I am 40 years old, and in the light of the celebration, it is a good thing to have the opportunity to look back on my ordinary but short career. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the courage to write a “memoir.”
After leaving the door of the university, he came to the China Education newspaper to participate in the preparation and creation of the China Education Information, the predecessor of the China Teachers’ Daily. He has been working in the 701 Building of the China Education News Office, 10 Wenhui Yuan North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 17 years later.
Such a simple work experience, it should be said that life is immutable, do not like a pool of stagnant water. But in fact, in the past 17 years, with the reform of China’s education, the development of China’s teachers’ newspaper has always been “change.” Especially in recent years, after several revisions and adjustments, in addition to the masthead has not changed, the other may have changed, of course, including people – when the founding of the small partner only 4. With the ups and downs of the development of the newspaper, under the unalterable skin, my spiritual world has been thrown up a lot of stormy waves, the original I have disappeared.
Since primary school, I have always done well, all kinds of exams, invincible. In the village, town and county, the education I received is the standard traditional examination-oriented education.
For years, textbooks were my world. In textbooks, good people are good people, bad people are bad people, Yes is yes, no is right and wrong, everything is so clear, everything is already a foregone conclusion, there is nothing to think about, criticize, question, reflect, and do not need you to create anything, change anything, remember and do according to the established rules.
All learning revolves around the standard answer, because the test needs the standard answer, with it, you can get a high score, no one cares what you are interested in, how you think is not important, the important thing is to remember the correct answer already written in the textbook.
It is a pity that in more than ten years of schooling, almost no teacher has let me expand my horizons beyond the textbook, because they feel that reading what they define as “extracurricular books” is a sin – it is not good for the exam. What book to read? Just listen to the teacher. I still remember when I was in high school, I was severely criticized by the teacher because I suspected that the teacher was wrong.
My 12 years of primary and secondary school life, textbooks, homework, papers, scores, awards and other content plays an important role, in the face of them, my feelings, interests, habits, insights, ideals, knowledge, hobbies, characteristics are almost ignored by everyone, including myself.
In a classroom, there are dozens of people sitting, in fact, there is only one brain-many times the teacher is just a microphone, the things transmitted do not know whose brain to come from. The achievement in this state of learning does not represent more knowledge, open horizons, nor does it represent the ability to think and creativity, only memory and imitation, and the skills to find the right answer.Along with this process, I lost the opportunity to cultivate and exercise various abilities, including the ability to read, write, criticize, question, reflect, but also include the ability to autonomy, cooperation, inquiry, but also include the ability to self-expression and communication with others. That’s what a person needs in life.
Real learning, you must start your own brain, but also a rational judgment, choice, understanding, construction of the creative process.In that sense, I went to school for so many years that no real learning ever took place, and the education I received was not really education.
I began to realize this problem during college. In college, there is no homework, no teacher, no test is no longer to write the standard answer, but to have your own opinion, the score is no longer so important. I found that some students are different from me, they are knowledgeable, love reading, will learn, have ideas, will choose, can arrange their own lives.
And out of the school gate to the society, I found that the society of a person’s consideration is more all-round. Grades don’t matter at all. Everything you learn in school seems to be useless.Life is not a problem, easy to imitate, but the imitation of life is all copycat, self-defeating – you can not be who, who can not be you, you can only be yourself, your unique, is your greatest value.
On the surface, I was a beneficiary of a traditional education because I got into a prestigious university, but at the same time, I was a victim because I lost myself. Which is more important? Some people think it is the former, these people are the traditional exam-oriented education advocates, a large number.
In fact, there are no “winners” and winners in exam-oriented education, those who struggle under the pressure of the exam, do not think that the university is successful, in fact, you could have been better, your development could have been more comprehensive, could have had more choices.
This experience prompted me to begin to reflect on current education. Using the convenience of my work, I walked into the school, into the classroom, approached the teachers and students, and looked at education as a bystander, I have seen many inefficient or even ineffective classrooms, and I have seen the vivid lives trapped in the campus, the classroom, the textbooks and workbooks. Our education is so far away from the real world. I know what will happen to the children in this education in the future, and I have felt the pain.
I began to think, what should education be like? Began to reflect on the relationship and difference between examination, score and real education. In 2003, a “the foresight and near worry of the Seven phenomena” was a result of my reflection on this, which also aroused a lot of resonance and strong social response at that time.
Over the years, China Teachers Daily has been working with 16 million teachers to push forward the reform of basic education in China. Starting from the reform of classroom teaching, this reform advocates from “teaching center” to “learning center,” from “teacher subject” to “student subject.” Teachers are required to be equal “learners” with students, and their fundamental purpose is to promote the growth and development of “people.” True education should start from “respecting the existing of students,” and the ultimate goal is to make everyone develop individually in all possible directions.
When we put forward that students are also important educational resources, some teachers always disagree, always thinking that education can only be achieved in the way of “teachers talking to students,” and that it is inappropriate for students to be their own teachers. In fact, self-education has always been the most important and most effective way for human beings to acquire knowledge. Children’s knowledge acquisition and capacity training should also refer to this way.
The “teachers” and “students” on campus, once they walk out the door, are the same people, and they all have a variety of other social roles.The purpose of our children’s education is not to cultivate a “good student” “good child,” but to cultivate a healthy body, personality, ability to face the future of the independent person.
If you think like this, perhaps, textbooks, homework, papers, scores, awards, etc., all of this will not be so important, and the important thing is the child’s feelings, interests, habits, opinions, ideals, knowledge, hobbies, characteristics. In this sense, only when teachers and students return to the level of “human,” can education have a good effect.
If the teacher can’t settle down well, he will toss the child.
When there are conflicts and contradictions with students, a good teacher will reflect: What did I do wrong? Education is a process of interaction between teachers and students. If a student makes a mistake, as a teacher, he has an unshirkable responsibility. The so-called, students’ problems are teachers’ problems, children’s problems are parents’ problems, this is the relationship between action and reaction, his behavior is a reaction to your behavior.
Last year, my children in primary school, this experience and understanding more in-depth. When you ask and look at yourself according to this principle, there may be other answers to many questions. For example, when the child refuses to do homework, maybe you will not be so care and angry; When children play games, you can have more understanding and acceptance; When others are sending their children to after-school classes, you may calmly give them more time to play; When you learn that your child’s score is not high, do not blindly worry and worry. Because, as long as I am sure that the child’s life is on the normal track of growth, those outside measures do not matter.
Thanks to the Chinese Teachers Newspaper, I have the opportunity to grow up again and improve myself. Educating people is to educate yourself, educate yourself first, settle down well, strive to be a person who has the ability to accompany and support children, and become a better self with children.
With my dear colleagues and fellow educators.
