“We have field effect’, all who join us change for the better”. Head of Junior Years for the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, Lu Haijun
The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China was established in 1950, having an extensive positive influence in the field of basic education both domestically and overseas. Not only have they achieved outstanding results in the college entrance examination (their students earning the highest score in the college entrance examinations in Beijing for six consecutive years), but they have also achieved dazzling results in competitions across various disciplines, as such the establishment is famous in China for providing quality education. Across fields such as technological innovation, football, chess, aerobics, dance and orchestra, the talent arising from The High School Affiliated to Renmin University can often be seen on the city, national and world stage.
Only the High School Affiliated to Renmin University would dare to go “back to the drawing board” and be classroom ready in just four days.
As a renowned school, every move of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University has always had a strong exemplary role, and it is common for other establishments to follow suit. However, selecting the right online teaching platform for the High School Affiliated to Renmin University was a no simple undertaking, as they were very aware of the need choose a platform which reflects the quality and culture for which they are known
On January 27th a meeting was held to examine how to carry out online teaching during the period of quarantine school closures. After that, Lu Haijun (Head of Junior Education and Teaching at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, who is also a third-grade physics teacher) led the teachers in extensive research and trialling of a multitude of options. In just over ten days, following many comparisons and careful screening, they chose a platform, and then they diligently trained and rehearsed in preparation for student classes.
It appeared that everything was progressing steadily, they were just waiting for online schooling to begin in Beijing on 17th February.
It was during this time that a member of staff who had just returned from maternity leave suggested “there is a platform that looks good, why don't we try it out?” Many of the teachers had never heard of ClassIn before, including Lu Haijun.
On first trial, they all discovered that the platform can integrate the three functions of teaching, learning and evaluating very well while also having a high level of interactivity, a feeling that all the platforms previously tested had failed to achieve.
The High School Affiliated to Renmin University reached out to ClassIn the same day and agreed to establish a co-operation between the two organisations.
Class was scheduled to start on the 17th February, and by this point it was already February 13th.
This bold step strongly represents the unrivalled determination and courage of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University.
Over the next few days, there was not a moment to waste. On the 14th, a meeting was held to train every member of teaching staff, on the 15th parents and students practiced using the platform, on the 16th the final warm-up was done, and on the 17th, school began.
This may seem quizzical to some, abandoning the chosen platform at the ‘casual suggestion’ of a fellow teacher, what about the time already spent training? Especially the choice to take a gamble on a previously unused platform, why not stick with the original option and reduce the pressure on staff?
To such questioning Lu Haijun gave a concise yet profound response, “this is our tradition”.
“Our teachers are willing to go the extra mile to provide the best for our students. When you have teachers like this, the school has to respect their ideas and opinions, creating a democratic atmosphere for them”.
You can build tall buildings and gardens. As long as you have the money, you can have the same bricks, stones, plants and trees as a prestigious school. Looking the part can be accomplished with relative ease, but it is the spirit that is hard to replicate. This strong tradition comes from the shared and unremitting pursuit of numerous generations and is deeply rooted in the blood of the people at The High School Affiliated to Renmin University.
A place full of leaps and bounds, a highly-influential "field".
The High School Affiliated to Renmin University was born in the second year of the founding of the new China. There are many examples that can be used to illustrate Lu Haijun's meaning of "tradition", should we recount its history and development in more detail, especially in the years since the reform and opening up when it has become a beacon for China's basic education.
In the 1950s, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University had to report student attendance statistics to the Academic Affairs Office of Renmin University every month. There were many subjects and a lot of data. It took a lot of time and effort to fill in the reports for dozens of classes. The teacher in charge wanted to buy an electronic calculator to help with this process. The price was astronomical at that time. Hu Chaozhi, the then principal, immediately approved the purchase.
