We have seen the growth of many "second-tier" children in "Home Visits"
On the one hand, burnout, Buddhism, lying down... On the Internet, more and more words expressing "powerlessness" are becoming labels for this generation of young people.
On the other hand, after five years of visits, Huang Deng wrote in "Visiting Homes: My Second-tier University Students 2": "Accompanying students back to the place where they grew up, a hidden power can always magically revive in young people."
Through the eyes of the yellow light, in "Home Visits", we see the growth of many ordinary children. The magic is that when we follow the author's footsteps, truly step into the vast land, and walk into their specific and dense daily lives, the labels about young people on the Internet will be erased one by one.
We will see that in the torrent of society and the cracks between reality, this generation of young people can still find their own way to settle down and live a solid, fulfilling and calm life by establishing rich and diverse links with the support of their families and their own efforts.
"Going to Visit Home", written by Huang Deng, published by People's Literature Publishing House
My Second-tier University Students, by Huang Deng, People's Literature Publishing House
Shangshufang: Your previous book "My Second-tier University Students" received a good response. Many people paid attention to the huge number of "second-tier university students" through you. They described your writing as "a lamp". I am very curious, is "Yellow Light" your real name?
Huang Deng: Very interesting, people often ask me this question. I was born on the Lantern Festival. In my hometown of Hunan, there is a saying that "the fire of the 30th day and the lantern of the Lantern Festival", so my parents named me "Huang Deng". "Huang Deng" is really my name.
Shang Shufang: Somehow, it seems to resonate with your profession as a teacher.
Huang Deng: Maybe a little. In fact, every time I step onto the podium, I feel excited. I am very happy when I see students. I still remember my first class when I first arrived at the university. It was after the military training for freshmen. I spent a long time preparing for the class and prepared a lot of topics. Because the content of the first class was practical writing, the textbook was relatively boring. At that time, I stood on the podium and found that the students below were very serious. Their eyes were very pure, with some curiosity, their eyes were wide open, and they looked at you with a smile. I could clearly feel the longing for a better life of the children who had just graduated from high school.
Shangshufang: After the publication of "My Second-Tier Students", it also attracted the attention of many education professionals. Have you communicated with them?
Huang Deng: From my perspective, I am doing pure non-fiction writing, but some teachers who study education told me that from the perspective of education, what I do is called qualitative research, which is of great academic value. Although we don’t have a framework for analysis, it feels like a professional exchange. I feel like I can pay attention to each other and discuss with them.
Because of the publication of "My Second-tier University Students", I was able to communicate with many scholars who are concerned about reality, which benefited me a lot. For example, Cheng Meng, a teacher at Beijing Normal University, published a book "Study Materials and Their Cultural Production", in which he analyzed young people from the perspective of an education scholar; and Lin Xiaoying, a teacher at Peking University, wrote "Children in the County", in which she focused on the specific situation of county education; and Shi Yudan, a teacher at South China Normal University, and Tian Lei, a teacher at East China Normal University... This allows us to look at these children carefully from many perspectives, which is very important.
Shangshufang: Can "Home Visits" be seen as a continuation of "My Second-Tier Students"?
Huang Deng: To be precise, it was not until I finished writing the home visit part that I was able to fully express my description of the second-tier college students. In fact, in my original idea, it included both the campus perspective and the family perspective. Later, because there was too much material, I divided it into two parts for the sake of narrative fluency and readability, and thus created two books. Of course, this also gave me the opportunity to dig deeper and understand more deeply.
Shang Shufang: The writing of "Home Visits" spanned five years, but in fact the collection of materials started even earlier?
Huang Deng: I have been teaching since I started, dating back more than a decade ago. At first, I didn’t consciously collect these things as writing materials. But I had a hunch that students have a lot of precious things that I couldn’t bear to throw away or forget.
Looking back, I feel that the exam-oriented education seems to have drained the children. They have wasted too much energy in the exams and have become lacking in vitality. But on the other hand, in my conversations with them and in their writings, I can vaguely sense their hidden strength. Perhaps it is this contradiction that gave me a vague intuition, and I unconsciously left behind many things, which have become part of the complete story as expected.
Shangshufang: Several students in the book took the initiative to invite you to visit their homes. How did you establish the trusting relationship between you and your students?
Huang Deng: I like to discuss questions with my classmates, questions that have never been seriously discussed before, such as why do you study, what is the purpose of studying, what is knowledge... I will raise some questions in the first class, and students will quickly start thinking and discussing. Perhaps it is these questions that bring us closer together.
For these young people who have just entered university, they have both aspirations and confusion. Before, they have been immersed in book knowledge, coping with exams and homework, but have rarely thought about reading itself. I think they like this kind of discussion, which does not point to any standard answers, but to find the true value of their own reading.
Shang Shufang: The word "home visit" seems to have not appeared in the context of real education for a long time. When you meet the parents of students, will they be a little surprised? Will you feel a little embarrassed?
