The second week was one of much more comfort and ease for us as teachers, and also it seems, for our students. We had our students choose and then perform plays for each other, Chinese fables or fairy tales, and the reticence they observed during regular class time seemed to melt away in their dramatic performances. In many ways this was just shocking! These demure students, some of whom would barely talk in class, were transformed into drama queens on our dusty “stage” where the chairs were cleared away at the back of the room. We didn’t have to ask them to speak up or dramatize; they were “naturals.” Even those who struggled a bit more with speaking seemed to lose their inhibitions, as they became the mischievous boy who cried wolf, or a monk in a Buddhist temple. With minimal props they were the animals and the trees and the wind. Our day of drama was one of the most satisfying of all our days, with the audience freely laughing with a sense of unparalleled comfort.
While all of our students gave comparable performances, as we noted when speaking of our day over dinners on subsequent nights, the process of preparing the performances in DeAnn’s class seemed to typify so many qualities about all of our students – their work ethic and their devotion to following directions and not standing out or questioning authority: DeAnn, at the end of class, had told the students, kind of as an anticipatory set for the next day, that they’d be choosing and then performing fables of their own choosing. With class underway the next day, DeAnn numbered students off into groups in order for them to get started with choosing a fable, writing a script, and practicing for an afternoon performance. She noticed, as she encouraged them to move from their normal small group arrangement into the new groups designated by them having just numbered, they were hesitant (though moving to relocate) and were giving each other furtive glances as they reorganized themselves. She wondered what was up, thinking that there was a fear factor in getting started with what would end in the dreaded public speaking that most of them worked so hard to avoid. Even by waiting until the second week to ask this assignment of them, had she pushed it too early in the week? Should she have used it as a culminating assignment at week’s end? Well, her worries were soon assuaged as Mary stepped forward (low and behold) and spoke for the group (miraculously!) and said that last night, in their dorm rooms, students had already, in their table groups, chosen fables and written scripts. Now, as DeAnn looked around, she even saw that on some desks there were costumes and small props already designed from construction paper! What!? So, at the mere mention of the coming project, students had moved ahead and were prepared beyond any expectation. DeAnn was so relived that she hadn’t misjudged in her expectations, and she could see the relief in her students as they excitedly set to work in the groups they had already established, to continue the work that they’d set in motion the night before. And of course, DeAnn’s students’ performances were as wonderful as all the rest of ours, in their passion and impromptu classroom pageantry.
Lesson learned – given a seed, the Chinese will grow an oak tree overnight. No, given no seed, just directions to the seed store, they will go to the store and get the seed and then grow the tree overnight. All of our students were categorically hardworking. When given direction, their initiative in moving forward was boundless. But when given a choice or asked for individual input, momentum stalled. The fear factor of standing out, even to note that the class had actually already gotten to work on the assigned project, seems to truly be a cultural norm. We saw this not only in action, but were told so directly when we asked Bobby.
Linda's class working on our most complicated Morning Meeting Greeting/Song/Dance.
By the final day, all of our classes got it!
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Making Valentine's |
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Cracker Jacks and Peanut Butter and Jelly - both huge hits! |
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| By the way, this is Mary, DeAnn's bravest student. |
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| Tasty snacks brought to class by students on "Food Day" |
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| Sequencing Jack and the Beanstalk |
Another anecdote, Bobby’s story/joke when we asked him about the nature of the Chinese in terms of this cultural aversion to risk-taking (so said by him – standing out is to take a big risk): There once was a government official who wanted to discern who among his workers was most eligible for advancement. He asked all of them, “Those of you who obey your wives, step to the right. Those of you who do not listen to your wives, step to the left." All but one individual stepped to the right. He dismissed everyone to allow himself time to contemplate. As they stepped out of the room, he pulled the fellow aside who had stepped to the left and asked him why he’d stepped to the left. The fellow answered that his wife had told him to never follow the crowd. We laughed, but we all understood that his story told of a culture where family is so important, where women work behind the scene but find a ways to have power, and that, most significantly, following instructions without questioning one’s superiors (and there is definite hierarchy) is a supreme value.
