Caolu Town is undergoing a transformation towards an "education strong town", and the "Yixue Caolu" project has been implemented for five years
In the past 5 years, Cai Zhongming, a senior principal of Shanghai and principal of Pudong Gonglu Central Primary School, has added an extra task to his daily campus management work. Although he has been busy, he enjoys it tirelessly; Gu Xiaoxia, an English teacher at Gulu Elementary School, has gradually grown from a newcomer who has just entered the school to an excellent teacher who can undertake district level demonstration classes; Gu Yulian, the parent, watched as the siblings in the family continued to study on Cao Road. The older sister was admitted to her desired university, and the younger brother followed her path all the way forward
This is the 5-year implementation of the "Yi Xue Cao Road" project. In September 2018, the Party Committee and Government of Caolu Town officially proposed the concept of "learning from Caolu", exploring the creation of an education brand through project-based approaches. Based on the abundant educational and social resources within the town, the government, schools, society, and other forces are gathered to create a good school district and large classroom at the doorstep.
Improving the overall level of basic education in the region is one of the measures to build a high-quality people's livelihood, meet the people's aspirations for a better life, and create a good business environment. For the past 5 years, "Yixue Caolu" has been trying to add a new label on the basis of "livable and business friendly", building "an education town" towards "an education strong town", bringing stronger attraction and competitiveness to Caolu.
Fully leverage the leading role of "leading geese"
"When the leaders of Caolu Town proposed to me to serve as the leader of the project implementation team, I felt it was my duty to do so." Recalling the first time I heard about the "Yixue Caolu" project five years ago, Cai Zhongming used this word to describe his feelings at that time.
As a native of Cao Lu, he has been engaged in education since the early 1980s, and has served as the principal of Gonglu Central Primary School for more than 30 years. He is a super principal of Shanghai, an advanced individual in the national "two basic" work, and a mentor of Shanghai "Cai Zhongming Principal Training Base".
"I should make more contributions to the development of education in the Caolu area, both emotionally and responsibly. Although undertaking the 'Yixue Caolu' project will definitely increase a lot of workload, I believe this is the trust of the town party committee and government in me, and also reflects the Caolu town's emphasis on education." Cai Zhongming said.
Since the launch of "Yixue Caolu" in 2018, the Caolu Town Party Committee and Government have always regarded the implementation of this project as an important task. At the beginning of each year, the government takes the lead in convening a meeting of campus directors to propose the work plan for the year; At the end of each year, a summary is conducted. During the implementation process, necessary funding support has never been lacking.
With the attention and support of the Party committee and government, as well as leading figures, "Yixue Caolu" has been continuously developing since its inception, creating a systematic and project-based support system in the education field of Caolu Town. The "Campus Leader High Quality Team Support Plan", "Teacher Improvement Support Plan", "Curriculum Optimization Support Plan", "Family Education Support Plan", and "Social Practice Support Plan" cover various projects in different fields, forming the main structure of the "Yixue Cao Road".
Since 2018, Liu Liangfu, who served as the principal of the East Campus of Pudong Model High School in Shanghai, also saw Caolu Town's expertise in education and campus construction through the "Yixue Caolu" project. "The development of a school cannot be separated from three aspects: management team, teaching staff, and teaching curriculum, and 'Yixue Caolu' has grasped the core of these three aspects.".
The leading role of Principal Cai Zhongming has also led many campus leaders, such as Liu Liangfu, to have more recognition of the "Cao Road for Learning" project. Among them, the "Campus Chief Quality Team Support Program" led by Cai Zhongming has also played a significant role. This project aims to enhance the comprehensive literacy of the "leading geese". It not only invites experts to give lectures to empower the school management team, but also organizes them to visit other excellent schools and high-tech enterprises, learn advanced management concepts, and achieve a school that satisfies the people.
Under the leadership of the "Yixue Caolu" project leadership group, the "Campus Chief Quality Team Support Plan" has formed an expert team led by renowned principals to carry out various learning and practical activities, including scenario learning based on "case analysis", action learning driven by "problem solving", theoretical learning led by "experts and books", and reflective learning practices compared to "visits and inspections".
As a mentor at the "Cai Zhongming Principal Training Base" in Shanghai, President Cai himself is responsible for guiding other principals. In the implementation process of the "Campus Principal Support Plan", he invited renowned principals from other schools to give lectures, and he also generously shared his more than 30 years of experience as a principal with the campus principals, fully exerting the leading and radiating role of a top-level principal.
