Art of Teacher's Work in the 21st Century

Author: Zhu Renbao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: [Excerpt:] Case 2: Student's Journal Entry: "It's Not Easy Being a Kid" The phrase "It's not easy being a kid" feels like it's speaking directly to me. When kids do things or think about things, adults often don't understand. One day, I did something wrong, and a classmate scolded me first. When I retaliated, he even hit me. I hit back, of course. At that moment, the teacher just happened to see. The teacher criticized me and kept me after school. The teacher only saw me hitting him, and it was all my fault. I felt so wronged.
There was another time on a Sunday when I had nothing to do at home. I accidentally saw a small toy and was amazed by the intricate construction of the little things inside. Without thinking, I took it apart. But putting it back together was much harder. When Mom came home from work, she scolded me without even asking why. I wondered why adults don't understand kids' thoughts. I'm usually a poor student, but I don't want to be! Sometimes I can understand what the teacher says in class and do my homework, but other times I don't understand, so I can't do my homework. I don't dare to ask. If I ask the teacher, they'll say, "What are you listening to in class?" So, whether I can't do my homework or don't do it, there are reasons behind it.
Sigh, it's not easy being a kid, and it's even harder being a poor student. I hope adults can understand what's in kids' hearts. (This case is provided by Jiang Xuefei of the Hangzhou Gongshe Teacher Training School.)
[Commentary] In journals, weekly entries, and essays, students often express thoughts they wouldn't normally say very naturally. This is because at that time, they aren't facing the teacher directly. They can speak freely, pouring out their thoughts and true inner world without reservation. Therefore, using methods like journal writing, weekly entries, and essays to understand students' inner worlds is also a key skill for homeroom teachers. In this weekly entry, the student has openly and honestly expressed their true inner world, their thoughts, their grievances, their hopes, and their helplessness. Through this entry, the homeroom teacher can learn a lot about this student, as well as relevant information about other classmates, understand their true emotions and inner world, and thus provide targeted help and education.
Case 3: "The Lucky Draw Incident" and Its Lessons That afternoon, as usual, I arrived at school early. In the classroom, a series of noisy sounds came from inside. I was puzzled. Normally, after school, students would quietly sit in the classroom and review their lessons. What was different today? With suspicion, I walked into the classroom and was taken aback by the scene before me. A group of students were gathered around Chen Feng's seat, handing him 1-yuan, 2-yuan, and 5-yuan bills in exchange for white paper slips. A student opened one and shouted, "I won! I won!" I walked over to Chen Feng and asked, "Chen Feng, what are you doing?" Chen Feng looked at me fearlessly and said, "We're holding a lucky draw."
"A lucky draw?" I stared at Chen Feng in surprise. While calmly counting the money, Chen Feng took a slip of paper from his desk and handed it to me. I took it and saw it said: "First Prize: 1 winner, a hero ballpoint pen; Second Prize: 2 winners, a Zebra-brand pen; Third Prize: 3 winners, a dual-color ballpoint pen; Fourth Prize: 5 winners, an iron pencil case." Faced with this "emergency" happening right under my nose, I restrained myself and decided to approach it calmly, have an equal conversation with Chen Feng, and get to the bottom of the matter. After school, I avoided the office and called Chen Feng into my dorm room, creating a relaxed and unrestricted environment for our talk. After an honest conversation with Chen Feng, I learned that he was raising money by imitating the sale of welfare lottery tickets, similar to those sold by social welfare organizations. When I asked what the money was for, Chen Feng revealed the truth: "I'm going to donate all the money raised from the students to Feng Lei. His parents have been laid off from their jobs for over a year, and just a few days ago, his father fell from a high-rise building and is now hospitalized."
