Pros
The children are lovely and they really enjoy their sessions and grow a lot, when the courseware is matched appropriately to their level, which is not always the case. The parents are lovely too and very appreciative of the work. All of the joy and all of the support has come via the students and their parents.
Cons
I have enjoyed my one-to-one work with students when they have been on courseware that is appropriate for their level, however that is often not the case with work being too easy, or worse, far too difficult. In such instances, I have had to complain 6 times to ask for courseware to match the child's level, so they have a chance to enjoy their lessons and succeed, but nothing changes. It's as if the courseware simply aligns with chronological age, rather than a student's actual level and 10 years worth of experience in education counts for nothing when it comes to advising staff that courseware is unsuitable for a student. It's difficult to watch a student suffer week after week, especially when the lesson just becomes the teacher saying a sentence for the student to repeat it word for word, because the sentences are too advanced and the comprehension isn't there, nor is knowledge of even the most basic high frequency words, or sound-letter blends. Having relocated to a different and more expensive country, I have had to reduce my DaDa hours in favour of going back to classroom work to receive 2 - 3 times more per hour. The staff at DaDa have refused to write a reference. My new employers have sent several emails, all of which have been ignored. Most recently they sent another follow up email to be told, 'I am sorry but references are not our responsibility.' I am at a loss to understand the norms of operation in China, but I wrote this to warn anyone who may want to undertake other work after working for DaDa, they will refuse to write a reference and that may create challenges for obtaining future employment, should you decide to do anything other than teach for DaDaABC. When it comes to technical difficulties, I've had lessons where every time I speak it echoes to the point where I can't hear myself and lessons where I can't hear the student either and I am still expected to teach for 30 minutes. In such instances, IT have simply said, 'Just keep the student happy' and 'Do your best,' as if all I have to do is keep the student online for 30 minutes and that's my job done. I do think happy students are a priority, but teaching and learning is the #1 priority and it becomes impossible when I can't hear my student, or I can't speak because there's a feedback loop.