From Jul.8, 2014, a social practice team of 12 volunteers of DPSE visited Tangwan Central primary school in the town of Qiancheng in Hongjiang City, and started a twelve-day “Hands Holding Together, Heart Tied to Leftover Children” summer camp. The volunteers worked earnestly and devotedly, cared for the left-behind children and gained unanimous praise from the teachers.
Here, the volunteers worked as little teachers and taught 50 kids from the 4th and 5th grades. Since it was a summer camp, craft class and other interesting courses made up a high proportion of the curriculum besides Chinese, mathematics and English which were ‘regular courses’ in children’s eyes. Every day, the first thing in the morning for senior leaders Gu Tao and Wang Tingting was to open the windows and ventilate the classroom, since there was no electric fan, the turbid air could only be dispersed by natural wind. The children came early in the morning, so the teacher for the first period must have an early breakfast and then manage the classroom discipline. For each class, there was one chief teacher and two to four assistant teachers. The children were energetic, and the little teachers must keep up spirit all the time and watch for the children’s emotion in case of emergency, until 3:00 in the afternoon when all kids went home. After that, volunteers got together, summed up teaching experience of the day, pointing out inadequate aspects of each other’s teaching and discussed the work assignment of the next day. Then it was time for free activity, when volunteers actually kept working hard. Some of them wrote working summaries, some did lesson planning, others collated files. And it was common to work until 10:00 pm. All those efforts were for the children to learn happily not only for the 12 days, but all the days after that.
At the beginning of the activity planning, the sponsor Li Haonan repeatedly stressed “fun learning”, hoping this summer camp would stimulate the children to love study. When preparing for classes, the volunteers tried to recall primary school memories and get close to children’s thoughts. “Being good at learning doesn’t guarantee good teaching.” was the experience of predecessors in education, and the volunteers were always looking for what the kids were interested in and how they felt about the class, trying to avoid situations where children could not understand the teaching content.
Although it was just 12 days, the volunteers were dedicated to the program. They talked with the kids as much as possible out of class to know them better, learn about their attitudes towards schooling, their characters, and found out the trueness and kindness beneath mischief. Maybe the volunteers were just passers-by for the kids, but these passers-by had made the greatest efforts for the 12 days which were too hasty for a lifetime. And the rewards were obvious-the kids were shy at the beginning but got reliant to them then, and in the end they already became friends.
The work of volunteer wasn’t light-hearted, and conditions weren’t comfortable at all. And the pressure was especially great for these volunteers, because their work was pioneering and would influence later development. They worked for 12 hours every day, and their biggest hope was to lie down and have a nap, however, their passion was never discouraged by all these difficulties. Although work was tiring, they have gained a lot. A student said, “When my mom heard that no teacher would come with us, she was surprised. I have grown up and can work independently now.” Besides the growing of mental age, volunteers have improved their ability in all other aspects. Whether it was planning an activity, or organizing a team, or learning a lesson from failure, or communicating with people of different identities, the students have moved from theory to practice, from the small world in university to the big world outside. What they have gained were not only broadening of horizons and sharpening of wits, but also valuable experiences from predecessors in education, and more importantly, the understanding and passion of the practice activity and the achieving of self-realization.
In enthusiastic dedication and collision of ideas between those young man and their predecessors, the 12 volunteers have made a good start for later volunteers. They also showed the good spirits of students in Zhejiang University-“sincerity, sureness, friendliness, modesty and dedication.” May their efforts lead the kids to a correct attitude towards learning and a life of passion!
The social practice has attracted broad media attention and exerted positive influence over society.
China Daily website, Rednet, Chinese Radio Network, iFeng.com, sina.cn, sohu.com, net ease.com and other network media reported and reprinted this activity. Hunan Daily, Hunan Worker, Huaihua Daily and Biancheng Evening News reported the evevt for the first time. And Hongjaing TV station interviewed and reported the opening ceremony of the summer camp.
Thank the Department for Education in Hongjiang, Hongjiang Labor Union, the town of Qiancheng in Hongjiang, and Tangwan Central Primary School for supporting the event.
Social Practice Team of DPSE for Qiancheng, Hongjiang City, Hunan Province
Sept.9, 2014
(By Daisy)
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