At half past six in the morning of November, before dawn, Zhang Lijuan came to the school early, Lijiang No. 2 Middle School. As the school leader on duty, she has to go to the school in advance to inspect the school's work. After that, start preparing for the class and the day's work.
Zhang Lijuan. Zhang Lijuan is currently the principal of Lijiang No. 2 Middle School. Twenty years ago, when the "College Students' Volunteer Service in the Western Region" project had just begun, she came to Yunnan as one of the first batch of volunteers of the Western Program and began her fate with education. After 20 years in Lijiang, Zhang Lijuan still remembers her original intention: "If I go to a big city, I may just do an ordinary job. But here, I feel that I am needed, that I can play a greater role, and that my life can be more meaningful. ”
Light up the light of knowledge in children's hearts.
Born in Chongqing in 1981, Zhang Lijuan studied Chinese literature education at East China Normal University. In the year of graduation, she learned that the college students' volunteer service program in the western region organized by the Communist Youth League was recruiting volunteers, and she signed up with the idea of "wanting to exercise herself". Soon after, she learned that she had been assigned to Ninglang Yi Autonomous County in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province.
It was August 2003, and Zhang Lijuan first took a train from her home in Chongqing to Kunming. Here, more than 20 university students from Shanghai received about a week of training before boarding a bus bound for Lijiang. In her memory, the journey was very long, setting off in the afternoon, bumpy in the car all night, and arriving in Ninglang County the next day, the scene along the way made her feel "the more she walked, the cooler her heart became".
At that time, Ninglang was still a national key poverty alleviation and development county, relatively backward and even a little desolate, compared with the eastern coastal areas at that time, the contrast was still relatively large. Zhang Lijuan said that there are only some low-rise houses in the county, sparse shops, and the widest roads can be seen at a glance. In the county seat, Zhang Lijuan and her classmates received some general training related to local customs and ethnic areas, and then she continued to set off to Yongning Township, where she taught.
When the car passed by Lugu Lake, Zhang Lijuan was shocked by the beautiful scenery in front of her and shouted excitedly, "I thought I could see Lugu Lake every day." However, the destination was still far away, and the car continued to move forward, turning over the mountain road one by one, before arriving at Yongning Township Middle School.
Zhang Lijuan remembers that the school's teaching building was a two-story building with more than 10 classrooms. According to the principal, this is a new school building that has just been completed. The best dormitories for teachers are two-story brick buildings, and some teachers even live in mud houses. For the new college students, the school is very welcoming and arranges for her to live in a brick house with better conditions. There is also a shortage of teachers, and each teacher is responsible for two or three classes. Zhang Lijuan is in charge of the whole school's Chinese and political classes, and has more than 20 classes a week.
Due to the lack of teaching resources and the lack of teachers, fifty or sixty children are crammed into a small classroom. Most of the ethnic minority students in the school are mainly Mosuo people, most of whom are dark and relatively thin. They are very curious about this ** white and standard Mandarin teacher from far away Shanghai. "But the kids are very introverted and don't come to me on their own initiative. Some children are not very good at Mandarin, and they also need some time to react to my questions, and they need inspiration from teachers. ”
In order to shorten the distance between Zhang Lijuan and the children, the first method used by Zhang Lijuan is storytelling. "I tell them about my own experiences and about the wonderful world out there. I hope that the children will be interested in learning and Xi and myself, so that they will enjoy my classes. ”
Before each class, Zhang Lijuan carefully prepared lessons according to the characteristics of the children's relatively weak foundation - the lectures were slower, the board books were more, and she strived to be simple and lively. Empower students to relate to each other. Slowly, the students grew more and more fond of her classes. When talking about Bingxin's "Little Orange Lantern", she used the time of her late self-Xi to buy oranges and light candles to make small orange lanterns. When the faint light of the small orange lamp illuminates the dark classroom, the students' eyes also shine brightly.
