In a jobs that involve a lot of interaction with the public, such as teaching, having employees express political views online can be a liability. On the other hand, many employees would resent having a boss tell them what they can and cannot talk about on their own time.

Is censoring employees’ political views on [...]

Good news today.
A committee of the Legislative Yuan gave initial approval to the proposed new rules to allow foreign employees to take up positions as directors or supervisors of labor unions. The rules, when ratified by the lawmakers, will also permit teachers to organize labor unions.

The China Post: Lawmakers approve new rules to let foreign [...]

Longtime readers of this blog will know well that I’ve never really suggested coming to Taiwan and teaching EFL purely for financial reasons. In fact, I’ve always found it a little hard to believe very many westerners, especially Americans would be able to earn anything like what they could at home. Now that [...]

I’ve been having great results with the Dr. Seuss books I’ve been using in my 1st and 2nd grader’s class. In fact, it almost feels like they were made to go along with the oral spelling drills I’ve already been doing. The kids love them, too.

As I mentioned last week, since joining my new school, I’ve created a new buxiban program. There are quite a few non-teaching responsibilities involved. One is entrance tests, and explaining my system to parents of prospective students. While those duties are extremely important from a sales perspective, I spend the vast majority [...]

One thing I haven’t written about recently is what I’ve been doing job-wise. There’s quite a bit to blog about, but I’ve been so busy actually working that I haven’t had the chance. I’ve also wanted to sort out my ideas mentally before putting them to print.

Issue No. 3 of the new magazine, Taiwanese, I was pleased to see an article about the “hardcore” buxibans I’ve written so much about. Considering that these schools provide far better than average results for their students, pay far better than average salaries to their teachers, and are exploding at a time when the [...]

Summer is here, and business is booming at First Step. More students have signed up for my first and second grade classes than I can teach, and fifty more are on a waiting list for our normal classes. Nearly every day, more students and parents are visiting or asking about our school. [...]

The first and second grader program I started at the First Step buxiban is doing well. The demand from new students has exceeded our expectations, and my boss, is looking to expand it. Right now, we’re looking for a teacher who can start this summer. Here is the ideal candidate we’re looking [...]

Having spent the last three and a half years as and EFL teacher in Taiwan, and having seen an extremely wide variety of schools, I like to consider myself to knowledgeable about the English industry here. When I first arrived, I knew nothing. At my first job, I worked at a Sesame Street [...]