Awaken the sleeping giant within the child

Author: Sun Yunxiao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The core of education is to cultivate healthy personalities, and the core of healthy personalities is self-confidence and self-esteem. Success education is an art of awakening, awakening the self-confidence and self-esteem that lie dormant in children. Behind every "underachiever" lies a history of injustice. Repeated failures make children worse, while repeated successes make them better. Education is to let children constantly experience the joy of success. This is another powerful work by Sun Yunxiao, the author of The Battle of the Summer Camp, and the first documentary work in China describing success education. Written for parents, teachers, and children who yearn for success, the book is divided into three parts—The Development Chapter, The Choice Chapter, and The Harmony Chapter—comprising 15 chapters.
The book focuses on the success education practices at Shanghai No. 8 Middle School, known as the "concentration camp for underachievers," and combines the different life paths of two teenage girls, Qiu'er and Ma Yue, as educational case studies. It explores the successful model of shifting from exam-oriented education to quality education, documenting and reflecting on China's decade-long journey in quality education through literature and historical perspective.
The Development Chapter includes five chapters: "Facing a Pair of Eyes That Cannot Turn" "Cheering for 37 Points" "First, Stand Tall" "Underachievers Are Our Troops" "Is Your Engine Turning?" These chapters vividly interpret the new educational philosophy of "success is development." At No. 8 Middle School, underachievers are viewed through the lens of development, allowing those who have never experienced the joy of success to experience repeated successes, thereby awakening their self-confidence and self-esteem. The core proposition of success education is: "Success is development." A student's growth on their own foundation is success. Therefore, as Sun Yunxiao puts it, everyone is a success. Biologically speaking, every person is the successful combination of healthy sperm and egg cells in their parents, making their birth a success in the sense of life. Thus, every person is a success.
Therefore, when the class monitor, Teacher Lou, told Zhang Aihua, who lacked confidence, "As long as you score one more point than last time, that's progress! That's success!" In the second physics exam, Zhang Aihua scored 37 points—30 points higher than her previous 7, becoming the fastest-improving student in the class. The entire class gave her a sincere and warm round of applause for her progress. The new success education philosophy saved Zhang Aihua, and the 37-point miracle dramatically changed her life. Later, in the regional exam, she scored an excellent 74 points. More importantly, "Cheering for 37 Points" restored her self-confidence and self-esteem, allowing her to see a continuously developing self and a bright future.
The Choice Chapter includes five chapters: "The Question of Life" "The Mystery of Success" "Success Breeds Success" "Confidence Wins" "Education Is an Awakening." It begins with the bold choice of Li Jinhai, the principal of Beijing Guangqumen Middle School, who supported his only daughter in attending a vocational high school. This introduces another important proposition of success education: "Success is choice." Choosing a path that suits one's own development. Li Jinhai is not only the principal of a key school but also a national representative, a recipient of the National May Day Labor Medal, and an advanced individual in the education system. He is renowned nationwide for founding the "Hongzhi Class." Unlike many parents who force their children to attend key high schools and universities, Li Jinhai respected his daughter's choice and supported her in selecting a path that suited her. Li Jinhai said: "To truly love a child, parents should let them do what they love, not force them to fulfill the parents' wishes."
The death of 14-year-old Qiu'er serves as a harrowing indictment of the twisted school exam-oriented education that treats scores as the only measure of success! The author reflects: "Compulsory education is quality education for the masses, an education that is qualified, successful, and yet twisted into a selection-oriented education?" Education should give children opportunities to choose. A single selection-oriented education struggles to discover and develop students' individuality and talents, yet geniuses often succeed by choosing a path that suits their own development, thereby unlocking the mystery of success education: "Success breeds success." At its essence, education is an awakening—awakening children's self-confidence and self-esteem. Choosing success is choosing a path that suits one's own development.
The Harmony Chapter includes six chapters: "Mom, I'm Not Stupid" "Daughter, What's Wrong with You?" "The Success Therapy" "Life Is Like a Tree" "Where Does Happiness Come From?" "The Fate of Three Generations" It primarily follows the success story of Ma Yue, Qiu'er's cousin, combined with the success education practices at No. 8 Middle School, proposing another important proposition of success education: "Success is harmony."
On the surface, 16-year-old Ma Yue is intelligent and beautiful, possessing the charming allure of a teenage girl. Yet she had multiple thoughts of suicide! She was out of harmony with her surroundings, and her inner world was disordered. Why? Twisted education had stifled her self-confidence and self-esteem, leaving her feeling as if life was not worth living—without understanding, without true love, without hope.
Even in kindergarten, Ma Yue learned the piano. Because her finger technique did not meet the teacher's requirements—a normal occurrence for a child aged three or four—she was scolded and beaten by a strict teacher. This made her terrified whenever she saw the piano teacher. In the first grade of primary school, she missed classes due to illness, and two subjects received failing grades. This was also an extremely normal situation, yet the teacher harshly criticized her, calling her a "underachiever" and depriving her of the opportunity to participate in class activities or play with her classmates. This dealt a fatal blow to her young heart. She struggled and rebelled, but the child was too weak, while the adults were too powerful. Those backward educational concepts were too deeply entrenched in societal consciousness. Ma Yue had no choice but to choose suicide!
It was Sun Yunxiao, Li Shengzhen, and other education experts who saved Ma Yue. Using the philosophy of success education, they reawakened the self-confidence and self-esteem that lay dormant in her, helping her overcome her psychological and spiritual inferiority and self-negation, and granting her a new life.
Written in the form of reportage, the book conducts an in-depth and meticulous interview and analysis of the significant changes and outstanding achievements that Shanghai No. 8 Middle School has undergone over the past decade.