北京新学校尝试新的教学方法

In China’s capital city Beijing, there are also a couple of schools like the one in Wuhan. They don’t have legal education permits because their non-conventional way of teaching fails to meet the government’s requirements.

Located outside Beijing’s sixth ring road, this school has no signs. From preschoolers to 6th graders, ancient Chinese classics are their must-reads.

Pure reading, with no explanations. It’s a way of reading classics different from public schools. But it resembles the ancient tradition, focusing on laying a foundation for future learning.

Other subjects like English, and Math are also special in their own way. For example, if it’s about saving interests or loan interests. The teachers takes us to the bank. So your math class is not in the classroom, but in the bank?

And Kung Fu, another traditional subject, also finds its place here.

Ding Pengfei, a PE teacher, said, "Half of the students have never done this before and aren’t used to it. So they are at different levels. I need to instruct every student differently."

The school started in 2006 with 2 teachers and 4 kids in a three bedroom apartment.

Now there are 46 teachers, half of them with teaching certificates. And over 240 students, in 7 classes each with no more than 18 studen, a class size like no other normal Chinese school.

Mei Xuan, a 6th grader, said, "Before, I went to a public school in Hebei. There were so many students there. Almost 90 students in one class. The teacher couldn’t ask individual questions. They didn’t have time."

Zhang Dongqing, school founder, said, "If you want every kid to be successful, you’ll have respect their individual characters. And the class has to be small. If there are more than 25 students, it will be difficult for the teacher to get to know every kid."

While most of China’s schools put exams at the top of their priority, here, no exams for kids under grade 4, and 2 simple tests each semester for 4 to 6 six graders.

A parent said, "Today’s education is turning kids into exam-taking machines.Their imagination is sabotaged. We hope our kids can explore the things they love since they are little and when they grow up they can do what they love. I think this is the happiest thing."

A loving environment that parents and teachers are trying to build, shifting the focus from exams to students themselves.