Get down on your knees and see the world with your child

Author: Qin Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Treat children equally
In a school in the United States, there were two girls: one named McMullen and the other Elizabeth. During an exam, McMullen copied the answers Elizabeth passed to her, and the teacher caught her. After they admitted their mistake, the teacher picked up a wooden paddle to punish them. The teacher told them to lie on the backs of two chairs separated by a large desk, forbidding them from looking at each other. With a thwack, the punishment began. McMullen thought Elizabeth was taking the hits for her, and she cried, begging the teacher not to hit her. But the teacher continued with thwack-thwack-thwack, and no matter how much McMullen pleaded, it was useless. To Elizabeth, however, the paddle sounded like it was hitting McMullen each time. After a while, they lifted their heads almost simultaneously, only to see the teacher hitting the padded chair hard. Then they realized what had happened.
In Beijing Jingshan School, there was an elementary school teacher who, after 20 minutes of class, noticed the children were tired. She asked them to close their eyes and rest on their desks. The teacher promised to pat the head of whoever rested well. Each child believed the teacher had only patted their head, as if they were the only ones receiving her affection. In reality, the teacher had patted the head of every child—but the children didn’t know this secret.
These two teaching examples illustrate how teachers treat students equally in their attitudes.
The first example shows: Pretending to be "ignorant" and giving each child half the punishment makes the children who made mistakes realize their wrongdoing more deeply, filling them with regret and shame, and unwilling to let others take the blame for them. The teacher decided to implement this "deputy" form of "corporal punishment" out of this mindset. However, corporal punishment is still not allowed. How can children be emotionally moved without harming their physical and mental health? The teacher demonstrated exceptional educational art here. She skillfully used the interplay between hearing and sight (known in rhetoric as "synesthesia" or "transferred sensation"). For example, on the screen, we sometimes hear whip cracks and screams, as if we are witnessing someone being tortured.
The second example shows: Every child hopes to be praised by the teacher. If the teacher praises only one child while ignoring the others, it can severely damage the motivation of the other children, making them think the teacher doesn’t love them and leading them to give up on themselves. Additionally, the child who is praised may easily develop a sense of pride ("I am smart," "I am cute"), forming a habit of arrogance. This teacher demonstrated exceptional educational art here: When the children were resting on their desks, each felt as if the teacher had patted their head, believing others had not been touched. As a result, everyone thought they had done well, feeling happy and special, as if they were the teacher’s favorite. This encouraged them to actively seek more praise from the teacher, promoting continuous self-improvement and development. This is undoubtedly a highly sophisticated form of educational art.
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