BNN provides English-language US and world news, analysis and opinion from all over the Internet. We strive for high standards, ethical behavior, and the presentation of multiple responsible points of view.
|
Get More Traffic For Your Blog! Blog Explosion brings hundreds of interested visitors to your blog - without costing you a cent. BNN News Archive Page |
Thursday, May 11, 2006
500 ENGLISH TEACHING JOBS IN CHINA, BUT... I made a phone call for a friend yesterday. I had been asked to apply for a job at an emerging private school. Since I had no interest in a position I looked to share the wealth with a seasoned veteran of teaching in China. He is a good teacher, speaks passable Chinese, and never misses a deadline. I will get back to him in a paragraph or two.  A few weeks ago a member of the staff at the US Consulate here in Guangzhou wrote a vile letter to me in which he intimated that many American teachers in China were unqualified drunks, mental patients, unemployables or backpacking burnouts with no promise in their home country. I am still reeling from that one. I have met all kinds of people here. I know a score of talented, dedicated professional educators who have made China their temporary, and in some cases, permanent home. I know retired professors from some of the best Universities in America who give their all for a bit more than minimum wage in America to participate in the most exciting time in the PRC's educational history. Some schools are embracing diversity and realizing the need for foreign input. Some schools accord regular faculty ranks to those that deserve the same. A few Universities have managed to retain their foreign staff for more than a decade and their graduates are wiser and more employable as a result. Other schools treat expatriates as "useful idiots" and will employ anyone with a pulse who speaks English: institutions that openly hire dreadful non-native English speakers just to fill a slot, but only if the applicant is white. The school that phoned me is one such place. They thought my friend, a former intelligence officer in his home country and a graduate of a Chinese University, might "scare the children" at their school with his black face. Such power! Another University, that is replacing over 40 of 77 foreign teachers next term, also refused to hire him and had no qualms about letting him know that his race was THE factor. A Stanford University study of Japan a few years back predicted eventual economic failure for the country based on two premises: First, that Japan was so ethnocentric, racist and isolationist that it would creatively stagnate. Secondly, the report asserted, Japan's "concrete ceiling" (well known to its oppressed women) will rob it of immense and neccessary contributions. These Chinese schools that reject non-whites are cheating their students of International influences that will negatively impact China's growth and give critics something very tangible to chide. Yes, America, Australia and others are rife with racism, but at least have laws to create some interference for the narrow-minded and ill-willed destructionists who practice it. Of the hundreds of jobs that I will post on this site in months to come (no, I am not a broker) none of them will knowingly represent racist institutions. One college was removed today from my sidebar. And I do not care if there is only a single school left standing. I won't be party to a Chinese aparthied. Several students recently volunteered to guide and translate for foreign guests at a flower festival. Out of the hundreds of guests only a handful, they reported to me, spoke native English and most were not white. China needs good teachers. The consular employee was wrong: there are a plethora of top teachers here. The two schools with which I made contact this week were wrong: China needs National and racial diversity to create a strong and worthy International presence. More to come... China Asia Blogging China Blogs China Blog Blogging Lonnie Hodge Chinese South China Guangzhou Expats Expats Guangzhou TESL ESL Culture Guangzhou Restaurants Guangzhou Racism ONEMANBANDWIDTH Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Lonnie at 10:17 AM |
Subscribe to BNN and get a daily bulletin of all our news postings. Interested in writing for BNN? Want information on our news service? Contact The Editor Writing for BNN BNN Editorial Policies Previous Posts
|
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home