Teach for China (TFC) is the first and only organization to pair outstanding graduates from top universities in the US and China in a long-term service initiative.
FAQ
If you have a question that is not answered below, please submit it by email to info@tfchina.org.
Applying to the Fellowship
Teaching
Life as a Fellow
Training & Support
Health & Safety
Financial Considerations
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I am a Chinese national attending university or living in the United States. How should I apply?
If you are currently studying or living in the United States, you should complete the US application form. We will process your application in the United States, and you will interview with the US Recruiting Team. All Chinese citizens who pass screening in either the United States or China will be considered Chinese Fellows.
I am a Chinese national attending university or living abroad (not in the United States). How should I apply?
If you are a Chinese citizen currently residing abroad and not in the United States, you should complete the Chinese application form. Applications from Chinese nationals who are located outside of China and the United States will be processed by the Chinese Recruiting Team and interviews will be conducted via Skype. All Chinese citizens will be considered Chinese Fellows.
I am neither a US nor a Chinese citizen. Can I still apply to be a Teach For China Fellow?
Absolutely! However, you must meet our eligibility requirements by having completed a degree from a US or Chinese university.
I am a non-Chinese citizen currently located in China (or elsewhere abroad). How should I apply?
All non-Chinese applicants should apply using the US application form. Applications will be processed by the US Recruiting Team and interviews will be conducted either in our Beijing office or via Skype. All non-Chinese citizens will be considered US/International Fellows.
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What classes and subject areas do Fellows teach?
As a US Fellow, you will be responsible for teaching core-curricular English classes. English is a major component of the Chinese national examination system.
Your Chinese colleagues will teach other national curriculum core subjects such as Chinese, math, the sciences, and social studies. In addition, some US and Chinese Fellows may teach supplemental classes such as art and music.
What should I expect in terms of class size and will I have any classroom aids?
You can expect to be teaching a class of roughly 45-70 students. Most low-income Chinese public schools are equipped only with very basic classroom materials (blackboard, desk, chalk, etc.) and you will not be provided with additional resources. Some schools, however, are equipped with multimedia classrooms that can be accessed upon request to the administration for special course content and presentations. In most instances, you will be solely responsible for your own class and will not have a teaching assistant or co-teacher.
What are the schools & local teachers like? How large are the schools and what sort of resources (English library, computers, copiers, internet) will we have available?
Resources at the schools vary. In general, school sizes range between 500-1600 students. Most TFC placement schools are boarding schools with nearly all students and most local teachers living at the schools Sunday evening through Friday afternoon. Schools are equipped with desktop computers of varying quality and quantity, some sporting facilities (outdoor basketball court, soccer field, etc.), and usually rudimentary libraries with very few if any English books. A number of Fellows have initiated library programs at their schools as extracurricular projects.
In general, many local teachers are natives of the area, county, or province where they are teaching and are longstanding members of the community. Though they have considerable classroom experience, many older local teachers have not received extensive formal training or had the opportunity to attain a higher-level education (i.e. a university degree).
What age group will I be teaching?
We place Fellows primarily in middle and elementary schools.
How many hours a week can I expect to be teaching?
Our Fellows can expect to manage a teaching load of between 15-25 hours of classroom contact time per week, as well as evening review classes which are typically another several hours a week. This is on par with the course load of a typical full-time teacher and allows adequate time for class-prep and language study.
In addition to classroom teaching time, Teach For China Fellows are encouraged and in many cases required to support the school administration in other ways, including engaging students and/or local teachers in activities outside the classroom (for example, English corners). Like local teachers, Fellows are also at times assigned to oversee boarding students.
Where are the schools located?
In our third year of implementation, we will continue to place Fellows in Yunnan and Guangdong Provinces. It is always possible that we will expand the program into an additional province as well.
When and how will the teaching teams & placements be selected?
Prior to the Summer Institute, you will have an opportunity to state preferences related to your team and school placement. We will take your preferences into account along with other considerations such as placement school needs, language ability, health constraints, and group dynamics in order to make our placement decisions, though unfortunately we cannot guarantee all Fellow preferences are able to be accommodated.
Can I continue teaching beyond the end of the program?
Teach For China fully supports Fellows that wish to continue serving their placement schools beyond the Fellowship’s second year.
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Will there be opportunities to get involved outside of the classroom?
The primary role of Fellows make contributions to their placement communities both inside and outside of the classroom. Fellows are encouraged to become integrated members of their placement communities – to visit students and their families at home, to spend time with local teachers and administrators, and to come to understand their placement community, its traditions and needs. With Teach For China’s support, Fellows assess school and community needs, identify and access relevant resources – including information on best practices, outside expertise, in-kind donations, and project funding – and design and implement sustainable projects to expand educational opportunity and improve educational quality.
