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| Beijing BFanZhiDu, FuLaiDe, Xi3Qi Advanced, AoJing | ||
| I'm an Australian, currently teaching in Beijing. These are the four main schools I have worked for (some others part-time), and I'd like to offer my advice to other teachers coming to Beijing. FanZhiDu was, and will be a great school - they were located in HangTian Qiao of Beijing, and worked in tight coordination with UNITEC University of Auckland, NZ. They had awesome resources, text books, teachers, and good management. They're currently closed due to New Zealand' bad press in 2003, following two kidnappings and the closing down of a private school (student numbers dropped from 80+, 27 in a single term)…. But once NZ becomes popular again, I'm sure the school will reopen. And hope so, for sure. FuLaiDe, and XiSanQi Advanced Language School are both based on companies which help students to travel overseas, and as such are clearly designed to make money, and nothing else. They are not great schools, but they were quite reasonable, and occasionally took teachers' advice seriously. Their biggest problem being that they try to employ as many foreigners as possible in order to assist their advertising, but end up giving each teacher 40 hours a month, at 100RMB an hour… leaving you with few classes, and low pay (experience, and quality teaching didn't help - but good looks would give you a few extra hours). AoJing is definetly not a good place to work. They claim to have a relationship with South Australian TAFE - however I haven't noticed any cooperation at all (at least not on the education side of things). They have constantly lied to me, from start to finish, and although I have tried to be patient, as I understand I can't expect too much from Beijing schools, it has finally become too much. They are definitely a company, not a school - and as far as I can see, the two foreign teachers, and one Chinese teacher are the only people bringing money into the company, while 10-15 other staff sit in their air-conditioned office playing PC games, and writing e-mails all day. By word of mouth, I have heard that Modern English, and Dell Education, are both quite good. Reasonably well organised, and they treat their teachers with respect. I would recommend both of them, however they tend to prefer American accents, and may view that as more important than EFL qualifications or experience. Finally, I have dealt with English First on two occasions - and although I declined their invitations in the end, it was only because the schools were both in other cities and I want to stay in Beijing. I can certainly tell you English First is by far the best collection of EFL schools within Mainland China. They are professional, experienced, and they understand teaching English. Pay is mid-range, but quality is amazing. If you wish to teach in China, don't expect too much. A foreign face goes much further than true teaching skill. Pay is lower on average than in Western countries, and only just balances out when you consider the low living costs within China. But if you love teaching, come over, cos the Chinese students really need you (instead of the back packers they're currently getting). Hope this helps, God bless, Heath Jeffrey. |