Kevin McGeary

    IF Shenzhen imitates Beijing during the Olympics and Guangzhou during the Asian Games, foreigners working here illegally will be sought by the public security bureau as the Universiade draws near. It is no secret that many language training centers, unable to negotiate the bureaucratic labyrinth required to get the right documents, have to operate outside the law.

    There are many advantages for expatriate teachers in China. The pay is often double that of Chinese colleagues. In most jobs there are no office hours therefore no office politics. There is a lot of friendly attention directed toward expatriate teachers.

    But one of the biggest drawbacks is wrapped up in those advantages. You are always a “foreign teacher” never just a teacher. Periodic police raids on training centers underline a problem that has existed as long as the job itself. The job of foreign teacher is a deprofessionalized role.

    Qualifications and experience count for little compared with Caucasian features and an extrovert personality.

    Kyle from America has two Ph.D. qualifications and 20 years of experience in teaching languages, but his pay and his status are the same as his expatriate colleagues.

    China’s ESL industry has reached a point where expatriate teachers in the public sector are simply there to meet a quota, while in the private sector, are business commodities feeding a market that has an irrational and damaging prejudice in favor of the young, white and attractive. Hera from the Philippines, whose accent is more “neutral” than any of her American in-laws, was often unable to find a job in Shenzhen. She was rejected in favor of less qualified teachers from Europe and North America and eventually left China.

    Michelle from England came to China in 1997 with a Ph.D. and no teaching experience. She was described as a good teacher even though she received no training on the job. Now that she has a Master’s Degree in Teaching Young Learners and over a decade of experience, she thinks, in retrospect, that her teaching was ineffective in the early days. She now suspects that being labeled a “good teacher” was because of her appearance and personality — as well as her ability to show up.

    The recruitment of unqualified, inexperienced teachers has created a popular image of expatriates as incompetent and irresponsible, here to enjoy the cheap alcohol and simple lifestyle. This festering resentment sometimes finds expression in incidents such as the Chinabounder scandal of 2006, when a blogger whose thoughts about China inspired thuggish vigilantism among netizens. This stereotype has become so embedded that even teachers like the three mentioned above, are hardly ever given the opportunity to help students prepare for such life-changing examinations as the College Entrance Exam. The relationship between foreign teachers and China is a marriage of convenience, that in times of visa troubles, loses its convenience.

    People who are good enough at what they do to find secure and satisfying jobs will eventually go where they can find them. A rich city like Shenzhen has the resources to employ capable and professional teachers from abroad in jobs that are more prestigious than the educational equivalent of a KTV girl. It is simply a matter of wanting a healthy ESL industry, and enforcing appropriate immigration laws competently and without corruption.

    (The author is a Shenzhen Daily senior copy editor and writer.)