Footprints Recruiting

Clifford Yeats has recently received a promotion to HR director with one of the organizations that we work with in China.

Clifford originally traveled to China in 2004 to teach with an amazing organization that we work with there.  This particular group is based in New Zealand and provides curriculum and teachers to public school all over china.

Back in 2004 we had the rare opportunity to meet Clifford and Shirley, his wife and partner in crime, in person.  I’m sure it’s not unique to meet Clifford and Shirley in person but it is unique for the Footprints team to be able to meet our teachers in person.  It’s something we really enjoy!

Both Clifford and Shirley were immensely excited to be starting this adventure.  They had already sold their house and were living in “temporary accommodations” (read Cliff’s story for more detail).

Anyway, off they went to the wild, wild east and have now been there 2 years and are planning to stay for a few more.

In May of this year, Footprints was informed that the HR Director that we had been dealing with had moved on to other opportunities and we were thrilled to find out that one of our teachers had been selected to fill his role.  Cliff will now be Footprints’ main contact person with this organization and will be in charge of the care of our teachers.  We are extremely confident in his ability to do a great job.  CONGRATULATIONS CLIFF!!

Cliff's Story - SURREAL MOMENT

This was yet one more surreal moment: the now familiar national anthem for the Peoples Republic of China was blasting over the outdoor speakers; the red flag with the five golden stars was slowly rising to the top of the pole; and I was standing at attention along with the two thousand or so teachers, administrators and students of Nanjing Number 1 High School, in the heart of the city of Nanjing, a modern Chinese city of 8 million people and a history of more than 4000 years.  It was the 9:00 am assembly, which is squeezed between the 2nd and 3rd lessons of the morning classes and we were standing on the compound in the center of the campus.  Normally we didn’t take part in the assembly, but today was designated to celebrate the top placing students in an International English test and I had been asked to give a short presentation on behalf of the English program and the other foreign teachers.

Under the guise of needing to translate my speech into Chinese, the coordinator of the event had asked for a copy of it beforehand.  It must have been OK for delivery at the event because she made no ‘suggestions’ for changes.  The coordinator, Huang Kan, is a remarkable person: in her mid forties, a Chinese English teacher, she coordinates all the foreign programs at the school including ours. She is an ambitious party member, with a style that transcends all cultures and puts the fear into most people who deal with her.  The school headmaster is no fool to have directed her abundant energies into this role.  Relying on his emperor-like authoritative support, she ploughs through a workload of projects that would cause a stress breakdown in most, lesser souls.  A champion table tennis player in her youth, she now operates with table-tennis quickness when dealing with the issues of the day.  Just when you think you have sent her a non-returnable shot, it comes flying back at you from one of her quick-smash manoeuvres.  She relies on an aggressive style and her impressive memory for details.  She puts almost nothing to paper, but keeps her mobile phone and desk phone constantly busy, often both at the same time.  She has a brother who is a linguistics professor at Oxford University in the UK and her husband is a physics professor, also a real character in his own right.  As the lead foreign teacher, I find her interesting to work with: no need for niceties to get in the way; everything is dealt with bluntly and as quickly as possible; she refuses to ever admit making an error; and once I figured out the motivations for her, the school, the students, the parents, and some of the other stake holders, it has been pretty straight forward as well as good fun.

Up on the podium platform, the headmaster, as well as the dean of the school obediently followed Huang Kan’s directions of when and where to stand, sit, read the speeches she had written for them and present the ten top students with their awards.  Then it was time for me.  A rumble went up from the students following my “Good morning” as they realized I was about to speak to them in a language that most of their teachers and administrators could not follow.  I introduced the six foreign teachers then gave the Country, the City, the School, the Students and the Chinese teachers some positive words which were warmly received, while in the background I could hear Huang Kan translating my words for the headmaster.  After the obligatory photo session, it was over and everybody went back to their tasks of the day.

If anyone had told me, even 5 years ago, that I would be part of an event like this (let alone find it quite normal) I would have scoffed at their absurd suggestion and not given it a second thought.  So how did I get here?

Shirley and I at 50 plus years of age; with our most important task in life pretty much complete and thus our three children well on their way to beginning their independent lives; Shirley’s parents no longer with us after living together in the same family home for more than ten years; my parents still very independent; our roller coaster careers no longer capable of bringing any real satisfaction; and some health issues worked through, we found ourselves alone with nobody requiring our care.  It had been more than thirty years of care giving and although not a surprise, the shock of it ending was a bit of a jolt.  We had already downsized from our big house into a suitable apartment and life was getting easier, but we needed a new project or adventure to fill the void we were feeling.  Usually I’m the one who comes up with the crazy ideas, but this time Shirley came home one day and said right out, “Let’s go to Asia and teach English as a second language.”  We did some research and signed up for a TESL course to get us started.  Both of us had fallen into some teaching in our careers and found we quite enjoyed it, especially working with new immigrant Canadians.  After more than a year of preparation we were ready to go: training completed; some final health issues put in place; the motor home refurbished to be our summer home; all our possessions moved into storage and our apartment rented out.  We were already living in the motor home when we contacted a Footprints Recruiting and started considering where to go.  We accepted positions in China on Aug 16 but didn’t get away until Sep 10th due to some delays our visa paperwork.

We knew so very little about China that it was frequently embarrassing.  We were sent to Nanjing Number One High School in Nanjing, Jiangsu, PRC.  Lucky for us, Nanjing is a modern city with a long history and we took to it right away.  I began to read furiously, anything I could get my hands on that would enlighten me about the culture and the history of this oldest continuous society in the world.  We made some good friends who were a big help in our quest to understand and we have been trying to learn the language.  After almost 2 years we finally feel we’re getting somewhere.  (It’s not so much that we have learned anything substantial; it’s just that the Chinese respond so positively when a foreigner makes any attempt at their language.)

