I chose the DukeEngage program in Beijing in part because I wanted to supplement my in-classroom learning from my Migrant Culture and Politics class during my fall semester. Admittedly I selected the class as an elective more out of curiosity than due to preexisting interest with the topic. After an entire semester learning about the issues migrants in China face, the big picture revolved around the overall lesser status of migrants socially, politically, educationally, and of course economically. I could have ended my horizon-expanding after submitting my final paper, but instead I opted to spend a large portion of my summer to learning about the migrant issue firsthand through the Dandelion Middle School for migrant children. One of my hesitations with regards to blogging about the “migrant middle school children” experience is due to my limited exposure to the Chinese education system as a whole. Growing up in the States, the only knowledge I have of Chinese education is from my parents’ stories and my Chinese-born and raised cousin (who later actually emigrated to Canada because his mom was too concerned about his high school’s impact on his health). As a result, many of the new sights I’ve experienced and will experience come as a surprise. The difficulty in blogging about the migrant aspect here at Dandelion lies in the differentiation between what constitutes a migrant aspect or simply a “Chinese middle school aspect.” There are a few noticeable peculiarities, however, and my goal over the next few weeks will be to dig deeper not necessarily just into certain individuals, but into the Dandelion School as a whole. The first Thursday’s faculty and staff meeting gave a more comprehensive understanding of Dandelion. Some of the staff presentations were very logistical, like the student classroom behavior reports and new staff introduction and new student recruiting season, yet the most interesting weren't some flashy PowerPoints or invigorating speeches. For example, an old man came up holding his book and told some stories about students who did and didn't do well academically. Then he spoke of how many academically well off students come back to visit teachers, and how many of the ones near the bottom of the class rankings came back (turns out the latter visits more frequently, or so it seems). He ended with a very quiet (I was able to hear because I was right in front of him) conclusion about putting in more effort and being more hopeful about the relationships developed between teachers and students. Another woman showed a Britain's Got Talent audition involving a nervous 16 year old who was taken aback when Simon told her to change her song within 5 seconds of her starting. She ended up getting four yes responses. The moral of the story wasn't super unique: sometimes kids will be shy or flustered but it doesn't mean they're hopeless. What was fascinating weren't the lesson contents but rather the fact that these underpaid, overworked, and soon to be departing teachers (the turnover rate at Dandelion is very high) cared so much about their students. Maybe it's the fact that many teachers can't find other jobs (although there are apparently rich teachers here for reasons still unknown), or maybe I'm the only one who holds the selfish notion that if I'm under appreciated then I wouldn't put in much effort- in other words literally not being paid enough to care. Much of the staff here is extremely young; I would venture to say there aren’t many teachers over 35 years of age. I have no idea what normal Chinese middle school teachers dress like, but the ones here dress really casually. Their dress isn’t much different than the type of fashion I’d see on the streets worn by citygoers of the same age. Tshirts, light shirts, and jeans are really common; I’ve only seen one teacher wear a dress shirt and tie so far. It’s quite hard for me to imagine some of the teachers controlling a classroom given their inexperience, yet the contrast between what I imagine and what I see is pretty big. In the office, it’s easy to think some teachers aren’t working hard because they’re just playing games on their phones, but it’s also hard to witness the long days of lesson plannings, department meetings, parent conferencing***, not to mention the hours spent with their classes. *** The head 7th grade teacher told us that during the Fall, all the teachers make trips around the city to visit every single child’s family to gain a better understanding of their households. |