Maureen and Young, the FAO member in charge of housing for FTs
Yesterday we had our first staff meeting involving the Foreign Teachers (FTs) and their co-teachers as well as the head of the Foreign Languages department of C.I.T. and two members of the Foreign Affairs Office (FAO). Sunny is in charge of our technology needs, and Young is in charge of housing needs.
Mr. Xu and I engaged in a friendly conversation catching up on the past two years.
Mr. Xu, the head of the department, wasted little time with preliminaries as he set his secretary who does double duty as co-teacher for Maureen and I, to passing out the documents, texts and assignments to each of the seven English-speaking FTs. C.I.T. also has three Japanese-speaking FTs in the department, however, their opening meeting was held at a different time for obvious reasons. Once the paperwork was taken care of, it was time for us to be made aware of the expectations for teaching and documentation, expectations that were for both Chinese university instructors as well as the FT instructors. While being welcoming and encouraging for the upcoming term, Mr. Xu did want us to know that we are accountable as teachers, accountable to students, colleagues and to administration. Teaching English at C.I.T. is not about play time for foreigners, a paid holiday in China. I have to admit that the idea of accountability was something good to hear.
Knowing that you are expected to be professional and will be held accountable is a good atmosphere to work in – as long as the standards are clear and the criteria for judgment of performance is also clear and reasonable.
Good luck!
It does make for an easier time both in the classroom as well as with colleagues when one follows the policies and procedures.