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| EF Taiyuan - an objective review | ||
| I'm posting this letter in response to a letter posted on 1st August 2005, by Cecilia Calvo-Lewis, regards her teaching experience at English First in Taiyuan. This response is purely to bring some objectivity to the comments made by her, and not to defend or attack either the school or her. Some of my comments are unrelated to the letter written by Cecilia Calvo-Lewis, and are purely my own opinions. I have been teaching at EF in Taiyuan since January of this year, by choice. I chose this city knowing that it was a heavily polluted city, but having done my research (as we all do before we come to China) all the cities in China are polluted – its only the degree of pollution that differs! So if pollution is your main concern, reconsider coming to China, period! My choice was based on going to a city where i would be able to `live` the Chinese culture with little western influence (as would usually be the case in major cities.) With that backdrop, herewith my impressions of Taiyuan as a city. The pollution levels during winter are higher than than any other time of the year. In fact the other seasons are quite pleasant. I've not taken any special precautions, other than generally healthy and clean living practices, to maintain my health. So I've not been affected health wise by the pollution as yet. Having said that one of our teachers suffers badly from Asthma, and has to watch her health carefully, but she came here with the condition. The facts are that the authorities, in line with government regulation, have been implementing major laws for industry to contain pollution levels and it is starting to pay off. A small example is that no factories or mines are allowed to generate power through the use of coal! Shanxi province is a heavily industrialized mining province, and so there will always be pollution though. Taiyuan as a city is deemed to be an average sized city with its three million odd people, and has 2500 years of history. In comparison with cities in the West, it is pretty large though! It is a fairly modern city with all the facilities you would expect to find in a major city in the West. It has good public amenities such as parks, museums etc., and it has a bustling inner city with many restaurants (including western and fast food outlets), shopping malls, fashion stores, food markets (including WallMart) and bookstores. Gyms and other sporting facilities are freely available, as is entertainment (discos, pubs, clubs etc). There is no reason why foreigners should not have an enjoyable year in Taiyuan although two years would be pushing it! As for medical institutions , hospitals are not great, but the number 1 hospital is a well recognized hospital in China. I cannot comment on clinics as i have no information on them. I would like to comment on our school. EF in Taiyuan has been running for about 4 years now, and like every other school has had to cut its teeth. Generally school franchises are owned by individual or various shareholders (investors), who generally do not have a background in education, although there are exceptions. The owner (s) may or may not be involved in the day to day running of the school, but where they do it is a very big learning curve for them. Being dependant on foreign teachers with a different culture and having to pay them big salaries is a strange concept for most Chinese business people! EF Taiyuan is no different, and stemming from this has been some bad experiences, especially for the initial teachers over the first three years. It is therefore understandable that some teachers that have had bad experiences are going to length to advertise the fact. However this has not been the experience of the majority of teachers that taught here and are currently teaching here, including myself. The school infrastructure is good, clean and complies with every EF regulation, with 10 classrooms and an average of 8 teachers. We process a large number of students of all ages throughout the year. Our street is not in the city centre, but within close reach (5min by taxi), and was chosen due to the close proximity of a few junior and middle schools. There are in fact some other private english schools in the same area. Like all schools and businesses (young teachers will learn this!) money and profits are important, and are driven - so get used to it! Management in such instances often get branded, as is the case in Cecilia's letter. On some of the incidents mentioned in Cecilia Calvo-Lewis` letter, just a few corrections. The incident with Fred Franke did happen most unfortunately and cannot be reasoned away. Mistakes were made, but not with intent and malice as is suggested. I doubt very much if any human being would knowingly encourage the sickness or death of another person. Assistance was rendered, but Fred chose not to be taken to hospital, and in fact rejected the antibiotics offered (confirmed by a teacher that was here at the time). The process of getting his body to his mom was full of red tape and bureaucracy, mostly controlled by the Insurance Company and out of the hands of the school. I agree more and better communication could have taken place with his family, and more sensitivity applied (maybe cultural differences?) As for Phil, he came to China with his condition and was always going to have problems. Blood clots are rare in Chinese people because of their diet, and so through ignorance he was incorrectly diagnosed by a medical practitioner. The lesson here is to not take any ailment lightly, and the school has certainly learnt this the hard way. Finally just some general comments on us as foreign teachers. Although i am generalizing, i unfortunately get proven right most of the time (there are exceptions). As teachers and educators we enjoy a high standing and great respect in a society that treasures education and knowledge. Unfortunately many of us do not, or cannot do justice to this all the time, and for various reasons. We seem to have a general arrogance based on the fact that we can speak English, and have unrealistically high expectations of being treated like royalty irrespective of our own personal behaviour. If we do not work as few hours as we can for as much money as we can, we are "overworked". If we do not get our way, we have tantrums at best and at worst, run away without fulfilling our obligations to avoid contract penalties. Most of us come here at a relatively young age, shortly after graduating (not all!), with no real life experience. We have lived protected lives in a protected society that we understand. The transition to a very different society and culture, all be it for a year, can be very harrowing. We need to realize this. Yet, when we come out here we take advantage (in our ignorance) of the opportunity we get to become responsible adults, and become irresponsible teenagers. If we do not change this attitude we will be denying genuinely interested people of a life changing experience. Our credibility will be tarnished, and certainly the bad treatment some of us are receiving will continue - because our language skills are needed, not because we are respected! It's up to us to change this! This letter will almost certainly draw response as we are generally defensive beings. Be that as it may i will not respond as I've attempted to bring objectivity, not generate argument or debate. The views expressed here are my own. Forgive me if you are offended by my opinions, but it is not meant to be personal. Send Message to Author |