Huang Deng: Yes, at the beginning, but because my age is not much different from that of my students’ parents, and we share common memories of that era, we can quickly start chatting with each other.
In fact, more often than not, the parents are either not at home or cannot spare the time for a special conversation with me, so my conversations with them take place in various places and at various times - in sweet potato fields, by the pig pen, on motorcycles; when cutting grass for pigs, weaving fishing nets, repairing bicycles... I can feel the imprint of the same era in them, and we have a different kind of tacit understanding. Therefore, we often feel like old friends at first sight and there is no barrier between us.
Huang Deng: The conversations between us are more like the gossips between acquaintances, without too much planning or design. But out of my intuition as an educator, I pay special attention to family education.
For example, most of the chats I had with Zaoliang's mother were about her daily work, and the focus was on her clear principle in education - "don't spoil your child". Since his father went to sea and his mother sold tofu, and the housework was heavy, Zaoliang had to work with his parents since he was a child. Even in his third year of high school, he would still work when the seasonal farm work came. I learned that it was under such training that Zaoliang, who was weak and silent in class, could harvest sweet potatoes skillfully and quickly make a delicious duck.
When Huang Deng went to visit Xiaojing's family, her mother took her for a ride in the countryside on a motorcycle.
Shangshufang: Has this home visit experience changed your views on education?
Huang Deng: I feel that, in addition to school education, family education and social education actually constitute a layered educational landscape, each of which has its own unique value. For human growth, we cannot only care about the world within the school, there are many treasures in the world outside the school.
In addition, during the home visits, there were some questions that kept lingering in my mind. For example, in a social evaluation system based on meritocracy, how can we avoid endless involution? How can education activate personal intuition and courage, so that "instrumental people" can return to "complete people"? As educators, can we calmly return to education itself and leave more time and space for growth? How can society help young individuals establish themselves in the reality of an increasingly single evaluation system? And so on. My thoughts on these issues, I think, are scattered in countless details in the book.
Shangshufang: You have studied at Wuhan University and Sun Yat-sen University before. Are there any differences between students from ordinary colleges and students from famous universities?
Huang Deng: Of course. Generally speaking, famous universities have a long history, rich accumulation, and a better academic atmosphere. Most of the current second-tier colleges are merged from former junior colleges, with relatively shallow foundations, and students are not so calm and composed.
Shangshufang: What exactly do you mean by calmness and composure?
Huang Deng: Calmness is a state of life, a relatively less hurried state. The self-identity and social attention of students from prestigious schools are natural, but for a large number of ordinary children, they are often not seen. Especially when they leave the countryside and enter the city, many of their characteristics become "no longer useful", and they need to "grasp something" as soon as possible in order to find their own path.
For example, they may be more anxious to find internships or prepare for exams earlier. They are eager to obtain some external, visible standards to prove themselves in order to gain attention or recognition from the outside world.
Shangshufang: You mentioned in your book that many students’ conditions are different at school and at home. Perhaps the above reasons are responsible?
Huang Deng: In today's media context, people may think that it is not a big deal for a child to get into a second-tier university, but in fact, it is a very remarkable thing for the child or the family behind the child, and even for the entire village.
When these students are in school, they don't always realize that they are college students, or the identity of a college student is nothing special to them. But when they return home, both their parents and fellow villagers care a lot about their ability to go to college and are very proud of them. This kind of external recognition will make them more self-respecting and powerful.
Shangshufang: Where does this sense of power come from?
Huang Deng: Many of my students come from rural areas. For example, Li Zhangtao has been working in the fields with his grandparents since he was a child, and he knows a lot about plants. Luo Zaoliang is the same. He has been doing farm work since he was a child, running around in the fields. In fact, nature, labor and other simple daily life are very important for the nourishment of children.
There is also family education and the influence of the family atmosphere. For example, you should love labor, be able to endure hardships, care about national affairs, and know how to take care of other people at home... This kind of influence is not based on preaching, it is a subtle influence in daily life. The closer a child is to the real world, the closer the connection he establishes with the world, and the stronger his sense of power.
Shang Shufang: Many of the things you just mentioned, such as nature, labor, and that people sometimes need to endure hardships...are simple concepts, but they seem a little unfamiliar to another part of today's children.
Huang Deng: Because our living environment has changed, most of the only children live in apartments in urban areas, and the things they can access are very limited. Whether in physical space or in the spiritual level, today's children have been artificially cut off from many things.
Once this connection is severed, it is very dangerous. Because a person's strength comes from many bonds and connections, not just one. We often say that children in the past were very tough. Why? Because if one bond is broken, there is another one. My parents beat me, but my grandparents will give me candy, or I will run outside to have fun and play with my brothers and sisters, and then I will be fine. When children face difficulties or encounter shocks, they have a buffer zone.
Shangshufang: Family is indeed a very important part of personal growth. Several of your students have very difficult family situations, but they do not complain.
