ESL Teachers for Children – up to 15,000 RMB + Big Bonuses

About the Job

Overview

ESL Teachers for Children – up to 15,000 RMB + Big Bonuses for contract end/renewal, Flight paid, Free Apartment. 23.5 hours, Curriculum provided, freedom to teach in your own style. Well-established Good Friendly Caring School. Cangzhou, Hebei

Salary and Benefits 
Your welfare is of the utmost importance to us, for work and your life here (including airport or bus/train station pickup, support to setup bank account, local sim card, general orientation around Cangzhou). 
10,000 to 15,000 RMB per month (depending upon experience), reimbursement of expenses and big bonuses for contract end and renewal. 
Free accommodation – well-decorated western-style, with free wifi; all 5–10 minute walk from the school. 
Possibility of overtime at 120 RMB per hour (it would never be expected of you). 
End of contract bonus: 1 month salary. 
Contract renewal bonus. 
Reimbursement for z-visa and administrative expenses. 
Flight reimbursement after contract is completed. 
Free accommodation – well-decorated western-style, with free wifi; all 5–10 minute walk from the school). 
Free Chinese lessons. 
Free health check. 
Paid leave for all Chinese holidays. 
Free membership of Kingsport (pool, gym, trampolines and classes, etc) 
Free bicycle.

Job Details 
Both schools are a lovely teaching environment. 
23.5 Teaching hours weekly (1.5 hour weekly meeting). Classes are each 100 minutes. Tuesday is the day off. Week day evenings 6–7.40pm. 4,5 weekend classes. 
Small class sizes. 
Full educational training and support. 
Curriculum provided, as a guideline to allow you to be free to teach in your own style (through the Super Minds American English series; including resources). All series include a detailed teacher's reference book – lesson planning support – and digital resources. 
Bi-lingual teaching assistants. 
Students range from ages 3 to early teen. 
Warm, colorful, pleasant rooms (with air conditioning). 
Cangzhou is a third–tier city, 220 kilometers (136 miles) South of Beijing. We are in the western more modern part of the city, near Lion City park. The city never has a busy feel to it. Getting around is easy, especially on a bicycle. 45 minute train to Beijing. 
Cost of living is very low but there is plenty to do here.

Our Requirements 
Teaching experience not required, but must be enthusiastic, caring, patient, professional and culturally sensitive individuals. 
A love of working with children and young teenagers. 
Desire to make learning rewarding and fun. 
Native English speakers from AUS, CAN, IRE, S.A., UK, USA, N.Z (due to Chinese visa requirements). Applicants from non-native speaking countries can’t be considered. 
Proficiency in English, including listening, speaking, reading and writing 
Bachelor’s degree or higher, from a recognised university. 
TEFL would be beneficial but is not needed if you have the passion and personality.

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What we’d like You to Give 
You must be proficient in providing language learning effectively, including listening, speaking, reading and writing, but we would also like a teacher who not only teaches but also wants to have fun and can make learning rewarding for the children.

(This pains me to say but in the interests of the school we must express that we can only accept native speakers from the UK, Ireland, North America, Australia, New Zealand and English South African, and I also have to say that speakers must be fluent in the traditional accents thereof. With all my heart I wish the opportunities of this world were equal for us all but we must put the survival and the success of our school first. As most local Chinese parents want their children to learn from native speakers of those accents, that is what we must look to provide. I am deeply sorry to those who this does not apply to, I know so many of you could do such a wonderful job here were things different. To those, I deeply wish you well in your lives.)

As said, it is very important to us that we call each of our classes a ‘happy soul class’ because we really want to create a caring, empowering environment. Of course there are classroom management responsibilities – we don't just let students do whatever they want – but we do try to create unconditional love for them. Indeed, the name of the school derives from the philanthropic gestures of Dawn and Kevin, a couple from England, who with the head teacher Shishi (in 2009) wanted to provide just such an opportunity for children and young adults here. Since then we have becomes what is widely considered to be the leading language school of Cangzhou, Hebei, China.

Translating the school’s teaching philosophy (trying, admittedly, to do justice to the rich Chinese language) best expresses as “inspiring the children in an atmosphere of love, where the school becomes a paradise in which children can learn to love and enjoy the learning experience of a new language as a vivid communication tool without the traditional leaning by rote and endless tests. The children are free to explore the language mystery, while happiness blooms quietly in their hearts”.

Thus, we want to provide lively, fun and games/activity-led sessions. We will love to find you if you have a sense of innovation, fun and a strong affinity with children. Interests in child psychology and psychology generally can help. All experience in teaching young children, English as a Second Language, or teaching generally, will be useful.

You will guide students through a collection of Cambridge University Press textbooks called Super Minds American English. But this is only a structure, as it allows much room for innovation and creativity – of extra learning exercises and activities, and of course games. You and your bi-lingual teaching assistants will assist with marking homework, communicating with parents and classroom behavior, and assessing their strengths and weaknesses. You will be the teacher but you will get much support from your assistants. They are well-trained, passionate about education and have lots of experience.