In November 1999, Liu Pengzhi, then president of CAS, won the opportunity for students to participate in research of the human genome. In order to ensure that the scientific research process would not be interrupted, she made a bold decision to let students suspend classes for three months, allowing them to devote themselves to scientific research and make up lessons following completion of the research. Later, the scientific research papers of the 12 students involved won national awards and were published in nature, the world's leading science magazine. Those students were later admitted to famous universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Cambridge University, Yale University, Imperial College and so on.
In the decision-making of the two principals we can observe the same mindset: Tread boldly, as long as it is beneficial to the school and the growth of the students!
Lu Haijun also shared a quote from Principle Liu which he remembers fondly "In the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, if it's a dragon, you must let it fly, if it's a tiger, you must not let it sprawl."
To illustrate how the school puts this idea into practice we can reflect on the following stories from the School’s past.
Wang Feng, a migrant worker from northern Shaanxi Province, became a self-taught sensation working in the High School Affiliated to Renmin University. Having a love for working with his hands and delving into things, in the 1990’s he was able to create a live streaming system and conducted synchronous live streaming on campus. In 2016, together with another school worker, he was awarded the title of "national excellent migrant workers" by the Ministry of human resources and social security. Now Wang Feng is the director of the school's audio-visual education centre and a member of The Chinese Photographers Association.
In 1999, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University was the first High School in Beijing to establish a campus network. A student named Hou Xiaodi was approached by President Liu for repeatedly leading cyber-attacks on the campus network and deciphering the teachers’ email passwords. After their talk, the school bought 12 computers and set up a network laboratory for students to test and manage. Hou Xiaodi chose computing as his University major and went on to found a technology company. The achievements generated by his scientific research have been used in the United States.
Every individual person here is part of what makes this school, if we want to see it busting with life and prosperity, we need to activate the potential in everyone here and give full play to their unique talents.
We need to encourage everyone from a school level so that they not only dare to think but also dare to do; as teachers this clearly means one thing, that is making sure students get the utmost out of their time here. When there is a conflict between the interests of students and teachers’ own personal interests, teaching staff will not hesitate to choose the former – and this example is clearly shown in the initial topic of discussion. "We only want to use the best, regardless of if others are using it or not. We will never let our students lose out." It is this simple idea that made the teachers in the High School Affiliated to Renmin University "change their minds" in just four days, choosing an online education platform that is more in line with the educational principles of putting staff and students above all.
During the trialling period, Lu Haijun was glad to see that groups had been established for every platform trialled in which teachers and platform technicians were coming together and participating in highly active discussions. Although the groups often raised many problems and difficulties staff were facing, they were also a place for heated intellectual discussions as opinions began to collide. Some teachers showed an extraordinary sense of passion as they not only joined groups for the platforms, they were testing, but also became “guests” in other platform groups so that they could broaden their knowledge and experiences.
An older teacher who will retire next year was a bit bewildered after the training session so he asked younger teachers for advice. He was consistently practicing past midnight because he was worried about his lack of familiarity with the technology disrupting the students' learning time the next day. He put in extra hours in order to provide a smooth and well-practiced experience for the students.
Some teachers are away from home without a computer or a tablet so they have had to temporarily put together a whole set-up, other teachers have a bad network at home, so they write a lot of content in advance and present it in the form of words. Arduous and diligent preparation has taken place and all without a hint of complaint.
The head of the IT centre is responsible for arranging courses. There are 9 subjects for the junior high school students and 20 subjects for senior high school students. Different subjects, teachers and students are mixed together and they can't afford to make any mistakes. They often work late into the night ensuring everything is in order.
In order to protect students' eyesight, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University has arranged for classes to take place each morning and be no longer than half a day. The reduced class hours caused concern among teachers that certain tasks could not be completed, but everyone has respected the arrangement set out by the school and worked to overcome any obstacles they have faced. Surprisingly it seems that when left with no choice but to attack difficulties head on, even problems that previously seemed insurmountable became just bumps in the road.