After one year of teaching, in the 2003 and 2004 school year unified examination, the Chinese score of Zhang Lijuan's class ranked 7th among the 61 classes in the county, and ranked 3rd in the ordinary class of Ba District Middle School, and won the heavy award of the Ninglang Yi Autonomous County Education Bureau that year.
No one is missing".
Zhang Lijuan admitted frankly that when she first came, she also faced a lot of difficulties. First of all, there is the difficulty of living environment, not only is the traffic blocked, but communication is also inconvenient, and mobile phones often have no signal. The teaching equipment was also very backward, and the way to copy the examination papers at that time was to fix the wax paper on the steel plate and use a ballpoint pen that did not produce water to engrave on it one by one. When I first arrived, I didn't understand the local language, and I didn't feel like I could fit in with my colleagues. "When I first arrived at school for a month, loneliness hit me every night, and I couldn't wait to return to my home in Chongqing immediately. Zhang Lijuan said.
What made her even more sad was that some of the children in the class suddenly stopped coming in the middle of school. "I always wonder if I don't teach them well or don't care enough about them, so my children don't want to comeHer colleague reassured her that this is a common phenomenon in the local area, and that perhaps after a while, when the family is more comfortable, they will come back to school.
In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation of local rural families, Zhang Lijuan set a rule for herself: no special circumstances, she will visit the home of a student every week. She will never forget the first time she visited Mudingqing Village. She first took a bus for more than one hour, and then walked for more than two hours on the mountain road before arriving at Mudingqing Village. It was already dark, and the whole village lit a bonfire to welcome her. This made Zhang Lijuan very moved: "The villagers are too poor, and education is the only way for their next generation to get out of the mountains and change poverty." Visiting the village again and again, she learned how difficult it is for the locals to send their children to school, and she also felt the great responsibility on her shoulders.
Zhang Lijuan thought of her friends in big cities, some of the clothes were idle or even thrown away after they were bought and not worn much, so she invited her friends to donate some clothes and stationery to the school children. Later, because Zhang Lijuan's deeds were reported by some **, some enthusiastic people contacted her, hoping to give a little love to the children. Among them, there is a retired cadre from Heilongjiang who has been sending regular remittances to the school for many years. Every donation is carefully recorded in a notebook. With the help of these caring people, the children in the class were able to continue their studies.
Zhang Lijuan also does her best to provide better learning and Xi conditions for children. The school is far away in the mountains, and the transportation is not as convenient as it is now. Although daily necessities can basically be bought in the town, some Xi materials and supplementary books have to be purchased in the county seat. At that time, it was a four-hour drive from the school to the county seat. All the way winding up the mountain, where the road is narrow, the car is almost on the edge of the cliff. Every time she goes to the county seat, Zhang Lijuan has to overcome the fear in her heart. Later, she asked her acquaintances in the county seat, or asked her parents in Chongqing to buy some books and Xi materials, and send them by postal parcel.
The movie "No One is Missing", which tells the story of rural teachers, once moved Zhang Lijuan deeply. No one is missing, and this is also her wish for her students. Thanks to her active efforts and fundraising, at that time, although the local school was still losing students due to family poverty or poor grades, there was no shortage of students in her class.
The Western Plan has built a broader platform for us.
After a year of volunteer teaching work in the township, Zhang Lijuan came to a new position because of her outstanding performance in her work, which was a temporary post at the Ninglang County Education Bureau at that time, mainly responsible for the work related to the volunteers of the Western Plan. In her work, she used her expertise in computers to digitize and informatize the department's text and materials, which greatly improved her work efficiency.