There is also a possibility of one-to-sessions but mostly you will teach small classes, typically of about a dozen or less; which nicely maximizes the time you spend with students, who in turn get lots of speaking practice with you. 
The working week will offer you 23.5 hours of teaching, which includes morning, afternoon and early evening classes at the weekend, and one early evening class each mid-week day, except Tuesday – your day off. There is also a weekly staff meeting, but it is not a long one. Some overtime may be offered but is not expected of you, for which you would be paid 120 RMB per hour. We honor all public holidays, and the school shuts for a week in August, October, and for two weeks in the Chinese New Year (which is around February).

What will Happen 
If we like what you have to share about yourself and about how you think you could fit in here, and you hold the necessary qualifications, we will invite you to an interview. If you happen to find yourself right now reasonably close by then we would highly recommend you visit us. We would be happy to pay for your travel from a moderately nearby place. Otherwise we will arrange an internet interview; preferably Skype. If we still feel that you could fit in well, we will invite you to come and join our team, offering you a one-year contract.

If you choose to join us we won't let you down. We really will do our best to look after you. We can pick you up from Beijing International Airport (PEK), or possibly some other nearby point, and give you a few days to get over jetlag and familiarize yourself. We will provide you with your own bicycle and a well-decorated western-style apartment (yes, a western-style toilet), with free fast wifi and all furnishings and living equipment (all apartments are in yangguang, yishijie and yujingguoji communities, which all have lovely internal gardens).

All administrative duties are done with your transport provided and with company of a translator, and we will help you orientate yourself to the challenges of living in China. We’ll take you on a local tour – visiting the Kingsport, the best local places to shop, and the two connected nearby parks; all of which are a 5 minute or so cycle ride away. And we’ll give you a bicycle.

And we will setup you up with your residency and a bank account (for which we will provide you with a translator and transport to the necessary administrative centers), and a local sim card for your phone.

And of course we will share with you with an induction into our teaching methods, whereby you can observe plenty of classes, talk to other teachers and teaching assistants about following the scheme of work set out in the Super Minds textbooks, and about lesson planning, resources, and any other questions you may have.

We care very much about trying to help our teachers fit in and feel valued, and we really care about your happiness. We will help in any way we can. Of course happy teachers help children likewise but is also our philosophy, generally, to spread happiness and positivity to the world.

Cangzhou 
As you may choose to take opportunity of spare time for yourself, you will probably like to know about what you could get up to here. I find Cangzhou to be a rather nice place to live. It is a nice size of city – large enough for there to be plenty to do and people to meet but not so large to ever feel at all crowded (it is what is sometimes referred to as a third-tier city).

The school and our apartments are in the newer, more developed part of town. There are plenty of bars and Chinese and western restaurants nearby, which are all quite cheap to enjoy and many are lovely. From here, the highway station is a 5 minute cab ride or 10 minute cycle, which can get you into Beijing in 45 minutes (on an incredibly fast train), quite cheaply. This is a great feature of the city. And the air is much cleaner here than most if not all big Chinese cities, too. Indeed, many Chinese people are beginning to realize this and are moving here to commute. It is also a short ride to Tianjin and Jinan, and even Shanghai doesn’t take too long (but is perhaps a little far for day trip).

As for green space, the school is particularly also lucky in this respect. A 5 minute walk can deliver you to one of the largest, and in my opinion nicest, parks in the city; the connected Lion City Park and Tongxiang Acrobatics Park (I’m still not sure why they called it this; there is an area of exercise machines, though), which are just a 5 minute walk from the school. Together they are a treasure-trove of rose gardens, so many pathways through trees, flower-beds, ponds, rock gardens, and traditional beautiful Chinese architecture. I spend many an hour quite lost there.

Located next to Lion City Park are the new much-praised new stadium and sports facilities, offering many opportunities. A particular favorite of mine is a large area of terracing in front of the stadium, where each evening is more like a festival; little enclaves of music and dancing – which with a little confidence you will be honored to join, surrounded by so many people wandering, playing with things, dressed up, occasionally, as things like giant pandas. Mornings are good fun, too, where you can participate in Tongxiang Park in communal Tai Chi, and spend enough time there generally (especially in the evenings) and you will experience traditional Chinese music played by local musicians (who are not buskers, they just enjoy playing, clearly).

Cangzhou is largely undiscovered. You will not find any western tourists here, and it can be a lovely experience. As westerners are such a rarity, I find locals to be generally friendly and often wanting to become friends. If you want to come to China to teach young learners in a thoroughly Chinese city, then look no further than teaching English in Cangzhou! Many of our teachers have stayed on for a number of years, some are still here. If you bring to us passion, energy and love, we really hope you will stay, too.

If you think this opportunity could be attractive for you, I’ll look forward to hearing from you. Please write, including CV/Resume, to james@godawn.net

Have a nice day and thanks for your time

Best wishes 
James

Salary

Qualifications

Skills Required: