So we haven't really blogged in awhile because we've been so busy trying to find good jobs. The job market is pretty tough in Taiwan lately. There's a lot more recent grads coming to Asia to try and find jobs now. We came during off season too, so there wasn't a whole lot going on, but starting at the beginning of this month there were a lot more jobs as people are quitting to go home for Christmas and such.
Family Life in Taiwan
Jobs have been decreasing because Taiwan has a declining birth rate. People usually just have one child, and there are several reasons for this including: more women having careers, children being expensive, and people generally seem to be replacing children with dogs. Everyone has dogs and there are a ton of animal hospitals/vets all over the place. We're used to this in Socal but people dress up their dogs and push them around in strollers (not rat dogs, I think they are pomeranians?). Personally, I think people have stopped having kids just because it's so inconvenient to have a child and Taiwan is a culture of convenience. In Socal, moms drive big SUV's to pick up their children from school (usually within a mile of their home). In Taiwan parents put their child in a seat on their bicycle and cycle home. They also have smaller strollers (because how exactly do you navigate the crowded streets and MRTs in a gigantic American-size stroller? You can't), smaller diaper bags, etc. When I first marveled at how small the diaper bags moms in Taiwan carried are and mused how they could fit everything a baby needed in it Rico summed it up best when he said people just carry around a bunch of crap they don't need. Very true. (Also normal to see a man carrying a purse! Satchel I suppose, since people don't have cars to put things in.)
Children in Taiwan go to school ALL DAY. They usually don't come home until 9-11pm at night. Younger children of course go home by maybe 6pm. Usually the kindies are more like glorified child care for the working parent.
Back to Jobs
Basically the jobs are separated into teaching English at a yo-yo ban (preschool class generally age 2-3yrs old), kindy (kindergarten) or a buxiban (cram school in afternoon or evenings for kids anywhere from 7-high school). Kindies and yo yo bans usually run anywhere from 8am-5pm including a 2 hr break (unpaid) for the teacher while the students eat lunch and nap. Buxiban teachers generally teach in afternoons and evenings.
It is illegal for foreigners to teach kids under the age of 7 in Taiwan. There are raids by the police and people do get deported. That being said, foreign teachers hired to teach these kids is widely practiced and it is best to have your escape route thoroughly planned. If you are caught you are the art/drama/anything-but-English teacher. The government has been flip flopping on this law, but it is currently illegal for a foreigner to teach English to under 7s. They call it a 'dilution of culture' and believe the child should only be learning Chinese. Personally I think it makes more sense to have a child learn both at once especially since the mind is so receptive to learning language in the early years but... the government doesn't think so. It is considered a "gray" area. Apparently, there's no law that says you get deported for teaching young kids, so, usually, the official reason that kindy teachers get deported is that the address they are working at is not the address on their work permit. Since it is illegal to teach, the employer usually has to get the work permit for the teacher by saying the teacher is teaching somewhere they actually aren't (This is very very common). It is also common for an employer to lie about how many hours a teacher is working and for employers to ask for illegal things in a contract (require the teacher to pay a penalty for quitting or deduct a deposit from the first paycheck so the teacher completes contract). Sometimes the teacher may not actually know what is says in the contract or ARC because all legal documents are in Chinese. Technically, you are not supposed to teach before you actually get a working permit or do any demos in front of actual students. However, employers often have you start before your work permit is finalized and demos in front of a real class are required for obvious reasons. Some employers have you come in for multiple "interviews" with long demos... we suspect that prospective teachers are actually just covering for missing employees.
The demo
A basic requirement to any interview is a teaching demonstration of about 15-20 minutes. In this case it is not really necessary the children learn anything; it's mostly just to see how the teacher interacts with the class and and to gauge their classroom management skills. Sometimes the teacher prepares their own demo (which I prefer as long as they tell me how many students, age level, and English level... which they don't always do), or they provide the materials. Essential aspects of the demo are introducing yourself, getting the children to speak in complete sentences, and keeping them happy and involved in the class. For younger kids, the more you are like a dancing clown, the more the school will love you. Bribes with stickers or games with hammers and sticky balls are always well received.
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| The sticky balls are used for a variety of games and, when thrown, stick to a desk or whiteboard really well. The hammers, well you use those to bang things and they squeak, so kids love bashing things and making noise! Always a crowd-pleaser! |
Hiring Practices
They do not have the same kind of laws regarding discrimination in Taiwan as we do in the States so it is very common to see ads looking for 'female' 'only under 35 yrs old' 'North American accent prefered' 'no ABC's' (American born Chinese), etc. And the always unspoken 'white people' preferred.
-They do not want someone who looks Chinese teaching English because parents want a white person to teach, otherwise they think their children are not getting the full "Western experience." Since parents give the money they have the say, which is problematic to say the least. However, some places prefer ABC's or at least someone with basic Chinese ability for the really tiny beginner kids.
Working Conditions
Working conditions vary greatly. A big problem is getting roped into a lot of unpaid work such as parent teacher meetings, makeup classes, school performances, graduations, speeches, and meetings. Recruiting is also very big if you work at a chain school. Most schools I have been to have very nice facilities with really friendly staff and usually a Chinese co-teacher for the smaller kids.
I haven't made up my mind yet but I'm looking seriously at two schools I like: Jump Start and Shane English. Rico has gotten a buxiban job close to the MRT which he's starting to get the hang of (The first few days were pretty brutal I hear ;) ). We will probably have different teaching schedules which sucks, but hopefully we will both enjoy our jobs and it will be good experience to put on our resumes! The schools I am considering have great staff and good curriculum so I am sure I will have a great time doing what I like best - working with kids.
Peace. Out.
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