Perspectives on Teaching

For one of Lily’s government assignment, she was made to analyze differing perspectives on the IRS. Many people dislike the IRS and wish for the Internal Revenue Service to dramatically change. However, depending on each taxpayer’s circumstance – how much they make, how much they pay in taxes, how much taxes benefit them – these taxpayers wish for different changes within the IRS.

In much the same way, my teaching style and foresight as a teacher of English is taken with differing opinion from my students and other Chinese teachers.

I had the opportunity to hear out both a Chinese teacher and my student from last week, Christina, all in the same day (Wednesday 11/07/2007).

On this day, we were given heavy fog, which was another lesson within itself. In Tianjin, fog can be a serious problem, because it is much worse than anything you’ll ever witness in America (or, at least this has been the case for me). I’m not sure if it is a mixture of pollution and Tianjin’s close proximity to the ocean, but the fog, in the eyes of the Chinese authorities, can be enough to shut down a highway.

As we were stuck on the bus which takes me to and from my school, I learned from a Chinese teacher the reasoning behind our delay. His name, Sun Jing Jin, comes from his father being from Beijing and his mother being from Tianjin (or, it could be the other way around…). Just for convenience, I will refer to him by his English name – “Wells.”

Since I have been in China, teaching English, I have come across some of the most absurd English names. I apologize, I am not trying to criticize the Chinese or make them look like buffoons in any way; but this can be a serious problem if they – my students and others – ever want to work for an American company. I’ve seen names like “Fish,” “Lemon tree,” and even “Kill.” One of the other teachers, Nadia, has a student whose name is “Snake.” Well, when you compare these names to “Wells,” it’s not such a bad name; still a bit odd though…

So, Mr. Wells explained to me that whenever there exists a certain level of fog, the authorities close down the highway, because – in his words – Chinese drivers are not disciplined enough to heed caution in the face of fog clouds. Well, that was just one simple insight.

Wells, we got to talking about teaching and the current situation in China with teaching English. As Wells put it, teaching English in college is known to be a “disaster.” First of all, funding has been and will always be an issue for Chinese schools. With that said, most classes are oversized, and our students are only able to see us once a week due to a shortage of foreign teachers (and, again, funding); keep in mind that I get paid more than most Chinese teachers who teach twice as much as me!

This is a sad reality that most Chinese universities face as they try to provide their students with the best education possible. When it comes to English, foreign teachers are greatly needed. However, our living standards a bit higher, and for it to be at all worthwhile, Chinese universities have to compensate their teachers at a level which (in most cases) greatly surpasses that of other, Chinese teachers.

However, when it comes to teaching, funding is not only the issue; another is one which is more cultural. Since my students were toddlers, they were raised and groomed to possess a disposition not attuned to language acquisition. In other words, my students are afraid to make mistakes, because they have been taught by most of their teachers that making mistakes is a grave mistake; again, in the words of Wells.

Wells explained that even he, a Chinese teacher, finds it difficult to encourage student participation; students just don’t want to lose face. Moreover, Wells agreed that, to learn a language, you have to attempt, “fail,” learn from your “failures,” and progress.

Back to the issue of over sized classrooms, it doesn’t help my students that they most perform in front of many of their classmates. What’s more, my own ability to control the classroom is naturally lost. As Wells put it, you can only expect your students to have a certain level of attention towards you as you attempt to encourage student participation. What I mean is, using my teaching method – hand-picking each student to practice speaking – leaves me vulnerable to losing control over my other students. It’s, as they say, a double-edged sword…

Sure, I could group my students, but I’m still losing control, because I can’t monitor every group; my students will naturally want to revert to Chinese when I am not paying attention.

With student participation, it isn’t just intimidation, but some of my students have this belief that they do not need to really practice in college; that, most of them will receive their practice when they go off to work. I should say, it is a mistake to over generalize – not every student thinks in this way – but this was what Christina had to tell me last week. She said she tried encouraging her roommates to go with her to see me. However, they were – surprise surprise – reluctant to go because their English is “bad,” and they don’t necessarily need to practice their English these days. No, they can wait until they are part of the workforce, when it truly matters.

However, as Mr. Brown said, “Which is better, to make a mistake in my class, or to make a mistake on the job, where you could be fired?”

I really don’t understand this logic – of waiting until you work to practice English – but I have also been told that firing people is not very common in China. Ready, set… go! (I am ready for you all to clarify this for me)

In the end, Wells said that I shouldn’t expect to make great progress with my students. Rather, I should look to inspire my students and at least influence one, if not a few, of my students; to actually make a difference in their lives.

It’s not a gloomy outlook as most would think; it’s more of a realistic one, given our conditions as English teachers at a Chinese university. My respect for Wells greatly changed after this day… before, I thought he was just some annoying Chinese teacher who was so presumptuous as to recommend this and that to me; he really doesn’t hold back on his thoughts, an approach quite different from most Chinese people…

Afterwards, I joked with Wells that he should write a book on teaching.

The title: Teaching From a Chinese Status Quo

Author: Sun Jing Jin, aka “Wells”

Then he added, “You will need to co-author with me.”

Co-author: Meng, Maike, aka “Mikey,” aka “Michael Biediger”