In the view of Gu Chenwei, the principal of Gu Lu Kindergarten, participating in the "Campus Leader Quality Team Support Program" has become one of the ways to broaden one's horizons and broaden one's horizons, and the effect is very obvious. "In the past, there was not much communication between kindergarten principals, and the circle was not large. With the 'Yixue Caolu' project, we were able to have more contact with primary and secondary school principals through the 'Campus Principal Support Program', and even entered excellent enterprises to learn their management concepts, models, and culture, giving ourselves opportunities to improve."
Nowadays, Gu Lu Kindergarten has successfully established a municipal demonstration kindergarten, and Gu Chenwei has also become a member of the "Campus Chief Support Plan" to impart successful experiences. "This can be attributed to the 'Yixue Caolu' project, which has been planning the overall plan from a high starting point, bringing us a large amount of high-quality resources. Regular activities have been carried out, and the level of our kindergarten has been improved in multiple aspects," she said.
The "Teacher Enhancement Support Plan" helps teachers grow
"For frontline teachers, in order to quickly promote their professional growth and continuously improve the quality of classroom teaching, in addition to their own continuous efforts, they also need a platform for mutual learning. As a teacher in Caolu Town, I am fortunate."
"The implementation of this project has provided educators on Caolu with more platforms and measures for mutual communication, as well as the opportunity to learn from the sparks of collision and continuously grow."
These are the feelings and evaluations of teachers from various schools in Caolu Town towards the "Yixue Caolu" project. Campus leaders also have the same feeling. Liu Liangfu said that the "Yixue Caolu" project has added a new platform for teachers to learn and exchange ideas. With the guidance of advanced experts and rich resource sharing, teachers have gained the most growth.
The Teacher Enhancement Support Program is the main component of this learning and exchange platform. In promoting the professional development of teachers, "Yixue Caolu", as a town level project that integrates multiple resources, has played a more significant role in promoting mutual communication among teachers compared to conventional ones.
The most important point is the establishment of a renowned teacher's studio. At present, the "Yixue Caolu" project has established language, mathematics, and English teacher studios and class teacher studios for primary and junior high schools, as well as junior high school physics and chemistry. Kindergartens have also established renowned teacher studios, and at the same time, renowned teacher workshops have been established based on the teaching characteristics of each kindergarten.
Famous Teacher Studio, as the name suggests, invites "famous teachers" to provide guidance for teachers. These renowned teachers are mostly leaders in their respective disciplines, including municipal and district level subject researchers. Through lectures, mentoring, and other forms, they are committed to cultivating a group of backbone teachers.
Teacher Lu Zhenxin, who has been working at Gonglu Middle School for 6 years, participated in the "Yixue Caolu" project throughout the entire process. In his growth process, the "Famous Teacher Studio" played a crucial role. "From the basics of how to prepare lesson plans and teach well, to how to strengthen academic research, write papers, and participate in professional title evaluations, experts from the renowned teachers' studio provide valuable professional advice, which has benefited me greatly."
Gu Xiaoxia, the English teacher at Gu Lu Elementary School, also has the same feeling. "The teachers from the Famous Teachers' Studio will regularly provide us with guidance, teach theoretical knowledge, interpret new curriculum guidelines, and we can also attend lectures at other schools or observe lesson examples. Every time we gain something," she said.
And this experience has also enabled young Gu Xiaoxia to continuously grow and become more mature in her position. "I further realized that education is not just about teaching knowledge, but also about allowing children to think with questions. Therefore, in teaching, I gradually added step by step questions, allowing children to experience and comprehend on their own."
In April of this year, Gu Xiaoxia also took on the task of presenting English teaching at the district level for fourth grade elementary school students. In the preliminary preparation process, experts and colleagues from the renowned teacher's studio participated together to "grind" her copy and courseware, and simulate the teaching process. "Especially the mentor from the renowned teachers' studio provided me with guidance on many details, which filled me with confidence in attending this demonstration class well."
In response to the situation where newly hired preschool teachers have a large number of non professional backgrounds, the "Teacher Enhancement Support Plan" establishes preschool choirs and dance troupes, hires professional teachers for training, and enhances the professional competence of teachers. This measure has made Gu Chenwei more aware of the thoughtfulness of the "Yi Xue Cao Road" project. "There are many non professional preschool teachers born, but their requirements for comprehensive abilities are not low. With a good platform, everyone can better identify and fill in gaps."
In addition to the cultivation of professional skills, the "Yi Xue Cao Lu" project also places great emphasis on the cultivation of teacher ethics. Every academic year, there are many young teachers joining Caolu School District. Therefore, Caolu Town organizes an annual report meeting for newly hired young teachers to encourage them to firmly adhere to their professional ideals. And this is also something that campus leaders attach great importance to, and it has increasingly increased their recognition of the "Cao Road for Learning" project.