To the outside world it may seem that the High School Affiliated to Renmin University is possessed with some divine spirit, but as far as Lu Haijun is concerned, the success of the school is not a case of divinity but owing to the ‘field effect’ generated by its staff. This field is comprised of a group of highly educated and high-quality teachers who set high-standard for themselves and others, gathering together and striving their hardest to achieve the herculean tasks set before them. In this environment anyone who joins them, whether they are newly graduated teachers or those transferred from other schools, will be assimilated into this "field", and act accordingly to do what is best for the students.
When engaging with a new platform, these teachers become not only users but also a rare resource. "The teachers have many ideas, which can help the platform improve and perfect the user experience. After a period of use, there are fewer entry level problems in the group and an increasing number of constructive opinions. " According to Lu Haijun, this shows the characteristics of the teachers in the High School Affiliated to Renmin University and reflects their unique value.
教育做舟，知识做桨，至暗时刻渡人渡己
Education is the boat and knowledge the oar that we must use to help others and ourselves come through these dark times.
In order to let more children in remote and underdeveloped areas enjoy high-quality educational resources, in 2005, the High School Affiliated to Renmin founded the "National Alliance for the construction and sharing of basic educational resources" to make high-quality courses from famous schools available online, free of charge for a wide range of students and teachers. After its establishment, the alliance has spread to 32 provinces and cities in China. At present, 4775 alliance schools have been developed, benefiting more than 900,000 teachers and students across the country.
In 2013, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University launched "double teacher teaching", which simultaneously broadcast the High School’s high-quality courses to schools in remote and underdeveloped areas, generating a new teaching model of " lectures provided by teachers at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, with guidance and support provided by local teachers in remote schools". At present, it has been promoted in more than 200 schools in more than 20 provinces and cities.
"Tradition" is at the core of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University’s strong sense of social responsibility -- during the "SARS" outbreak in 2003, classes using remote network technology were opened on both a citywide and national level free of charge. From February 17th this year, the "alliance network of primary and secondary schools" and the "double teacher teaching network" were made completely open, the free registration channel was launched and announcements were made to instruct wider audiences on how to use the network. The network provides an unlimited number of rich educational resources available for free download and use by teachers and students all over the country.
Education is the boat and knowledge the oar that we must use to help others and ourselves come through these dark times. Scholars and educators have their responsibilities to bear.
The rampant epidemic has been like a looming dark cloud. Some schools have found it exceptionally difficult to continue their regular teaching, but the High School Affiliated to Renmin University is determined to keep doing what is right.
Every semester, Haidian District will carry out two or three research courses in different schools, and teachers from the High School Affiliated to Renmin University will quite often attend these courses in order to observe and evaluate the class. "At the beginning of March, I discussed with the teaching and research department that teaching and research activities should not be stopped, teachers should prepare lessons and communicate with each other as much as possible. As long as it is beneficial to students, we should continue to conduct these activities. So, we launched two online research courses ourselves”.
Lu Haijun was surprised at the outstanding reaction to these classes. In the two junior high physics classes, as many as 1670 teachers attended the class, more than the total number of physics teachers in the Haidian District, three times the number of participants in the previous offline research classes. It turns out that teachers from Chaoyang District and Yanqing District found the class particularly alluring without inconveniences such as commuting to consider. There were many active discussions with teachers seeking advice and exchanging ideas, the overall response to the classes were very warm and filled with a sense of excitement.
At present, the epidemic has disrupted plans for teachers and students to return to campus, and the High School Affiliated to Renmin University has changed rapidly from passive acceptance to taking an active response to the situation. Online teaching has just set sail and is already making great strides to improve. From now on noteworthy school can ignore it.
Lu Haijun recalls modestly “As a public school, we had not really researched into ‘Internet+ Education’. Now, we have a deep understanding of what can be achieved, and we will never again be passive or erratic in our study and application of online resources. In the least it is a great way to supplement face-to-face teaching, and perhaps much more. "