During the year of his temporary post, the "two basics" (i.e., basically universalizing nine-year compulsory education and basically eradicating illiteracy among young and middle-aged people) in western China were being promoted. Zhang Lijuan basically traveled to all towns and villages in Ninglang County. Through her research, she gained a deeper understanding of the local situation and people's desire for education. In order to eradicate illiteracy among young and middle-aged people, some village committees have set up courses in village committees. "Some women are in their thirties, mothers, and they carry their children to class. I thought at the time, if I could have been educated from an early age, maybe their fate would be completely different. So I thought that I could influence some people through my own efforts, and I could do a little bit of it. Zhang Lijuan said that the person she admires the most is Teacher Zhang Guimei, whose efforts have really changed the lives and destiny of many women.
Zhang Lijuan is very grateful for her experience as a volunteer of the Western Plan, which has enriched her life experience, increased her knowledge, and given her a platform to learn Xi and an opportunity to exercise. It was also what she saw and felt when she took up a temporary post and went to various places to investigate this year, which made her determined to stay. After two years of volunteer service, Zhang Lijuan signed up for the local recruitment examination, officially became a middle school teacher, and came to teach in Jinmian Township Middle School in Ninglang County, taking root in Lijiang.
Zhang Lijuan said that when she first signed up for the college student volunteer service program in the western region, her parents were supportive, but when they learned that she had decided to stay, her parents were a little unacceptable. "I was the only child in the family, and my parents still wanted me to be closer to them. At that time, Zhang Lijuan didn't know how to do her parents' work, "just a 'drag' word, and she didn't go back", she said with a smile, "In the end, my parents could only reluctantly accept it." ”
Later, her parents visited her at the school where she worked, and her mother cried distressed when she saw the hard working and living conditions in the local area. "Now that I am a mother myself, I can better understand her feelings at that time, and I am more afraid that I will suffer. But in the end, they respected my choice. Now my parents have moved in to help me take care of the children. ”
Rooted in Lijiang for 20 years, Zhang Lijuan still remembers her original intention. "Actually, I'm teaching at **. If I go to a big city, I might just do an ordinary job, but here, I feel that I am needed and can play a greater role. I wish my life could be more meaningful. ”
Give every student an equitable opportunity to get an education.
Zhang Lijuan loves teaching from the bottom of her heart. During her time at Ninglang No. 1 Middle School, the two classes she taught won the first place in the county parallel class in the annual unified examination. He was rated as the outstanding subject leader of Ninglang No. 1 Middle School, elected as the deputy secretary of the Youth League Committee of the school, and was rated as an outstanding teacher at the county level by the Ninglang County Party Committee and the county ** in September 2009. After that, she received experience in management positions, and successively served as the vice principal of Ninglang County National Middle School, the principal of Ninglang County No. 1 Middle School, and the secretary of the Party branch and principal of Lijiang No. 2 Middle School.
Zhang Lijuan tutors students in class.
The current Zhang Lijuan, although the party branch secretary and the principal are "shoulder-to-shoulder" and busy with administrative work, still insists on teaching students on the front line of teaching. "I have more than a dozen classes a week now. I want to be able to get close to the students, and from the teacher's point of view, knowing what the students need will help me think better about how to manage the school. ”
Lijiang No. 2 Middle School was established in 2021, and its predecessor was Lijiang Experimental School of the High School Affiliated to the People's University of China500 million new boarding complete secondary school. At present, there are 5 grades and 35 teaching classes in the junior high school and high school, with nearly 140 teachers and staff and more than 1,800 students.
Covering an area of 235 acres, the campus is ...... with fully functional teaching buildings, modern function rooms, magnificent sports fields, and new and humanized dormitory buildingsCorresponding to the new campus, the teachers at the school are also very young, with an average age of only 28 years old.
Zhang Lijuan introduced that compared with famous schools, Lijiang No. 2 Middle School has a bit of a "special" student orientation - to provide junior high school students who want to study in the city with the opportunity to enjoy high-quality teaching resources in the city, and to provide the children of migrant workers who have graduated from junior high school with the opportunity to continue to stay in the city to study in high school. She said, "Every year, schools are competing for high-quality students, but who will take care of the other part of the students?Therefore, since the establishment of our No. 2 Middle School, we have made clear our positioning: our goal is not to cultivate how many students from prestigious schools and how many high scores, but more to consider how to let every student have a fair opportunity to receive education;In addition, it is hoped that students can develop some hobbies and hobbies and cultivate skills in addition to professional knowledge and Xi. ”
Do "warm" education.
