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An awarding ceremony was held in Beijing on September 8 to honor model teachers and outstanding groups and institutions in China’s education sector. Liu Kaixiang, an alumnus of SCNU, was awarded as a "national outstanding teacher" for his remarkable performance in education.
Liu Kaixiang, an alumnus of SCNU, was awarded as a "national outstanding teacher".
After graduating from the School of Life Sciences in 1995, Liu Kaixiang started his teaching career and returned to SCNU to obtain his master's degree in Biology Science in 2012. Liu is now a rural teacher at Dama Middle School in Meizhou, in Guangdong, and a part-time graduate advisor at SCNU.
Being a teacher for more than 20 years, Liu stayed conscientious and diligent, forming his teaching features of "accurate, factual, flexible, and new". His students perform outstanding in the college entrance examination and senior high school entrance examinations, which can be attributed to Liu's excellent teaching performance. He has previously already received several teaching awards. Liu has also published more than 20 papers in core journals of biology. Now he stays in rural areas and devotes himself to teaching with love and effort, making great contributions in biology teaching.
Liu was presented May 1 Labor Medal of Guangdong province.
Liu and his education career
Liu Kaixiang (in the second row, fifth from the left) at the School of Life Sciences.
Liu got the idea of becoming a teacher in middle school. "There was no special reason, simply because I am fond of teaching," Liu said. To realize his goal, he applied to SCNU. He had wished to become a physics teacher but was admitted to the School of Life Sciences because his biology had the highest score among all the subjects.
In 1991, Liu started his journey at SCNU. In his memory, his school days were filled with friendliness and enthusiasm among classmates, as well as systematic and theoretical biology knowledge. He recalls that in an analytical chemistry experiment class, the teacher led the students to do experiments repeatedly to get a more scientific results. This made him deeply understand SCNU’s motto "Pursue studies with utmost rigor".
Liu also remembers, there was a trend of "a passing grade is good" among students, but at a class meeting, he found his own opinion when he heard his classmate’s opinions, "Everyone has different missions at different stages. When you are studying at school, you should endeavor to study. 'A passing grade is good' is an irresponsible attitude toward your mission." From then on, Liu worked harder to learn professional knowledge.
After graduating from the School of Life Science, Liu started his teaching career in 1995. The scene when his assistant teacher came to see him off at the parting time is still fresh in his mind. "Wan Rirong, the current Secretary of the General Party Branch of the library of SCNU, was my assistant teacher at that time. When I graduated and left by bus, she held my hand tightly and told me to take care of myself and work hard." Liu has always remembered her advice and made up his mind not to let his teachers down and fully make himself to good use by being a good teacher.
In 2017, he took a community-level post in education at Dama Middle School, where nearly two-thirds were left-behind students, becoming the first volunteer teacher in that school.
Liu Kaixiang (on the right) in front of Dama Middle School.
To better understand the students' situation, Liu made some home visits. One of his students, who had not been cared for by his family, suffered from depression and became reluctant about school. "It is unfair for students to lose the chance to receive education too early," Liu said.
After the end of the one-year volunteer teaching, Liu chose to stay at Dama Middle School. He believes that the local students should upgrade their knowledge and cognition level by education to change their destiny. Liu's arrival has promoted more teachers to become volunteer teachers, and now there are more excellent teachers teaching physics, history, and other subjects instead of merely Chinese, math and English. "Although the power of an individual is limited, I hope I can try my best to influence the people around me." In his long-term teaching career, Liu is like a candle that not only lights the night but also lights other's hearts.
Liu and his teaching philosophy
Liu Kaixiang teaches biology in class.
"Thanks to you, I have been admitted to a medical college, which I had never imagined before. Going to college changed my destiny." A student said gratefully to Liu. These words moved Liu and determined his idea of staying in Dama Middle School.
In his opinion, teaching should go into students' hearts, ignite their enthusiasm towards studying and hope in mind, and most importantly, communicate with students with sincere love. "Teachers can't be too utilitarian and just focus on the score," Liu mentioned Tao Xingzhi, an famous educator in China, many times and regarded him as his spiritual leader. Educator Tao once said, "Education is a heart-to-heart activity. Only when you teach from the heart can you reach others' hearts."
Liu always cares about his students. One of Liu's students Guo Yuyu recalls that she used to feel that she didn't get the teachers' attention, but one day she napped in class, Liu came to her to find out about her situation. "I realized that teacher Liu had paid attention to every student." She added that Liu treated all students equally, and even when students lost confidence in themselves, Liu insisted on the principle of "don’t leave behind, don't give up". From grade one to grade three, whenever students' performance declined, Liu would get to the reason and help them improve.
Liu Kaixiang communicates with his students.
"Teachers should be equipped with professional skills. You don't have to talk about flashy things which are meaningless. You can only teach well with beautiful blackboard-writing skills and win students' trust and recognition." Liu said. He attaches great importance to basic teaching competence. He added, "You can't teach without context, you can't propose without context." Liu believes that knowledge alone is often boring, and only by associating it with life students' interest can be aroused and knowledge be memorized with understanding.
Liu spends a lot of time with students every day and keeps a close relationship with them. On weekdays, he likes sports and often plays table tennis and runs with his students after class as part of extracurricular activities. Liu also enjoys practicing calligraphy. When he practices, students will follow him with curiosity. "As SCNU's motto said, 'Be a model of virtue for others', they want to follow what I do. Your behavior will influence your students," Liu said.
Liu and volunteer teaching
Liu Kaixiang teaches biology at Dama Middle School.
During his 8 years of teaching at Dama Middle School, Liu not only taught the basic weekly courses, but also took on other positions. Being a head teacher, he was concerned with students' physical and mental development and guided the whole class. When he was teaching, he could explain common sense in life to students, helping them to grow up healthier. As the grade leader, he guided the students to plan their future careers. Liu made use of the extracurricular time to communicate with students to get insight into their thoughts. As a biology teacher, Liu also paid attention to the study of chemistry and physics. He also gave lectures at Jiaying University at the weekends. Liu said, "I don't feel tired doing so many things."
Liu insists on learning English to tutor students in their weak subjects. "Sometimes they ask me English reading questions, and I can explain them without preparation." Liu has been strict with himself. To enrich his knowledge and improve his overall competence, he delved into his academic major during the postgraduate period. Therefore, Liu suggests students to focus on their professional learning, have a good command of knowledge, and learn more about interdisciplinary fields at the same time, "for normal students, the more the better. They should work on their teaching skills."
Liu Kaixiang (on the right) is appointed as the host of the science and technology education studio of Guangdong province.
Liu has received many achievements and honors in teaching research. His colleague Gua Jiayong said that before Liu came to Dama Middle School, the school project research was relatively weak. But Liu's coming changed the situation. He would convene teachers to discuss teaching research together, formulate research plans, and cooperate to undertake research. During the research process, Liu would also guide students to do practical tasks.
Under Liu's leadership and guidance, young teachers were able to participate in the project research actively, complete their research, and receive awards for their achievements. Guo Jiayong believes that Liu's arrival provides rural students an opportunity to learn from excellent teachers, illuminating their path ahead. "What I am doing leads to one path. I want to be a model to my students, enlighten their minds and persuade more teachers to start volunteer teaching." Liu says. With enthusiasm, Liu devotes himself to volunteer teaching, changing the destiny of students and making great contributions to the high-quality development of rural education.
Source from SCNU News Center
Translated by Liao Zhanting, Zhu Ying
Proofread by Edwin Baak
Edited by Li Jianru
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