Avoid Teaching English in Shanghai, China
After completing a TEFL course in Thailand, I decided to venture to Shanghai and teach. Upon arriving I had an interview right away with the company of my choice and was hired. The company I work for is BSK Academy, or Pacican as they refer to themselves. Pacican is a company, which places foreign teachers in various areas of Shanghai, the majority is in primary schools. Teachers are given the choice of how many classes they prefer to work and the length of contract they are willing to sign, usually a minimum of four months. I chose to sign a four-month contract because if I wanted to stay longer when my contract was complete I knew I was able to extend. My advice is to sign for four months at a time, unless you know you love to teach and have had experience with China in the past.
The people working within the company are very pleasant and friendly, but the major thing that sticks out is their lack of professionalism. They have a very difficult time communicating as far as answering your questions, replying to emails and getting information to teachers in a prompt fashion. The idea of punctuality is not used by the company, but they expect their teachers to drop everything they are in the middle of and fill the needs of the company. For example, I had taught my normal six classes one day and was leaving my last class when employees from BSK were waiting for me outside. They hadn't called, text or sent an email stating they wanted me to come to their office and review for the following classes I had the next morning. I was already tired from my day and they refused to take no for an answer when I told them I was unable to come with them. Their idea of time is entirely different then most western people I know. The company expected me to stop my day and tend to their needs and I felt this was a burden and very unprofessional. What they had told me at the office they could have told me over the phone or written an email. They also expected me to provide transportation home, which I was to pay for but I refused. The best thing is to stand your ground and speak your mind, because getting in a situation you know will make you unhappy will be harder to get out of.
My experience is just one, but I have heard similar complaints from many other foreign teachers working within Pacican and various other companies around Shanghai. A common thing most companies do in Asia is with hold money from each pay period. The reason they feel the need to do this is because many teachers do not finish their contract and leave early. Teachers leave early because they are not treated with respect and are not given the same respect in return. When completing the contract teachers receive back all of the money that was with held as well as a bonus.
The main problem I have had with teaching has been from the Chinese-English teachers in the schools I work for. It is about a 20/80% chance you will be placed in a pleasant school where you are assisted with the language barrier as well as helped with disciplining the students. I teach in two schools. A lot of the education here is based on memorization and the Chinese want the foreign teachers to teach this way. I ran into a problem last we week when Pacican approached me and said very rudely "one school is complaining about you." I was completely unaware I was doing anything wrong as all of my classes were going well and the students for the most part seemed engaged and were responding to my activities. Apparently it's not a secret here that foreign teachers make sometimes six times the amount a Chinese teacher will make, therefore there is jealousy, and when there is jealousy there are issues with power. I decided the easiest way to deal with this was to try and teach the "Chinese way" and not focus so much on getting the kids to understand. Rather I was told I should just play games the entire lesson. I have observed the Chinese teachers presenting themselves as if they know more English then I do and this can be very irritating. The best way to get through your contract is to put on a "plastic smile" and just have fun with the children. Do not take anything personal they have to say, because their opinions should be completely irrelevant to a foreign "English speaking teacher" who has spoken English their entire life.
I am getting through my weeks a little easier now since I realized this, but taking this job has proven that I would not recommend Shanghai to other foreign teachers.
I am lucky with my second school. The teachers there will do anything to help me, they talk to me, and treat me as an equal, as a result I really like working for this school. I have very good students who like learning English and I am allowed "to teach" rather then only play games for the entire thirty-five minute lesson. I feel working in this school has helped me to stay and fulfill my contract with BSK; otherwise I was considering looking for a new job in Shanghai.
As a whole, I do like teaching and I do like Shanghai. I do not like the teaching system here and I do not like the unprofessionalism. I think this is a great city and I would visit again, but not work.
