Keep your mood calm and don't be impatient. At 10 a.m. on September 29, the awarding ceremony for the National Medal and National Honorary Title of the People's Republic of China was grandly held in the Great Hall of the People. Among the recipients is Yu Yi, a "people's educator" who grew up in a middle school classroom. She is the only person in the basic education sector to receive this honor. This commendation comes nine months after the Party Central Committee and the State Council awarded her the honorary title of "Reform Pioneer" last year.
In 1951, Yu Yi graduated from Fudan University and became a teacher. For 68 years, she has never left the stage of basic education. She has been on the three-foot podium all her life, with the rivers and the world in mind, and has made countless friends. She has insisted on teaching and educating people, giving lectures on 2,000 open classes at the municipal level and above, writing millions of words of educational works, and integrating various The "impossible" became possible; she started from the reform of Chinese teaching, promoted the comprehensive reform of Chinese curriculum teaching across the country, and won all the honors from the government and industry.
Yu Yi can be said to be the idol in the hearts of the entire Chinese teacher community. Although she has many titles, her favorite title is "teacher". In September this year, the first-grade students in six provinces and cities, including Shanghai, used new textbooks for three subjects including Chinese compiled by the Ministry of Education. 90-year-old Yu Yi dragged her ailing body to put forward suggestions on the formulation of high school Chinese curriculum standards, still using The struggling attitude stands at the forefront of education reform and teacher training, fulfilling the solemn oath of "let life and mission go hand in hand".
A teacher is first of all a person with capital letters
Yu Yi has a famous saying: "Be a teacher all your life, and learn to be a teacher all your life." The profession of teacher entrusts her lifelong pursuit and love.
Yu Yi grew up in a stormy era. In 1937, the Japanese invaders marched in, and their hometown was in danger. Xuejiaxiang Primary School in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, where Yu Yi studied, was about to be disbanded. In the last class, the music teacher taught the students to sing "Su Wu Shepherd", which aroused the patriotic awakening in Yu Yi's young heart. Amidst the continuous bombardment, Yu Yi was admitted to Zhenjiang Middle School. Under the careful guidance of her teacher, she deeply realized that the purpose of studying was to save the suffering nation from dire straits and move from ignorance to civilization.
In 1947, 18-year-old Yu Yi was admitted to the Education Department of Fudan University. In the university, the rigorous academic character and spirit of professors such as Cao Fu and Zhou Yu deeply influenced her. In 1951, 22-year-old Yu Yi graduated and was assigned to Shanghai Second Normal School as a Chinese teacher. She was very nervous when she stepped on the podium for the first time. At the end of the lesson, the group leader, Teacher Xu, said: "Although you have many advantages in teaching, you still don't know where the door to Chinese teaching is."
Where is the door to Chinese teaching? ? Yu Yi has been searching all her life. From the Fourth Dormitory of Fudan University to Siping Road, which is a few roads away, Yu Yi has walked for 34 years. Through the busy crowds and the noisy city sounds, the events in class are playing out in her mind. Scene after scene. "Every morning I walk for a quarter of an hour and play a movie in my mind. How to teach this class, how to start, how to unfold, how to form a climax, and how to end."
Yu Yi prepared for herself Learned the "two rulers": one ruler to measure the strengths of others, and the other ruler to measure one's own shortcomings. During the day, she stood outside the classroom window and watched how other teachers taught classes; at night, she studied the reference books carefully. In this way, wonderful thinking became the nourishment in her teaching, her shortcomings were gradually overcome, and her teaching and educating gradually became better.
In 1977, a Chinese language class "Haiyan" taught by Yu Yi was broadcast live on TV. At that time, people all over the country stood in front of the TV, vying to see her grace in class. In the eyes of Chinese teachers, Teacher Yu Yi is a "star" in the education world. It was also in that year that 100% of the two graduating classes of the 1977 class taught by Yu Yi, who had weak foundations, were admitted to college upon graduation. In 1978, Yu Yi, who had outstanding work, was named one of the first batch of special teachers in the country.
Yu Yi said that the secret of education is never to judge students by their scores, but to advocate "education and education." That year, the reportage "Goldbach's Conjecture" was published. An excited Yu Yi went to the school's mathematics teacher and said, "Let's sing a 'double'. You tell the students about Chen Jingrun's scientific contributions, and I tell the students about Chen Jingrun's dedication to science." In Yu Yi’s view, Chinese language education must not only teach children to understand and use language, but more importantly, build their spiritual home and shape their souls.
In this way, with advanced educational concepts, Yu Yi took up the position of principal of Shanghai Second Normal School in 1985. Under the difficult conditions of a disorganized teaching staff and declining school buildings, Yu Yi made drastic and subversive reforms. For example, teachers implemented a sitting system, and students had their hair cut and wore school uniforms; they focused on the moral education of two generations of teachers and stipulated the popular standards in society. , Not all schools advocate it, such as inviting blind bands to tell stories about strong people in life, retired cadres to give education on revolutionary traditions, etc.