In addition to benefiting students and other local stakeholders, Fellow-driven capacity building projects facilitate corps members’ further integration into their placement schools and communities. These initiatives, which are commonly designed and implemented by teams of both Chinese and American Fellows, also provide additional opportunities for cross-cultural teamwork and strengthen relationships between the Chinese and American Fellows.
What will my Chinese Fellow counterparts be like?
TFC recruits at China’s most renowned universities, recognized domestically and internationally as thought leaders, and our current Fellow corps is comprised of representatives from China’s finest institutions of higher learning, such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Fudan University. In recruiting for the 2010-2012 Fellow corps, TFC expanded its efforts from seven universities in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to nearly twenty campuses across six cities. Chinese Fellows undergo a competitive selection process very similar to the US process and are vetted for demonstrated leadership potential, teaching potential, communication skills, resilience, respect & humility, team skills, maturity, and commitment to TFC’s mission. All Chinese Fellows speak English.
Where will I live?
TFC Fellows are hosted in basic dormitory-style housing provided by our partner schools for all teachers and faculty. This allows Fellows to fully integrate into the school community. All school accommodations are vetted by TFC staff and include basic amenities (i.e. electricity, basic furniture, etc.). Bathrooms and shower facilities are in most cases not housed in the dormitory structure. While most TFC Fellows will have their own bedrooms, some will share a room with another Fellow, depending on placement location. In nearly all instances, Fellows are able to access internet on their school campuses, often in their dorm rooms.
What is local transportation like?
Some of TFC’s postings are in smaller towns with local buses and/or taxi services. More remote postings are in small villages accessible by public bus (shuttle service offered 2-3 times per day).
Will I have time to travel?
Yes. During school vacations or breaks and after the program concludes there will be opportunities to travel. TFC Fellows may also take weekend trips. However, due to a full-time teaching load, you will not be able to travel during the weeks when classes are in session.
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When does the training begin and what can I expect in terms of workload during the training?
TFC’s Summer Institute starts in mid-July. In 2010, the Institute took place in Lincang and Kunming, Yunnan Province. The Institute is an extremely rigorous six to ten week program designed to prepare Fellows to live in their placement communities and teach effective in a rural Chinese classroom. Fellows work long hours to plan lessons, teach practicum classes to local students, study TFC’s curriculum, which is modeled on Teach For America’s ‘Teaching As Leadership’ approach to pedagogy, and regularly reflect on progress.
In addition, TFC’s training will begin even before the Institute starts with reading assignments and required class observations. It is important to keep up with the preparation so that the workload does not become overwhelming later.
What kind of ongoing field support will Fellows receive?
Beyond the Summer Institute, TFC has Ongoing Support Managers who are responsible not only for maintaining communication through regular phone check-ins with our teaching teams, but also for conducting regular on-site visits and classroom observations throughout the year. TFC’s Ongoing Support Managers observe, coach, and guide our Fellows in order to support them to be as effective as possible in the classroom. If the need arises, TFC’s field support staff are also prepared to provide appropriate medical, emotional, and administrative support. In such cases, Fellow confidentiality will be respected.
For safety reasons, Fellows are required to report any travel plans to their Ongoing Support Manager.
What opportunities exist for leadership and professional development?
The TFC Fellowship is an incredible platform to develop leadership skills – as a teacher, as a liaison with local faculty and administrators, as a part of your cross-cultural team of Fellows, and as a member of a young, visionary organization. Fellows are encouraged and supported to take initiative in developing projects that will enhance student achievement and educational opportunities at their placement schools, engage local teachers and administrators, and contribute to TFC’s organizational growth and development.
Particularly during the second year of the Fellowship, TFC supports Fellows who wish to design and implement local educational community development projects. During the 2009-2010 academic year, TFC worked in close collaboration with a foundation supporter to facilitate Fellows’ individual and team applications for project grants to enrich the academic communities they served.
Fellows are also encouraged to pursue training and further professional development that can be brought back and shared across the network, thereby benefiting their colleagues, teaching cohort, and local communities. TFC is currently developing opportunities to apply for funding for a range of personal and professional development programs to be undertaken during the summer between the first and second year (e.g., language programs, independent research or community development projects, leadership programs, etc.).
