Could China Ever Ban Black People From Teaching In China?

[Pianote]

I just read in another thread that Germans and Finnish people have been banned from teaching in China. Could  this happen to black people too? 

 

 

[Lu]

I have a hunch that it's late at night and you're worried this will happen to you. If that is indeed the question: No, it won't. I don't know you, but I think you're doing just fine at your school, some normal living abroad-difficulties in your work and/or life but nothing that won't be resolved in a few days or weeks. Now, drink something hot, grab a nice book (or something else relaxing, without a screen), and go sleep. If you're still worried tomorrow, report back here and we can discuss.

[edelweis]

I don't think this will happen because there would be backslash from international opinion.

Also, China is actively wooing African countries for economic purposes.

So I find it very unlikely that China would officially ban people from teaching based solely on their skin color.

If you have the nationality of a country which is on China's "allowed English teachers nationalities" list, my opinion is that you are safe.

 

Edit: by the way, Fins and Germans are not allowed to teach English in China, but I assume they are allowed to teach Finnish and German.

[Pianote]

Yes.  Im fine. I'm just an anxious person. It gets worse at night. But yes, Everything's fine at my school. I bought my principals and my helper boxes of chocolate for Christmas and on the last day of classes I gave students chocolate for answering questions correctly. They were all very appreciative.   I'm going to Guangzhou in a week and I'm so excited!! I haven't been out of my Chinese city since I first got here!

[Lu]

1 hour ago, Pianote said:

Im fine. I'm just an anxious person. It gets worse at night.

So it seems :-) Glad you're actually fine. Enjoy Guangzhou, and next time you're worried, check the time. If it's after 22:30 or so, go sleep first and plan to worry in the morning if by then it's still a problem. (Yeah, easier to say than to do. But I hope you can try.)

[ChTTay]

Also thought this was a late night post again after reading the title and poster :-) 

 

Echo the above posters!!

 

Actually, at one point China said that all non-native English speaking teachers wouldn’t  be granted visas or work permits. This was to be applied to all new applicants. Even if you taught a subject unrelated to English (science, PE) it still was going to apply. 

 

However, it doesn’t look like t ever happened or was enforced. Likely because if they did schools would close due to lack of teachers! 

[roddy]

China's not going to 'ban black people'. It might ban people from certain countries or without certain qualifications from taking certain jobs, but it's not going to ban black people. It's very easy to imagine a situation which would ban most of Africa from all teaching jobs for example (The Ministry of Education decides all teaching applicants must have a degree  and several years of experience, both from / in  North America, the EU and a few other predominantly rich white 'developed' countries.) But not a ban on black people.

 

But

 

The visa situation is evolving. Back in my day (late 90s onwards) it was a free-for-all. It didn't matter where you were from or what your background was. Jobs were waiting. There were no criminal record checks. You didn't need to submit a CV. They didn't care if you had experience or not. Now, as you know, things are different. 

 

So

 

Those changes are likely to continue, and things are only going to get tougher. You might find yourself excluded on basis of education, experience, age. You're not going to get banned because you're black, but it's entirely possible that in a few years time you can't do the job you're currently doing for some other reason. So bear that in mind, and have an idea of what else you might do. 

[Pianote]

Education- I have a bachelors degree 

 

Experience- i'm sure I'd have at least 2 or 3 years' teaching experience.

 

Age- do you think they'd ban someone from teaching because they are 30?  Im not 30- just using that number as an example.

[roddy]

I have no real idea what they might do. That's the point. Neither do you. So enjoy China, and it sounds like you're doing a very good job of that. But be careful about long-term planning, as plenty of people have found themselves suddenly less welcome than they once were. 

[Pianote]

Less welcome?. Why the sudden change?

[roddy]

Maybe China wants to raise standards. Maybe it notices that it can afford to employ people with postgrad degrees, rather than undergrad, for university teaching jobs. Maybe it decides it wants clean criminal records for all kindergarten teachers. Maybe it decides there's not much point in importing overseas talent if the talent is fresh out of the classroom, so it imposes a two-year work-experience requirement. There's a thousand and one reasons. The point is, again, we don't know. 

[889]

I also suspect there are some employers who prefer to hire somewhat naive fresh-off-the boat foreigners. Not only do teachers tend to lose some of their enthusiasm after a few years in China, but the longer they stay the more they understand the system and are less easily controlled.

[ChTTay]

Once world world three starts we’ll all probably have to leave 

[Lu]

40 minutes ago, roddy said:

I have no real idea what they might do. That's the point. Neither do you. So enjoy China, and it sounds like you're doing a very good job of that. But be careful about long-term planning,

What Roddy says. Make sure you have a backup plan, something you might do if one day you can't or don't want to stay in China any longer. Build towards something: learn Chinese, or get some kind of certification in teaching English to foreigners, or work towards a degree, or some other skill that you can develop while teaching English in China.

[ChTTay]

Distance masters in TESOL goes hand in hand nicely if you teach English here. A CELTA then DELTA also good options. 

[Flickserve]

19 hours ago, Pianote said:

Yes.  Im fine. I'm just an anxious person. It gets worse at night.

 

Hmm. You could occupy your time better by learning Chinese which will be of more immediate utility. Hope that bit is going better for you. Try not to overthink things.

[Pianote]

@Lu: I have a bachelors degree and a tefl certification.  Will this suffice? I am also learning Chinese.  Any  backups you have in mind?

 

[889]

China's very much a friends-help-friends sort of place, so be outgoing and start building a network of relationships, always bearing in mind though that you're building reciprocal relationships.

[Lu]

And keep in touch with people back home as well.

 

@Pianote, I don't have any specific recommendations (it depends on your interests, abilities, possibilities....) but I see that some other people do. My main point is: don't sit back and plan to do exactly this for the next fifty years, because circumstances might change.

 

And also, if you're not moving towards bed yet right now, that would be a good idea :-)

 

 

[Hua]

China may ban foreign teachers  who do not have teaching credentials but when you do, you are more than welcomed. Back when I was attending an international high school in China, my academic principal was African American and we got along pretty well.