Priyanka Sharma

    consultpriyanka1@gmail.com

    ENGLISH teaching is the most sought-after profession by foreigners in China, be it someone trying to escape the failing economy of their home country, wanting to take a break from the mundane corporate life, a fresh graduate trying to figure out his/her career path while looking for a way to pay off their college loans or the professional teachers tired of low wages and wanting a change of scenery.

    When China first opened its doors to the world and resolved to be the world’s greatest nation, they realized they would need their future leaders to know the global language, English.

    As a result, English teaching centers and schools started popping up in every city like wild mushrooms. They flood social media with advertisements for English teaching positions, reading something like:

    “English teacher wanted for international kindergarten:

    “Should be native English speaker with at least a bachelor’s degree;

    “Must love China;

    “Most love working with kids.”

    As the news of these high-paying, supposedly easy jobs spread, people from every corner of the world started flooding to China claiming to be expert in the English language and from a native English-speaking country, making the schools toughen the interview procedure. Now, people also need a TEFL certificate and prior teaching experience.

    Chinese school staff members with their limited knowledge of the English language and native speakers were easily misled. The new requirements were easily met by fake certificates and well-told lies.

    Over the years, schools tried to raise the standard of English teachers by asking potential teachers for a demonstration class and reference, but one unmentioned, yet most important, requirement was that the candidate need to be white, better yet, Caucasian white.

    This one particular requirement was so important to some schools and parents that the population of English teachers was dominated by Russians, Ukrainians, the French, the Spanish and really anyone who had a white face.

    You see, Chinese have this strange attraction toward white skin. They think that all native English speakers are white and that only a native English speaker can be a good English teacher. Hence, the schools and parents alike want someone white to teach their kids. The whiter the better, regardless of how good or bad the person is at teaching or handling kids.

    This biased behavior toward the country of origin and skin color has created real problems for non-white candidates. Despite their skills, experience and language proficiency, a job that they well deserve is often given to a white person who can’t string together a proper sentence in English.

    It was not very long ago when I was rejected for no less than 10 English teacher jobs, despite the fact that I have been using English as my first language for more than 15 years, that all my education was in English and that I had perfect TOEFL and TEFL scores.

    Better late than never, China’s State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs has figured out a way to help non-native speakers get an equal shot at any English teaching job while maintaining the high standards of teachers in their school. All one has to do is spend thousands of dollars earning a degree in a native speaking country regardless of the fact that they could get the same level of education in their own country for less than one-fourth the cost. Fair, right?

    I couldn’t help but notice a couple of flaws with these all new and old rules and requirements for the English teaching jobs.

    First, even if someone is a native English speaker and/or has studied in a native English speaking country for three to five years, that does not mean they are proficient at the language. I have come across plenty of Americans who speak horrible English full of grammatical errors, slang and need fill-ups to complete every sentence.

    Second, it is unfair to judge someone’s language proficiency based on where they had their education. There are over 35 countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Zimbabwe, that have English as their official language and language of instruction for education.

    Third, it takes more than language proficiency to be a good teacher. One needs to be creative and imaginative when dealing with young children. They should be able to make learning fun, prepare lessons, check homework assignments, grade papers and teach social and behavioral skills. Children spend about nine hours of their day with their teachers, which for many of them is more time than they spend with their parents. A teacher plays a pivotal role in the making of a child’s future and selecting that person based on just the country of their education is wrong on many levels.

    It would be simpler to test teaching candidates on their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills, much like the TOEFL and the SAT.

    (The author is an aspiring writer with a passion for travel and photography.)