Huang Deng: Really not. None of the dozen or so children in “Home Visits” would blame their parents or families. On the contrary, they are more willing to understand the family’s situation and find ways to solve it.
No one is perfect, let alone a family. No family is perfect. If every child only understands things from his own perspective, then many problems can be attributed to the original family, but what if we look at it from the perspective of the entire family? The family is a whole, and the child is not just in a position of being "given". Family members actually nourish and support each other.
Nowadays, many young people often ask for "breaking off ties" - they think their family is not well off, so why did they bring me into this world? Here, they all assume a premise, that is, I came to this world to enjoy certain things. But many people ignore that life is inherently precious. Regardless of whether our family is poor or rich, we all need to support, live, and love in the intertwined life experience.
Shangshufang: After the home visits, has the image of the students changed in your mind?
Huang Deng: Actually, I was pessimistic about the overall future of the second-tier college students at first. I felt that they were gradually losing their vitality under the heavy pressure of exam-oriented education, and I was also worried that they would lose their courage in the face of increasingly fierce academic competition.
But later, I would describe them as "people with soft hearts, rich emotions, full of responsibility and strength". Because I saw those details that I couldn't see or feel in the classroom - holding torches on the way to school, talking about Haizi at night, three bundles of ballpoint pen refills that were out of ink, and the footsteps of the grandfather who had a stroke and walked slowly forward... I clearly felt how their parents' livelihoods, labor experience, grandparents' company, and peers affected them and gave them strength. I feel that these ties are powerful, and individual lives are extremely resilient. When they are together, they will produce the real weight of life and can withstand or even resolve some problems of the times.
Shangshufang: But for many students who graduated from second-tier universities, their efforts may not be so easy to be seen within a larger framework, for example, when his resume is placed together with another resume of a student from a prestigious university.
Huang Deng: Yes. That’s why I feel the need to tell, present and express the stories of the second-tier students.
After writing "My Second-tier University Students", I came into contact with some media, employers and business owners, who often expressed such feelings: "When recruiting in the future, we must give those second-tier university students some opportunities and not be biased or prejudiced against them." But before the book appeared, they may not have realized this problem at all. So I want to express the efforts of the second-tier university students. Only when others see them can there be a premise and foundation for understanding and open up some possibilities for them.
Shangshufang: Why are young people today so anxious and stressed?
Huang Deng: In order to get a university diploma, they and their families have paid too much. During the home visits, I saw too much selfless dedication and all-out support. Behind a young person is not only his own dream, future and pursuit, but also his family and the day-to-day work of this family. At this time, it would be abnormal if he did not have any demands. Society should understand their needs.
We need to give them opportunities and time to look at life from a different perspective. Just like when I was laid off, my diploma was completely useless. I was just a laid-off worker with a university diploma. Look, I am living a good life now.
Huang Deng: Yes. I found that children nowadays are not very confident. In fact, you really need to believe in yourself and believe that you can gain a foothold in society. Don’t give up easily just because you feel that you have no sense of existence.
Huang Deng: But it’s not that difficult. I’ve lived in the old city of Guangzhou for many years, and I have a lot of contact with people who do all kinds of specific jobs, such as vegetable sellers, shoe repairmen, physiotherapists, and department store salesmen. I observe how they establish themselves in society, because my students are college students, and their employment is nothing more than how to establish themselves in society. So, I observe those who have not attended college and how they live. In fact, when we have a deep understanding of the lives of these people, it will become less necessary to worry about the future and fate of college students - as long as a person can adapt to society, he can survive.
Shangshufang: But young people of different eras have different perceptions.
Huang Deng: Indeed. As a person born in the 1970s, my youth coincided with the era of rapid globalization and the era of China's rapid development. There is no doubt that my generation has benefited from it.
For today's young people, society is indeed undergoing tremendous changes, and uncertainty is constantly increasing. On the surface, these are changes at the macro level, but for individuals, these are the most critical factors affecting their life development that are changing.
The era is not an empty concept, it is actually reflected in people's specific lives and even personal destiny. Many experiences of our era are not applicable to today's young people. But for this reason, we need to listen to their voices, encourage them to try, to discover, and give them room for error.
Shangshufang: In addition to retaining room for error, society’s focus cannot continue to be trapped in the single evaluation of “meritocracy.”
Huang Deng: Yes. It is not easy for young people today to live. Our social standards should be more tolerant and our evaluation mechanism should be more flexible. Society cannot regard young people as "tools" because as time goes by, tools will only wear out, but people will continue to grow and accumulate strength.
I think as long as we do these things, young people can quickly regain their vitality, they can quickly radiate vigorous vitality and burst out with endless creativity. Young people are like weeds, as long as they are given some rain and sunshine, they can grow well.
Future development still depends on young people. Therefore, we must stand with young people, face the real society with them, resist the inertial consumption of life, help them connect with as many people as possible, and activate life in specific life details and life scenes with a squatting posture, maintain the toughness and elasticity of life, so that they can continue to maintain sustainable "take-off" energy.