The "Curriculum Optimization Support Plan" breaks down inter school barriers
Gu Yulian is a native of Caolu, with two children in her family. Her older sister, Zhang Miduo, has already been admitted to university, and her younger brother, Zhang Yiduo, is currently studying eighth grade at the East Campus of Pudong Model High School in Shanghai. "My older sister started in kindergarten and studied all the way on Cao Road. We let my younger brother follow my sister's trajectory and stay on Cao Road," she said.
"The school at our doorstep is no worse than the one outside." This is the conclusion drawn by Gu Yulian and the reason why she made the above decision. "Whether it's elementary or middle school, Caolu's school has a very good faculty. Although the teachers are young, they are all very responsible, especially the school has a positive atmosphere."
The "Yixue Caolu" project has promoted the improvement of teaching quality in various primary and secondary schools, and has also made many residents of Caolu Town more confident in their children's education here. Among them, the "Course Optimization Support Plan" has played a significant role. According to the curriculum optimization support plan set up by middle school, primary school, and preschool, inter school barriers have been broken through joint teaching and research. At the beginning of each semester, each school publishes a list of shared teaching and research activities to the school district, and works together to establish a subject exploration research group. Each school sends backbone teachers to conduct research together around the course topics.
"This is a good interactive mechanism that allows everyone to share characteristic courses across campuses. For example, our school's Code of Conduct course, Gu Lu Middle School's Mathematics course, Gong Lu Middle School's English course, etc., everyone will share their strengths, learn from each other's strengths, and make progress together." Liu Liangfu said.
With the implementation of the "double reduction" policy, students' extracurricular practice is increasingly valued. In this regard, the "Yixue Caolu" project further demonstrates its advantages - the "Social Practice Support Plan" integrates social resources with the guidance of party building, and establishes 17 student social education practice bases. Among them, many bases such as the "Snow Dragon" and "Telecom Information Life Experience Hall" are "scarce resources".
In addition, there is a series of activities called "Intelligent Manufacturing Workshop" created by Pudong Fudan Affiliated Middle School for children, providing free comprehensive laboratories and other resources, allowing children to explore programming, modeling, 3D printing and other content. Pudong Fudan Affiliated Middle School has also hosted multiple "Caolu Cup" robot design and production competitions for primary and secondary school students, enriching children's extracurricular life while exploring a well-known "maker".
"Xin Cao Lu Ren" Shi Jing moved to Cao Lu Town before her daughter Wang Xiaomai started elementary school. In recent years, my daughter has visited various units and companies such as the "Snow Dragon", the Delta Company Exhibition Hall, and the Baoqifan Innovation Road Exhibition Hall during summer social practice activities, which has made Shi Jing envious.
"If it weren't for the opportunity provided by the 'Yixue Caolu' project, we wouldn't have been able to take our children to visit these places on our own." She said, "And the educational effect these visits bring to children is also very obvious. Not only does it increase patriotism, but it also gives us a more specific understanding of the significance of our own learning."
Shi Jing herself also directly benefited from the "Family Education Support Plan" of the "Yixue Caolu" project. She has participated in the "Yixue Cao Road" Family Education Lecture Hall multiple times, listening to experts and scholars introducing parenting experiences and educational psychology, learning how to better accompany children in their growth process, and becoming a "satisfied parent for children".
Another mother, Xu Xiaoli, exclaimed after listening to a lecture on "the transition from kindergarten to primary school", "The 'Yixue Caolu' project is very helpful.". Her daughter graduated from Gulu Kindergarten this year, and before that, she was faced with the decision of whether to go to a private primary school, and various opinions made her very difficult. "Some friends told me to go to run a private school, while others said it was too difficult. Later, I listened to expert opinions during a lecture, and then I met a group of mothers in the same situation. We talked together, and now we have more ideas." Now, my daughter is attending Gonglu Central Primary School, which has made Xu Xiaoli pay more attention to the progress of the "Yixue Caolu" project.
Five years have passed, and the pursuit of "learning from Cao Road" is still ongoing. Caolu Town stated that whether it is to create a quality of life or a good business environment, the "Learn from Caolu" project will continue to be an important task in enhancing the soft power of Caolu region, truly making "livable, suitable for business, and suitable for learning" a certification of Caolu by the public.
Text: Zhang Lei
*Reprinted from official WeChat account released by Pudong
