Xinhua Xianbao Night School, after a hundred years of quiet renewal

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-02-21

Nowadays, night schools are on fire again.

More than 4,000 young people participated, and more than 500 Chinese New Year's Eve school classes in many places in Jiangsu were full; 9 courses were rushed online, and the first public welfare Chinese New Year's Eve School in Wuhan was launched. 382 courses were followed by 650,000 netizens, and the Shanghai Citizen Art Night School, which achieved outstanding results last fall, will release the New Year's spring course ...... on February 27"Working during the day and attending classes at night" is becoming a business card of Chinese nightlife.

Evening classes are not new. Born in the Industrial Revolution, it is intended to solve the contradiction between engineering and learning, and it is an evening school for employees to improve their skills. As early as the 20s of the 20th century, early party organizations in various localities established workers' night schools, starting from improving the cultural level of workers, and then enlightening the consciousness of the working class. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, from literacy and arithmetic and production technology in the fifties and sixties, to hairdressing and professional education in the seventies and eighties, to microcomputers and a number of foreign language ...... at the turn of the centuryNight school allows young people to change their knowledge and upgrade their work.

After 100 years, today's wave of night schools is no longer tied to traditional work. Beyond 8 hours, life is more exciting. Guo Yiran, who was still negotiating with Party A in the office half an hour ago, appeared in a calligraphy class at a night school in Beijing. She didn't want to be bound by a temperament, saying that "night school can go to 'Banwei'".

On January 11, the students learned the art of burning foil at the Citizen Night School founded by the Jinan Library. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Zheng.

There are not only vocal music, calligraphy, and oil painting that pay for interest, but also coffee latte art, cake baking, embroidery hairpin, and vlog production that add color to life, as well as Muay Thai and Sanda ...... that purely release stressSearch for "night school" on social platforms, the curriculum has been renovated in various places, and the "just need" attribute of the old-fashioned night school has been changed.

Use interest to open up the "social fear" situation, and the social scene is new.

With a common hobby, night school is a minute to "break the ice" and make new friends. The introverted Xiaotu recently graduated from the tea ceremony class of the Shanghai Citizens' Night School. On this day, she kissed her best friend and classmates all over the place, and agreed with each other that "we can't stop meeting". From "social fear" to "social cow", there is only a few classes left.

There is a grandmother from the Sunset Red Orchestra who is seventy or eighty years old with me! She would often bring the band's songs to the teacher to pick up the score. Those songs have no beats at all, and the teacher is going 'crazy'! Let's do it together. Xiao Li, an employee of an Internet company in Beijing, said. As long as the hobby is compatible, age is not a boundary, and the generation gap is not a problem.

Interest is a classifier of groups. **Fan Yechao, a young lecturer at the Department of Sociology of Minzu University, said that the night school provides special venues and professional equipment, which opens up a social space for urban people with the same interests and hobbies, and promotes the generation of new interest groups. "No matter how lively the online interest community is, it can't replace the emotional satisfaction of offline interaction, and people still crave face-to-face and in-depth communication with like-minded people. ”

On January 10, in the shared study room on the second floor of Meilin Duhui Community, Sixin Street, Hanyang District, Wuhan City, course teacher Wang Kuolin (first from left) instructed students to play ukulele. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Zixuan.

Enjoy the initiative in life, there is a big market in the night school.

Who says work is only possible during the day? "Some young people use night schools as a channel to start their own businesses; Some hope to improve themselves through night school studies and find new employment opportunities. Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Education Sciences, said that night schools have "expanded" the employment scene.

Some education and training institutions have also begun to transform. Zhonggong Education's brand has recently launched evening classes to enrich this market. "The evening school program hopes to help young people develop skills and promote diverse employment. Liang Lei, the person in charge of the relevant business, said.

500 yuan to buy 10 lessons, very affordable! "When I grew up, I generously 'feasted' my childhood self. "Time is precious after work, and I hope to learn results. "It's the same play, and in night school, it's more fun to play with a group of people! "The self-study mentality jumps back and forth between 'special awesome' and 'special dishes', which can be corrected in night school. ”…

People who walk into night classes have a variety of reasons. In these "careful thoughts", there is a large market for night school.

Culture enriches life, and night schools open "any door" to intangible cultural heritage culture.

Traditional Chinese tea-making techniques and related customs have become a world-class intangible cultural heritage, but daily tea drinking is still almost cultural. "Through night school, the tea ceremony is now really a part of my life. Xiaotu said.

The inheritance of cultural context not only needs to carefully protect the creations of predecessors, but also allows more people to participate. The person in charge of a night school in Beijing that offers intangible cultural heritage courses said that the courses were sold out as soon as they were launched, "as if everyone was riveting their efforts and wanted to be the 'inheritors of intangible cultural heritage'".

An intangible cultural heritage course offered by a night school institution in Beijing. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee).

Compared with the tourist visits to intangible cultural heritage, evening courses allow more people to have the opportunity to enhance their understanding and hands-on experience.

Suzhou is full of culture, and everyone is familiar with it; The evening school wants students to experience the past and the present, and feel the heart. Miao Shilin, dean of the School of Continuing Education, who initiated this round of night classes at Soochow University, said that the second phase of the night school, including intangible cultural heritage items such as Kunqu opera, incense making, and guqin, will start this week. Only when we calm down and sink into it can intangible cultural heritage truly become a part of public life.

After the expansion of enrollment in colleges and universities, the gross enrollment rate of higher education in China has now reached about 60%, and more people have been able to enter colleges and universities to complete their studies. Chu Zhaohui said that we are one step closer to Tao Xingzhi's concept that life is education and society is school. "Nowadays, night classes have become more relaxed, teaching more leisure practical skills, the broadening of life, the pursuit of choices, and the perception of happiness. ”

"useless" is of great use. When you open the window of the night school, you can see the future social life. A learning society with lifelong learning for all is being illuminated by the bright lights of the night classrooms.

Producer: Huo Xiaoguang.

Curator: Chen Fang.

Reporter: Li Huan, Wei Guanyu.

Editor: Wang Naishui.

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