Foreign Teacher’s Guide
General Employment Policies
Legal Working Documents
* Each foreign teacher must be legally able to work in China.
* Punctuality Policy
Each foreign teacher is expected to arrive at least 15 minutes before class begins. The following table outlines the penalties for tardiness:
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Time Late
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Extra Makeup Time for Students
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Less than 15 minutes late or leave early
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30 minutes* + Entire scheduled class time + 0.5 teaching hour of pay deducted from monthly salary.
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15 to 30 minutes late or leave early
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60 minutes* + Entire scheduled class time + 1 teaching hour of pay deducted from monthly salary.
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More than 30 minutes late or leave early
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Treated as a class cancelled without notice.
4 teaching hours of pay deducted from
monthly salary.
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Late twice or more (regardless of time length)
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Contract breached.
The foreign teacher will be dismissed from the school and all penalties for breach of contract as provided in the contract shall apply.
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If a foreign teacher arrives at the class on time and no students attend the class at the scheduled time, the teacher is expected to notify the School of Foreign Languages of the Beijing Technology and Business University (hereafter referred to as “SFL”) and is required to stay at the school for at least 40 minutes. It will be counted as one hour.
* If students cannot make up for the missed time as scheduled, the foreign teacher has to make special arrangements to teach the students.
Absence Policy
A foreign teacher is expected to attend all scheduled classes.
Class cancellation with notice
* If a foreign teacher is unable to teach a scheduled class due to a legitimate reason (e.g. sudden illness, emergency, etc.), notice must be given to the SFL’s Office of Academic Affairs as soon as possible in order to make arrangements for the class.
Class Cancellation Without Notice
* A foreign teacher must give an advance notice of at least 4 days if they cannot attend a class. Less than 4 days of advance notice is considered a breach of contract and grounds for dismissal with penalties specified in the employment contract.
* Exceptions to this policy include an emergency (e.g. accidents, health or family emergencies, or disasters, etc.). If a foreign teacher is sick, an advance notice of at least 5 hours must be given. Teachers must provide proof supporting reasons for such absence (e.g., doctor’s note, police report).
* If a teacher is absent from his/her assigned post without SFL’s /university office of Academic Affairs permission, a deduction of 3 days salary will be made for each day of absence. If the absence leads to serious results, SFL has the right to terminate the contract and to hold the teacher accountable (a deduction of one month salary).
* All decisions are subject to the discretion of the administration.
Dress Code
Unless otherwise specified, the office dress code is business casual.
Guidelines for Business Casual Attire
· For men: e.g. a collared shirt, slacks, shoes.
· For women: e.g. a collared shirt, skirts or shoes.
Exceptions To Business Casual Dress Code
For business formal occasions, please follow the guidelines below. If ever in doubt for a situation, always check if with your colleagues and managers on appropriate dress.
Guidelines for Business Formal Attire
· For men:e.g. a collared shirt and tie, a suit jacket, slacks and shoes.
· For women: e.g. Suit, slacks, skirts or dresses and shoes.
Code of Conduct
A foreign teacher must treat students professionally. Active communications with students is encouraged, provided the following guidelines are followed:
Guidelines:
Do treat students with respect
Do come prepared to give the best possible instruction to students.
Do use creative and interesting approaches to one’s teaching and supplemental content.
Do encourage students to reach their full potential and to actively participate in class.
Do welcome new ideas and sharing of ideas from and among students.
Do encourage students to speak as much as possible of the language being taught.
Do seek students’ feedback with respect to the class and the instructor’s teaching method.
DO NOT
Do not express or insist on strong personal opinions about sensitive topics, such as personal values, politics, particularly Taiwan issues, Tibet issues, religious issues, human rights issues, etc.
Do not spend the entire class lecturing.
Do not simply limit the course content to that of the syllabus.
Do not wait for teaching evaluations to determine teaching effectiveness.
Do not engage in romantic relations with students enrolled in the school.
Do not accept any gifts from students currently enrolled in the school.
Intellectual Property
BTBU has purchased copyrights to use its software and textbooks. All student handbooks and course outlines developed from these software and textbooks are copyrighted material belonging to BTBU. Any lesson plans and supplemental material created by the teacher for the class should be submitted to SFL, BTBU. However, teachers can continue to use their material for their own purposes. Some courses need to be videotaped and then presented online. SFL has exclusive rights to all teaching resources and research achievements relevant to its programs developed by BTBU.
Communication with Academic Administration
A foreign teacher is expected to communicate with SFL periodically. This communication includes:
Submission of lesson plans for the week and any supplemental materials used (e.g., PPT);
Class progress to facilitate scheduling updates, allowing new students to join the class at appropriate times
Feedback from students concerning class progress
Student progress in the class;
Any changes to the original course schedule;
Any changes to the course syllabus.
Curriculum
Course syllabus is based on the textbooks. The course syllabus MUST be strictly followed in class. The foreign teacher is also expected to make use of relevant examples and supplemental materials, depending on students’ learning capacity.
In-Class Instructions
* Teachers are expected to encourage active student participation:
* Pre-class online preparation and homework assignments
* In-class participation in exercises, group activity and the like
* The foreign teacher is encouraged to use a variety of teaching techniques to cover a range of learning styles (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic).
* The foreign teacher should come to each class prepared with all necessary materials for successfully teaching in class.
* All English classes are to be taught in English. The foreign teacher may have discretionary use of Mandarin as a last resort only to clarify more complex terminology.
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Student Support
Foreign teachers are expected to provide student support outside of class times, either through email, telephone or pre-arranged meetings. Foreign teachers are expected to be judges for English-related contests or provide guidance for English Corner.
Student Examination (Where Applicable)
Students will be given written and oral tests.
Written tests are composed of multiple choice, fill-in the blank and short answer questions. Oral exams are open-book and require students to make a presentation on a topic from the course. The students are given 15-20 minutes to prepare for a 10-15 minute presentation. These written and oral questions are stored in a question database.
The foreign teacher may be expected to be responsible for designing, administering and grading exams for their students based on materials covered in class. The individual teacher may use questions from the database.
Performance Appraisal
Teaching Quality
The foreign teacher is expected to continue to improve teaching quality. If a foreign teacher notices any need for revising the course syllabus, she/he should promptly contact SFL’s Office of Academic Affairs.
Evaluation of Teachers
The performance of individual foreign teacher is evaluated by using mid-semester student questionnaire to gather with audit performed by SFL’s Office of Academic Affairs.
Teacher’s Professional Development
The foreign teacher is encouraged to enhance his/her professional competency in teaching.
SFL will make training resources available to teachers where possible.