In your second year, as a senior Fellow, TFC offers opportunities to step into positions of leadership within the organization, potentially including but not limited to higher-level responsibilities such as coordinating curriculum development, providing training and mentorship opportunities for less experienced Fellows, and supporting expansion to pioneer placement sites. As TFC grows, there will also be opportunities to join our local field support staff in Yunnan and the management team in Beijing following the Fellowship.
Why is TFC a two-year program?
TFC’s two-year program is informed by our core mission and theory of change. We take a two-fold approach to expanding educational opportunity for low-income Chinese children. In the short-term, we place inspired, effective teachers in indigent classrooms with students who are in great need. In the long-term, we support the development of a cohort that understands the dynamics informing educational inequity and is committed and positioned to effect positive change across sectors.
We are of the conviction that in order for TFC Fellows to be effective educators and community members, it is imperative that they commit to at least a two-year teaching period. There is a tremendous learning curve for a first-year teacher and data collected over the past 20 years from Teach For America and Peace Corps consistently supports the premise that teachers in their second year are much better positioned to make significant gains in student achievement.
Ensuring extended continuity in our staffing is also important to our school and local partners – it allows us to add far more value in the communities where we work. Perhaps most importantly, we believe that teachers who stay on for a second year not only derive more satisfaction in the program and in their work, but are also positioned to embrace a belief in the power of expectations and student potential, which in the long-term equips them with the conviction to expand educational opportunity for all children.
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Will TFC offer international medical coverage and insurance?
Yes. TFC offers our US Fellows a comprehensive medical and emergency evacuation insurance plan – the same one offered by our partner Princeton in Asia (PiA). For further details, please contact recruiting@tfchina.org.
Will my placement location be safe?
The safety of our Fellows is TFC’s utmost priority. That said, the risks one may potentially encounter living abroad are very different from those present at home. From food safety to natural disasters, TFC pays particularly close attention to US State Department travel warnings. In extreme cases, TFC will relocate Fellows to different areas of the country or evacuate Fellows altogether, based on embassy recommendations.
TFC’s Summer Institute includes a discussion of health and safety issues and practical information that will enable Fellows to reduce their risks. While there are no mandatory vaccinations for China, we recommend our Fellows see their physicians at least four to six weeks before coming to China to discuss recommended vaccinations and speak about any health concerns. We have also established communication channels to handle any health issues our Fellows might experience and to ensure that they receive any necessary treatment as quickly as possible. In the case of a health emergency, a TFC Ongoing Support Manager will be in direct contact with the Fellow as well as TFC headquarters in Beijing to ensure that the Fellow receives the necessary medical attention and is safely transported to the necessary facilities. In such cases, Fellow confidentiality will be respected.
While the rural areas where TFC works do not have medical facilities comparable to those in the United States, we ensure our placement sites have access to adequate medical facilities. Our Fellows are covered through TFC’s comprehensive health insurance, which includes emergency medical evacuation if needed. In addition, placements are within a few hours of airports that have regular flights to destinations with international-quality hospitals.
For additional information or to discuss specific health concerns, please contact recruiting@tfchina.org.
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What compensation and benefits does the TFC Fellowship provide?
The Fellowship provides:
- A stipend commensurate with local salaries
- Accommodation during summer training and the academic year, generally on school grounds
- An intensive summer orientation and training institute, and ongoing support throughout the academic year
- Supporting visa documentation
- Group medical insurance for all Fellows in need of coverage, including emergency medical evacuation coverage
- Travel grants on a need basis – while TFC provides in-country transportation to assigned teaching locations, airfare to China is generally the responsibility of the Fellow
- Assistance obtaining student loan deferments
What costs should I be prepared to assume once accepted as a Fellow?
- $350 Fellow contribution/deposit. This contribution represents only a fraction of the total costs of arranging a Fellowship
- Vaccination and pre-departure health expenses
- Visa application fees
- Round-trip transportation to TFC’s Summer Institute and your placement site (unless applying for need-based assistance)
Does TFC offer financial assistance?
TFC offers need-based financial assistance in the form of Fellow contribution/deposit waivers, visa application support, and transportation support. Accepted applicants who believe they qualify for financial assistance can apply following the selection process.
TFC also assists with loan deferment (see below).
Does TFC assist with loan deferment?
TFC facilitates loan deferment, and most TFC Fellows with loans are eligible for some type of student loan deferment. TFC’s Fellowship allows you to apply for an economic hardship deferment. Details will be sent upon acceptance to the program.
In Teacher Fu and Teacher Amanda's class, we can ask questions and think independently. Teacher Fu talks with us about how students in Fudan University study and how to study well… He helps me think about my future.
- Zhao Yinjiang
Age 14, Xintun Middle School
