No Experience? No Problem: My Journey Teaching in China

Can you really teach in China with no experience? A year ago, I was asking myself exactly the same thing.

My degree is in Biomedical Science, and I completed my placement year working at a zoo in Kansas. Safe to say, my background looked very different from that of a typical teacher. After graduating from university, I really wanted a change of scenery. I wanted to try something new, develop new skills, and face a new challenge. Teaching in China seemed like a no brainer.

At the zoo, I spent a lot of time educating visitors about animals. I could tell them that giraffes have purple tongues to prevent sunburn, that ring tailed lemurs have twenty six rings on their tails, thirteen white and thirteen black, and that rhino skin can be around two inches thick. I was comfortable presenting facts, but I had no formal teaching experience and, at first, that felt intimidating.

However, a teacher is not just defined by a degree or previous job title. Think back for a moment. Who taught you how to ride a bike? Or who taught you how to put your shoes on the correct feet as a child? Did they have a teaching degree? Were they a good teacher? A great teacher is approachable, caring, patient, and creative. My favourite teachers at school were not necessarily the ones who followed the academic books most closely. They were the teachers who made me feel comfortable, who took the time to listen, and who made learning engaging and enjoyable.

Teaching is about passion and the desire to keep learning. By completing a degree, we have already demonstrated dedication and commitment. For me, working with animals taught me patience, and I have always loved learning new things. That is something I love most about teaching. I learn something new every day. Just yesterday, while teaching a class of older students, I learned that "chondrichthyes" are fish with cartilaginous skeletons, and that hydropower is currently the leading energy source in Shenzhen. They might seem like random facts, but these little nuggets of information make every day interesting, and they give me plenty of fun facts to share with friends.

Of course, I am learning much more than facts. Every day I am developing new skills in classroom management, communication, and lesson planning. I am constantly discovering how to adapt materials for different learners because no two students learn in exactly the same way. Teaching is a skill that develops exponentially. Even the best teachers still have things to learn.

I still remember my first day in China. I was lucky enough to meet my now best friend. She also had no teaching experience, her background is in law, and we were both thinking exactly the same thing, "How are we going to do this?" Looking back now, it is funny how worried we were. We were not worried about being in China. We were worried about not being perfect teachers. Within just a handful of classes, we both started to feel comfortable and confident in the classroom. Let me give you a quick insight into the training.

When you arrive, you receive in depth training that helps ease those first day nerves. We had opportunities to share ideas, ask questions, practise teaching, and learn from one another. I remember feeling nervous before my first practice lesson, but those nerves disappeared surprisingly quickly. We already had the foundation from our TEFL training. Now it was simply about putting that knowledge into practice in a supportive environment alongside other new teachers.