Talking about her thinking about the cause of education, Zhang Lijuan said that in addition to teaching knowledge, what kind of people students become are more important in schools, which is a very important topic for education, and our education should be grasped from the aspects of students' personality education and health education.
In Lijiang No. 2 Middle School, moral education is placed in a very important position, and moral education is integrated into all aspects of daily teaching: theme group day team day activities, 14-year-old collective birthday, youth walking Lijiang ......Through a variety of activities, we will lead children to establish correct values in a subtle way. At the same time, as a full-time boarding school, the school also pays attention to the bits and pieces of students outside the classroom, and pays attention to the cultivation of students' life ability and Xi.
Zhang Lijuan introduced that the school also launched the "three steps" inspirational education of reading, thinking and acting, students read an inspirational letter every day, self-reflection during the evening self-Xi, and psychological counseling by psychological teachers, so that some of the students' bad emotions can be alleviated by writing and speaking. The school has also introduced labor courses into teaching, so that students can learn Xi labor skills and experience the joy of labor. "Each class was divided into fields of responsibility, and a second class of labor was opened. The students are very active, competing for planting and watering. Some of the dishes eaten in the cafeteria are the fruits of the students' labor. "Lijiang No. 2 Middle School is also a school with a large number of ethnic minority students, especially Naxi students, many of whom are good at singing and dancing, and have special skills in literature, art and sports. According to this characteristic of students, the next step of the school will be to transform the high school into a characteristic high school, expand the scope of training of sports students, and open up the "practice-competition-examination" model of learning Xi and becoming talents.
The school has a rich national characteristics of the recess jumping, every big recess, the magnificent scene of thousands of people jumping in the school sports field. The school has also set up 35 interest classes such as martial arts boxing, broadcasting and hosting, football painting, etc., to achieve full coverage of students. Zhang Lijuan introduced that in the future, the school will also introduce high-quality resources from outside the school to create opportunities for students to develop their interests and specialties. "Dig into the students' interests and passions first, maybe they will develop in this direction in the future. ”
Talking about the development of the school in the past two years, Zhang Lijuan is very pleased: the number of students enrolled has increased from 147 in 2020, 469 in 2021 to 577 in 2022. "The students of our No. 2 Middle School have greatly improved their academic Xi grades, talents and mental outlook. In activities such as the city's first meeting, textbook drama competition, English speaking competition, and big reading speech competition, the second middle school students have also begun to emerge. ”
Zhang Lijuan often said to the faculty and staff: I hope our campus is clean and beautiful, and it is a warm campusThe teacher loves his job and is a warm teacher;We hope that the students we cultivate are unique and gentle people. "How do you evaluate the success of our education?It is not that many students are admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University to be successful, but we hope that every student who goes out of the second middle school can honor their parents, love life, and care for others, and hope that they can radiate the correct values and ideas formed from the second middle school and influence more people, then our education will be successful. ”
In her many years of teaching career, when each class of students she has taken is about to graduate, Zhang Lijuan will ask each student to write a letter to herself. She treasures these letters to this day, and every time she takes them out and reads them, she will still be moved to overflow her heart, and the immature faces, the bits and pieces of getting along with them, will still appear in front of her eyes. "I found that sometimes I didn't care about a casual sentence or a small thing, but my children remembered it. This makes me feel that education is worth it, not a one-sided effort, but a two-way journey from heart to heart. ”
Author: "Chinese Sons and Daughters" reporter Chen Xi.
Editor: South China.
This article was published in the 12th issue of "Chinese Sons and Daughters" magazine in 2023