Shanghai has a "most beautiful teacher in the country" who has created an educational "miracle" from a weak school to a high-quality school
As an ordinary public school located at the doorstep, the first grade of primary school at the Affiliated School of Education College in Jing'an District, Shanghai is fully matched for enrollment, and the matching school district has remained unchanged for more than 20 years. Surprisingly, this typical weak school many years ago delivered an excellent answer sheet: while students achieved excellent academic results in the middle school entrance examination and won a good reputation from parents, their myopia rate was nearly 20% lower than the average in Shanghai.
This transformation not only depicts the miracle of "light burden and high quality" education in the education industry, but also makes schools a spiritual paradise that parents and students aspire to. Nowadays, the "apprentice principal" led by Zhang Renli from the affiliated school of Jingjiao Academy is spread throughout all regions of Shanghai, as well as multiple provinces across the country such as Jiangsu and Guizhou, continuously radiating the innovative experience of "light burden and high quality" education reform.
This 70 year old principal is full of passion and vitality, constantly walking on the path of modernization of Chinese style education, interpreting the spiritual connotation of the new era's "master".
On September 10th, the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Education publicly released the advanced deeds of the "Most Beautiful Teachers" in China in 2023 to the whole society. Principal Zhang Renli from the Affiliated School of Jingjiao Academy was awarded the title of "Most Beautiful Teacher" in the country.
"The Great Reform of Curriculum"
"The Great Reform of Curriculum"
The core of educational reform is to improve the effectiveness of classroom teaching, and the responsibility of principals is to put effort into reducing burden and increasing efficiency, which Zhang Renli has always believed in.
In 1998, when Zhang Renli was appointed as the dean of Jing'an District Education College, the district education bureau also required him to serve as the principal of a typical weak school with a nine-year consistent system, which had been renamed as a Jing'an Education College Affiliated School.
"At that time, I had two paths to take: either to follow the old methods and operate according to the conventional models of many schools and educational colleges, both sides could barely maintain; or to take a different approach and reform curriculum and teaching, injecting the most advanced educational concepts into the colleges and schools, and possibly achieving unconventional development." Zhang Renli said, "Practice has proven that choosing reform is correct. Without the bold curriculum and teaching reform of the past, neither the educational colleges nor affiliated schools would have had the new situation they have today."
That's true. Based on a series of research and analysis, Zhang Renli, who also serves as the dean and principal, has positioned the affiliated school as an experimental base for implementing quality education.
Zhang Zhiqiang, the principal of the West Campus of Shanghai Experimental School, is Zhang Renli's "disciple". A lecture in 2010 left a deep impression on Zhang Zhiqiang. At that time, Principal Zhang raised four prominent issues in the "home classes" of the attached school of Jingjiao Academy: the overall teacher talked too much in class, the students' "subconscious" was not exposed enough, the teacher did not understand the value orientation of each teaching behavior, and many teachers did not have effective solutions to the problem of student differences. "I think these questions are very real, showing that Principal Zhang is truly researching and practicing," said Zhang Zhiqiang.
However, with so many twists and turns, where should we start? Zhang Renli evaluated the situation and calmly analyzed the situation of educational reform at that time, and determined to take curriculum and teaching reform as the breakthrough point to promote the development of the school. Zhang Renli requested that all frontline teachers in the research, teaching, training, and moral education departments of the Education College focus on the classroom.
In the traditional impression, teachers impart knowledge in class, but Zhang Renli proposed that in classroom teaching, the responsibility of teachers is not only to speak correctly and completely, but more importantly, to expose the subconscious of students as much as possible and pay attention to the discovery and resolution of their "different ideas".
【 Post "Teahouse style" teaching 】
In the traditional impression, teachers impart knowledge in class, but Zhang Renli proposed that in classroom teaching, the responsibility of teachers is not only to speak correctly and completely, but more importantly, to expose the subconscious of students as much as possible and pay attention to the discovery and resolution of their "different ideas".
This is also what later became well-known as the "teahouse style" teaching. Not only that, Zhang Renli also constructed a complete operating system, including two teaching features - what students can learn on their own, not taught by teachers; Expose students' divergent ideas as much as possible and address them accordingly.
