Living in China: How I Got My First Teaching Job Because of Good Timing
A bit of luck helped.
How It Began 🍎
A bit of context: I had just returned to China in August of 2018 after spending three months in Canada to renew my driving license and spend time with family. After I returned, I printed out my resume both in English and in Chinese. With copies of my resume in hand, my then boyfriend (now husband) drove me to the nearby plaza where there were several after-school learning centers for children.
At the first learning center I went to, I left my resume behind with the secretary. At the second training school that I went to, I was greeted by a woman in her mid-thirties. She asked me to sit down, and I did an impromptu interview. It was conducted in a mix of English and Chinese, and I have to give my husband credit for his help in translating some of my responses.
After the interview, the principal of this school received a notification on her phone. She even showed me the picture and the message that one of her teachers had sent her. There had been a small flood in another district and said teacher wouldn’t be able to make it in time for class.
My Teaching Audition 🏫
Not too long after, students started to trickle in. The principal had originally proposed that I sit in on a class. She wanted me to see how her teaching staff taught. However, since this particular teacher had bailed at the last minute, she turned to me and asked me if I could fill in. I didn’t have any materials prepared, and I could feel my heart beat a little faster.
It was my first time teaching a class of 8 to 10 students and I was caught off guard. The principal sat in the back of each class to monitor my performance. I started off feeling a little self-conscious and hesitant. After introducing myself, I asked each student to introduce themselves. It was then that I started to feel a lot more relaxed.
I made a point of repeating each student’s name to embed it into my memory. If a student was more soft-spoken, I crouched down and asked them to repeat their answer again. If there’s one thing I remember from my Child Psychology course, it’s to get onto the same eye level as your students instead of towering over them.
I can’t remember exactly what I taught them, but class passed by quickly. Not long after this class ended, another group of students arrived. I was also asked to step in for this second class as well.
Since these students were younger than the previous class, I drew a large landscape with marker, and we spoke in English about the pictures on the whiteboard for the entire duration of class. Once the last student had waved good-bye and left, the three of us sat down again. By then, I was tired.
What Happened Next…📅
We discussed my hourly rate, and I was paid for my time that day. Afterwards, the principal said she would be in touch in September as the school would go on summer break for August.
When I returned to that learning center come Fall, the teacher who previously taught there was nowhere to be found. I ended up taking his classes and began my training with the principal and another teacher.
A couple weeks into my newfound job, the principal and I learned that we lived in adjacent buildings in the same neighborhood. When the school transitioned to online classes, the principal would come to our apartment to help set up the online classes I taught.
As with Chinese tradition, it is customary to bring gifts when visiting others. She would bring fruits and other edible gifts. We had also invited her, her husband, and her son over for dinner before the pandemic started.
Her son even invited me and my husband to their home in celebration of his sixth birthday. I knew that he liked bread, so I bought a variety of desserts and bread from a nearby bakery as a gift. At his birthday party, we enjoyed some cake and played catch with him.
All in all, I had developed a good relationship with the principal of the school and was treated well as a teacher. I learned a lot from her and my co-worker during my time there. More than once, we have marveled at how the events of that fateful day played out and how things so seamlessly fell into place.
Had it not been for the rainstorm, I might not have had the chance to show what I was capable of as a potential teacher. Also, living in the building next to the principal’s made it easier for us to organize online classes together.
Some Thoughts 💭
I was employed at that learning center for two years, where I had the chance to kickstart my teaching career. I have a lot of fond memories while working there. Instead of citing my lack of teaching experience as an excuse to turn me away, I am grateful that the principal decided to train me instead.
I enjoy the teaching profession because it gives me such joy to be in the classroom with my students. For the most part, the children I have taught are spontaneous, trusting, and kind. Families entrust you with the responsibility to educate their little ones, and it’s not something that I take lightly.
To any fellow teachers reading this: I’m sure you understand what I mean when I say that the feeling you get from seeing a student’s eyes light up when they master something on their own is priceless.
Being a teacher means watching tiny humans make mistakes, encouraging them along the way, and helping them take the necessary steps to surpass their own expectations of themselves.
Teaching can also be a thankless profession. The less glamorous aspects? You will often have to bring work home and spend unpaid hours working on lessons plans and other materials. It’s the moments where you see your students excel and triumph that can balance the scales and even out the cons of being a teacher.
What Now? 📝
Due to the new educational reforms being made, many learning centers across China have been pressured to shudder their doors. Teaching English outside of formal schooling (both online and offline) is strongly discouraged and has even been made illegal. VIP Kids, a platform tailored for Chinese students to learn English from American teachers online, ceased operations in China altogether due to these new regulations.
China wants to relieve some of the academic pressure placed on students while also easing the financial burden on parents who often pay quite a bit for these extra English classes. However, that hasn’t stopped resourceful individuals from going underground and finding alternative ways to continue teaching English outside of schools.
The learning center I was working at gradually started cutting down its classes as these regulations became enforced. Perhaps it was for the best, as I was planning to move to another district after receiving the keys to our new place. I will be starting my new teaching position at a private school this August and teaching a full classroom with around 25–30 students. It’s a large contrast to my previous classes which had (at most) 10 students.
I know it’s going to be a challenge, but it’s one that I’m looking forward to. I also suspect that it is going to require a copious amount of caffeine and determination.
