Our latest newsletter profiled Professor Jason Schneider’s summer travels to Huaqiao University. This teaching opportunity is a product of the connections that Schneider and WRD Chair Peter Vandenberg forged during those visits.
For TESOL grads interested in teaching abroad, the connection between DePaul and Huaqiao makes the process much more accessible. Schneider stated that DePaul is “offering an opportunity to go abroad in which much of the leg work and administrative work has already been completed.” Instead of working with another agency to procure housing and other logistics, accepted students will receive benefits including accommodations, a competitive salary, a travel allowance, and medical insurance.
DePaul graduates will teach for 14 hours each week in Huaqiao’s English Department. According to TESOL coordinator and WRD Professor Jason Schneider, classes will primarily be geared to undergraduates and will focus on writing and English as a Second Language. Students may also have the opportunity to teach classes in literature or rhetoric. Between its two campuses in Quanzhou and Xiamen, the University educates 24,000 students from 29 different countries, and DePaul grads will join a vibrant faculty community in the English Department.
In addition to teaching experience, this program provides an opportunity for unforgettable overseas travel. Huaqiao University is located on China’s far Eastern coast, just off the Great China Sea. WRD grads will trade the Polar Vortex for endless spring, as the region is known for it’s year-round pleasant climate. Accepted teachers will also be able to travel to nearby beaches, islands, and cultural sights.
According to Schneider, the area will offer teachers a taste of the “real”, urban China. Although its two campuses in Quanzhou and Xiamen are located in cities of 8 million and 3.6 million respectively, the areas are not as touched by Western influence as larger Chinese cities. CNN Travel named Quanzhou “the place to see coastal China at its most local.”
Applications to teach at Huaqiao are due in April. Applicants must have their TESOL Certificate by summer 2014 to be considered for the 2014-2015 school year. Any graduate of the WRD M.A. program and the TESOL Certificate is invited to apply.