By Diane Geng | Co-Founder & Executive Director
Our Rural Education Innovators in China are not only good teachers to village children -- they are also ambassadors for RCEF's style of student-centered, community-based education to others. As part of their work, they document their lessons in writing and photos and share step-by-step accounts of what they did, for others to learn from.
One such case study is about a week-long camp that RCEF teachers led over a school break. It describes how the teachers invited 4th-6th graders to design their own homes, based on an investigation of local housing. The teachers took all the students out of the classroom for a walk through the village. They were required to observe the characteristics of the houses or buildings in the village, and to note down what they had observed on sheets of colored paper. Once back in class, students with the same color paper formed a small group and organized and categorized all of their observations. Afterwards, they brainstormed questions they wanted to know more about, and made a plan to interview local residents. To prepare, they created criteria to decide which questions to include in their interview, assigned roles, and conducted mock interviews to practice their manners. After finishing the interviews, they wrote essays describing the typical village houses, as if they were writing to a friend from far away who had never seen their village. The students did an excellent job writing about this topic as they had firsthand knowledge about it. Finally, the teachers facilitated as students designed houses of their own, both in drawings and in 3-D models.
The students said they enjoyed the whole process, as it felt like a combination of learning and playing. They gained more confidence in sharing their opinion, became more eager to ask questions, and said they wanted to participate in this kind of learning experience in the future. Throughout, they were encouraged to observe, question, present ideas, and cooperate with others -- all abilities that will prepare them to advance in developing critical thinking and independent learning skills.
By Diane Geng | Co-Founder & Executive Director
By Diane Geng | Co-founder and Executive Director
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