This stimulating, speculative, and self constructing teaching method transforms the teacher's lecture hall into a student's classroom. Because of the charm of the "teahouse style" teaching, after graduating from graduate school, Song Wenjing resolutely decided to return to her alma mater and serve as a math teacher for the third grade of primary school attached to Jingjiao Academy. She told reporters that under the guidance of the teacher's question chain, students are able to freely express their opinions, and this atmosphere makes her feel very happy and happy during her nine years at the affiliated school. In Song Wenjing's view, the process of guiding and constantly thinking through a self constructed problem chain is actually a continuous process of error correction, which can enhance students' understanding of knowledge. Meanwhile, in the process of communicating with students, it can also help teachers adjust their teaching direction in a timely manner.
This example vividly illustrates that teaching should focus on the students' original foundation and the starting point of teaching. The starting point is too low, resulting in duplication and reduced efficiency; If the starting point is too high, teachers can promote students and the benefits are also not high.
Exchange "quality" for "quantity"
"If a foreign tourist asks for directions in Shanghai, someone patiently speaks authentic Shanghai dialect many times, but the tourist still doesn't understand. Do you think the problem lies with who?" This is an example often cited by Zhang Renli.
This example vividly illustrates that teaching should focus on the students' original foundation and the starting point of teaching. The starting point is too low, resulting in duplication and reduced efficiency; If the starting point is too high, teachers can promote students and the benefits are also not high.
Based on a profound understanding of the laws of education, Zhang Renli started with the concept of "homework quantity" and proposed to "improve the quality of homework and control the quantity of homework". He refined the management of homework quantity and implemented layered homework.
According to the conclusion drawn from the international PISA test, it is best to control the amount of extracurricular homework for children aged 15 to around 11.2 hours per week, which is an educational rule. The weekly homework workload of Jingjiao Academy Affiliated School is approximately 11.04 hours, which meets international standards.
The total amount of homework is controlled, but how to solve the differences between people and the imbalance between days? In fact, the situation of students is vastly different. Some people can complete the same homework in just 2 hours, while others have to do it for 4 hours; Sometimes, on the same day, there is not much homework for each subject, but the teacher happens to "squeeze" the assignments on the same day. Each subject may not seem too many, but as the number of subjects increases, the total amount of homework added up is quite substantial.
In order to address the imbalance between heaven and earth, Jingjiao Academy Affiliated School has launched a "two hands raising system" - parents raising their hands and students raising their hands. Speaking of the "student raise hands" system, it is also a campus culture. Wang, who graduated from the third year of junior high school, used the word "magical" to describe it. "Occasionally, when there is too much homework, the study committee member raises their hand to inform the teacher, and the teacher gladly accepts the opinion and reduces the amount of homework for the day. This practice has been imitated by many schools. Sun Naxin, the principal of Wuning Road Primary School in Putuo District, said that it is precisely by drawing on the" two raise of hands system "that Wuning Road Primary School has a" bargaining system ", and students can also" challenge "the teacher based on the amount of homework.".
Considering the uneven foundation of students, Jingjiao Academy Affiliated School has launched "layered homework" - basic homework and honor homework, allowing students of different levels to "eat their fill". The so-called basic homework refers to deleting some difficult questions on the basis of the overall homework to consolidate the foundation; Provide "Honorary Homework" for students who have spare energy, and add some extended and difficult questions. Parents Zheng Jie excitedly said, "The children are very enthusiastic about honor assignments. At first, it was the teacher who set the questions, but later on, classmates in the class would come to the blackboard every day to set a question. Children who did it quickly and well would receive the teacher's medal."
The school often holds debate competitions.
【 Based in Shanghai and Influenced by Remote Broadcasting 】
After controlling the amount of extracurricular homework in school, it greatly increases the time and space for students to engage in independent activities. At the affiliated school of Jingjiao Academy, there are 5 single subject laboratories related to physics, chemistry, etc., and as many as 10 interdisciplinary laboratories. The most popular course among students is the "Qupu" course. "In school, I learned a method of learning and the joy of learning," sixth grade student Xu Zhenguo told reporters. Qupu class integrates many courses together. For example, this semester I studied a variety of courses such as pottery, fabric art, and recipes. While acquiring subject knowledge, I also hands-on learned skills such as weaving. "Learn by playing, play by learning." Zhang Renli explained that the TRIP course offers a variety of homework forms, including small creations, small inventions, and small creations. Here, various teaching methods such as 3D printing, laser cutting, and VR teaching have broadened children's horizons.