We have been teaching high school students.  Nanjing Number 1 has a reputation as a very good school and the English skills of the students are already at quite a high level when they start in grade 10.  The students school day begins with their first class at 07:30; then they get a 1.5 hour lunch/study break at noon; and finish their last class at 18:05.  In addition, they have a full day of classes on Saturday; at least 3 hours homework every night, and 3 hours homework per day for all holidays including the 8 week summer vacation. Their most frequent complaint is that they are tired, no wonder!

Chinese culture is centered on the family and the one-child-policy has resulted in families feeling that all of the families future hopes rest on the success of the one child.  In addition, it is commonly felt that a ‘bright future’ will only result from a good job and a good job can only be achieved with a good education and a good education can only be achieved by attending the best of universities.  University acceptance is universally based on the results of the final exams at the end of grade twelve.

NMET exams (National Matriculation Education Tests) are held in June of each year.  With only enough room in the universities to accommodate about 20% of the students who write the exams, and the best schools accepting only the top scoring students, the competition and the pressure is fierce.  So much is believed to be at stake with these final exams that it has become a very important annual national event.  The various subject exams are all written at the same time throughout the country under strict security.  

When all the NMET exam results are released a few weeks later at the schools, it is not uncommon to see whole families, students, parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents sobbing and consoling each other over what they perceive to be devastating results.  Both parents work to support their child (and many times their parents as well) and are willing to endure great sacrifices in order to improve their child’s chances in this process with extra tutoring, extra classes, overseas schooling, etc.  The families future success is thought to rely on the results and nothing is more important than the family, past, present, or future. 

Teachers are evaluated on the basis of the results of their students.  Most of them are dedicated and sincere in their quest to have all their students do well on the exams, but this leaves little room for any other considerations.  With class sizes of 50+ students, individual guidance or attention of any sort is rare.  The focus is on the academic subjects: mostly the sciences.  Art studies are largely absent and any organized sports or extra curricular activity is all but completely missing.

This is the environment in which we teach.  Our foreign taught English program is an extra five or six lessons a week for students whose parents have committed and paid for it.  This relatively new program is a joint venture between a New Zealand polytechnic, a Chinese educational organization, and a Chinese private company.  Currently there are eighteen high schools participating, mostly in eastern China.  When we arrived on a Sunday last September, we were given our schedule of classes and text books on Monday and started teaching on Tuesday.  It was a little challenging to get it together in some kind of a meaningful manner, but we managed and the Cambridge University based academic support from the New Zealand partner kicked in later, so things have improved greatly.

The students are the best you could ask for anywhere.  They are generally willing, well disciplined, respectful, hard working, and wanting to succeed.  As long as they can see the value in what we are offering they readily engage in the process.  Given the long hours of school work, pressure to succeed, and lack of siblings, they develop very close relationships with their school friends and you often must work with them in pairs or small groups when solving some issues or problems.  For the most part this is their first encounter with foreign, non-Chinese speakers.  They take pleasure in adopting a ‘foreign’ name, supposedly so that the foreign teacher can pronounce it, remember it and generally work with it much easier than their Chinese names.  Even though we try to maintain usage of their Chinese names and struggle with the correct pronunciation while we are coached by the entire class, we cannot help but have their chosen foreign names remain top of mind.  It’s no wonder when names such as Fly, Wind, Santa, Bunny-Rabbit, Candy-vox, Rain, Sunday, Blue, Onion, Brain, Snow, Vanilla, T-square, etc. are chosen by the students in sincerity.  The whole thing has made for some great experiences all around.

Apart from the many cultural differences, the most shocking thing to get used to in China is the pace of change that is taking place as the country races towards opening itself up to the world.  In its’ very long history, it has largely remained introverted.  In recent history, an about face in this approach was started 25 years ago, and the rate of change has steadily increased to the point where today, Nanjing is a different city to live in than when we arrived only two years ago.  Large lower-level, older communities disappear seemingly overnight and are replaced with new high-rise developments where ten to twenty buildings go up simultaneously.  The city is much cleaner.  Many new modern shopping areas are opening up and there are fewer street venders.  We are thankful that the alley behind our apartment building is still the fully functional market it has been for hundreds of years, but we will not be surprised when it disappears, just like so many others have already.  The western product selection available is growing in leaps and bounds, including fashion items, restaurants, clothes, processed foods, cosmetics, electronics, and so on.  Nanjing now has far fewer bicycles, far more cars, far more electric scooters, a new world class metro system, and an equally impressive new train station.  The citys’ current population of about 7 million is slated to balloon to 20 million plus in a very short time as the people are drawn to the ‘better’ city life from the harsh life in the countryside.  The same trend is happening all over China and much of what we are able to see now will disappear soon.
  
We recognize what a blessing it is to have this opportunity to be here at this critical time and we are thankful we plunged ahead into it with an open mind.  I never would have guessed that I would be any kind of a high school teacher given the level of grief I gave my teachers and the disdain I had for the process back when I was 16-18 years old.  We enjoy the work, and the pace is such that we are able to travel and see many parts of this fascinating country with time remaining to still get home for several weeks in the summer.  We knew it would be an adventure, but we are surprised that we are enjoying it so much.  We may be at this for some time to come, because we just can’t imagine going back to a ‘real’ job, and are not ready for retirement quite yet.  So, surreal moments are frequent and with any luck will continue.

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