The rest of the teaching experience left us with a forever appreciation for the kindness of the Chinese people, the delight in learning, their tenacity for diligent effort, and capacity for change, because, just as we were changed by our students, we feel that they were changed by us. In the reflection that we were required to have them complete (at first, it was asked that we give them a comprehensive test over what we’d taught - - What?! Over the songs, the rhymes, the idioms, their improved pronunciation, enhanced cultural understanding and overall greater confidence?) many of them spoke of ways in which they hoped to incorporate what they’d learned during our mere two weeks into their classroom teaching. The songs and poems and stories were often mentioned, as were the joy of the magic of penny polishing, and watching the video of Sally’s first grade class reenact the story of St. Valentine. The cadence of the day, starting with the morning message, working in small groups, and Think, Pair, and Shares, were mentioned also. But most fervently, what was mentioned was the realization that one can freely connect with one’s students; that one can teach with enthusiasm and joy while also being respected. That their students can have fun while one maintains high expectations for them. Someone mentioned being impressed with how much obvious preparation we did for class and how that was an example they’d follow for good class management (that was an appreciated kudos – cause boy, EVERY night we were up late, comparing notes on how certain lessons went with our students and lining things up for the next day).
Unbelievable how hard it was to say goodbye! Teary, teary, teary we all were, students and teachers alike. The second to last day of class we’d laid out most of the supplies that we’d brought with us to use in China, from markers, glue and left over paper, to stickers tape and scissors, and brochures from the Arch, Forest Park, and City Museum, and tiny packs of Uno card games. We’d emptied our suitcases and emptied our hearts to our classes, and they in turn had befriended us and taught us so much, bringing us little treats and kindnesses throughout the week, to lavishing us with cards and gifts (from a beautiful Chinese dress, homemade cards, candy, scarves, songs sung in serenade to a lovely week, and a video montage of our time together). Our last day of class was an emotional one, with us cramming in what lingering thoughts we could, as it was a half day, giving students who’d traveled good distances time to get home before day’s end. We exchanged gifts and emails and took photos after everyone had finished their evaluation/reflection, but it didn’t seem like enough. We were all exhausted and glad to be going home, they back to their families in “little” towns and cities near to Rugao, and we back home to our families here in the States. Back to mundane niceties like being able to eat unpeeled fruit and regularly using a “western” toilet. There was such a bitter-sweetness in our goodbyes. We felt like we’d learned so much and felt, too, that we’d opened their lives as much as they’d opened ours. It had been an exhausting adventure, though. One where we’d all felt what it was like to be foreign and different and clueless, and thus always a bit on edge. That feeling is an understanding and an empathy for others in similar situations here in the States that we carry home with us.
We also carry in our hearts and minds the unparalleled kindness and generosity of an amazing people. In ways, China is so much more resplendent in history than our own – ours, a seemingly fledgling nation, by comparison. But in their dramatic shift from a few thousand years of dynasties to communism, and now to a more dynamic economy characterized by an explosion of growth, people migrating to cities from the countryside, and a greater degree of opening up to the world. Our culture, though one of great importance in its influence on modern history and government, is not as weighted by the accomplishments of ancient times. Maybe in that way we are a bit more culturally nimble, not so weighted with history, hierarchy, family, lineage, and obligations to uphold long standing practices (like something as “simple” as taking care of a thousand-year-old bonsai). There is a lot to incorporate in opening up to the rest of the world, a lot to meditate on in moving so rapidly to change. It’s an amazing thing to have been able to visit China during its amazing growth spurt. We are so thankful to have been able to cultivate relationships with a lovely community of teachers, many of whom we hope to continue to keep in touch with. Maybe some day a few of them will venture to visit us here in the States. Heaven knows their English will get them much farther here than our wanting knowledge of Chinese would have gotten us there, had we been put to the test. What a tremendous experience - - a tremendous country, culture, and people.
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