Aihua

Dave is from Bristol, UK. He studied International Relations at The University of Lincoln. After university he travelled for a year around South East Asia and Australasia. He lived and worked in New Zealand for a year before returning to the UK to gain his TEFL qualification. He lists his achievements as throwing himself out of a plane, twice; canyon swinging and surviving post tropical storm white water rafting. Apart from putting his life danger he is also interested in international politics, football (well, Bristol Rovers who some would say are barely football) and travelling. Oh, and jokes so poor they’re good.

Aihua is an Irish run English school. It has three campuses; Gucheng and Chang yin out in the west of Beijing and Zhongguancun nearer the centre. The Gucheng centre in the headquarters and original sight of the school. Foreign teachers and Chinese teachers work together in class to deliver the curriculum. There are two types of class at the Gucheng campus; Full (fifteen students) and Mini (eight students). Full classes are taught over four hours with the foreign teacher delivering two 45 minute lessons and the Chinese teacher delivering the other two lessons. The Chinese teacher is present for the foreign teachers lessons to provide support. In the mini classes only the foreign teacher delivers two 45 minute lessons and the Chinese teacher is there to support and to summarize the lesson in the last ten minutes of the second lesson.  Teachers at the Gucheng centre can also expect to teach at various off-site public schools.
The Chang Yin and Chunguancun centre have lessons solely taught by foreign teachers. Chinese study advisors are assigned to each lesson and are on hand to offer support and guidance throughout the course.
When I arrived at Aihua I was new to teaching and maybe a bit oblivious to the things that I should be concerned about when starting at a new school. How are classes run? What are the books like? What resources are available to me? What are the students like?
As a new teacher I was very glad to have the support and guidance of an experienced and FRIENDLY Chinese co-teacher (You hear horror stories of foreigners brought to China to literally repeat words for a control freak.). I find my co-teacher is the most important resource I have in the class. Whether it’s modeling a conversation or demonstrating a game they are always there to help.
The main books taught are Super Kids. They are fantastic and most importantly grammatically correct. I have on many occasions flicked through English books in the public schools, allegedly written under the guidance of a native speaker, and been unable to really tell what is being taught. The Super Kids books are great. They are colourful and exciting and keep the students interest. Importantly for teachers they are well structured and easy to teach. You develop a pattern to your lesson plans that make planning them a breeze. Another book I teach is New Interchange. This series of books are a higher level aimed at adults and young adults. They are again well structured and easy to plan for. I have to be a bit more creative in these classes as the students are usually around 11 -14. So making them more relevant and interesting to the students takes a little more time. Even though they are harder to plan for, I find them the most rewarding classes.
To help with planning there are many different resources available. There are FCs for the Super Kids and Super Tots books, as well as posters, VCDs and CDs. Teachers books are available for all the books taught a Aihua, which offer activity ideas and guidance. You also have access to a wealth of knowledge from the other teachers. There is always someone around that can offer a good idea or a bit of advice that will save you time thinking of activities. In the classrooms there are whiteboards or blackboards, computers with projectors and of course your co-teacher, who can help with any discipline issues in your class.
Perhaps my biggest concern I had before I started was ‘what should I expect the students to be like?’ Before I arrived I heard that Chinese children were treated like royalty (Little emperors and Empresses). This I find to be generally true when out and about. In class you can expect students to be filled with energy and wild but I would rarely say naughty. Students with energy are much more enjoyable and easy to teach than the students that sit and wait to be chosen to answer a question. The main fear I had was that students wouldn’t like me and just turn off in lesson. They will like you whatever you do. They are amused by everything. I have shown them the worst magic trick ever attempted by a person of sound body and mind and still they laugh (the old disappearing pencil behind the ear trick is always a good one for the younger kids). Typically, the students are aged between 6- 10 for the Super Kids books, 4-6 for Super Tots and 10+ for Get Ahead and New Interchange.
The reason for coming to China was a love of teaching children and for new experiences. However, the reason for staying is the people. Both the students I teach and the people I work with are fantastic.