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Our blind faith in foreign kindie teachers misplaced
By Zong Lei |
April 20, 2010, Tuesday
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MY son is attending a well-known local private kindergarten on a temporary basis during our stay in Shanghai.
He is in the so-called "international class" taught by an American for half a day. This class charges an extra 1,000 yuan (US$146) more than "noninternational" classes, for over 3,000 yuan a month. But is this high cost paying off?
During the past month, while my son hasn't gained much in English-language skills, he has been punished by being made to stand in the corner many times for "not behaving" by the American teacher. Because the school doesn't allow parents to go inside the school due to health concerns, my only opportunity to meet the American teacher was on a half-day open house when all parents could visit.
The American teacher was absent, to all the parents' surprise. The class teacher was not notified beforehand either, but she pleaded with us to understand because the American teacher was "very American." She elaborated that he refused to follow the teaching plans of the kindergarten, and that he asked the management leave his classroom when the visited to evaluate his teaching.
Shocked, the parents asked about his qualifications, and were told that he might have an MBA.
I then did an online search about the qualifications of foreign teachers in Shanghai. There were many articles about the lack of proper qualification of foreign teachers, especially in kindergartens and early childhood learning centers. In some cases, hiring foreigners simply became an excuse to charge more.
According to the Shanghai Bureau of Education, no kindergarten in Shanghai has the legal permission to hire foreign teachers.
However, it is commonplace for private kindergartens to hire foreigners to teach English, and we end up having a bunch of unqualified foreign teachers.
Who's to blame, finally? The casual American teacher, British teacher, or Canadian teacher? These guys may be horrible enough, but who hired them in the first place? Local kindergartens, of course.
But then who patronize these kindergartens? Those parents who have a blind worship of foreign teachers, of course. Not all foreign teachers are bad, but a blind faith in them, along with a willingness to pay blindly, is something a Chinese parent should think twice about.
He is in the so-called "international class" taught by an American for half a day. This class charges an extra 1,000 yuan (US$146) more than "noninternational" classes, for over 3,000 yuan a month. But is this high cost paying off?
During the past month, while my son hasn't gained much in English-language skills, he has been punished by being made to stand in the corner many times for "not behaving" by the American teacher. Because the school doesn't allow parents to go inside the school due to health concerns, my only opportunity to meet the American teacher was on a half-day open house when all parents could visit.
The American teacher was absent, to all the parents' surprise. The class teacher was not notified beforehand either, but she pleaded with us to understand because the American teacher was "very American." She elaborated that he refused to follow the teaching plans of the kindergarten, and that he asked the management leave his classroom when the visited to evaluate his teaching.
Shocked, the parents asked about his qualifications, and were told that he might have an MBA.
I then did an online search about the qualifications of foreign teachers in Shanghai. There were many articles about the lack of proper qualification of foreign teachers, especially in kindergartens and early childhood learning centers. In some cases, hiring foreigners simply became an excuse to charge more.
According to the Shanghai Bureau of Education, no kindergarten in Shanghai has the legal permission to hire foreign teachers.
However, it is commonplace for private kindergartens to hire foreigners to teach English, and we end up having a bunch of unqualified foreign teachers.
Who's to blame, finally? The casual American teacher, British teacher, or Canadian teacher? These guys may be horrible enough, but who hired them in the first place? Local kindergartens, of course.
But then who patronize these kindergartens? Those parents who have a blind worship of foreign teachers, of course. Not all foreign teachers are bad, but a blind faith in them, along with a willingness to pay blindly, is something a Chinese parent should think twice about.
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