English teacher – there I said it. It seems that the words “English teacher” have gained four-letter-word-status in many expat circles. Why is it that the ESL is virtually a taboo subject for some people?

Imagine, if you will, a scene on the expat social circuit. It’s a Saturday night and a gang of foreign friends are gathering in a bar; some of them are now meeting new acquaintances. One such pair are having the exact conversation they have previously engaged in hundreds of times. They start by introducing themselves, first by name, then their place of origin, then there’s a deathly silence, “So what do you do?” There’s a pause, barely perceptible to the less socially aware – or the more “socially lubricated”.

For a split second, the pair stare into their drinks or perhaps light a Zhongnanhai looking anywhere but where their eyes should be gazing. In the corner of the room, in fact filling a good portion of it – somewhere between the bar and the fire exit – is a heaving, leathery skinned, bristle haired pachyderm, straining to run wild like a bull in a china shop, or indeed, an elephant in a bar, itching to trample people and their feelings with its big stubby feet.

That’s right; that’s the elephant. It isn’t a real one, though that wouldn’t surprise me, having seen a real, live and very agitated reindeer in a Beijing night club at Christmas time (the depths which bar owners plumb for a tacky gimmick now fails to surprise me, sadly).

No. The imaginary elephant, on this occasion, goes by the name “English Teaching”.

This might sound like a silly disconnected narrative. But I think that most people having lived in a large Chinese city with a significant ex-pat community will have witnessed this exact situation a number of times. When it comes to discussions about peoples identities on the expat circuit – certainly in Beijing – people are very tentative when discussing their own occupations with strangers. This kind of aversion or tip toeing around the subject seems to be something that very few people acknowledge. This to me, is a kind of puzzle.

Nobody can deny that the selflessness inherent in a profession that involves helping others realize their goals and contribute to a society is an admirable one. I don’t even need to start talking about China being a Confucian society or other such triteness to get my point across. Teachers should, in theory, be treated well in China.

Almost everyone can remember at least one teacher, whom, when they were a school kid or student, did something memorable and helped them grow as a person. Most people can think back and remember a teacher reaching out to them in a way which they will never forget. So shouldn’t teachers get a little more respect?

The problem lies in the nature of much teaching work in China. Recruitment for the large part involves a kind of fast turn over, revolving doors style policy, and the prime requisite for candidates at many schools is to bear Caucasian features, a China visa with six months left on it, and little else. This means that many ESL teachers are more like status symbols or trophies for schools rather than valued members of staff, without any real responsibilities or input into the affairs of the school. Some might even go as far as arguing that the only qualification some teachers hold is that of speaking their own mother tongue.  

I might hazard a guess that this lack of reverence for teachers by people within Chinese companies dealing with foreign teachers as well as some students and their parents, is in part to do with jealousy rooted in perceived injustices in wages; foreign teachers get paid lots of money for doing an “easy” job. Few people probably see the psychic ‘trade-off’ that foreigners accept to get their 10k plus a month job.

It is also likely, in part, a symptom of a get-rich-quick and a “tread-on-anyone’s-fingers-whilst-you-are-trying-to-scramble-up-the-ladder” mentality. Teachers are dealt with in an ‘ad hoc’ way; people forget to see teaching endeavors as having their own intrinsic value and tend to see teachers instead as cash cows. (Apologies for lack of continuity, but the elephant metaphor was becoming played out)

The nature of ESL work is such that it has great potential for attracting gap year students, people that want an easy ride and people that have found it difficult to find other work.

Conversely: for other people, teaching English in China is a stepping stone, or a means for gaining more free time so as to pursue their own education or artistic goals. There are also, don’t forget, the naturally talented teachers. There are clearly many motivations for ESL teaching. People do however seem to enjoy tarring ESL teachers with the same brush and I would even go as far as to say that this has a negative impact on the self-image of teachers..

I think that a lot of hostility towards English teachers is directed at them from two kinds of people: Half-pats that came to China as students or English teachers and have been unable to shed their ‘teacher complex’ despite having moved into a new field; there are also those higher up the expat ‘food chain’, the business people and expat packagers that are jealous of young English teachers for the fact that they came to China out of their own choice and curiosity and are enjoying a relatively stress free life, not yet worrying about assets and the career ladder.

Judgment of people on the basis of their occupation seems to be a part of expat life in China, a phenomena I have never been so acutely aware of anywhere else in the world. As a final thought, maybe these insecurities are inevitable for an expat population in a country such as China, where hierarchical systems are so deeply ingrained.

Related links
Teaching in China: What Can it Get You?
China Beyond the Blackboard: Finding Jobs Besides Teaching
Right Country Wrong Job: 5 Common Problems for Teachers Coming to China

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: English teaching reputation China English teachers taboo China English teaching stigma China