Educational Fairy Tales: A Different Perspective on Education

Author: Chen Jiong
Author Country: China
Editor-in-Chief: Hu Dongfang
Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-09-01
Features: Education, an ancient and eternal topic. Our education has developed to today, where achievements and difficulties coexist, opportunities and challenges are intertwined. The key lies in how we better discover and solve problems. For this, we advocate "Seeing Education through Diverse Lenses" and offer the "New Observations on Education Series" as a key to opening new horizons in educational research. The book presents the observations and reflections of someone passionate about education. The author reinterprets and experiences education from a fresh perspective, blending profound fairy tales and thought-provoking case studies, striving to share a series of eye-opening "New Observations on Education" through vivid language and clear reasoning.
Excerpt: How Did I Become a Little Wooden Duck? You Know, When I first hatched from the egg, I was a tiny, adorable duckling. Mom named me Xiaoxiaoyan. The boundless reed marshes, the clear, sparkling river, and the lush green grass were my playground for jumping and playing. In a few days, I would start school. Would school be fun too? On the first day of school, I went with Mom, full of joy. Along the way, Mom kept reminding me, "Listen to the teacher when you get to school." After waving goodbye to Mom, a fierce old duck whipped out a teaching rod and chased me into a room filled with bookshelves. The old duck ordered me to climb onto a bookshelf and copy every book from the beginning. If I didn’t copy ten pages, today’s homework wouldn’t be finished. Trembling, I climbed onto a low bookshelf. What kind of books are these? The Glorious History of Ducks Listening to the Duck Teacher and Following the Duck Teacher On the Ideological and Moral Character of Ducks So boring! I jumped off the bookshelf and shouted, "No copying, no copying! I want to go home! This isn’t fun!" The old duck glared at me grimly, took out a book titled The Behavior of Well-Behaved Ducks, threw it into a glass jar, and poured it into a paste. The book turned into a paste in no time. He grabbed my slender neck, scooped up the paste, and forced it down my throat, growling, "Disobedient? I’ll turn you into a little stuffed duck!" With a belly full of paste, I was then sent to a metal gate with a wooden plaque hanging above it: Duck Exam Room. Inside was an empty room with only a desk in the center, on which was a piece of paper with the words: I Want to Be a Well-Behaved Duck. The old duck pushed me to the desk and said, "This is your essay question. Begin!" With that, he left. The room was eerily silent. I was cold, scared, and my stomach was so full that I couldn’t help but cry, "Mom, I want Mom!" Suddenly, a small hole opened in the ceiling, and a fierce voice came down: "Don’t cry!" "Aaah—" I screamed in terror, quickly covered my mouth, and tried to focus on my exam paper: I Want to Be a Well-Behaved Duck. What does being well-behaved mean? Mom only taught me to swim, dive, and catch small snails. She never taught me to be well-behaved! Why do adults always tell me to be well-behaved? Who should I listen to? What’s the use of being well-behaved?
As time passed, the door opened again, and the old duck walked in. But the paper in front of me still had only those same words. "It seems this little duck is quite stubborn! Come with me!" Sobbing, I closed my eyes and let the old duck grab me. When I opened my eyes, I found myself suspended from a big iron hook, with a large bucket of yellowish, paper-like paste below me, emitting a musty, old smell. The old duck glared at me and said, "Now, we’ll start the 'Soy Sauce Training,' which will surely transform you. This 'sauce' is made from the Glorious History of Ducks, written by all the former principals of our duck school. It’s incredibly precious. Little duck, do you want to taste it?" Terrified, I couldn’t make a sound, just shook my head frantically. "Good! Tell me, what does it mean to be a well-behaved duck?" "I don’t know!" "Not knowing! Good!" The moment the old duck finished speaking, I was dunked into the "sauce pot," where the sticky, rotten, and smelly "paper sauce" poured into my mouth, making it impossible to breathe. My stomach was, my chest felt tight, and my head was pounding. Was I about to die? At the last moment, I suddenly shouted, "I know! Being well-behaved means listening to what the teacher says, doing what the teacher does, and always obeying the teacher’s instructions!" "Exactly!" Suddenly, I felt myself lifted up, my feet landing back on solid ground. Around me, a round of applause erupted, as many ducks held flowers and certificates, surrounding me. The old duck stepped forward, shaking my hand and praising me endlessly. The duck principal gave me a big hug and presented me with a certificate: "Congratulations! You’ve become our school’s 9,999th ‘Board Duck Graduate’!" But I was completely numb, my mind echoing only two words: "Obedient—Obedient—"
Afterword: Tigers or lions, though called the kings of beasts, are forever bound to the earth and can only let out helpless roars toward the vast sky. Plants, though rooted, rely on wind, water, and insects to experience the flight ability that nature denies them. Humans have always declared their intention to conquer the sky and the universe, expending all their effort and ingenuity for it. Yet, once stripped of all external support, humans are still forced to endure the "ground-level" life imposed by gravity. Thus, whether animals or plants, whether in the organic or inorganic world, all yearn to have wings—the wings that symbolize movement and development, allowing them to enter the flow of cosmic life. My life is destined to be one of tilling the earth with my back to the soil and my head to the sky. My son, and his son, will also be bound to this land for generations. But the instinct for "flight" in my blood forever remains. I use this book to achieve a virtual flight in the realm of imagination. During the writing of this book, I drew inspiration from the following works: The Insect World by J.H. Fabre, translated by Wang Guang (Writer’s Publishing House, 1998). Birds by Jules Michelet, translated by Li Yumin (Flower City Publishing House, 1999). One Thousand and One Questions: The Most Loved Questions by Children by Kopwen (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1999). Animal Fun Facts selected and edited by the Reader editorial team (Gansu People’s Publishing House, 1998). Human Zoo by Zhang Yuanshan (Shanghai Culture Publishing House, 1999). I extend my deepest respect to these experts, scholars, and predecessors! I am also deeply grateful to all animals and plants in nature, to all life with vigorous vitality, profound thinking, and profound friendship! February 2003, Jiangyin