Hearing this, I was deeply shocked and felt guilty about my own negligence at work. On one hand, I expressed to Chen Feng my regret for not understanding my classmates' situations and not caring enough about their lives. On the other hand, while praising his kindness, I reminded him that he shouldn't blindly copy how society solves problems. Chen Feng happily realized that his approach was inappropriate. The next day, Chen Feng and I launched a "Dedicate a Little Love, Help Struggling Classmates" campaign, which was enthusiastically supported by the entire class. I led by donating 200 yuan, and soon, classmates chipped in 5 yuan and 10 yuan each, raising over 1,000 yuan in no time. When we gave this money to Feng Lei, he was so moved that he shed tears of joy. (This case is provided by Sun Guohai of Ma Shan Middle School in Shaoxing County, Zhejiang Province.)
[Commentary] This case offers two insights for homeroom teachers. First, when facing unexpected incidents, it's important to remain calm, investigate the truth of the situation, and avoid jumping to conclusions based on subjective imagination. Don't hastily blame students; instead, conduct a thorough investigation and use proper methods. If the homeroom teacher had interfered with Chen Feng's "lucky draw" without understanding the situation, the good deed of raising money to help classmates could have turned into a disaster, and the teacher might have lost the students' trust. However, by handling the situation calmly and rationally, the teacher ultimately won the students' admiration. Second, seize the opportunity to inspire the whole class, achieving twice the result with half the effort. Chen Feng's motivation for raising money through the lucky draw to help classmates was commendable. The homeroom teacher seized the opportunity, encouraged students to take the lead, organized mutual help, and had every student participate in the "Dedicate a Little Love, Help Struggling Classmates" campaign. This provided the entire class with a moral education about mutual assistance and care.
Case 4: Case Study Report on the Education of Children from Special Families This research project used Xiao Feng as a case study subject. Through multi-network, multi-level investigations involving the school, individuals, and society, a set of effective methods for educating children from special families was developed, which can be called positive reinforcement education. The main content can be summarized as: love compensation; correctly handling setbacks and misfortunes, overcoming negative psychology such as inferiority, isolation, hostility, suppression, and school avoidance, and forming sound psychological qualities; parents should take responsibility.
1. Origin of the Research Project In September 1998, we unexpectedly discovered in a survey that 21 students in the 12 classes of the junior high school were living in single-parent or parentless families, and this situation was on the rise. These students exhibited varying degrees of psychological conflicts, some of which had developed into psychological disorders. They were particularly prone to inferiority complex and bad morals, giving up on themselves and acting recklessly. This contradicted the spirit of education that faces all students and comprehensively improves teaching quality, becoming an obstacle to high-standard "nine-year compulsory education." The issue of how to educate children from special families was both an unavoidable important topic for teachers and a necessity for implementing nine-year compulsory education. Therefore, the Moral Education Office of Hu Town Middle School conducted a special study on "Education of Children from Special Families" in hopes of finding effective solutions.
2. Understanding the Characteristics of Children from Special Families The research team tracked 21 children from special families for two months and summarized the following characteristics.
(1) Inferiority and Isolation. Due to the influence of traditional family concepts and social cultural norms, students cannot dialectically view parental divorce or imprisonment. They treat parental divorce or imprisonment as something shameful, which creates inferiority in their hearts and gradually makes them unsociable and lonely.
(2) Hostility and Fear. In most divorced families, parents go through stages of arguing and cold war before the divorce becomes reality. This greatly harms the children, leaving them without a sense of security and forming fear and hostile emotions. Once they have conflicts with teachers or classmates, they show aggression.
(3) Depression and Suffering. The loss of a happy family is unbearable for children. Their depression and suffering are indescribable. In questionnaires, many students from special families felt "life was meaningless."
(4) Frustration and School Avoidance. Children from imprisoned families see their parents' legal sanctions as the most severe frustration in their lives. Children from divorced families view the "cold war" phase as the greatest frustration. School avoidance is a common feature of children from special families. Due to low spirits, they lack enthusiasm for anything, lose confidence in learning, and are further affected by sudden changes in family life, disrupted routines, and fatigue during the learning process.