Is this the reality of teaching IB in China?
I joined an IB high school in China a couple of years ago in a new Tier 1 city as a Physics teacher. Before joining this school, I spent three years teaching at an IB high school in Europe. I’m writing this post to gather feedback from more experienced teachers who have specifically worked in China.
I’ve noticed significant differences in how this school manages student behavior compared to my previous school in Europe. In general, students here don’t receive meaningful consequences or punishment. To give you some examples: students are allowed to use devices, but most of them misuse them to play video games, use AI to complete classwork or homework, or use WeChat or TikTok during class. When teachers report a student for device misuse, the student usually only receives a verbal warning. Very rarely is a device confiscated, and if it is, only for no more than a week. This lack of consequences has created a classroom environment where students are basically “device zombies”: the teacher explains or gives instructions, and the entire class is just playing or sleeping. Generally, there is very little interest shown by students during class, with only a small handful truly engaging in activities or asking questions afterward.
Another major difference is student diversity. At my previous IB school, students came from different cultural and academic backgrounds and were able to speak at least two or three languages fluently, including English. In this school, all students are Chinese, and only a small minority speak English fairly fluently. This language limitation creates an environment where students keep chatting in Chinese with each other and are not even able to understand basic instructions.
I feel like I’m going backward as a teacher rather than growing professionally. Colleagues have told me that this is the reality of teaching in China, that my standards are too high, and that I shouldn’t expect too much from Chinese students.
Is this the reality of teaching in China as a foreigner? Did I end up at the wrong school? I would love to receive feedback from experienced foreign teachers here in China. Thanks!