Battling educational inequity, one school at a time
- By Corey Cooper
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China.org.cn, June 17, 2011
Thanks to a group of young and talented Chinese and American college graduates, elementary and middle school students in rural China are discovering new avenues for learning and creativity that they wouldn't have previously imagined were possible.
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Teach For China began its operation in 2009, sending a cohort of 20 Chinese and American young graduates from top universities to teach in needy elementary and middle schools in rural Yunnan province. 120 new fellows will be added to the program this year. [Photo courtesy of Teach For China] |
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Pengtung Junior School in rural Yunnan province's Dali prefecture wouldn't normally be a setting for a stage production of any kind, let alone Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. But with the help of a small group of fellows from Teach For China, a nonprofit organization focused on tackling educational inequity, more than 100 7th and 8th graders designed sets, publicized and acted in a community production of the famous comedy. The show, which drew wide attendance and lauds from residents of nearby towns and villages, was trilingual, conducted in English, Mandarin Chinese and the local Bai dialect.
Greg Root, a Teach For China fellow who taught at Pengtung in 2010, said the project "redefined the traditional meaning of 'exemplary student' and the way time is spent out of class."
Perhaps the most important realization gleaned from the event was that a wider variety of extracurricular activities can make a huge difference in students' academic performance, especially for underachievers. "We discovered that some of the most prominent 'underperformers' in the classroom were in fact skilled actors or artists," Root said in a statement recalling the performance.
2011 marks the third year of Teach For China's operations in Yunnan province, which launched in 2009 with an inaugural cohort of 20 Fellows from the US and China. In its second year, Teach For China nearly tripled its fellow corps to 60 fellows. In 2011, Teach For China will be expanding its operations into Guangdong and will welcome an incoming corps of 120 new fellows. American fellows teach English classes, while their Chinese counterparts educate students in math, science and other core curricular subjects.
Wyatt Bruton, an incoming fellow to Teach For China this year, arrived in Beijing last week to complete a one-month intensive Mandarin course with colleagues in the new cohort. He will depart for Yunnan's Lincang Prefecture in July for two months of teacher training prior to the September start of classes.
A graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's prestigious School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Bruton said the organization's innovative track record and the chance to impact change in China's rural schools intrigued him and led to his acceptance of the 2-year fellowship over other more lucrative job offers.
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