Published by Emili Lauble
I am from Lake Orion, MI, currently I live in Dong Gong, Taiwan and I work as an ESL Teacher. I love the school I work for and the food is great here! I love to travel, listen to music and talk with my fami... View profile
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18 Comments
Post a Commentwe have been in china for 2 years now teaching a word to the wise avoid private training school hey can be a nightmare to work for most are very unprofessional they curl their policy and hours to whatever parents want and give you no notice of the change, if you get sick you will not only be docked for the classes missed but also fined double or triple per class as well, they provide second rate teaching materials with poor grammar and improper spelling
we are presently working at a university and its been heaven compared to the hell we went through the first year. now universities do pay a bit less but the average hours are only 16 hours a week gives you lots of extra time for in home tutoring its very easy to make an extra 1000 rmb or 2000 if you charge 100 to 150 per hour also make sure you have pictures of the apartment your going to living in
we have been in china for 2 years now teaching a word to the wise avoid private training school hey can be a nightmare to work for most are very unprofessional they curl their policy and hours to whatever parents want and give you no notice of the change, if you get sick you will not only be docked for the classes missed but also fined double or triple per class as well, they provide second rate teaching materials with poor grammar and improper spelling
we are presently working at a university and its been heaven compared to the hell we went through the first year. now universities do pay a bit less but the average hours are only 16 hours a week gives you lots of extra time for in home tutoring its very easy to make an extra 1000 rmb or 2000 if you charge 100 to 150 per hour also make sure you have pictures of the apartment your going to living in
I am in the process of looking for a job in China. I am a certified Socail Science teacher from California. I have been in contact with Yulun Educational Group (seems as though they were once BSK) and have even spoke to the infamous "Dr. Chen." From those of you who posted on him or this organization, could you tell me when this happened? Has anyone heard of their "new school" in Suzhou? It seems as though all the red flags are there on this one....I guess Im hoping there is a (small) chance someone has had some good experiences with this group or Dr. Chen himself....Thanks
Yes, there are many TEFL agencies in China, one needs to stay clear from these companies. The company comes first not the school one is assigned. It is the money and contracts the Chinese agencies are contracted to schools or Universities that are inportant, The agencies are profit oriented. American teachers are not paid when they are not working. One is not paid when students are not attending such as summer; Spring festival, although the contract states 4 and one-half months; you only get paid for the days scheduled to work in which it may be a four day week and TEFL teachers are not included in the final exam schedule so ones last day may be early in the same month when your contract reads the last day of the month. It isn't the assignment which usually is fine but the living conditions such as dorm style living, drinking water not readily available, mold, hard uncomfortable furniture if there is furniture at all and really no information on daily living I found in Shaoxing. I left! But Ningbo and western China were OK but many Waibans don't have a clue on how Americans live and what professionals are about and the schooling in China has a lot to be desired. It is to bad because most Chinese are so generous with hospitality but Helen Consulting Hangzhou and Shaoxing were the stain in the harmony of China.
By the way, BSK changed their name to Shanghai Yulun Education Group after the old name received so much bad press all over the internet. To anyone considering working for them, I suggest you contact Dr. Charles Chen at chenli1971@gmail.com to ask him about these charges against him and his business practices... cheers!
Oops, mistake from my below post. Should read, "1) get deported for working on a tourist visa or 2) Work for Pacican."
When I got to the police station, they told me "I had been caught working illegally on a tourist visa". In fact, I had been instructed by Pacican to enter China on a tourist visa and they would change it to a working visa. I had actually resigned before they completed the visa change. The police actually told me they would not deport me if I just went back to work for Pacican!! I had to choose: 1) get deported for working on a tourist visa or 2) get deported. Obviously, something funky was going on. Turns out, the owner of Pacican/Dalue, BSK Academy, a guy named "Dr. Chen" is a member of the communist party and labor board. He bribed the police to ensure teachers he hired from outside of China would not leave his crappy positions when they realized how bad those positions were.... However, my ex gf, friends, and several other people I know all had great jobs in Shanghai. I wouldn't discourage people from teaching in Shanghai, but definitely avoid Pacica
BSK Academy/Pacican Dalue is a corrupt and evil company, but I dont think it would be fair to rate every school in Shanghai that way. I agreed to work at BSK Academy/ Pacican Dalue in Shanghai a few years ago. Some things happened to make me change my mind after I arrived: No airport pickup despite a promise to do that, less pay than was originally agreed upon, being placed in several schools all over Shanghai that were too far apart and not given reasonable time to get to and from each school, and the other things the OP was complaining about too. Therefore, I decided to get out of it while there still was a chance. I found another job -- higher-paying and with better conditions. I told Pacican that I was quitting. They told me I could not quit because I was already on contract, in email. I read the contract and it said I could quit as long as I gave notice (which I was doing then). I stopped going to teach for them. A few days later, I got a call to go to the Police station.
I would say exactly the same for Thailand. The EFL business is a fool's game. Few schools pay good salaries and, when you get back home, you've lost years of job advancement others already have. If I had to do it again, I would avoid Asia completely and move to Europe. A more civilized work experience in every way.
For those of you considering Shanghai as a place to teach, I would encourage you to give it a shot. It's a great city and for the most part, people have great respect for teachers. Unfortunately, some people see the great demand for English instruction as a huge business opportunity, and they treat it as such. My experience with BSK was similar with the author's in this respect. The support staff are all helpful, friendly, kind people, and I made friends with several of them, but the management cares little about the concerns of teachers outside of what may affect their business standing or finances.
Regarding the attitudes toward teaching methods, BSK markets itself as an innovative blend of East-meets-West. They sell their product to the schools, and they don't much care about how you teach it, so long as you stick to the provided materials and maintain the brand. If you have problems with the staff at your individual school, BSK will only help you resolve it to the degree that wil