In the early 1990s, when the Chinese subject began to be dominated by instrumentality, Yu Yi wrote an article "Reforming Weaknesses and Promoting Humanities", proposing that "the unity of instrumentality and humanities is the basic characteristic of the Chinese subject." This view has been written into the curriculum standards of the 21st century Chinese curriculum reform, which has profoundly changed the Chinese teaching model. Entering the new century, she also proposed the "integration of morality and intelligence" in Chinese language subjects, advocating three-dimensional teaching and all-round education, which was recognized nationwide. It was Yu Yi's unwavering commitment to education and her firm belief in the nation that made her frail body burst out with strong vitality.
Students are my world
Yu Yi often said, "Teacher love surpasses parent-child love" and "Students are my world." Students taught by this teacher, when they come to visit her more than ten years later, can still recite what she said in class word for word, and some can still remember what she wrote on the blackboard at that time.
A young teacher said frankly that he had listened to 3,000 of Yu’s classes since 1976 and did not find any repeated content in her classes. Even if you teach a text the second or third time, it will be different.
Yu Yi believes that the traditional teaching of "I talk and you listen" should be changed to interactive teaching in a network format. She believes that students are variable Wang Wei, a Shanghai special teacher and Chinese language teacher at Yangpu Senior High School, was Yu Yi’s student representative in the 1980s. In an interview with Xinmin Weekly, he said that during the three years Yu Yi taught him, there were many things that left a deep impression on him. The "first".
I remember that in an open class, Yu Yi gave the students an oral practice assignment titled "An Interesting Thing". Wang Wei was the first to raise his hand and step onto the podium to give a speech about circus monkeys climbing poles. , got a high score of 80 points. "This 80 points gave me confidence and courage." Before each class, Yu Yi only assigned one task - to preview the text, read it carefully, and ask questions in class, preferably questions that would stump the teacher. For Wang Wei, it is also a brand-new subversion of Chinese learning.
"There were no Internet and reference books at that time, so students chased each other in private. In an open class on "Chameleon", the students went up to the stage to write on the blackboard without any trouble. After the teacher Yu finished correcting it, there was thunderous applause." Wang Wei recalled that it was not a show, but that he solved your problem quietly. This is real skill. After that, Wang Wei experienced his first independent editing of a tabloid, his first independent theme, interview and writing, and then typesetting, editing, and beautification...
Currently, he is the deputy director of the Organization Department of the Yangpu District Committee and a veteran district cadre. Bu Jian, the director of the bureau, spent four full years in the Second Normal School from the age of 16 to 19. According to Bu Jian’s recollection, wearing school uniforms was still a new thing in the 1980s. At that time, 80% of the students in the Second Normal School were girls. Above, everyone is very resistant to learning that the school requires uniforms. After Yu Yi learned about it, she encouraged students to participate in design, comparison, and decision-making. When everyone got their school uniforms, the sadness disappeared.
"The school uniform is navy blue, with a suit-collared jacket, straight pants or an A-line skirt, a white shirt underneath, a bright red tie, and a pair of white mid-calf stockings and black T-string socks. Leather shoes. Stable, elegant, and contemporary. At that time, the students of the Second Normal University wore school uniforms and school badges when traveling together, which became a beautiful sight on the road and won a lot of heads. "Bu Jian said that Teacher Yu successfully used the school uniforms to travel together. Construct a social image of upright and self-disciplined normal school students, and make the Second Normal University a leading school in training primary school teachers in Shanghai and even the country.
Teacher Yu Yi has never scolded any student in her life. She always adopts an inclusive attitude and reaches into the hearts of students and treats them as equals. During a home visit, Yu Yi saw the student's family of five living in a dilapidated house with only 12 square meters. She was so sad that she shed tears. In that era when economic conditions were generally poor, Yu Yi spent all her savings on her children, but was frugal with her own children. Her son Huang Su once recalled that he never wore a pair of leather shoes until he got married at the age of 28. .
At the age of 70, Yu Yi began to study Jay Chou and "Huan Zhu Ge Ge". Because she found that the children were all "fans", but it was difficult for some of the more senior singers she liked to arouse excitement among the students. Some students said bluntly: "Jay Chou's songs are good but hard to imitate."
Yu Yi found out two reasons why students like Jay Chou. Lyrics such as "Blue and White Porcelain" are inspired by classical masterpieces. It incorporates elements of traditional culture, so students are willing to get close to them; modern only children have no one to talk to, so humming Jay Chou's rap music is a good way to vent their frustrations. Many students were understood by Teacher Yu, and teachers, students, young and old laughed together.
"You should treat children with sincerity. Whether you are whole-hearted or half-hearted, students know clearly in their hearts. Without love, there is no education. Only by spreading true love into the hearts of students can teachers have a place in the hearts of students." Yu Yi relies on his spiritual pursuit of Chinese education to build a spiritual building with lofty aspirations with his students, inspiring generations of students to think independently, express appropriately, and grow into rich and wise people.
