just gives children the information in an entertaining-enough way that they will remember it. Because of the large class sizes, I also learned that I should not have all the students participate at the same time. Instead, I should only select a small group of students to participate in the games in front of the class. That does not mean that I should have students work in small groups. I was actually discouraged from having students work in small groups. In an English as a Foreign Language classroom, I can see how that could make sense. It could be difficult to monitor whether they speak in English or Chinese. The last difference that I noticed was in how student behavior is managed. If students misbehave, they should stand or sit in the corner of the classroom. I was told that it is only the teacher's responsibility to manage the behavior- the students should never be sent out of the classroom. There was no support from anyone else above us. This is concerning to me because unlike in the United States, I have no way to communicate with the parents! At least if I didn't have administrator support in the US, I could at least communicate directly with the parents.

The Monday after our busy orientation week, Tim and I took our giant suitcases on a high-speed train to Wuxi. After attending a school meeting, we were taken to our apartment. Then, we were given the rest of the week before Friday to "settle in." I learned that my school is just a 10-minute walk from my apartment (super convenient!), and Tim has a personal driver that picks him up to take him to school each day! We also learned that there is a Papa John's right outside our apartment complex which has "American-style" pizza (we did eat there our first night), and right across the street from my school is a large mall which has everything (including a large supermarket and movie theater)! Tim and I made several trips to the supermarket (called Carrefour) to buy stuff for our home. While the basics like a table and chairs, a bed, coffee and side table, sofa, washing machine, stove, refrigerator, and curtains are provided, we still needed to buy things like dishes, towels, cookware, utensils, cleaning supplies, bedding, hangers, and toaster oven (since no oven is provided). I also spent a good amount of time cleaning the apartment.

There's a cool pole to hang our clothes from on our balcony to dry. Unfortunately, I'm too short to reach it. :( 

I can see my school from my balcony.

Yes. The washing machine is in the bathroom. 

School started on Friday, September 1st. My first day turned out to be my busiest day of the week.  I teach 3rd-5th-grade. I taught five classes on Friday, whereas the other days of the week I teach between two-four classes. Tim and I both have Thursdays off because we have other teacher responsibilities on that day of the week. My first day I was so nervous! I got to school an hour early just to see my classroom and set everything up. I have my own printer and air-conditioning, which were both unexpected! The day started a little rough with lots of excessive talking, but I adjusted the pace of my lesson after lunch, and the afternoon went much more smoothly. Tim and I both were surprised by how a classroom of 50 students really didn't seem so overwhelming when they were all just crammed together in a regular classroom!

Me on my first day of school!

You can see my personal printer in this picture.

Now I need to start preparing my lessons for next week! I'm sure Monday won't be as scary as my first day, but I still have a lot to learn!