The "Stepping Stone" for Young Teachers
One year on the second day of the Lunar New Year, a media reporter went to Yu Yi's house for an interview. As soon as the door opened, the room was full of students. Yu Yi likes to be with young people and building a platform for them to grow is the most important thing to her. "All young teachers come to my home and ask me to write a preface to their new books, and I never refuse. It is not easy for young people today to grow up and get ahead, so we have to help them," Yu Yi said with a smile.
As early as the early 1990s, when Yu Yi had just retired, a private school offered her an annual salary of 600,000 yuan to hire her as a "special consultant," but she politely declined. At that time, Yu Yi's retirement salary was more than one thousand yuan per month. When talking about why she was rejected by the high-paying school, Yu Yi said this: "I still have some skills and can train teachers. I have brought out several generations of special teachers. One person's energy is limited, and he can become a stepping stone for everyone. I have been blessed throughout my life.
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After that, Yu Yi pioneered the "teaching by masters and apprentices" model - masters lead apprentices, teaching and research groups collectively train, and team leader responsibility system, and personally teaches young teachers across the country; as of last year, this old man She has served as the host of the Shanghai Chinese Language and Literature Moral Education Training Base for eight consecutive years, training young teachers in the outer suburbs. She holds an 8-hour activity once a month, and she never misses a single session.
Shanghai Special Grade Teacher. Tan Yibin, deputy director of the Teaching and Research Section of the Municipal Education Commission, was lucky enough to become a student of the Shanghai Chinese Language Teacher Training Base 10 years ago. She still can’t forget her “trip to Jinshan” with the 80-year-old teacher Yu Yi in the outer suburbs. The event was held at the Third High School Affiliated to East China Normal University in Jinshan. Everyone tried hard to persuade Teacher Yu not to attend in person, but Teacher Yu refused: “As long as it is the school where my base students are, no matter how far away they are, they cannot be left behind. ”
Early in the morning, Yu Yi came on time. After riding in the van for nearly two hours, Teacher Yu’s legs and feet were swollen, but as soon as she arrived at the Third High School Affiliated to East China Normal University, she dove into the classroom to listen to the class. At noon, she quickly took two mouthfuls of rice, put down her chopsticks and rushed to the classroom to meet her classmates. The children's questions were like a barrage. Tan Yibin wanted to "block" them, but Yu Yi refused. She said that she was right for the children. She would not say "no" to their requests.
It is this kind of spiritual inspiration that has enabled batches of young teachers to stand out and form a rare team of "special teachers" in the country. She has trained three generations of special teachers, and has “taught” more than 100 young teachers from all over the country, and a group of well-known teaching experts have emerged. Yu Yi is very emotional and very pleased: “It’s really tiring, but it’s very tiring. I think it is a kind of happiness to be able to use my limited experience to bear fruit on others. ”
During the training of new teachers, Yu Yi quoted the British novel “The Moon and Sixpence” many times to clarify his point of view: First of all, you must have the moon in your heart, which is your ideals and beliefs, to truly respect the profession and respect the children. You must also be knowledgeable, so that you can see through the "six pennies" and the temptation of material things. "There are pennies all over the ground. As a teacher, you must look up and see the moon. ”
If you want to get into the hearts of students, you must “learn to be a teacher all your life.” Yu Yi told young teachers that the most important thing is to keep climbing in practice. This climbing is not only about educational skills, but also about teaching skills. It’s the attitude towards life and the emotional world.
Yu Yi’s granddaughter Huang Yin is now also involved in education. In her childhood memories, her grandma always sat by the desk lamp after finishing housework. While reading the information, I took notes and indulged in it. On the balcony of less than three square meters, there was my grandfather’s wicker chair, a book, and a teapot, which was an afternoon filled with the fragrance of books. Lighthouse, guide me. ”
Yu Yi has a special wall calendar at her home. Almost every day on the calendar is circled, and many cells have more than one circle. She describes her work as “too late” because There are too many things for her to be "serious" about, and Chinese education must have its own say.
When the utilitarianism of education becomes more and more intense, parents are busy enrolling their children in cram schools, and schools only focus on the enrollment rate. , she appealed: "Education should not only 'raise points', but also teach students how to behave. Yu Yi felt deeply worried when she saw primary school students writing graduation messages such as "I wish you become a millionaire" and "I wish you become a president". "'Who do students learn for, and who do teachers teach for?' This question is rarely asked. Educators should put more effort into students' learning motivation and motivation."
After 68 years of teaching, From receiving lessons from teachers to imparting lessons to others, Yu Yi has never left the podium. Her arms are thin but her body is upright, and she always stands up as the backbone of a Chinese teacher. She said: "The teacher helped me go from ignorance to knowledge, from knowing little to knowing how to be a human being. Being a teacher is a great thing. This is the most noble goal of my life.
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